my personal preference for carnitas, cuerito, and buche is carnitas el momo, but for tortillas, los cinco puntos is much better
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I grew up eating the Blumâs and Yasukochiâs Sweet Stop versions on special occasions in SF and they were both much tastier imho than Valerie Confectionsâ version.
Iâm right around the corner from Zhengyalov. Is this worth breaking keto for?
itâs solid for a quick snack but donât expect it to blow your mind
Pearl River Deli
I was excited to try @JLeeâs latest two-week pop-up at the former bao haus next to howlinâ rayâs. Unfortunately this was not @JLeeâs best effort. i believe this was his first day so hopefully he can turn things around.
ooe
char siu scramble sando, pineapple bun
this was pretty unique, i never had anything like this before. reminded me of a char siu bao with the addition of scrambled eggs. highlight.
char siu
nicely flavored and tender char siu that was on the lean side.
soy sauce chicken
well cooked chicken but didnât have much soy sauce flavor at all.
typhoon shelter shrimp
shrimp were nice and crispy but again not much flavor. not sure the ginger scallion sauce works with this.
the biggest disappointment was the rice in all three dishes, it was quite possibly the worst iâve ever had. it was wet, gummy, mushy and just way overcooked. it almost had the consistency of a mochi. it was inedible. next time iâll have to bring my own rice cooker again. the egg noodles that i tried werenât much better.
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here are a few things to note for constructive criticism:
- from ordering to getting food, it took over 30 mins.
- i liked the marinate with a good balance of sweet and savory notes. the char siu itself had a hint of smoke but was very lean and quite dry. The char siu can also use additional glaze when it was served.
- chicken flesh was moist enough but very bland while the skin, though flavorful, can ideally be more elastic and chewy like that of ming keeâs
- noodz were very clumpy like that of @PorkyBellyâs. perhaps they werenât stirred vigorously while they were cooking?
zhong
this was fine and a classic comforting dish
char siu
soy sauce chicken
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Guys, shouldnât you PM and try again to see if the food improves? This is seriously harsh to be so public after one try.
Iâm sorry, but @JLee is our friend and a good contributor, and constructive criticism neednât be so public the first time around. Iâm a little disappointed in you guys.
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hi @Bookwich,
ftc is a forum for sharing food reports whether itâs good or bad. if we only make positive posts and cover up shortcomings, the board wouldnât be of much use. making exceptions for board members wouldnât be fair to other establishments iâve visited only once either. itâs also not as if i donât support @JLee either since this is the second time i attended one of his pop ups.
i simply stated what i liked and disliked and i suspect thatâs what chefs like to hear.
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Itâs fine, honestly I know the food could have been better and was a bit inconsistent. I was open to the public and thus I should be open to public criticisms since they were paying customers and were not compensated or received special treatment in any way.
I am disappointed with how the day has gone and I make no excuses and honestly its not the harshest criticisms Iâve ever received, they are fair and I donât dispute what they said. I donât take it personally but it does suck to hear no matter the situation.
Just to state, it has been a bit of a hectic few days for me since I had already committed to a private catering the night before but the owner of Far East Plaza kind of threw this space on me on short notice which doesnât help that Baohaus left their space in a dirty state (I wonder how they maintained an A rating on their health code) so half the time Iâve been scrubbing down their leftover equipment, many of which was very abused (such as the rice cooker, which I agree I will be bringing my own rice cooking too). Again, not making any excuses I know what I need to do better and I do take criticisms from this board seriously as I know you people are experienced diners and know whats good so hopefully I can do better to warrant a return visit. Iâll be taking the day off tomorrow to rework some dishes and the process and hope I can live up to my own expectations. In the future I encourage anyone to let me know what they think I can improve on whether publicly or privately.
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keep up the hard work @JLee
looking forward to more of your pop ups. out of curiosity, which cut of pork do you use for your char siu? and how did you cook your chicken? thanks!
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Well said @JLee. I know how talented you are when you were doing side chick and I wonât let this stop me from supporting your future pop-ups.
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Bento Box from Hayato. Outstanding.
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for pork I was using what is referred to as collar butt, the portion of the pork butt that is closer to the collar. It tends to be nicely marbled but there are lean parts to it. I will have to do better to separate the lean parts and find a better use for them or offer an option for the 1% of people who may actually prefer leaner pork.
Chicken is just slow poached in the soy braise
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This was a big weekend of eating for me. 
Canât recall if someone had posted a downhill alert for GuYi in Brentwood? Iâve only tried it once before, and I donât recall if that was its peak? At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed it last Fri. Spicing is not super hot or numbing compared to SGV places and, truth be told, Iâm fine w/ that. I find some Szechuan places kind of gross, if itâs too hot (and not b/c of the spiciness itself, but more b/c of the bitter/floral aftertaste). Thereâs refinement here, a bit less oil, and I thought the fish and pork were either fresher (or perhaps just better cooked) or had more meat that what Iâm accustomed to vs. SGV places (not that Iâve been to many). TBH, separate and apart from geographic proximity, I think I prefer to eat at GuYi. Typhoon fried pork was particularly addicting.
Yes, itâs pricey. But you can taste the difference, IMHO. And the portions ainât small.
Service was slow⌠Not b/c the servers werenât working hard (they clearly were), but the places was full (and I donât think they had many people working).
Restaurant does (partial) validation for the garage valet.
Scottish night for Lucques Sunday supper. Havenât been to Lucques often (this is my 3rd or 4th visit?), and the place can be kind of dull, even though the quality of the food and cooking is good. This Sundayâs meal was excellent. Still nothing you would consider innovative, but there was a bit more vibrancy than Iâve experienced before.
Haggis HUGE and delicious. Salmon was a bit under seasoned, IMO, but was cooked wonderfully (still a bit rawish in the center). Cake was, as the server put it, a less dense (and more moist) version of fruit cake w/ more citrus flavor. @SpockSpork and I really enjoyed the first wine of the pairing.
And, yes, there was a bag piper! Very fun.
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I like GuYi but not the no booze policy
Lunasia (Cerritos)
Visited the newest location for dim sum because I could hop on their waitlist while at home via Yelp. We went through and ordered a bunch of stuffâŚprobably more than we should haveâŚbut I wanted to try a bunch of items and I knew, at worse, we could just take it home.
Overall, itâs okay. Not the best dim sum, but not the worst, either. Itâs only a winner in that I can hop in line and stroll over when Iâm ready.
The har gow wrapper was thicker than Iâm used to. The siu mai were also larger than I expected. I do like that the items were seasoned enough so that I didnât need extra sauce. The lotus sticky rice wrapping also included parchment paperâŚwhich Iâm not a fan of because it stops the rice from picking up the extra aroma. The rice noodles with BBQ pork filling were interesting. Coming off an illness, I really wanted some greens and their cai lan with ginger was quite nice.
I was able to take home some of the egg tarts and reheat them in my toaster oven for laterâŚand those reheated well.
Service was impressive. Plates and steamer baskets were dropped off and picked up quickly. It was easy to flag down a server if we needed anything.
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Only somewhat related, but what kind of alcohol do you like w/ Szechuan food? The flavors are so strong that Iâm wondering what would pair well (I donât really drink, but @SpockSpork might be interested for when we get the food to-go).
The yogurt, BTW, was fantastic b/c it TOTALLY cleared up any funny aftertaste. 
Beer is the best for me with Szechuan food.
Whisky on ice, or with a little water, to sip is OK too, but beer is my go to.
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SpockSpork bears a striking resemblance to ipsedixit ;-D
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