yah - their other stuff is decent, but a little too sweet for me for savory food - but that black seasame you tiao is a pretty top tier dessert
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Perhaps this timeline explains things. Monterey Park was a KKK town in the 20s and 30s so nobody would sell to Asians even though they lived nearby in East LA and El Sereno. However new housing developments popped up in the early 60s in the hillsides of Monterey Park and the developers had no issue selling to Asians. So many of my parents friends, second generation Chinese American professionals with young families moved into these new tracts in the 60s. At this point in time there were few non Cantonese anywhere in the US as the Chinese Exclusion laws were not fully repealed until 1965. Consequently it would be a while for non Cantonese families to populate Monterey Park.
that’s all fine and dandy - but i still don’t know any taiwanese people who grew up in MPK compared to the other regions.
As always anecdotyl - i just asked a huge swath of taiwanese friends if they know any taiwanese that grew up in MPK and got a zero too. If there really was an explosion of taiwanese in the 80s there ought to be a few poking out within the greater LA taiwanese american community.
The Taiwanese with families probably moved out to Hacienda Heights in the late 1970s when that community burst onto the scene with brand new spanking housing developments. Chinese in LA have always headed eastward as bigger and newer real estate developments came online and the Taiwanese were in the forefront, not just in the SGV but Rancho Cucamonga, Irvine and others too.
Or they just live in San Marino, South Pasadena…
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Old Country Cafe was in Alhambra. But there was Pearl’s, Nice Time and Good Shine in MPK, all long time Taiwanese places (along with a few others not coming to mind at the moment). Last I heard/checked Good Shine was still there.
Like the new(est) kid on the block, Eastvale.
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Eastvale at this point is just an extension of Chino Hills.
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offshoot of an original rowland location across from 99 ranch (been eating at that one since the early 90s)
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Yes
Hong Kong Kitchen will replace Monja Talker in Rosemead,
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From an April 10th review on yelp:
“Sad news, the original owners sold Good Shine. From what I gather the new owners said they moved to Shanghai. I first noticed this a few weeks ago when we placed an order but notice it wasn’t the same lady that usually took more order. When I tried the burger rice the recipe definitely changed dramatically. I notice it wasn’t as juicy as before. I’m hoping the new owners are working out the kinks.”
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My girlfriend burned her columella (skin that separates your nostrils) on SJB from Qiu before we left for Shanghai (NB: Forthcoming SJB report from SH as I work through my photos and summaries of the trip). I also did this at Kang Kang maybe about seven years ago, when the quality there was higher and more consistent.
I’m sure this has been covered before, and maybe it’s common knowledge, but it was illuminated for me from my recent trip. Two SJB schools: Partially leavened dough, bouncy chew, less soup, fried folds up, or unleavened dough, nominally bouncy chew, tons of soup, fried folds down. Kang Kang and Qiu are the latter. Shanghailander and Bund No. 8 are the former.
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Lion’s head meatballs at Bund No. 8 rule!
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No XLB at Shanghai Food & Groceries, but you can get ji cai (shepherd’s purse) big wontons frozen there and they are pretty excellent.
Also, and very Shanghainese: Pork & ji cai meatballs wrapped in tofu sheets. Excellent when simmered in water to release the filling’s flavor. You can get this at Qiu but I forget how they render the dish in English.
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I’m sorry to report these are a disappointment, and at $45 for 40 of them, they should not be. Since these were potstickers, I use the pan fry/add water/cover and steam method, and the skins were hard and tough even after 12 minutes of steaming. I was so desperate (and the Chinese Mom don’t waste food guilt so strong) I boiled them after to get the skin tender and it took another 10 more minutes to make the skin palatably edible. Tried again this past weekend with boiling them right from the start and they were still too hard. Kinda bummed I bought 2 bags. Will try steaming them next time and see if that improves. The filling tasted great, but I suspect the dumpling was left out too long before freezing or perhaps it was freezer burn.
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Sorry to hear that 
Sounds like something went wrong somewhere.
Just as another datapoint, I really liked the frozen XLB I got earlier (not potstickers) but can totally see how it could be a brittle or variable product – I just got mine in a thin ziploc bag. Lot of ways things could go wrong, and hard to tell at the time of purchase.
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https://littlepanfriedbun.com/ next to USC has this style of SJB and we thought it was worthy. Great option if you’re in the neighborhood, it’s a really small primarily takeout place that cooks them fresh to order. Haven’t been to Kang Kang or Qiu so can’t weigh in on the comparison. Maybe get it as a snack to eat while you wait in line for Holbox 
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Dang… I had hope!!
This behavior sounds to me like freezer burn? This tragedy sounds exactly like the last time I bought a bag of Wei Chuan frozen dumplings. I am now a Twin Marquis “Gyoza” devotee.
I hope the photo below lifts your spirits a bit. This was just on the road somewhere in Shanghai. I absolve you of your guilt, though I am not your mom.
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