I wasn’t impressed with Omar’s meat pie.
QQ Noodle and the various places down Newark / Fremont / Milpitas way with Xi’an in their names aren’t?
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The Shaanxi/Xi’an places have hand-pulled/stretched noodles, but they don’t have Shanxi (one “a”) noodles. MY China has some Shanxi wheat noodles (e.g. scissor cut), but no buckwheat or oat noodles, which I’m eager to try more of.
Maybe we’ll skip Omar— I was hoping to find a good meat pie after eating a likewise greasy and soggy one at Eden Silk Road (kind of a disastrous meal overall).
You’ve got Beijing Pie House on your list.
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Look, I was underwhelmed by my visit. Is it good? Yes. Is it worthy of a drive from SGV? IMO, nope. If farm-to-table greens is your jam, great; overall I found my meal fell short of the hype. YMMV
Question to the Chinese-food connisseurs here (which might also be helpful for the OP): would Dai Ho be considered destination worthy?
These might have some useful tips:
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I’m actually with you. Menu is very short, so if you order things like beef noodle soup, Zha Jiang mein, you will not be overwhelmed. Great to have this in the neighborhood, but ordinary by SGV standards.
some prolific contributors love the place. but you’re going taiwanese i’d rather go to old country cafe since they’re open another NINE hours after dai ho closes for the day at 3pm.
zui xiang yuan across the street (the valley location in alhambra) makes what i consider to be a superior beef roll. they also make some pies that deserve more love. but when i’m there, i’m more likely to see these things on other people’s tables:
the beef roll,
the steamed pork with rice flour:
the fish dumplings:
but these mini-pies with leeks are pretty good.
and these:
but they may no longer be on the menu which was revised recently.
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I’ve only been to Dai Ho once, but the Northern California Taiwanese expat community has mixed opinions about them. Dai Ho is more well known to the expats for their simmered/marinated snack/bites (in addition to the former Taiwanese military-esque / gangster attitude of the owner who had a few crazy rules and was adamant about educating customers on how to mix and eat the noodles…that was then), but the likes of Ms Clarissa Wei and Asian American yelpers seemed to focus more on their spicy beef noodle soup. The TW expats enjoy some of the other noodle dishes, and it’s more about the texture of the noodles than anything else and assuming you toss the noodles/mix the sauces properly when eating the brothless versions.
Depending on how they are now vs then, I’d say for myself if I were to visit again I’d try Corner Beef Noodle for certain things, and go back to Dai Ho for others, but not wasting quota on their beef noodle soup (even if it is decent). Quota might be better spent trying different regional Chinese that SF Bay Area doesn’t have or that the SGV does far superior to, and in that case Dai Ho should be lower on the list. For example I would pick Nanjing Duck that J_L recommended to try over Dai Ho, and if I were driving down with an ice chest, preorder the duck and see if can get the salt marinated liver as well (that was a sadly missed opportunity a few years back because the ice chest was packed with sea snail sausages from the OC and the rest filled up to the brim with Sinbala sausages…). Oh yeah…Sinbala (just for the sausages) may be more worthwhile than Dai Ho, even if just to order a plate of sausages and drinks (and treat it like a bang bang).
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Since I got introduced to Yi Mei ( 943 W Duarte Rd, Monrovia) prefer them over huge tree and 4 seas
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WTF??? How does the Monterey Park branch compare to Temple City?
Hi @Sgee,
From what I understand the Monterey Park location was the OG, and a couple of my SGV friends said they liked it more than the Temple City expansion.
@Chowseeker1999 good to know, I concede I ordered poorly the one and only time I was at the MP location.
TC location was eons better than the MP one.
Sorry since I didn’t clarify the specifics in my use of Cantonese. But the feel of the restaurant and it’s service feels like those found in Cantonese restaurants. As for it’s roots and style, thanks for elaborating
Did the Seafood Palace in TC re-opened recently. It was closed when I drove passed it a few months ago.
Thanks, as always, for the detailed post! I go w/ my dad, and the owner seems to love him (my dad is Taiwanese). It never would’ve occurred to me to even try the beef noodle soup there. The owner gave us some off-menu (I think) item that was cold and insanely thinly sliced beef (I think), drizzled w/ just a touch of chili oil. That dish was almost transcendent. The rest of food (I’ve only been twice) is simply very good.
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i like their deep fried fish in seaweed.
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