Geraniums in Flower Pots

Is there anything more welcoming than a front porch with bright red geraniums in flower pots?
(Just an FYI: They're on sale right now at IKEA for $2.50 in case you've always wanted to have flowers in window boxes too.)


I had to move all my houseplants outside because there's no room inside. They're going through a little shock with too much sunlight. I had them just sitting around on the porch until I could figure out what to do with them. But then luckily last weekend, one of my neighbors threw out this shelf. It's got thick coatings of paint so it should be able to withstand the outdoors. Plus, it blocks direct sunlight from burning my many African violets. Serendipitous, no?

I'm like a bird, building a nest where ever I go. It wasn't until this past weekend when I got my porch to look exactly the way I wanted -- a little barrier of plants to block the view from the street and to give me privacy, bright red geraniums in pots along the railing and along the steps, and a little bistro table and chairs to sit and watch life go by.

I haven't started on the backyard yet. Not sure if I want to for a long while. It sure is a lot easier to water a bunch of flower pots, than to weed a whole backyard. So this is my garden for now.

I thought a little break from my dumpling posts was appropriate since ya'll evidently think I'm quite the glutton. Well, I am, or else I wouldn't be so obsessed about food. :) But I do other things too.

Dumpling 10053 - El Monte

So on the heels of my waxing poetic about Luscious Dumplings several months ago, Rasa Malaysia and KevCheng of 50 Meals offered up their favorite dumpling house - Dumpling 10053 in El Monte (So named because of its address). Luckily it was just around the corner from one of my many cousins so we gave it a go. Otherwise, it's located way, way east on Valley Boulevard a goodly distance from the majority of the Chinese restaurants in San Gabriel and Rosemead. On a weekday during lunch it was completely full and we had a little wait. That's always a good sign. The interior with its green colors and dark wood was also a lot nicer than what I expected from the outside of the strip mall. Based on some Googling beforehand, I knew to avoid the rock cod and salmon dumplings. And while I like cod in my fish and chips, and salmon in general, I figured they'd be too dry for dumplings anyway. Also, no xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings) here. Just your basic steamed or is it boiled? dumplings. We decided on the sole fish and leek dumplings. An order of 10 was $6.50. The fish was really moist, the stuffing quite full. The wrapper wasn't too thick or too thin, which worked well for seafood because you don't want a thick dough overwhelming the taste of the fish. The first initial dumplings were really tasty, but then after that, they seemed a little bland. The taste was a little too same-same, especially after the other dumplings started coming out. We also got shrimp and tender leek dumplings. An order of 10 was $6.50. These were by far my favorite. The dumpling was the size of my spoon so each one was packed with several large shrimp. The shrimp themselves had a nice crunch. I thought it'd be a bit excessive to get two leek dumplings but these were tender leeks so paler and lighter tasting. And then finally, an order of 10 crab, pork, and sea cucumber dumplings for $6.50. As you can see, the pork flavor was all that really came through. The crab was imitation. The sea cumber bits were unevenly distributed so some dumplings had them and some didn't. The Chowhound boards were all crazy about this dumpling but the sole fish and shrimp dumplings were much better in my opinion. All in all, I'd say Dumpling 10053's shrimp dumplings were really stellar as they were basically just whole shrimp. But then, if I were going for shrimp dumplings, I much prefer them in har gow with its nice chewy tapioca skin. The sole fish is nice for a healthy and light-tasting alternative. I'd skip the three-flavor one and opt to try one of their noodle dishes instead. But that's just me. The only downside is that it's located so very far from the main drag of Chinese restaurants on Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel, or even the other strip of restaurants on Garvey in El Monte. Anyway, as I've said, I tend to go to the northern Chinese restaurants that feature dumplings specifically for the dumplings, and their other dishes are just a side for me. Update: June 10, 2007 My cousin suggested we go back for noodles and potstickers. So we did. I had forgotten to take a picture of the complimentary pot of tea so yes, there's free tea. I ordered the homemade sweet plum juice for $1.75. It didn't taste like plums at all. More like dried longans that had been boiled into a tea? Refreshing on this hot day, but just not quite what I was expecting. The cold cucumber salad for $2.50 had way too much sesame oil. I like my cucumber salad tart, like what's served at Mandarin Noodle Deli. I was so hungry though that I scarfed them down anyway. We ordered stewed beef and beef tendon noodles in spicy soup for $6.50. The soup wasn't spicy. But look at those tendon! They were incredibly soft. The broth wasn't flavorful without being gelatinous. Here's another angle so you can see the noodles. The soup came with this small jar of pickled mustard greens. I love pickles. I ate about half the jar. Mmm! The potstickers, an order of 8 for $5.75, looked golden didn't they? But they were so disappointing. Not crunchy at all. Anyway, overall the shrimp dumplings and tendon noodles were the best items here. Who else ate at Dumpling 10053? KevCheng of 50 Meals loved their dumplings and beef tendon noodles. Kirk of Mmm-yoso liked their three flavor dumplings but didn't like their rock cod. Dylan of Eat, Drink, & Be Merry ate a bunch of other dishes as well. Dumpling 10053 10053 Valley Blvd Ste 2 El Monte, CA 91731 626-350-0188 Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Tuesdays Cash Only

Mei Long Village - San Gabriel

As I was leaving the strip mall after eating at J & J (Jin Jian) Restaurant, I noticed the sign for Mei Long Village. They're literally only two doors apart, but because I had walked up from the underground parking garage, I hadn't noticed the restaurant's sign. And remembering this post by Kirk of Mmm-yoso, I knew they also had xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings). So I made a mental note to go back for comparative purposes. And while I try to judge each restaurant on its own merits, the fact that the two restaurants are so close, with similar menus, just begs for comparison.


First impression, Mei Long Village was much larger and cleaner than J & J. The wait staff spoke better English, which comes in handy if you don't speak Chinese and have questions about food. I went with my cousin and her baby, and the waitress immediately brought out a high chair. She also gave the baby a styrofoam bowl and dish, which made great toys to keep baby occupied since she doesn't have any teeth to eat dumplings yet. I liked that the waitress was attentive. On another occasion, I had dropped a chopstick, and the waitress immediately grabbed a clean pair from a nearby table to replace mine.

We got free hot and sour soup. It wasn't spectacular hot and sour soup, but it was free! And it was properly sour enough for me.

On another visit, I got egg drop soup for free. No free soup at J & J.

The soy sauce dishes were also much bigger here.

My cousin and I knew we were going to get dumplings so we decided to get some vegetables to balance that out. The $4.95 baby bok choy and mushrooms were a bit on the overcooked side. Very soft, and I like my vegetables crunchy. But it was tasty, and in all honesty, there's only so much you can do with bok choy.

The crab XLB were 8 to an order for $6.50. The top of the dumplings weren't as nicely done as J & J, but I could see little pools of soup at the bottom of each one. These dumplings were also slightly larger than J & J's, but not by much.

Here, you can see the soup fills up more of my spoon. The dumpling skins are also thinner, so the soup and filling are more dominant than the dough. Taste-wise though, there's not as much crab. So if you're going specifically for crab XLB, then J & J is better for flavor. If you want thinner skin, more soup, and a more flavorful broth, I think Mei Long Village comes out ahead.

If you don't care about the crab, then regular pork XLB is a better option. For $1 less, you get two more. So an order of 10 pork XLB is $5.50. And again, the dumpling skin is thin enough and the broth is plentiful enough that you can literally see the soup pooling at the bottom of each dumpling.

So between the two restaurants, I'd say Mei Long Village has a slight edge over J & J, because of the thinner skins, more soup, and flavorful broth. To prove me wrong, or to see if I was right, Henry Chan of Henry Chan's Food Videos, who recommended J & J to me, went to check out Mei Long Village. His verdict? Although he agreed with my assessment, he preferred J & J. :P You can see what he has to say here.

The potstickers were $5.95 for an order of 8. They were nicely golden, just juicy enough. But I'd have to say Luscious Dumplings is still hands-down my favorite restaurant for potstickers.


I also ordered wu xi spareribs for $5.95. The meat had been braised for so long and was so tender that even the cartilage was soft. This is the lunch special price, dinner price is $9.95, I believe.

Again, the Shanghai noodles for $5.95. Although J & J's version looked more golden, I'd say they tasted the same at both places. Bland to me. But Henry really liked these noodles, and said Mei Long Village's version is better because it's less oily.

As the two restaurants are in the same strip mall, and only a couple of doors apart, you can check out both places and compare for yourself.

Because I really just go here when I crave XLB, there's lots of other Shanghai specialty dishes and pastries that I didn't order. So you can go here to read what Kirk of Mmm-yoso said about those other dishes, as well as his assessment of the XLB.

Happy eating! I've got 3 other dumpling houses coming up. And yes, I know, everyone has their favorite places. Can't go wrong with any dumplings in my estimation, but I do go to different ones for different cravings.

Mei Long Village
301 W. Valley Blvd. #112
San Gabriel, CA 91776
626-284-4769
Sunday - Thursday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Friday - Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.