la.foodblogging

I am about to break one of my personal foodblogging rules. With so many great restaurants in L.A., I have always refused to redo a restaurant review. I might go back and add notes in the comments section, but once I post something, that’s it… until now.

A little over a year ago, I posted on Jazz Cat Cafe, which I really enjoyed. Not too long after, Jazz Cat got rid of the cooking your own hot pot yourself. The restaurant staff claims there were ventilation issues, which might be true, but I suspect the more likely story is someone probably got burned. After that the restaurant brought made-to-order pot to tables, which was a lot less fun, and some foods got overcooked from sitting in the broth for a while. Well, it turns out Jazz Cat was just biding some time until they can get the cooking for yourself hot pots going again, and last month, the restaurant opened a new location just for this experience. Last night I got to check out the new place, and despite a few changes, Jazz Cat is a happening place again.

First of all, for anyone who went to the old cafe, you know how crowded it was and how long the wait was. It’s even worse at the new location. Every seat in the restaurant now has an electric stove. There is one table for a party of two, one for a party of three, and the rest are all for parties of four. I think the seating capacity is about forty maximum. Customers tend to spend 1-2 hours to dine here. If you do the math, you can figure out pretty quickly there’s a good waiting period for a table. The friend I was with was particularly hungry, so we ran across the street to the Hawaiian supermarket, walked around, and bought some of the warm red bean paste cakes before heading back to Jazz Cat. By the time we got back, only one party got seated. Some of the other patrons were staring at my friend enjoying his pre-dinner snack with envy as their stomachs growled. My friend and I waited for a good hour before we got seated, and that’s only because while we were waiting, we met a couple other people waiting for a table who got seated before us and offered to share their table with us. We wound up having a fun time chatting and dining together, which goes to show that sometimes, it can turn out to be a great idea to share tables with people you just meet.

Looking at the menu, most of the favorite soups from the original cafe made it over to the new Jazz Cat, as well as some new ones. One thing they no longer serve is the Hokkaido milk tea that I was so fond of. Another change I was disappointed about was Jazz Cat no longer offers shrimp as an option to throw into the hot pot. While the flammable jelly was a bit of a novelty at the previous location, I much prefer the electric stove. The pot is no longer too high above a comfortable reach, I wasn’t get burned every time a server walked by, and I didn’t have to worry about anyone accidentally catching their napkin on fire. With the electric stove, we could also adjust the temperature ourselves, definitely a nice convenience. Some things that I’m glad hasn’t changed include the tasty broths Jazz Cat offers. There is also the fact that the servers will bring you more soup if you have more items to cook. Of course, you can take home whatever you didn’t finish as long as it’s been cooked.

All in all, I think this new Jazz Cat is an improvement over the previous one. There are some things that I miss, but nothing that’ll keep me from returning to Jazz Cat over and over again, especially with the cooler season approaching.

Jazz Cat
121 E. Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-5200

By Pauline (see more of her posts).