Funny. My mom can’t cook at all. Her cooking goal is to make sure that the food is nuked and 150% well done. Taste is of no importance to her. 
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My mom was so proud when she realized she could cook everything 50% faster by removing 75% of the taste.
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I couldn’t swipe Mom’s copy of Pei Mei’s Cookbook, so I spent 4 years looking at garage sales before I finally found and bought my own copy. But then, much to my chagrin, I found that all the handwritten notes dotting the blank columns in her copy were absent in mine.
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Hi @ipsedixit,
Ah I see! Your’e so lucky to have a mom that can make awesome versions of these dishes we’ve tried at Cindy’s Kitchen. 
You should tell your mom to open a restaurant! 
Clearly @attran99 you should go with @Chowseeker1999’s description. Apparently, I have blocked out even the memory of the dish. 
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Hi @TheCookie,
Ah, sorry you didn’t like the Tendon Skewer; I guided you wrong! 
I don’t even know how i got used to the taste, but now I love Tendon. 
But yah, I think the Beef Noodle Soup version might be more approachable if you get a chance. 
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No babe, you didn’t steer me in the wrong direction. Your love of the the dish made me want to try it. The description you just wrote for @attran99 almost makes me want to try it again, lol.
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I knew I forgot something: For some reason I can’t find pictures for 2 more offerings we tried from Cindy’s Kitchen’s Chilled Appetizers case, but here are the notes for them:
Duck Gizzard with Green Onions:
This doesn’t seem to be very common, with Cindy’s Kitchen’s Duck Gizzard being cooked through, then sliced and chilled. There’s a firm meatiness, a noticeable chewiness, but it’s not off-putting (not like overcooked / bad Octopus or something). It was also well seasoned.
Pork Stomach with Pickled Vegetables (Suan Tsai):
Woo! Calling all Buche Taco fans: Here we have Chef Ling’s version of Marinated Pork Stomach, slow cooked to perfection. It’s also smoky, tender, and the little bursts of tart from the Pickled Vegetables (Suan Tsai) make it a pleasing combination. This was quite tasty.
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Found myself in need of dinner tonight and hopped up the hill. It was a half hour until closing and there were about 4-5 cars in the lot…and all the other businesses were closed.
After a hot day where I found myself out and about running school errands for kids, the idea of the items in the cold counter was really appealing. We got the cucumbers, bean curd, pickled bamboo, and the beef tendon. They were a delightfully perfect way to start a meal. Cool, refreshing, crisp textures, great flavors…we loved them. I had had the majority of these items before on previous visits, but the tendon was new to me. I don’t think I like tendon cold…I miss the melty gelatinous feel. It tasted good, but wasn’t the texture I love.
We also ordered the pork & leek dumplings, the pork and mushroom rice, and the famous noodles…it was too hot to go for the beef & tendon soup. I love how you can taste and feel that the dumplings are handmade. The wrappers have this lovely texture that’s thick and chewy where the pleats are folded, and just tender on the other side…I like the pork, leek & shrimp filling more than the pork & leek, though. The pork & mushroom rice (I think) is the highlight of meal…even though I love the noodles. There was so much flavor in the sauce, and the tea egg was really infused with flavor…I could taste it in the yolk. It reminded me of the thit kho trung dish my Mom makes where the pork belly chunks are braised in a broth with hard-boiled eggs…and I always liked the dish more days later when the eggs would absorb more of the broth they sat in. And the noodles are always a good choice…perfectly cooked noodles with a great sauce and crunch from the vegetables. While I love noodles way more than rice, I think the rice edged out the noodles as my favorite dish of the night.
Thanks always for the great recon, @Chowseeker1999!
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I made a visit.
Small plaza on Colima just pass the Twin Pines Mall where some Libyan terrorist fuks shot up my boy Doc Brown.
The small dishes are a must. This seaweed and bean sprouts was absolutely perfect. A nice of balance of sweet and vinegar. There is quite a selection here.
The Beef Noodle Soup with half tendon and half meat.
Of course I am going to compare to my Grandmas!! It’s beefy and savory with a warmth from a little spice. It’s a pretty good broth, but my Grandmas broth is more complex. To me this broth is missing a hint of anise, that little bit of sweetness needed to balance out the beef and spice. I asked for wide noodles in Mandarin, but in comparison with my Grandmas handmade, these are not really wide to my standards.
Don’t be shy with the pickled veg btw. You want a little sour in your Beef Noodles.
Nothing beats my Grandma but this was a pretty solid bowl.
Oh the meat and tendon were cooked to absolute perfection!!! Perhaps some of the best. I took a close upshot up there to show you.
Pork, Leek, and Shrimp Dumplings.
They come in a dozen. These are well made and handmade!!
Check it out! They got a frozen section to buy some for home.
Homemade dumplings, whether it’s at a store or underground word of mouth is the way to go. You will never go back to the frozen section at 99.
Went back front for some more goodies. The potato they threw in for free because not much was left, a nice gesture. The marinated egg was textbook solid.
Marinated eggs make for a nice snack. Do 7-11’s and convenience stores in Taiwan sell these eggs?
My Canto Gramps loved white snow fungus with dates and goji.
This was a solid visit and I’ll be back to try the Lu Rou Fan. Thanks @Chowseeker1999
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Hi @attran99,
Yay! So glad you liked Cindy’s Kitchen, and yes! We love the Pork, Leek & Shrimp Handmade Dumplings the most, there’s so much flavor there.
And so happy you liked the Pork & Mushroom Rice! I’m seriously getting hungry right now thinking about it. 
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Hi @JeetKuneBao,
Nice report and pics. You’re so lucky to have a homemade Beef Noodle Soup from your grandma growing up! It sounds wonderful; good to know Cindy’s Kitchen was solid at least compared to what you had at home.
I love the Stewed Beef and Tendon!
And those Handmade Dumplings. 
I hope you get a chance to try the Pork & Mushroom Rice next time.
I just had this last week at Aburiya Raku - it has great flavor and a very tender but gelatinous texture. I didn’t grow up eating tendon, but I found that I really liked it once I first had it in noodle dish at Simpang Asia - which I don’t think they serve anymore. Chewy or gelatinous - if it’s flavorful, I enjoy.
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Glad to see this spot getting love. Been going for what feels like 2/3rd of my life and back when it only had 3 cooked items on the menu. Our freezers were always stocked with their stuff.
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Dropped by recently for a quick lunch. Got the bamboo shoots and pork-mushroom rice. Both are good I just wish the rice had more of that pork juices from the pot.
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I should have!
In Chinese we have a term that roughly translates as “down rice”. Which usually means a dish with a delicious sauce that you pour over your bowl of rice
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Nice! You’ll have to teach me how to say that! LOL. I’ll try it next time I’m at Cindy’s.
下飯菜 (pronounced SHA FAN TSAI) = casual dishes prepared to accompany a bowl of rice.
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