It was one of the first Taiwanese breakfast spots in monterey park/alhambra so there’s definitely some nostalgia for it.
Like savoy for chicken. Everyone remembers their first fondly
The Hacienda 4 Sea location I been to had dirty dishes and used napkins on almost every table. My table and next to it were all pretty damn sticky. So yeah never again.
Much better than their neighbor - and I don’t mean the bowing alley.
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There’s a lack of fan tuan alternative so gotta go with what’s available out there. I used to go to another tofu/soy milk shop that serves it but they’ve moved/closed down.
Had lunch at Min Min. Unfamiliar menu.
Millet porridge is quite bland. I presume you’re supposed to doctor it to your taste with soy, vinegar, chile oil, etc. Came out fast so I had something to nibble on while waiting for the other stuff to be made to order.
In the photo on the wall it’s bean paste pancake rather than soy sauce, I think that might be right. Crisp and salty.
Lamb scallion pie was my favorite. Nice flavors and textures. Pan-fried just right.
Pork & shepherd’s purse dumplings were very good. Also extremely juicy, be careful or they’ll squirt.
Ladies were nice.
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If it’s Shanghainese style, usually there are toppings to go with the porridge. Be it fermented vegetables or some side dishes like Kao Fu. The flavors are big so they all balances out in the end.
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That makes sense but the thought of putting soy, vingear, or chili oil (or any other liquid substance) seems completely bizarre to me, although I cannot explain why. Maybe just b/c we didn’t do that in our family growing up (but perhaps others do/did?).
Growing up, the blandness was kind of the point.
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Some zha cai would have been great.
It is. Some people will put a few drops of sesame oil to punch it up.
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take it to go. Taiwanese breakfast was made to be on the go
Four seas - jj bakery. Both are significantly better and located in SGV!
heck i’d even go to Pine and Crane for their fan tuan over HTP
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I didn’t even know it’s served there. Bookmarked!
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Lunch at Borneo Eatery aka Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine.
Small roti prata: not as thick and flaky as I might like, but good and piping hot. Good curry sauce.
Wok-fried Kalimantan flat rice noodles (char kway teow): good. I’m used to wider noodles. Decent wok hay but could have used more.
Rendang: good, spicy. Coconut rice could have used more coconut (maybe nobody makes the old-school heart attack style any more). Peanut anchovy stuff (sambal?) is killer.
That thing on the left was a deep-fried egg.
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Im on team Charlie, I still go cuz I wanna support their family as I have been for years but lets be real the food kinda sucks nowadays.
I use to get mine from JJ bakery, the fan tuan there is the sleeper hit.
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that alhambra JJ^2 bakery had the best fantuan around. Too bad it closed. The one in rowland is pretty good still but the Arcadia one is just ok
Huge tea rests on their laurels now. It sucks but as long as people keep going they don’t have an incentive to change. I’ve twice asked to have my soy milk replaced cause it was spoiled.
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Is Charlie the owner of Huge Tree?
Charlie is clayfu
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Wow doxing me.
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Well, if one is going to be doxxed, it should originate from within. 
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