JJ Cafe - Monterey Park

JJ Cafe
447 W Garvey Ave # 102
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 280-3833
Type: Chinese food / restaurant
Map



Finally back staying in West Covina, in the San Gabriel Valley. The SGV isn't SGV without Monterey Park. I don't know too much about the city, but I do know there's a lot of Asian businesses-- specifically Chinese. For some reason, it seems like the Chinese areas have many restaurants that stay open til late night. I know Rowland Heights has some places, along with El Monte, Alhambra, and of course, Monterey Park. Maybe they know that the youth stay out late partying all the time and they wanna make sure they got somewhere to balance out their alcohol-filled stomachs.

JJ Cafe is one of these restaurants. They're open from 7am - 4am 7 days a week. I think it was a Thursday night when my friends and I decided to hit this place up. I've never been, so I wanted to try it. We aren't exactly the youth in this country (we're mostly in our mid twenties) but we ain't old either. Although most of JJ Cafe's late night customers I would presume, are party/club-goers, we just came from home hanging out, fixing my friend's car.

We got there at about 12 something at night, just before the after-club rush. If you don't want to deal with drunk, rowdy, and sometimes hostile fools, I'd suggest you come earlier than 12 midnight. The place wasn't packed, but there was a good amount of people there already. Maybe those guys got kicked out of the clubs or something. The restaurant is bright with somewhat modern design. The place has a "C" rating on their window. I don't really care. I'm hungry. And I don't usually care even if I wasn't.

Looking at their menu, it reminded me of Maxim Cafe's in Rowland Heights. Once I noticed the similarities, I already knew I was getting the fish porridge. Yeah, yeah. Say what you want. I know fish porridge isn't the coolest thing to order, but it's nice, simple, and filling. My friends were clowning on me once they heard me tell the waiter what I wanted. After everyone ordered their food we were served some free vegetable soup. I don't think I ate it all.

free soup is always cool even if it ain't great.


One of my friends ordered the Sizzling Seafood Udon ($8.00). She ordered that cuz she said it was technically Friday already and she couldn't eat meat. My other friends didn't go by that rule. The seafood udon came in a sizzling hot plate like the ones they have at Korean BBQ places. They gave a good amount of food. She said it was alright.

technically it's Friday, so sizzling seafood udon


Ah yes. My porridge came quickly. This one seemed a little smaller than the one at Maxim. What can you do? So I get to pouring the soy sauce and tasting, and pouring and tasting til it's perfect. I wouldn't say it's perfect at all. There was probably some ingredient that was different from this one, from Maxim's. Maxim's is better.

average fish porridge.


My other friends ordered some deep fried wontons. I think they liked it.

deep fried wontons


Most of my friends ordered the Mix Grill ($11.00). Maybe this is what most people in general order here. It just comes with all these meats. I'm guessing there's pork chops, steak, chicken, and bacon. along with steamed veggies. You can choose what sauce you want. I think there's mushroom sauce, some kind of garlic sauce, and I don't know the other one. My friends really liked it. One of the sauces tasted better though. I don't think it was the one with mushroom though.

Mix Grill plate. One way trip to Heart Attack with a stop-over in Obese City.


I would not go out of my way to go here from West Covina just to eat. For people who live around there, JJ Cafe might be a good spot, but I suspect there's a lot better places you can choose from when everything else is open. JJ Cafe does have very decent food for a place open til 4 in the morning. I'd go after a long night of wall-flowering at the local clubs any time.

China Garden - Irvine

China Garden
14825 Jeffrey Rd
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 653-9988
Type: Chinese restaurant / dim sum
Map

Still in the OC. My girl wanted some dim sum, and although I'm not a fan of it myself, I agreed. I told her to find one on the internet, and she found China Garden. We went during lunch time, so it was a little busy. Most of the tables were occupied, but we got seated next to the aquarium. I'm not talking about the happy-looking, decorated, well-lit aquariums. You know the one I'm talking about. The one where the water's not too clear. The crabs or lobsters or what have you, look like they might either be sleeping or dead. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little. It's just that I feel bad for them, even though I'll end up eating them later. They gotta just sit there and wait til it's their turn. Have mercy on your souls.

After feeling bad for a little, we start getting offers from the food cart ladies. Turnip cake was first. My girl mixed chili and soy sauce together which made the cake taste pretty good.

Turnip Cake


We also got some shrimp shumai and some other shrimp stuff. For me, it tasted like any other dim sum place I've been to.

shrimp shumai and other shrimp stuff



There was this thing that my girl asked the waiter for cuz we didn't see anybody with it. It's like a thick noodle wrapped around some shrimp... again. There was some light sauce it was surrounded in. This thing was okay.



Not being totally satisfied with the various shrimps we were ordering, we got the honey walnut shrimp order ($8.50). This one wasn't part of the dim sum carts. You gotta actually order it from your waiter. The shrimps were good sized, and had a little crunch to them. The sauce was just right. For the price, it was a decent deal.

Honey walnut shrimps


I think you might've been able to tell how I feel about this place just by reading this blog. I'm still not a fan of dim sum. I know it's because I don't eat meat-- just seafood. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with this place, but you might get tired of shrimp after a while if you ate like me. A lot of people go during the lunch hours, and I've read how many love going here. If you like dim sum, and you're in Irvine, you might wanna check this place out. As for me, I gave up shrimp for Lent.

Lucky Chances - Colma

Lucky Chances Casino - Colma Cafe?
1700 Hillside Blvd
Colma, CA 94014
(650) 758-2237
Website
Map



I ate here with my family on my last day of the Nor Cal trip. I thought West Covina had a lot of Filipinos. But Daly City and its surrounding cities may have So Cal beat. Where else are you gonna find a casino 10 minutes away with literally all the waitresses in the cafe being Filipino? ...other than the Philippines smart-ass.

We tried going here late at night before, but it was just too packed from clubbers and hungry gamblers. The place kind of smells funny. I think a lot of the gamblers in there haven't gone home to shower in a couple days. Makes you wanna eat doesn't it?

Actually, the food was not that bad for me. I read a lot of other people's reviews on Yelp and some said it's nasty. I didn't have complaints and neither did my family. My family who we visited go here late at night many times.

The menu here is mostly Filipino with a little bit of Chinese, American, and maybe Italian. Since it was breakfast time, most of us got breakfast dishes. We ordered the fish combo, kare kare (pronounced exactly as it's spelled) a kind of curry, tocino (pork), calamari, and other Filipino breakfast plates.

Fish w/ eggs and rice


kare kare


tocino


looks like tapa (beef)


The calamari was actually pretty good. I kept taking little pieces while I ate my own meal.

calamari


I really liked my meal. I got the peppered salt and spicy fish. It comes with some breaded fish and rice. It's really simple but the fish was really good. I think I ate it with some fish sauce which made it even saltier, but better.

peppered salt and spicy fish


All the meals cost about $7 - $9 so it's not exactly the cheapest Filipino food you can get. If I lived around here, I'd definitely make this place one of my regular late night spots.

Happy Family - Rowland Heights

Happy Family Vegetarian Cuisine
18425 E. Colima Rd., 2nd Floor
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
Tel: (626) 965-9923
Fax: (626) 965-9953
Type: Asian / Vegetarian / restaurant / food
Website
Map

located on the 2nd floor of the building




If you're vegetarian, and you live in the San Gabriel Valley, I hope you already know about Happy Family in Rowland Heights. If not, you'll thank me after you actually go and sit down and eat there. My friends told me about this place years ago, and now I'm passing it on to you guys.

Happy Family is located on the 2nd floor of some shopping plaza on Colima and Batson Ave. Sorry, I don't know the name of the plaza, but there's a Little Bean store in the same vicinity. It's a vegetarian restaurant with mostly Chinese dishes. They have plenty of imitation meat and seafood. They have lunch specials for nice prices for a vegetarian place.

When I went there, we ordered the Vege Deep Fry House Chicken ($5.25) lunch special. I always love ordering that cuz they give a good amount of the "chicken." I usually have leftovers-- and not cuz it's nasty.

vege deep fry house chicken lunch special


I think when you order the lunch specials, or maybe even if you order anything when you sit in the restuarant, they give you free soup. Can't complain about that.

free soup


We also ordered the hand roll ($1.75 each) just to try it. It's good and cheap enough for me to get the next time I come here.

Hand Roll


The Mongolian Beef was a little pricey at $8.95. The good thing was like every order here is that they gave a lot. Enough for two meals or more. I can't find the picture of that, but it looks like any other veggie meat. That was good as well. We had leftovers and my brother killed it when I got home. He said it was good.

Finally, another dish I like ordering here is the deep fried oyster mushroom ($8 something). I think they put MSG, but I don't give a dayum! Some parts are a little crispy, but I can't explain it. It's good though.

deep fried oyster mushroom


I recommend this place even if you're not vegetarian. I think a lot of people go here who aren't vegetarian cuz it's obviously bomb. There's a bunch of stuff to pick from the menu. I can't guarantee you're gonna order something great, but I know my batting average has been pretty good here.

House of Louie, West Covina

House of Louie
124 N Grand Ave
West Covina, CA 91791
(626) 339-7374
Type: Chinese food / dim sum
Get directions

When I was a kid, the fried shrimp balls at House of Louie were my favorite in the whole wide world. They're a little crispy/crunchy on the outside, and light and tasty on the inside. They used to cost about $4.25 for 4 individual pieces, but I think the price went up a little since then. Now that I'm older, and had my share of them, I've grown pretty tired of it. It still tastes good, but I'd rather have a dozen other appetizers instead of the shrimp balls.

My former love...


I don't really go to much dim sum places so I can't say if House of Louie is good or not. I read a few reviews about this place on the internet, and supposedly it's just an average place. I think if you're into Chinese food, you wouldn't be too disappointed here. This place has been around for a good while, so there should be a reason why. Some guy said not to come here for dinner, but come for the dim sum, which is served around lunch time.

sum dim sum dishes


Would I go here again? Since I would only eat seafood, I wouldn't really want to go back just for the dim sum. I still have yet to try their regular menu items. So I'll come back here, but I have to be really fiending for some Chinese-- cuz I'm not much into Chinese food that much.

Maxim Cafe, Rowland Heights

Maxim Cafe
18904 Gale Ave
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 913-7777
Type: Chinese food
Map



Maxim Cafe's been around for a bit. It's located across the street from the 99 Ranch Market near the 60 freeway and Nogales. It's in the same plaza as Burger King.

I went here because I was fiending for some porridge. I remember that Maxim had some and it was late at night, so that was one of the places I know was open. I ordered their fish porridge was great in three ways: 1) it tastes good with soy sauce, 2) they give you a big portion, and 3) it's cheap! What more can you ask for?! The fish porridge was about $5 I think. Most of their meals are cheap.

look how much porridge you get for 5 bucks!


My girlfriend used to go here too, so she said to order the calamari. I was down with it, and I'm glad she told me to get it. The calamari tastes like their's MSG in it, but I don't care at all. That's what makes it taste great! They also gave a good amount for this dish.

MSG(?) calamari


The other dish my girl got was this Hong Kong noodle or something. It has like a curry taste to it. Wasn't feelin it. Although they gave a lot, it was just too dry for me. I for surely wouldn't get that dish again.

chow fun Singapore style noodles


I will definitely come back to Maxim. They're open pretty late-- between 1am - 2am. They got good food, good portions, and good prices! That adds up to a great place to eat in my blog.

West Coast Buffet - Update

Reminder:

Don't eat here if their closing time is in 2 hours or less. You won't have much to eat.

West Coast Buffet, Hacienda Heights

West Coast Buffet
1655 S. Azusa Ave. #C.D.
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
ph: 626-581-9893
fax: 626-581-9873
Type: Japanese food / Chinese food / buffet
Map

(Jim) Where you eat homey?!! West Coast fool!!!!!! That's the name of the place I ate at on Sunday night (without the "fool"). We arrived there a little late at around 8:45 pm. The lady said they close at 10, so we decided to go ahead and eat there. After we got our table and ordered drinks, we headed over to the buffet line. The first thing I saw was sushi and sashimi. The salmon sashimi wasn't too bad. Considering it was late and I don't know how long they've been sitting there, it was the best sashimi I had from a buffet of this caliber. Next section was the crab legs. They tasted cool, except they didn't break easily. The crab meat always got stuck to the shell. I'm a master crab leg opener, and I wasn't getting those "great pieces." So moving on, the place had the usual shrimp cocktails, fried rice, soups, mussels, clams, oysters, meat, and so on. My favorite food of the day was the Coconut Shrimp. I don't really know if it was coconut shrimp. It was more like the honey walnut shrimps you get at Chinese restaurants without the walnuts. That was good, and luckily they had enough for me left. My mom was pissed cuz they stopped serving meat and steak and all that.

West Coast ain't bomb-diggety fo shiggety, but I'll roll up here again if Moms and Pops pays. Nah'm sayin? Just kidding. It was actually better than the other buffets I've been to. But then again, the $18.95 per adult price might have something to do with it. Holla-if-ya-hear-meh!!!