Traditional Chinese Breakfast
Sunday, August 27, 2006 11:05Before I go on hiatus yet again, I am pleased to share a write-up on finding traditional (for my family anyway) Chinese breakfast in L.A. again. When I was growing up, I think we went once a week around the corner and picked one of the many cheap eats locations that served a hot bowl of soybean milk, deep fried dough sticks, and various types of Chinese “pancakes” for breakfast. This definitely was not a common thing to find once I moved to the U.S. Years ago, my mom and I found a little Chinese cafe that did make such foods. They were so successful that they sold the business and disappeared. The new owners changed the menu, however, and we were without our traditional breakfast again. Last week, we found that the original owners, after a 3-year break, have opened up a new establishment called Noodle House. Guess what they serve in addition to noodles?
Everyone who works there are happy to push their favorites from the menu if you’re at a loss as to what to order. We knew exactly what we wanted to start off with - a nice bowl of piping hot soy milk and some onion/scallion pancakes. While I have to admit as much as I enjoyed the onion pancakes, they are really no different from most Chinese restaurants. They are nice and crispy, filled with green onions, and totally hit the spot. The soymilk, however, is a bit unique. It doesn’t taste like the store-bought Silk at the grocery store or the Chinese brand of soymilk from the Asian markets. Noodle House actually makes their own! It was thicker than regular store-bought soy milk. One of the other things I loved doing when I was growing up was adjusting the sweetness of my soymilk on my own by dumping in as much sugar as I wanted to. As you can tell, it really doesn’t take much to make me happy.
One of our old favorites by the chef here is the “leek box.” Basically, imagine a little calzone filled with a lot of leek and a little bit of chopped glass noodles. It has a crispy and fairly thin shell (compared to calzones anyway), but it really holds all the leek together for big bites. I still recommend having a plate directly under the leek box as you are biting into it because things can still get messy. If you’re a fan of leek though, I promise this dish is worth any mess. The leek box does not look like a lot of food, but it can be fairly filling, so also be careful about ordering too much food. Last bit of warning when ordering a leek box… Seriously, after you eat half of this, don’t plan on kissing anyone without downing a tinful of Altoids.
My favorite part of the meal, however, is when the plate of pan fried buns were served. The dough is soft and gooey, the pork filling juicy and flavorful, and the bottom of the buns are beautifully grilled to a golden brown. You will notice from the photo that the buns are plated upside down. I really appreciate this because if plated right side up, the bottom of the buns will create steam with the plate and become soggy.
Overall, I had a good experience at Noodle House. It has only been around for a few months, but if their lunch and dinner entrees are as good as their breakfast dishes, then I expect to see them around when I go back in December.
Noodle House
46 W. Las Tunas Drive
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 821-2088 and (626) 821-0668
Hours:
Closed Mondays
Tues-Thurs: 10am-9pm
Fri-Sun: 7am-9pm
By Pauline (see more of her posts).
kev says:
August 27th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
Yes… I jones for the chinese breakfast on the weekends too. This so much lighter than dim sum. There’s a little place in Cerritos called Canaan Cuisine which I fancy and serves the same stuff. I don’t know how it works out but the bottle of soybean milk at the store is more expensive than the soybean milk at this restaurant.
Eileen says:
August 27th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
When I have Chinese breakfast, I always have the egg scallion pancakes and the sticky rice ball (not really a ball, more like a tube). Yum!
Pauline says:
August 29th, 2006 at 8:59 am
Kev - I’ll have to give Canaan Cuisine a shot the next time I’m in Cerritos. I imagine restaurant soy milk is cheaper than store bought because the actual cost of production is minimal. With the store bought ones, the cost of equipment, amount of ingredients, packaging, delivery, etc. it becomes more expensive.
Eileen - I agree on the egg scallion pancakes. Noodle House also has them on the menu!
char says:
August 29th, 2006 at 10:58 am
pauline, i love your posts! you definitely know what good chinese food is all about=) keep them coming!!
Pauline says:
August 30th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Thanks, Char! My next Chinese restaurant review will be in December. Stay tuned!
Charlie says:
August 31st, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Pauline,
How fascinating!! Great insight into something I never knw existed. The pix definitely made my mouth water and the info regarding the upside down plating to avoid steam was very insightful. Keep these jewels coming.
Pauline says:
September 2nd, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Thanks for reading, Charlie! I appreciate the compliment. :)
Jonah says:
September 3rd, 2006 at 7:45 am
Yes, we are lucky to have Pauline for brief spurts in between her trips to the frozen tundra!
kat says:
September 3rd, 2006 at 3:54 pm
I was just there yesterday. The pan fried buns were delicious and they also have fresh hand made noodles too!
Pauline says:
September 4th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Kat -
Glad you enjoyed the buns, too!!! Would you please give more details about the noodles? I didn’t get the chance to try them and am curious about what you thought. Thanks!
Kat says:
September 6th, 2006 at 10:26 am
I tried the beef stew noodles. The soup was good because it was full of flavor and a little spicy. Beef was cooked perfectly tender. Noodles were fresh and chewy but too wide for my preference. I’m guessing they’re about quarter inch wide but that’s expected for handmade noodles since I think they cut it themselves. Also, tried the pork chop rice and loved it - great flavor and pork wasn’t too breaded or dry like a lot of other places.
Pauline says:
September 9th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Thanks for the update, Kat! I look forward to trying a bowl of their noodles now!
Kat says:
November 6th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Omg, the place was so crowded this weekend even though it was way past lunch time (2pm-ish). Usually there are only a few occupied tables. I found out the reason is probably because Jonathan Gold just wrote about this place a couple of days ago -http://www.laweekly.com/eat+drink/counter-intelligence/when-the-bao-breaks/14890/
You all better go before this restaurant becomes a “one hour wait” place like Din Tai Fung.
Pauline says:
November 6th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
Ha! I beat Jonathan Gold to a place, and I think my photos are better than his (matter of opinion).
MeltingWok says:
December 30th, 2006 at 9:56 am
Hi Pauline, those pan fried buns looks great !!have you tried 10053 Dumpling House in El Monte ? They got rock cod fish balls soups, light and really good for breakfast, a whole list of home made dumplings (better than din dai fung) - luv their sea cucumber, crab & pork dumplings, & most of all, their beef stew with tendon spicy noodle soup is absolutely fab. (served with chopped sour mustard veges )
Pauline says:
December 30th, 2006 at 5:32 pm
Melting Wok -
Yes, I’ve been to Dumpling 10053. In fact, here is a link to my post on dining there:
http://la.foodblogging.com/2005/06/19/dumplings-showdown/
little ant says:
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:02 am
I’m Chinese,I love Chinese breakfast very much and I wish that people from all over the world can come to China to enjoy our unique food
Dennis says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Hi Pauline, I came across your post as I was casually researching traditional Chinese Breakfast.
I really miss the Fried Pork Buns I’ve had in Shanghai! I just found out they’re called Sheng Jian Bao (or Sheng Jian Mantou) and am ecstatic that I could put a name to the fond memory of the yummy meal I had then. I just need to find a place down here in San Diego that serves them.
Wish me luck and thanks!
Pauline says:
August 26th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Dennis - Thanks for checking us out!
I don’t know if it’s still around, but Shanghai City in San Diego used to be pretty good. If I recall correctly, they didn’t have Sheng Jian Bao, but they had some decent Xiao Long Bao. Not the same, I know, but I’m not too familiar with the San Diego scene.
Good luck in finding great Chinese food! :)