Driving down Valley Blvd. near Garfield in Alhambra the other night, I whizzed by a brightly lit new restaurant I hadn’t heard about, Chong Yuen Fong. When I got home I found that they already had a pretty sophisticated website which included a story of the restaurant. According to the description, Chong Yuen Fong was originally founded in 1997 “in the heart of Los Angeles” , and immediately became a hit with people from all over Los Angeles, and becoming a beloved institution, particularly for their egg tarts and Hainan chicken. Now the founder’s children have taken over the business, with their new location in Alhambra.
Now, as you know I’ve eaten at almost every Chinese restaurant in town, and I never heard of a restaurant called Chong Yuen Fong. I guess it’s possible that Chong Yuen Fong was the Chinese name for a restaurant that had a different English language name. But the only place in Los Angeles where that could be a possibility would be in Chinatown, and if they were located in Chinatown why wouldn’t they say so?
One restaurant which could possibly fit the description is New Dragon Seafood which opened in Chinatown in 1997 and closed during the pandemic, though I ate there a few times and don’t remember seeing egg tarts and Hainan chicken. The Chong Yuen Fong website has an email contact address, and even a mailing list signup. Nobody has responded to my request as to what name they previously operated under.
There are other anomalies beyond this. I’m thinking somebody is pulling our leg.
Interesting story! I practically spent every weekend from the ages of 6-18 years old in the SGV. I don’t ever recall a place like this. They mentioned “in the heart of Los Angeles”. I don’t recall a place like this in Chinatown either. There been so many HK restaurants in Chinatown in the 80’s and 90’s maybe I missed one. They describe it as somewhere famous.
I grew up in the SGV, and I have no memory of any such restaurant (esp one serving those dishes) there. I think our family had already “shifted” from Chinatown to the SGV by that point, so I wouldn’t know if there was any such in Chinatown.
Isn’t it kind of unusual to find egg tarts outside of a bakery (or a bakery-heavy cafe) or a dim sum place? I feel like a place that did egg tarts + Hainan chicken would’ve been memorable…
I’m not sure if there was any Hainan chicken in Chinatown until Johnny Lee opened up Pearl River Deli in 2020. Maybe Savoy when they were on Spring St. in the last century?
To me it’s kind of vague, as there’s also the implication that the original location still exists. But you’re right since the blog entry dated 2019 carries the Alhambra address, which was a crepe place at that time.
Maybe their English isn’t great? We all chuckle at menu misspellings and words lost in translation. Perhaps the content may be up for debate, but I’m all for them using AI for this sort of thing…as long as its not made up.
There’s also an effusive review on Google, apparently from the soft opening, implying a big crowd, but actually depicting the only three tables in the restaurant. Also great pictures of the food, highlighted by the house specialty Hainan chicken that made them famous in Los Angeles. Except that Hainan chicken is not on the current menu I posted on Yelp. The restaurant also has a promotional video on YouTube. Slick!
