Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

04 May 2009

Aloha Food Factory – Alhambra

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I was hoping to try Hawaiian food with a native Hawaiian a couple months back when Luscious Liana came to town, but she told me it was really unhealthy and she would rather eat at Roscoe’s.

The desire to sample island fare returned a few weeks later after reading Jo of My Last Bite‘s account of a Hawaiian delicacy known as Loco Moco—a dish comprised of “white rice topped with a with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy.” She begins her post by waxing poetic about the first loco moco she sampled on Oahu. Then, she introduces an insanely gourmet loco moco created by chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal in Los Angeles.

In spite of my friend’s warning about Hawaiian food being hazardous to my health, I knew right then and there that I had to try the infamous loco moco. Unbeknownest to me at the time, my friend Bex had the same idea brewing in her head. And thus, “A Tale of Two Loco Mocos” was born. Or as Bex refers to it as, “Loco for Loco Moco: No Joke-o.”

Before venturing to Animal to try the rich man’s loco moco, Bex and I agreed that we had to taste a down-home rendition. For our loco moco base tastings, Bex headed to Bruddah’s Hawaiian Food in Gardena, while The Astronomer and I ventured to Aloha Food Factory in Alhambra.

Aloha Food Factory is a mom and pop shop located in a converted mission-style Taco Bell. It’s run by a wonderful woman named Betty who opened the eatery in honor of her Hawaiian best friends. She was excited to hear that The Astronomer and I were trying Hawaiian food for the first time, but grew wary when we placed our order of Spam musubi ($3.75) and loco moco ($7.25). Concerned that we would be scared away from Hawaiian food forever, she insisted on bringing us free samples of the more popular Kalua pork and char siu. They were delicious, but we would not be deterred from our mission.

The Spam musubi was a delightful introduction to Spam, at least for me. Coupled with warm rice, a sweet teriyaki sauce, and sheets of nori, the Spam tasted like extremely salty hot dogs. The Astronomer’s experience with the meat bi-product wasn’t as sunny—he took two bites of the musubi and passed the rest my way.

After I polished off the Spam rolls, the loco moco arrived. Isn’t she a beauty?

The loco moco tasted fine enough, but wasn’t particularly delicious. The texture of the dish was more offensive than the taste—everything on the plate was overwhelmingly goopy due to the three runny eggs and gelatinous, made-from-scratch gravy. The Astronomer was most displeased with the overcooked and dry hamburger patty. Perhaps the worst part of the loco moco experience was how it made me feel afterwards—sluggish and gross, even hours after my last forkful. Maybe Lush was right about her people’s food after all.

Up next, part two of “A Tale of Two Loco Mocos.”

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Aloha Food Factory
2990 W. Valley Boulevard
Alhambra, CA 91803
Phone: 626-308-0215

Now Closed

01 May 2009

Yummy Cupcakes – Los Angeles (Santa Monica)

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I admit that my adoration of cupcakes is so 2006, but alas, I cannot control my affections. My heart will let go when it’s good and ready.

After checking out a potential wedding venue in Santa Monica, The Astronomer and I swung into Yummy Cupcakes to refuel—wedding planning is an electrolyte zapper.

With a partially open kitchen and functional concrete flooring, Yummy Cupcakes has more of an industrial feel than the cutesy, pretty-in-pink vibe that characterizes most cupcakeries. The selection of cupcakes available on the Friday afternoon we visited was extensive, with new flavors coming out of the kitchen on a regular basis. However, my favorite combination of vanilla cake and chocolate frosting was disappointingly MIA even though it was listed on the chalkboard menu.

Since The Astronomer isn’t mad for cupcakes like I am, I had the liberty of choosing both flavors. I selected a mandarin orange cupcake ($2.75) from the daily specials menu and an Old School cupcake ($3) from the standard menu.

The mandarin orange cupcake was comprised of a vanilla bean cupcake baked with bits of mandarin oranges and frosted abundantly with a mandarin orange buttercream. The Astronomer and I appreciated how both the cake and the frosting were infused with bright citrus notes. The pieces of real fruit in the cake added a nice touch as well. Our only qualm with this cupcake was the ratio of frosting to cake—a quarter of the frosting ended up in the garbage can.

Inspired by Hostess Cup Cakes, the Old School consisted of a chocolate cupcake piped with fresh whipped cream and topped with chocolate ganache. The Astronomer and I had mixed feelings about whether or not this cupcake was a winner. On one hand, Yummy Cupcakes successfully mimicked a Hostess Cup Cake. On the other hand, Hostess Cup Cakes contain some pretty gnarly ingredients and lack deep chocolaty flavor. I would’ve declared the Old School a success had Yummy Cupcakes taken artistic liberty and boosted the amount of cacao in the cupcake.

POWER RANKINGS

Sprinkles Cupcakes > Dots Cupcakes > Vanilla Bake Shop > Crumbs Bake Shop > Auntie Em’s Kitchen > Yummy Cupcakes > Violet’s Cakes.

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Yummy Cupcakes
313 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: 310-393-8283

Restaurant Review

30 Apr 2009

Kingburg Kitchen – San Gabriel

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Whenever I walk into a Chinese eatery in the San Gabriel Valley, there’s a very good chance that I’ll be greeted cheerily by the proprietress in Chinese. After saying “ni hao” with confidence, I usually have to come clean and confess that I’m actually Vietnamese.

Sharing a common language has an easy way of making people feel comfortable. Whenever I can’t come through in the conversation department, I find myself resorting to universal signs of satisfaction like smiling wide, giving a thumbs up, and rubbing my belly.

English doesn’t go very far at Kingburg Kitchen, but fortunately, pantomiming works like a charm.

During a mid-week lunch with my friend Carissa, we each ordered Kingburg’s noodle and dumpling combo ($6-7). From the limited menu, we both selected spicy beef noodle soup and boiled pork, sea cucumber, and shrimp dumplings. The only downside to Kingburg’s combos is that pan-fried dumplings are excluded.

The soup arrived first. The generously portioned bowl of noodles came out of the kitchen steaming hot. From the moment the broth’s spicy aroma hit my nostrils, I knew this soup was going to be outta sight. As I slurped my way through the hunks of tender and pleasantly fatty meat, bits of pickled mustard greens, and delicate egg noodles, beads of content sweat formed across my nose. Kingburg makes a fantastically good bowl of spicy beef noodle soup.

The pork-, sea cucumber-, and shrimp-filled dumplings arrived minutes after the noodles. The boiled parcels would’ve tasted fine on their own, but they bordered on bland eaten alongside the bold soup. To bring the dumplings up a few savory notches, I drizzled them in excessive amounts of chili oil.

After downing five dumplings and a large bowl of spicy beef noodle each, Carissa and I waddled out of Kingburg immensely satisfied.

The Astronomer and I, along with our friend Shay whom we met in Vietnam, returned to Kingburg a few evenings later for dinner. This time around, we shared one combo (spicy beef noodle soup and sole dumplings), a bowl of sesame noodles ($4.50), and an order of pan-fried pork and leek dumplings ($6.50).

Served hot, the “sesame” noodles turned out to be intensely peanut buttery. Even though I was hoping they’d resemble something like the cold sesame noodles I savored in Hong Kong, they tasted more like the peanut noodles I sampled at the Muslim Quarter in Xi’an. The addition of chili oil made these sticky noodles even tastier.

The boiled sole dumplings were on par with the dumplings I ate with Carissa, but the pan-fried pork dumplings were a bit of a let down. Although the skins had a nice golden sear, the wrappers were too thin and the pork filling didn’t ooze with porcine juices like the specimens at Dean Sin World and Luscious Dumplings.

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Kingburg Kitchen
715 W. Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Phone: 626-282-2386