Apologies, secretasianman. I usually try to check who mentioned a particular restaurant and credit them, but when I posted about Noodle Palace, I was severely under the weather, and probably shouldn’t have even been typing. As soon as you posted, I recalled your mention of the connection to Lao Xi. Interestingly, I don’t see the oat noodles on their menu, though I was so ill, I might have missed the Mandarin characters. I was struggling enough with English 
. As far as Shanxi-style, JTYH seems utterly forgotten and there’s also New Mandarin Noodle House in Temple City, which also used to have the oat noodles. The relatively short-lived Shanxi Noodle House in City of Industry had several different Shanxi items, and wanted to have even more, but the manager told me they couldn’t get enough chefs from Shanxi that knew the dishes.
Jin Hai Pie House is literally the replacement for Beijing Pie House, but many have reported that it isn’t the same. And there has been no replacing BPH’s amazing radish pie or wild green pies. Those things were fantastic. The radish was like a flaky fish.
One last thing here. On Chinese restaurants offering items from multiple regions, it’s nothing new, but far more common now. It used to be one could stumble across a little hole-in-the-wall that was predominantly one region, but might feature a few items from another region or even very hyper-local municipal items. Usually a query about this would be met with a reply that the chef was from that region/city.
Now, it seems like most places have to have at least some of the omnipresent Sichuan items, or XLB. Clarissa Wei and I both predicted a shift to more pan-Chinese menus years ago. I’d say you could look it up, but since that was on CH, you can’t. The other thing we both predicted was a shift further and further east. While there’s more in Chino Hills all the time, the scene hasn’t quite shifted fully from Alhambra and Monterey Park to Eastvale…but there’s still time for it to get there
Those xian bings were so good.
I don’t understand why they closed down I thought they were one of the heavy hitters in SGV.
Who would say has the best knife cut noodles in SGV? Is it still JTYH?
No, it’s not new, but it feels subjectively different (at least to me). I think that, back in the day, such a menu would be largely stereotypical “Chinese” dishes from a mom-and-pop restaurant, but you might see a few regional specialties that were, as you mentioned, b/c of the chef’s personal connection to the region. Offering the stereotypical menu seemed like a matter of survival
A dim sum place (which can already feel large and impersonal to me) is already presenting itself as a regional specialty and experience, and one of my HK friends used to HATE dumplings and XLB. So, in my mind, it’s like, “Of all the other regional specialties to bring into dim sum, why XLB?” And the answer, of course, is b/c it makes $ b/c people want them. And there’s nothing wrong w/ that, even for a big, impersonal restaurant. But it just feels more crass and less about “actual” survival. But, again, JMHO.
Oh, gawd, all I heard growing up (mainly from classmates) was “Xiao [Hsiao?] Mei, Xiao Mei, Xiao Mei.” Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. I was sick of it b/f I even ate myself. 
I personally always wanted A&J.
The main reason our family went to the area near Xiao Mei was for Tokyo Lobby. Which I also didn’t love. But I miss the photo-album menu. Heh.
Yes, according to the Mama Lu website
JTYH is still great for mao er (cat’s ear), but I like Northern Cafe for all the rest of the starchy Chinese goodness (but just the Monterey Park location)…
i expect new restaurants to reflect the change in immigrant demographics which influences both supply and demand. an in-depth look is beyond the scope of a board like this, but an expectation of more authentic pan-chinese establishments seems reasonable to me. and they’ll be where the clientele will be located. and with all that conspicuous consumption that was going on in the ESGV before the pandemic likely to revive, it makes sense that restaurants will follow.
i remember them opening as dao xiao 30 years ago on valley next to that appliance store. i’m pretty sure that their actual license still refers to that original name (translated to heavy noodling), but the name of the plaza has become the defacto name of the place. it’s been ages since i’ve eaten there, but what i recall was that everything made with dough - noodles (dao xiao or mao er duo), dumplings, etc. - all had the same rustic chewy texture - and thickness, in a way i found kinda pedantic; i wouldn’t expect fettuccine and orecchiette to have the same texture/mouth feel.
oh god, coming from NE ohio, tokyo lobby was my introduction to japanese food. once someone pilfered a piece of california roll from the display at the cashier. when i pointed this out, she exclaimed: “that was made 3 days ago!”. as my palate became more refined, i moved on, but i confess to having fond memories of the place from a cheap toisan viewpoint; i typically took the leftovers to work the next day adding a few pieces of broccoli and nuked it for lunch.
my take on the typical chinese hole in the wall establishment is similar - not trained chefs, but competent enough at their own regional cuisines, so that cross-pollination was ‘wrong’ not just aesthetically, but also from a culinary standpoint.
XLB are considered reasonably exotic, so seeing them offered at dim sum wasn’t too surprising - but i’d be curious to see who actually ordered them. i certainly never did.
that place has become my replacement for liang’s. but i’d go back to liang’s if they ever reopened.
The knife cut noodles that comes with their big plate chicken is always magical.
Recently had a great knife cut noodle dish at Noodle Art. This was their eggplant with minced meat. It was insanely pungent with garlic. We ate every last bit of this…
Are the West LA locations at all related to MP? The menus are totally diff from the MP location.
Just a wild guess but I think Beijing Pie House was a victim of poor management. I remember at the peak of their success they opened up a branch in Rowland Heights and it immediately flopped. Then they closed in the pandemic and when businesses slowly came back, they gave wildly shifting targets for reopening their locations. I remember going to the Alhambra store when it supposedly reopened and saw people working inside, but one lady looked back at me and shook her head. And they never did reopen.
I suspect each Northern Cafe is different. I have no clue about ownership/franchising structures at all in this case. But I suspect each operator would be too cheap to lawyer up, even if there is copycatting. This is especially so since each NC location seems to be doing well. #LiveAndLetLive
How did Liang mama go from Taiwanese military cuisine to Shaanxi? That was pretty interesting
Treason! lolol
ALERT ALERT
Longo seafood is running an insane deal
$29/lb king crab
$9/lb lobster
$9/b dungie crab
not sure how much longer they are doing it. Would hurry over
What did you end up ordering?
I was following along on your insta live and was sad that no dishes were visible only bottles of wine lol
Concur with chandavkl that Beijing Pie House must’ve been mismanagement. The Monterey Park location was always busy, and did bustling takeout. For that matter, I made a few visits to the Four Seasons Plaza location in City of Industry, and while not as busy as MPK, it was still pretty busy. The only comparable puzzler was Guppy House. Place was always packed, with waitlists on weekends, in Rowland Heights, same for the Temple City location, and yet, after a quick expansion - which likely was too much, too soon - they rapidly disappeared, despite being around for years in RH and Cerritos.
The chain collapsed, leaving independent operators to go their own way. The Monterey Park location had an operator and chef from Henan. No donkey burgers, but that was the reason for the lamb forward regional menu.
Thank you for the background info.
LOL Guppy House appealed to the young AzN crowd. The food and drinks was meh. I didnt get it either.
Do you know what happen to the Taiwanese beer houses, Indian and Jurassic? I am thinking that the Taiwanese Doc Brown owner at Indian retired?