Though it didn’t make a whole lot of logistical sense to lunch in El Monte on a recent drive to San Diego, the allure of homey Taiwanese cooking on a rainy afternoon was too tempting to resist. We proceeded to order too much food after settling into a spacious booth at Corner Beef Noodle House. I singlehandedly finished an entire order of slick pigs feet, while my daughter took care of the sweetish sliced sausages. A deluxe bowl of beef noodle soup that contained both tendons and tripe was shared all around. And even though we were much too stuffed to even consider dessert, the Taiwanese mochi went down miraculously easy. The hunks of supple and sticky mochi were ready to take on whichever flavor we fancied: honey-roasted peanuts, bitter black sesame, or best yet, a balanced bit of both.