Ho Kee Cafe: Authentic Hong Kong Cafe Fare in San Gabriel

Always on the lookout for great, authentic Hong Kong food in LA, I was excited to find recently several of my favorite staple dishes and drinks at Ho Kee Cafe!

Like most fantastic food finds in the SGV, Ho Kee firmly focuses on their food vs. ambience, though the cozy space does have its own charming touches like roof-facades over main counter areas inspired by traditional temple architecture.

My favorite dish here is the revelatory Wonton Noodle Hong Kong Style ($8.95) - the best wonton noodle soup I've had in LA thus far.  I'll ask for you to kindly excuse the blatant use of foodporn vocabulary here, but the measure of a good wonton to me are the ration of filling to skin, and then the quality of both as indicated by texture and flavor.  And Ho Kee's is fantastic on all fronts: super fresh, robust, springy shrimp with nice clean snap is in perfect proportion to the supple, thin wonton skin that is skillfully crafted so that it does not fall apart on pickup. 

The chefs let the fresh juicy savory sweet flavors of the shrimp shine through, with just a touch of pepper to spice things up to just the perfect level.

Noodles are perfectly cooked so that they are not too chewy/ tough and not too soft, but perfectly springy and clean, comforting soaked in steaming hot clear broth.

The cafe fare is ordered a la carte and readily available.  But Ho Kee also offers a 'Private Kitchen Menu' of higher end dishes that typically requires advance order.  However, when possible they will make a few of the dishes from this menu available without that pre-planning.  I was lucky enough on the night of my first visit to be able to try from the Private Kitchen menu: Razor Clams ($43).  I haven't seen these on many menus around town, and was excited to see that the preparation is similar to what I had at famed Tung Po at Java Road market in Hong Kong.

The slender beauties are steamed in clear broth and topped with fried garlic and scallions for punches of flavor and texture contrast to the soft yet structured clam meat. Below the razor clams, a layer of glass noodles to soak up all the delicious juices and flavors.  Pretty pricey, and not something to be repeated often, but beautifully cooked.  This one is best ordered with a larger group to share, so that you can order other dishes as well to experience.

Back on the regular menu, I'm also a fan of the Two Kinds of Meat ($12.95) plate, where you can choose from among their housemade barbecue items.  I chose roast duck and char siu.  The duck had flavor intensity, and fantastic crispy skin with a pleasing layer of fat below for that perfect crisp juicy umami explosion in your mouth. The barbecue pork was great as well, but not as unforgettable as the duck. For those who are singular in their love of certain barbecue meats, you can order single types too, like the Roast Duck Plate ($9.95).

Lastly, what Hong Kong cafe with any pride would not also offer a great milk tea?  Ho Kee offers a very fragrant, silky creamy milk tea that I love, and also another Hong Kong iconic drink, "yin yang" or Milk Tea Coffee Mixed (Hot) ($2.95) on the menu. I liked the milk tea better.

Most diners around you will be speaking Cantonese, a good sign of authenticity of cuisine - the restaurant is attracting those who have roots in Hong Kong.  And indeed, when I eat here it feels like home.

On a 7 point scale:

Flavor - 6 bites  
Presentation - 5 bites
Originality - 5 bites
Ambience -  5 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $$ (2 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 100% 

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Ho Kee Cafe

533 S Del Mar Ave, San Gabriel, CA 91776
Ph:  626.766.1076

 

Website: hokeecafe.com  
Parking: in attached open air parking lot (limited spaces) or street parking


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Sweet Heart Dessert House: True Love for Hong Kong Style Desserts

Not one for over-commercialized holidays, even for Palentine's just for the sake of an alternative during this sometimes challenging day for singles, today for me is more about indulging in and celebrating all manners of sweets.  And a recent favorite that hopefully more people will get to know and frequent is Sweet Heart Dessert House in Rosemead.  The owners are originally from Hong Kong, and seeing that while there were plenty of desserts being served in the San Gabriel Valley, that there were not many cafes to be found that are dedicated to Hong Kong style desserts. So, major disclaimer here that I may be biased as I grew up with these dishes and like the owners have been yearning for more places to serve them truly Hong Kong style.

So, first things first, given the focus of Sweet Heart they of course could not go without serving the iconic / nostalgic snack: Hong Kong Egg Waffle ($4) - while you can find these at Tasty Garden and several other restaurants in the SGV, I find Sweet Heart's version to be a bit more substantial / weighty in a good way while the outer shell is still nicely grilled to a delicate golden brown crisp.

Sweet Heart then gets creative with the egg waffle and offers various fondues built around the item, like chocolate fondue with egg waffles and fruit.  Need to try these next time I'm back.

The item that really jumped out as something I have yet to see on any other menu in the SGV is:  Deep Fried Milk Custard ($5.50).  While the name is quite literal, its simplicity belies the instantly addictive deliciousness that await. Various cultures have their own versions of this.  But I associate it with Hong Kong as this was one of my favorite desserts as a kid, probably partly due to my fascination with how "Fried Fresh Milk" (the literal name in Cantonese) could possibly happen - milk is liquid!  How can it be fried?  And what culinary wizardry must happen to make it taste so amazing (even to someone who hated milk in liquid form)?!  Every bite is fragrant crisp crunch yielding to hot, silky pudding-like decadence inside - just the right amount of sweet to balance the slight savory of the outer shell.

Apparently, the trick is to actually use milk custard (milk thickened with cornstarch with sugar added) so that it doesn't liquefy too quickly during the deep fry process.  The custard is cooled, then cut into cubes, battered, then deep fried.

While everything will ever taste immeasurably better through the lens of nostalgia, Sweet Heart's version does a commendable job of measuring up to my childhood memories (the first time, on a subsequent visit the custard had not softened enough and was a bit chewy - so full disclosure that consistency may be an issue, though Sweet Heart has only been open less than a year and may just need to find their rhythm).

Sweet Heart also has many mango based sweet soup desserts with various fixings that in concept remind me of HK dessert dynasties like Hui Lau San and Honeymoon Dessert, a perfect mix of traditional Chinese ingredients like bird's nest, glutinous rice and grass jelly, and modern western ingredients like cold fruit and boba.

Sweet Heart's menu is more focused, and as a young small boutique business they have a ways to go to find the right variety on their menu, but the quality is already far and above other longer-standing / more popular hotspots (yes, I'm looking at you Phoenix Desserts, which no, I'm not the biggest fan of).  The Mango Pomelo Sago Sweet Soup in Ice Bowl ($8) is a great case in point: every element tastes fresh and is served with generosity - there are juicy cubes of mango in abundance, and the balance of mango puree to coconut cream is skillfully controlled for a pleasing, light airy yet creamy at the same time consistency.  The sago (tapioca) is also fresh tasting and perfectly soft yet still structured.

And, they take it to the next level by presenting the soup in an ice bowl - which not only makes for a fun visual but also helps keep the soup chilled.  One of my favorites in the SGV, and it's been fantastic every time.

So, if you're looking for an off-the-beaten-path place to take your SO, pals or family this Valentine's Day - I'd definitely recommend Sweet Heart Dessert House. They're conveniently open late, til midnight seven days a week!

Bonus tips:  In the same plaza, there is Noodle Boy, another favorite of mine for authentic, soul-soothing Hong Kong style wonton noodle soup, and a modern tea house in the back that I also love: Le Arbre.  They have a giant menu of various teas that you can add boba, pudding, and flavored jellies to.  My favorite is iced Osthmanthus Green Tea with Lychee Jelly. Note both Noodle Boy and Le Arbre are cash only, which is probably also why they are able to keep prices very affordable.  So, make your own progressive casual HK style meal adventure: dinner at Noodle Boy, dessert at Sweet Heart, then tea at Le Arbre!

Sweet Heart Dessert House on a 7 point scale:

Flavor - 6 bites  
Presentation - 6 bites
Originality - 6 bites
Ambience -  6 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $ (1 bite mark)
Probability of return visit - 100% 

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Sweet Heart Dessert House 

8522 E Valley Blvd.,  Unit 106, Rosemead, CA 91770
Ph: 626.280.1618

 

Facebook page: facebook.com/sweetheartdesserthouse  
Parking: free, in attached strip mall open air parking
  

Le Arbre Tea House

8508 E Valley Blvd., Unit 101, Rosemead, CA 91770
Ph: 626.307.8818


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Daw Yee Myanmar Cafe: Burmese in Monterey Park

"I eat faster than I write" has been my default mea culpa of late, usually accompanied by a helpless shrug.  So it is that I'm writing about a visit to Daw Yee Myanmar Café - back in June - now in September.  Better late than never?

The only time I'd ever tried Burmese food before this, was at Burma Superstar in San Francisco - but that was pre-blog, no Instagram, no post, so it didn't really happen, right?

In a less frequented part of Monterey Park, I'd expected Daw Yee to be a no frills hole in the wall - like many other restaurants that wear it's 'no decor' approach as a badge of honor vouching for its credibility and authenticity.  The space was indeed tiny, but obvious care had been taken to balance a modern, clean and cozy environment with nods to Burmese culture in the form of ornate, towering urns. The kind of space I love, as you see the pride the owners take in the space - minus the pretentiousness or pandering too often exhibited in higher concept western translations of ethnic food.

We started off, of course, with the signature Burmese dish: Tea Leaf Salad ($6.95) - the presentation on this one was beautiful, with it's collage of vibrant colors and varying textures.  It's made with Myanmar imported fermented tea leaves, tomatoes, roasted nuts, and fried garlic.  I have to say I loved this version much more than Lukshon's (knowing of course that the two are of completely different approaches) - it seems counterintuitive, but Daw Yee's version just seemed more...sophisticated...in its layering of textures and flavors.

Then there was the Myanmar Tofu ($5.50 for 6pcs) - a super simple but incredibly delicious dish of fresh tofu freshly made with chickpeas, and fried in the lightest of slabs to a golden brown crisp on the outside, and silky smooth inside.   

One that I didn't anticipate loving as much as I did was the Rice Salad ($5.95) made with jasmine rice in spicy tamarind sauce with fish cake.  It's kind of like cold fried rice, tinged with sweetness and hint of heat.  With a party of 5, I tried to grab as much as I could as subtly as I could without seeming like a manner-less hog - but really wanted to take the whole plate and shovel it into my mouth with chopsticks while I prop my legs up on the nearest chair for balance.  Nope, no decorum, at all.

Another signature Burmese / Daw Yee specialty is Kima Platha ($5.95) handmade pancakes stuffed with masala seasoned beef (you have the option of choosing chicken).  We couldn't scarf these fragrant little pancakes down fast enough!

Somebody else (clearly :P) ordered the Vegetables Sampler ($5.95) with cucumber, okra, cabbage, fresh mango, seasonal vegetables served with Balachaung (Burmese dried shrimp relish).  LOVED the relish - with the garlic, shallots, shrimp paste and chilies, it was an addictive party-for-your-tastebuds blast of bold flavors.  The veggies just served as canvas for the flavor-colorful dip.

You can't say you've had Burmese food until you've tried their national dish: Mohinga ($5.95) - rice noodles in catfish chowder.  Knowledgeable friends advised that Daw Yee's is not the best rendition of mohinga, but it's tasty nonetheless and since we were already there and two of us had never had Mohinga, we had to try it.  It was more of a soup than chowder, and delicious, but I think I kind of expected higher intensity - given the flavor-forward approach of the other dishes we'd had so far. 

We also tried the Fish Cake Curry ($6.95) which the menu describes as made with fishcakes, tomatoes and cilantro.  It was creamy, coconut-y, and more chowder-like than the mohinga, and drizzled with chili oil.  I liked this one more than the mohinga, actually. 

While waiting for dishes we had discovered that the elegant, gold-colored urns with elaborate embellishments that served as centerpiece to our table...

...actually opens up to reveal storage for toothpicks and pepper packets!  I found it amusing that such an ornate piece (albeit plastic) hid a treasure trove of such 'street' fare - to me that was an indication of a sense of humor about it all, that I loved.

Aside from the restaurant, Daw Yee also has a few shelves of Burmese groceries along one wall for those interested in 'souvenir snacks' or buying some of the spices or tea leaves to try your hand at recreating the cuisine at home.

All in all, a fun way to experience a small taste of the culture without travelling all the way across the world (just a half hour or so drive from mid-city LA!).  And super affordable as well - with every dish we tried under $10! 

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 5.5 bites
Originality - 5.5 bites
Ambience - 6 stars
Service - 5.5 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $ (1 bite mark)
Probability of return visit - 95%
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Daw Yee Myanmar Café
111 N Rural Dr
., Monterey Park, CA 91755
Ph: 626.573.8080
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Noodle Boy / Delicious Food Corner: When You're Sick and Weary...

Many, many moons ago, my family spent a few years in Canada. I remember the visual beauty of seasons: fluffy mops of maple trees burning brilliant against crisp blue skies; waking to our yard and street blanketed in pristine, glistening white - as if inside a snow globe that settled overnight. I remember tunneling through snowbanks shovelled off to the sides of our driveway, with my brother, making 'igloos', snowmen, snow angels.

What I can't remember was what it actually it felt like...those subzero temperatures. And sorry, Seasons lovers - for me that's an incredibly good thing. Having lived in California so long - being spoiled by year round comparatively great weather -  I can't imagine - no, I can't live anywhere else after this. (Well, except maybe the Maldives, if I finally win that lotto jackpot...).

Each February-ish though in LA, when temperatures do drop to the 40s and 50s, it already feels like death to me (hey, everything is relative...that's freezing compared to our otherwise endless summer). Everyone gets sick around this time, and somehow I always manage to dodge the bugs on the first few go arounds. Apparently my body likes to wait til the virus mutates and/or right before I need to travel, before I succumb to a superbug, for maximum trauma.

This year was no different - it hit me on third pass, and hard. Except that I've made some amazing foodie friends through this blog - who were able to steer me away from the canned soups and Jerry's Delis of the world...to sick food that truly heals body and soul, with tastes of home.

Noodle Boy, a recommendation from well travelled, super knowledgeable Hong Kong transplant miffyeats, was a no frills place in a strip mall in Rosemead, that is as authentic to a Hong Kong wonton noodle joint as you can get in LA. These places specialize in a few variations of their signature dish, and take pride in doing so.

Noodle Boy, as the name would suggest, knows noodles and they do it well. In terms of menu format, you can almost think of it as the Hong Kong-ese version of In-N-Out, with  straightforward offerings that riff on basically the same items in different combinations.

I went for the "Any 2 Combinations" Noodle Soup ($6) with Wontons and Fish Balls.  A hearty bowl with clear, soul-soothing, clean tasting broth, thin egg noodles the way I like 'em with my wontons.  It'd been a while since I had fish balls (no, not offal sea creature gonads, but more like savory 'cakes' made of ground up fish) - and Noodle Boy makes theirs with scallion and other deliciousness mixed in: very light, flavorful yet filling in large rectangular slabs versus the more traditional small spheres.  While I loved the fish balls, the wontons were the true standouts - you can definitely taste that the wrappers are fresh made, soft and pliable, with super fresh, snappy pieces of shrimp as filling - I felt better on contact with every bite and slurp of the contents of this bowl - and only wish I had stomach space for 3 more.  They also have the wider, flatter white ("fun") noodle option, as well as sides of veggies - which I may try next time, though I hear that nothing measures up to the quality of those wonton + egg noodles.

Delicious Food Corner was a recommendation from my Go To expert on all things SGV (and beyond), Sinosoul - when I heard that the Cantonese / Hong Kong-ese contingent tend to flock there for congee, I had to make a trip out to the SGV to check it out.  Yes, rice porridge is in theory an easy DIY - but when you're sick, and single, you just really don't want to have to do anything that requires any amount of work in the kitchen - and it's NOT easy to do congee RIGHT.  Really good congee takes hours to cook, and has a smooth, soothing consistency with evenly infused flavor.  Plus, I love abalone in congee, and that's not something I can easily get at markets outside of the SGV anyway. 

DFC has several different kinds of congee (including "Pig Offal" and one with pig kidney and liver, which as Cantonese/ Chinese people 'know', nourishes the corresponding organs in the eater).  I was torn between two classic favorites: Pork and Preserved Egg ($6.25) and Abalone and Chicken ($8.50).  Since it was only $2.25 more for the abalone, and I was in the mood for it anyway, I went for that one.  Loved every spoonful of this 'jook' - testament that sick food doesn't have to be bland and soul-crushingly boring.  Also, the abalone came in fairly sizeable slices, unlike some Ktown eateries that I love for its flavors but make their abalone portions barely detectable.

Aside from an extensive offering of congees, DFC also has a pretty big menu of Hong Kong style dishes including one of my favorite street foods growing up, curry fish balls!  Except that they serve it in a bowl, and you have the option of fish and/or squid balls!  Since this was a few weeks after Noodle Boy and I was just at the beginning of another bout of cold, but not yet full blown, and not spice averse - I got the combo bowl - the somewhat unfortunately translated Curry with Mixed Two Ball ($5.95).  These are more like savory cakes, as explained in the Noodle Boy report above, but in the traditional sphere shape, and dunked in curry sauce.  The balls were...for lack of better adjective...springy....But the texture of the sauce was a bit too grainy and starchy for me, and I would have liked to see the spice more pronounced - but for a nostalgic taste of home, in a generously portioned bowl, it put a smile on my face.

By the way, DFC also serves that mythical HK cold remedy: Hot Coke with lemon (and version with ginger too). No one knows how this works - I understand the bug fighting antioxidants in the lemon, and ginger's antiseptic properties, heat to soothe congestion, but the coke (coca cola)...? Not sure, maybe just to help kids drink it all down - but we always unquestioningly drank these as kids to help with colds.

The other thing I loved about these sick food places in SGV - and I may be biased / receive different treatment as a Cantonese speaker - the waitresses here sort of automatically transform into stand-in asian moms, caring enough to ask about my condition and helping me navigate the menu to find the type of congee/food that will best make me feel better, and sending me off with well wishes to get better soon.  For a transplant with my family all in other time zones / countries - it's definitely nice to experience the kindness of strangers embracing me 'family style' in the SGV.

I should also note for those who might be homesick / wondering where all the Cantonese people are in the SGV - at Noodle Boy / DFC both you will hear a comforting cacophony of Cantonese all around you - almost feels like you're in a neighborhood joint in HK (or warning to those who don't speak, it might be irritating).

In any case, the next time I'm feeling under the weather in LA, I have two new go-tos, that I know will help get me back to functional in no time!

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Noodle Boy
8518 E Valley Blvd Ste. #B108, Rosemead, CA 91770
Ph: 626.280.8963

Cash only

Parking: free in attached strip mall open air lot

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Delicious Food Corner
2327 S. Garfield Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91754
Ph: 323.726.0788
Website: deliciousfoodcorner.com
Cash only
Parking: free in attached open air lot
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