Hot Pot, Hot Pot! - Monterey Park

Shortly after I dined at Little Fat Sheep - Monterey Park, the owner divested the franchise, turning several of his locations into Happy Sheep Cafe Shabu & Grill - San Gabriel and Happy Sheep Cafe - Rowland Heights. He sold this location to one of the employees, who changed its name to Hot Pot, Hot Pot!

So different owner, but same employees. My friend DP and I decided to check it out one night to see if the food quality was the same too.

Happy Sheep Cafe - Rowland Heights (Closed)

Recently, I was contacted by the son of the owners of the Happy Sheep restaurants, which used to be the Little Fat Sheep restaurants in Southern California before they changed the name and sold some of the locations.

He had seen my post on Happy Sheep Cafe Shabu & Grill - San Gabriel and wanted to thank me.

Aww! How nice!

Free meal? Gift certificate?

How 'bout a blogger meal I suggested instead. That way, hopefully it can get the word out to others. So I invited some blogger friends and totally forgot that it was Easter Sunday. Doh! So even though a lot of people couldn't make it, I still got lots of FoWCs (that's Friends of Wandering Chopsticks). ;) Like, Gourmet Pigs, Tony of SinoSoul, Meowmi whom I met on Biggest Menu years ago, Jeannie of The World is My Oyster, Abby of Pleasure Palate, cousin Q's older brother and his wife and baby Pablo, and my friend Don. Thirsty Pig got thrown into the mix since he had blogged about Happy Sheep too.

The Rowland Heights location of Happy Sheep Cafe is to the left side of the HK2 Food District supermarket, all the way in the back of an alley. Look for the Hong Kong Fishball House, the notorious fried pork rectum I remembered from Kirk of Mmm-yoso's post, and keep going. Don't worry, the smell of the stinky tofu will dissipate once you get to Happy Sheep.

Little Fat Sheep - Monterey Park (Closed)

After I told lil' sis's best friend and her other friend about how much I liked the new Jazz Cat Restaurant - San Gabriel, they immediately went that evening. As typical, it was at least a 45 minute wait. So I suggested Little Fat Sheep in Monterey Park.


This time, I remembered to bring along my camera, I just forgot to put the memory card back inside.

Doh!

So lil' sis's other friend and their friend, Nick (who reads my blog and has been in suspense waiting to see himself mentioned (Hi, Nick!)), offered to take photos for me with their cell phones. Lil' sis's other friend won out since I see him more often and it was less of an imposition. I must say, his iPhone photos came out pretty nice!

Jazz Cat Restaurant - San Gabriel

I was sad when the original Jazz Cat Cafe - Alhambra stopped letting us cook hot pots table side. Then, they stopped serving hot pots at all. Then, they closed down completely.

Because they had opened a new location in San Gabriel.

Yippee!



The grand opening was in late October. I tipped off Tony of SinoSoul so he could be my guinea pig since he likes to be first. Ha! He complained about the long wait and disproportionately high counter to chair difference at the bar.

But for lunch time with Gourmet Pigs, we only had a slight wait and were seated in a booth. That makes all the difference in my enjoyment of Jazz Cat.

Happy Sheep Cafe Shabu & Grill - San Gabriel

Since Larkin's wasn't open the day we ended up at The Oinkster, we went back the next day. And it was closed again!

*Ahem.*

I just wanted to point out that I make a pretty good Southern fried chicken and cream gravy and I am not driving out to Eagle Rock unless it's really worth it.



Mrs. SinoSoul and I were craving hot pot, so we ended up at Happy Sheep Cafe Shabu & Grill in San Gabriel. This used to be Little Fat Sheep, but I guess they've split from the main branch in China?

Ask Wandering Chopsticks 3

Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast or lunch are fine, even welcomed, but by dinner time, my taste buds want something new. So when my youngest aunt told me to come over for dinner, I happily went.

Oooh! Lau (Vietnamese hot pot)! Or more specifically, cu lao. According to my youngest aunt's husband, who hails from Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta, cu lao is named after the ringed brazier in which coal is placed in the middle of the hot pot. Although lau and cu lao might appear similar, cu lao is a dish that originated with the ethnic Chinese in the Mekong Delta and requires certain ingredients and presentation.


There is a layer of cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and carrots underneath all that meat. There should be a mix of seafood and pork. There are king crab legs, my aunt's homemade shrimp balls, and squid. Dried squid was soaked for several days to soften and reconstitute before being sliced into diamond patterns and added to the pot. The pork includes sliced pork meat, hearts, and rinds. There should also be part of the pork stomach or intestine too, said my uncle.

Cocary Shabu Shabu BBQ - Monterey Park

As pictures come up on my Flickr photostream, I sometimes wonder what made me upload them at the time. Since I tend to think in thematic groupings, but actually write based upon whim, the pictures and subsequent postings can seem a little disjointed.

For instance, I thought about posting a different Chinese restaurant every day for the duration of the Beijing Olympics to show the diversity of Chinese cuisine. While I have enough pictures in the queue to do so, I did not have the stamina to sort and edit those photos, nor the wherewithal to actually do the writing.

And thus, Cocary Shabu Shabu BBQ in Monterey Park sat forgotten for the duration of 200 photos.




I seem to hit restaurants in the late afternoon, after the lunch rush and before dinner. There were a handful of other diners and just me, the oldest '87, her oldest sister and her baby. We just missed the 3 p.m. cut-off for lunch discounts of 20% off the total bill.

There's actually two Cocary locations, a little diagonally across from each other, and both located on Garfield Avenue in Monterey Park. This is Cocary Shabu Shabu BBQ, the newer location, on the west side of the street, just south of Garvey Avenue. The old location is just north of Garvey in an aging strip mall and bills itself as Cocary Bar-B-Q Restaurant. Got that?

Cocary is a cook at the table Chinese grill and hot pot. At the back of the room are huge refrigerators where you choose from various meats and vegetables. Plates start at $1.29 and go up to $2.99. There's also a corner near the counter to serve your own free rice too.

Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori-Shabu Shabu - Monterey Park

For cousin Q's birthday we opted for a quick late dinner at Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori-Shabu Shabu in Monterey Park. We're not really big on birthdays in my family. We usually just take each other out to eat. This particular location is in the same strip mall and downstairs from Empress Harbor Seafood Restaurant.

Ah! Whoa! What big man-boobs do I see inside the entrance?

Bo Nhung Dam (Vietnamese Beef Dipped in Vinegar)

Before the Korean barbecue fest, there were 4 courses of beef. I know, not quite 7 courses of beef like in Vietnamese restaurants, but I don't much care for the steamed meatball and porridge anyway. I made bo luc lac (Vietnamese shaking beef), bo xao xa (Vietnamese beef sauteed with lemongrass), bo nhung dam (Vietnamese beef dipped in vinegar), and bo nuong la lot (Vietnamese beef wrapped in wild betel leaf). Bo nhung dam is just quickly dipped into vinegared broth, not really a hot pot per se. The vinegared water serves more to quickly cook the beef so it can be wrapped with herbs and rolled up in rice paper and then dipped with mam nem (Vietnamese fermented anchovy sauce). To serve this, you should have an herb plate of mint, lettuce, and cucumbers. You can also include cooked vermicelli rice noodles and shredded carrots if you wish. Include a bowl of water at the table for guests to wet the rice paper. Then it's simply a matter of dipping raw thinly sliced beef into the vinegared water until the beef cooks, and then wrapping it in rice paper with herbs. Bo Nhung Dam (Vietnamese Beef Dipped in Vinegar) For a 2-quart pot of broth, you'll need: Water 1/4 to 1/2 cup rice vinegar, depending on your taste A few slivers of sliced onion 1 lemongrass stalk, bruised to release fragrance As many fresh pineapple chunks as you'd like And as much very thinly sliced beef as you'd like. If you don't want to slice the beef yourself, you can ask your butcher to thinly slice eye round beef, or find it already sliced and labeled for hot pot or pho. Fill a 2-quart stock pot with water, 1 bruised stalk of lemongrass, a few slices of onion, and several chunks of fresh pineapple. I like foods pretty tart, but if you don't, start with about 1/4 cup vinegar and gradually increase until the broth is to your liking. Let the whole mixture come to a boil, and lower to simmer. If you have a burner or crock pot or fondue pot even, you can set the pot tableside for guests to cook and make their own rice paper wrappers. Serve with mam nem for dipping. Enjoy! ***** 1 year ago today, no-knead bread with whole wheat.

Monland Hot Pot City - San Gabriel

Since we had so much fun catching up at Messob Ethiopian Restaurant, my friend, E(L), and I met up again at Monland Hot Pot City. The atmosphere can best be summed up with Kirk of Mmm-yoso's phrase - "San Gabriel sticky." There's a basic charge of $3.50 per person for white or red (spicy) broths. Both come with Chinese herbs. There's also a mushroom option for vegetarians. We ordered two plates of thinly sliced beef, spinach, vermicelli noodles, napa cabbage, and tripe. Tripe. Vermicelli noodles. The sauces. And we also ordered a plate of dumplings. What can I say about hot pot? Dip and eat. The sauces were decent. The broth was awfully oily. The atmosphere was nothing to speak of. The total cost was a little more than $30 for what we ordered. I prefer the variety of broths, larger portions, and better prices at Jazz Cat Cafe - Alhambra. (Too bad that location doesn't offer it anymore.) Other hot pot and shabu shabu restaurants: Cocary Shabu Shabu BBQ - Monterey Park Happy Sheep Cafe - Rowland Heights Happy Sheep Cafe Shabu & Grill - San Gabriel Jazz Cat Restaurant - San Gabriel Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori-Shabu Shabu - Monterey Park Monland Hot Pot City 251 W. Bencamp St. San Gabriel, CA 91776 626-289-4889

Jazz Cat Cafe - Alhambra (Closed)

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Travel, of course, is #1. But traveling needs to be saved up for, planned, and if I'm lucky, occurs a few weeks a year, or every other year. So let's talk about tangible happiness. I've really only got two: books and food. I love it when I glom onto a new author. I love getting so involved in a book that I have to finish right there and then, nevermind that the sun has risen and I have to be up early the next day. Then I scour bookstores to buy up their backlist because waiting for Amazon would just take too long. And then I stay up all night again reading the next book. Well, every once in a while, I glom onto restaurants as well. Such was the case with Jazz Cat Cafe in Alhambra. How did this restaurant escape my notice before? I drive along Valley Boulevard all the time. After I first saw the array of hot pot flavors on BiggestMenu, I immediately nudged this restaurant to the top of my neverending "to-eat" list. I've eaten here about half a dozen times in the space of a few months, and at one point, three times in one week! Talk about glomming! And no, I haven't tasted all the hot pot flavors yet (Not for lack of trying, mind you.). Is it the individual hot pots that appeal to me? The squash and bok choy and other veggies that makes me feel like I'm eating healthy? The fusion variety of broths from Japanese curry to Korean kimchee to Thai spicy chili? The somewhat trendy and intimate atmosphere? All of the above? And so it was that on the eve of my birthday, with cousin Q and his brother, who was in town but not free until nearly midnight, that I chose to go here for dinner. I don't always need a menu with 200 choices. Sometimes a restaurant that specializes in one item, with some variations, is just what I need. I know this isn't terribly exciting food, but I've always left with a warm, happy belly. And sometimes, that's all I need. My first visit occurred several weeks before with another cousin, who really loves hot pots, and her husband and baby. Umm, just a bit of advice, rambunctious babies around open flames are not a good idea. :P The individual hot pots start at $10.95 for beef, chicken, pork, or lamb. Add four shrimp and it's $12.95. Add two mussels and one scallop and it's $14.95. The veggies are all the same. And you have a choice of regular rice or a Japanese rice ball - wrapped in seaweed and filled with pork floss. If you've never had Chinese or Taiwanese hot pot before, it's basically flavored broths that you dip meat and veggies into. Japanese hot pot, or shabu shabu, is more likely to be plain water to cook the meat and several different dipping sauces. And of course, there's the Swiss fondue, with cheese. On my first visit, I ordered the kimchee hot pot. Clockwise from the hot pot, there's Japanese rice, a raw egg to crack into the hot pot, dipping sauce, and a plate of beef, veggies, and that long tube is fish paste. I lifted the beef so you can see the various veggies, tofu, and vermicelli bean thread noodles. And my kimchee hot pot merrily bubbling away. The hot pots use sterno can gel for fire so there's no regulating the heat. Don't be greedy and put everything into the pot at once or else you'll get overboiled veggies and a flame that won't die. Now, you don't have to follow my method, but I've managed to portion my veggies so that it lasts until the flames die out. Wait until the hot pot starts boiling and then put in your veggies. Start with the hardest to cook veggies first such as squash and cabbage. Don't use all your cabbage, basically it serves to lower the temperature of the broth when it starts bubbling. Only add a few veggies at a time. The meat is sliced very thin so it only needs a quick dunking to cook. If the broth is boiling, add some cabbage to tone it down. By judiciously portioning your veggies, you should make it last until the flames die out. My cousin had chosen the sukiyaki hot pot with chicken. Blech! This is the second time I've had sukiyaki and both times the broth has been way, way too sweet for my taste. My cousin didn't care for it either. Her husband ordered the Jazz Cat house special, which tasted like Chinese five-spice to me and also looked very much like the Japanese curry hot pot, which had a nice light curry flavor. My favorite though is the Thai spicy hot pot. It actually looks much redder in person than in the picture. It's got pickled chili paste ie. sambal oelek, slightly spicy, sweet, fish sauce savoriness. While the other broths are fine for dipping, I actually slurp this hot pot as soup. And after trying this flavor with cousin Q and his brother, I went back a few days later with lil' sis because I was craving it again. Lil' sis ordered the Taiwanese tossed noodles. Tasted like the house special hot pot, in other words, Chinese five-spice flavoring. You can also add various iced and milk tea drinks for $1.95 to $2.50 if you're ordering a hot pot or entree. As for atmosphere, most of the tables are meant for two people and if you both order hot pots, that takes up the whole table. There are some booths on the other side, and a set of tables that are often pulled together for big groups. Head there for an early dinner and the wait isn't too bad. But any time between 8 to 10 p.m. and it may be upwards of 45 minutes waiting time. And of course, since it is Jazz Cat Cafe, there's a memo board of various cats. A little freaky, but it did keep my cousin's baby entertained while I played with her so her parents could eat. 2007's birthday eats: Uzbekistan - Los Angeles (Closed) Perfectly Sweet - Alhambra Tagine - Beverly Hills Sunday Bistro - Alhambra Elite Restaurant (Dim Sum) - Monterey Park Who else ate at Jazz Cat Cafe? Henry Chan's Food Videos filmed his "bubbling cauldron." December 8, 2008 Update: On a recent visit, Jazz Cat Cafe no longer lets you cook tableside. Everything is cooked in the kitchen and then brought out. There is no longer a Japanese rice option and the egg is hard-boiled. The broth flavors are still good, but the hot pot experience isn't the same. :( A new location is being built on Valley Boulevard and Del Mar Avenue in San Gabriel. Supposedly, the burning hot pots will be available there. August 28, 2009 Update: Hot pots are no longer being served at all at this location. January 21, 2009 Update: This location has closed. See my post Jazz Cat Restaurant - San Gabriel for information on the new location. Jazz Cat Cafe 640 W. Valley Blvd., Ste. #A Alhambra, CA 91803 626-293-8999 Open Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.

A Not-So-Romantic Fondue Dinner, Although It Can Be If You Want

No, this wasn't made for Valentine's Day but for Lunar New Year's Eve dinner. And my dining companion was my little sister. But hey, if you have a different dining companion and want it to be romantic... ;) The heart-shaped fondue pot has no significance. Faced between a round pot or a heart-shaped one, and for the same price, I opted for the cuter heart. That's all. I actually use the fondue pot more for keeping spinach dip continuously hot during parties. Anyway, so the reason for the fancy-ish dinner was because lil' sis helped me scrub the bathrooms and kitchen in preparation for Tet. Someone else helping me clean is always a cause for celebration in my book. My brother had just enjoyed a fancy fondue dinner at Melting Pot. And, of course, that mention got my cravings going... According to Melting Pot, fondue originated with the Swiss as a way to use up hardened cheese. The French slapped on the word fondre (to melt). The Americans made it popular during the 1950s. Most recipes include gruyere or emmenthaler cheese and wine. So if you want to be authentic, find another recipe for fondue. Mine is based on my limited budget and taste. :) Fondue with Feta and Cheddar Cheeses You'll need: 1 8-oz package cream cheese 2 cups milk 1 tblsp cornstarch As much feta or cheddar or any other flavor of cheese as you'd like. In a saucepan on medium heat, melt cream cheese with 1 cup of milk. You can cut the cream cheese into cubes first or just chunk it with a wooden spoon on the stovetop. Dissolve 1 tblsp cornstarch in another 1 cup of milk. Add the milk to the pot after the cornstarch is fully dissolved. The mixture will still be pretty liquidy at this point but should thicken in about 15 to 30 minutes. Just keep stirring occasionally. When the mixture is almost as thick as you'd like, add feta chunks or shredded cheddar as I did, or any other cheese of your choice. Add wine too if you'd like. Once all the cheeses have melted and the mixture is smooth, pour into a fondue pot. As for dipping options, you can prepare all the other items while the cheese is melting. I chose to make toasted artisan bread loaf chunks, pesto tortellini, blanched French beans, boiled red potatoes, and grilled steak sprinkled with seasonings. Lil' sis likes the above photo because it showcases the dipping foods more. I like the photo below because you can see my leaf plate better and the fondue pot is still in the picture. Dinner was a lovely way to usher in the Lunar New Year, but I think I gained 10 pounds overnight.