Me too. DSW took a sec 
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#FTCshoptalk
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101 Noodle Express in Arcadia shutters for the second time. Original Alhambra location is now last branch standing.
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$19.68 AYCE dim sum returns to Bistro 1968, weekdays only. Usual additional fees.
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Quality still good?
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Also, I saw this on SGV Eats Facebook Group. Kagura forthcoming, north of Garvey on Atlantic. In the very dormant plaza up the way from Big Tree and across from the 99.
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Smart move. A good portion of these local Japanese restaurants in the South Bay have lots of Chinese customers. I hear Mandarin being spoken all the time
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no surprise there; after the three major japanese car makers moved their offices out of s. ca, the japanese restaurants actively pursued chinese customers. there was (and maybe still is, i haven’t checked) some sort of publication advertising only japanese restaurants - written in chinese.
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Also, at the Garvey/Atlantic corner plaza, the old location for Tokyo Fried Chicken sits. There’s also that Japanese gift shop. IIRC, Monterey Park used to be a dense Japanese neighborhood?
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Dang. Need to see that!
Yep. When I worked in Vernon eons ago, we used to go to Shinano. They had and still have private Tatami rooms! It would be filled from execs from various importers who also also worked nearby.
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Yes, the Japanese were the first to integrate Monterey Park. Monterey Park had a sordid history as a Ku Klux Klan stronghold in the 20s and 30s. There was a large Japanese community in East LA., just over the border with Monterey Park. Most of the housing built in the LA area built between around 1915 and 1948 had deed restrictions which forbade occupancy by non Caucasians except for domestic help, under penalty of forfeiting the property. The deed restrictions were declared unconstitutional in 1948. But you still needed to find a white person who would be willing to sell to you and that didn’t happen in Monterey Park given its legacy. In the late 1950s two things happened to change that. Much of the Japanese community in that part of East Los Angeles was razed to build the Pomona Freeway. And real estate developers opened new housing tracts in the hilly areas of Monterey Park. So the displaced Japanese residents asked if they could buy into the new tracts and the developers said Yes. At that time there were far more Japanese in Los Angeles than Chinese, many of them who lived in El Sereno. So once the Japanese broke the Monterey Park barrier the Chinese soon followed.
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Excellent summary, David. Thanks! The bit about displacement in favor of freeway development reminds me of Paul Haddad’s Freewaytopia. Recommended reading for those interested in that history of LA’s development! I’m sure Mike Davis has a lot about this in City of Quartz but the details are hazy just now.
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I got influenced! Good meal. Place was empty on Wednesday at 7pm. Worried for them … they said dim sum closes at 8p, not sure if it’s always like that or just because it was empty. (can’t blame them).
I’ve never been before, but liked it a lot. Great value. Actually, the best part for me is getting to try a bunch of stuff in slightly smaller portions. Yes, actually I do just want to have 3 pieces of pork with spicy salt across the two of us. It’s hard to get that same variety at dim sum without going in a bigger group.
Re: quality - I’ve never been there before. Pretty decent. Skins were a little falling apart on the har gow, but at least it wasn’t overly gummy or overly thick skins like at bad dim sum. They probably sub ingredients - wagyu beef noodles were good but no discernable wagyu at least. I don’t mind though.
I ended up tipping a lot because we were the only ones there at some point. Hope they survive!
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Yes, born and raised in Monterey Park, and before the Taiwanese explosion in the late 80s, our neighborhood was mostly older Japanese families
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Crystal Palace replacing Chef Tony in the Monterey Park Marriott Hotel.
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I ate at that Chef Tony.
Chong Yuen Fong
After a disappointing meal at Nature Pagoda a couple of months ago, I was worried I wouldn’t find another good clay pot rice spot. But after my first meal here, so far, so good. The soup and rice had that comforting, home-cooked taste—nothing too bold, but definitely delicious. (Minced pork rice).
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Steam Fresh (?) replaces Zheng Dou Kee Wonton King on Garvey Ave. in Monterey Park.