Otaya Japanese Restaurant - Rancho Cucamonga

Craving Ramen the other day and the IE is not exactly a wealth of ramen joints. Well this little hole in the wall, is not a ramen joint per se, but they serve ramen, and I'll probably be back!

If a business is successful based on location, I'm not so sure this place would be there. It is in a pretty vacated strip mall, across from a Zendejas Mexican Grill, Chase Bank, and other smaller places. It is across the street from a Lowes Home Improvement center.

Came here for lunch, and the small restaurant probably filled their approximately 30 spots to sit. 12 of those spots were at the sushi bar, but noone was there at the moment.

The disappointment came early, when I was told my first choice Donkatsu Chasu Ramen was not available. I guess their chasu had not come in yet. So I ordered the Spicy Ramen which is made from seasoned ground pork and chicken bits. This ramen had a little bit too much ginger for my wife's taste, but I must commend the spiciness. It is rare that something puts a tear in my eye with the initial spoonful, and this ramen did it.

Wife and I also ordered their BBQ ribs plate, which was also good, well cooked. The meat was soft and tasty.Too bad they left the door open, and the cold air cooled the food too quick.

We happened to order the chicken tempura also, their tempura dipping sauce was excellent and the chicken tender and moist. Excellent once again.

Portions are actually fairly large, the owner and the waitress were awesome.

Overall I would give 4 stars. Give or take 1/2 a star based on lack of availability of chasu! I'll be back!

Lollicup - Ontario - Ontario Mills

This is mostly a boba drink place with snacks to eat, the snacks here however range to full meals depending on what you order. Also this particular location has specials, Indonesian food.

Day 1 - Ordered:

popcorn chicken - it was good, but for a place claiming to have Indonesian ownership, when I say spicy, it should be super spicy, and yet I would call it american spicy.

Nasi Goreng Ikan Asin Pete - This was on their specials menu for the day, basically fried rice with salty fish and um.... stinky bean. I would have to say this was as good as anywhere else I have tasted it. Granted very few places serve the stinky bean (pete), The salted fish fried rice itself is better at Sanamluang Thai food.

Boba Milk Tea - Overpriced I would say, but I usually stick with Quickly.

Day 2 - Sorry guys, forgot to take pictures this day -Ordered:

More popcorn chicken - same story as before

Ayam Kalasan - This is a chicken over rice, served with a crunchy crumb topping. This tasted pretty good, again on par with other places I have had it. Not better, not worse.

Risoles - Think of this kind of like an empananda. It is filled with meat, and mixed veggies (carrot, peas, etc). Tasted pretty good.

Overall taste is average, but its one of the closest Indonesian food places near where I live (others being in Redlands area). Prices are decent for the specials, but the popcorn chicken is a little expensive, and in my opinion all the drinks are more on the expensive side ($3.00+).

3.5 stars from me

Yukino Ya Ramen - City of Industry

Ramen time! Ramen is such a strange infatuation. You can buy it in stores for less than a dollar, and yet we still go out and look to restaurants for the perfect ramen.

I am still no expert, but slowly I'm figuring out what I like when it comes to ramen, and what the different subtleties are.

Ramen Yukino Ya is located in a strip mall in City of Industry, CA; in a very busy, Asian infused area of town. this Sunday afternoon, the parking lot was packed beyond capacity, but where were all the people? Granted it was a little warm weather wise for Ramen, but this place was only little over half full, we got an immediate table. Remember, this is a typical ramen place, and its small, seating for about 30 people max, if that. They do have a counter you can sit at also. No communal table here.

The menu here is simple, especially when it comes to ramen. Pick shoyu, shio or miso and then pick one of two different versions, the yukino-Ya version or the regular version. Difference being price (1 dollar) and quality, (black pork belly, nori, organic egg versus regular pork, no nori, regular egg), also the noodle is different, one is wavy and the other is straight.

Today, both wife and I went for the Yukino-ya Shoyu ramen, mine in a combo with pork rice. The ramen broth was rich and tasty, the ramen noodles a perfect al dente, the pork fatty and tasty, melting in your mouth. The organic egg was ok, although I think I would prefer a regular egg. It is cooked "easy" boiled, so still a little wet in the middle.

The pork rice was pretty standard but tasty, garnished with ginger, scallions, and nori pieces,

Overall I would have to say this place matches my top ramen places I have been to, Santouka Ramen in Torrance, and Kintaro Noodle in Vancouver, Canada. The broth falling somewhere in between the two (Santouka on top), and the noodles falling in between the two also (Kintaro Noodle on top).

My wife says she prefers Santouka better, she has not been to Kintaro in Vancouver. So its 2nd best on her list which also includes Ajisen, Daikokuya, and Foo Foo Tei.

Overall 4.5/5 stars. As always a little pricey for ramen, but when you have to boil it 10 hours, I can definitely understand the economics of it.

Kingswood Teppan Grill in Rowland Heights

Just a quick post today. For family birthdays, we stopped by for dinner at Kingswood Teppan Grill. Oldie but goodie, one of our favorites especially for Teppan. I have reviewed this place previously on Yelp, but that was when I was not updating those reviews onto the blog.

This place is located in a crowded area. It has lasted there for quite awhile now, despite lots of other places in the same complex changing hands and names. Right now right across the way is Boiling Crab, next to it is Rowland Palace. Across the street if 99 Ranch Market to get your grocery shop on.

This place has always been our favorite Teppan place, the taste is unique, better than Wabi Sabi (Chino and Rancho Cucamonga), better than Shogun, better than Benihana, and better than New Kingswood in San Gabriel (supposedly different owners as their coupons do not interchange). Not only is it better, it tends to be cheaper also, especially if you go for lunch prices!

This place serves typical onion soup, and small side salad with either thousand island sauce or ginger sauce. You can ask for refills on these. You also are served a mixed fruit dessert. Your order of fried rice comes with the price, not extra like some of the other places mentioned!

Most of the red meats come with your choice of black pepper sauce or Teriyaki, go for the black pepper!

Don't forget the yummy desert bananas they have!

The down side today was that likely due to the more serious conversation the family was having, the chef did not put on his blazing array of tricks. He only did a soggy volcano trick, that was leaning over to one side. We have had this chef before, and he is usually good, so we blame this on ourselves, and not putting enough attention on the show.

#1 Pho - Rancho Cucamoga, Really #1?

Wife was craving Pho, so out we go, to try another area Pho joint.

On the recommendation of a fellow IE foodie (Nate-dogg), we set out pining for Pho.

My usual disclaimer, I put so much Hoisin and Rooster Sauce in pho, it tastes almost all the same to me.

This place is in a strip mall located across from a Wabi Sabi (Teppan-yaki), next to Manila Sunset (Pinay food), close to Omaha Jacks, and others. Plenty of parking is about.
We came in on a Friday afternoon around 4:30, and were wowed that the place had a pre-dinner crowd there. Not just teenie boppers after school either, there were actual small families also there at this time. Of note, they have 2 big screens here! in a relatively small place with max capacity of 62.

Food? where is the food? Ok, I'll give ya the down-low on the grub.

Wife and I had:
Beef Pho - um #2 on the menu. Smallish bowl compared to other places (you can pay more for a larger bowl), but it was loaded with beef (yay!) and onions (boo!).

Fried Egg Rolls - These were pretty good, crispy without being burnt, but the sweet sauce was a little light. Those of you who want a special sauce, head out to Garden Grove. Of course comparing Vietnamese food in Rancho to ones in Garden Grove is like comparing Korean food in Rowland Heights with that in K-town.

I had #56 I think? It was the beef, shrimp pate in fried bean curd, and egg roll over vermicelli. The vegetables were a little strange in that half tasted pickled and the other half did not. The rest of it, I enjoyed thoroughly.

Total Bill including tax and generous tip was 27 dollars, a little steep for Pho and we only had 2.5 egg rolls left to take home.

I would say overall this place deserves a 3.5 on taste, but the amount of beef in that Pho, I bump it up to 4 star status. Give it a try!

Indo Kitchen Alhambra

Ate with my in-laws here last night. I have eaten here before in the past twice, and expected my taste buds to come alive! This was one of the better Indonesian food places last I ate here 3 years ago or so.

Well, either things have changed, or its just on a bad night. When we arrived there was one other medium sized party there. We were seated after they cleaned some tables. Parking was amazingly plentiful in this downtown Alhambra area. There was street parking as well as a separate lot in the back.

This place is better for small to medium group sizes, any larger and you won't fit, there is a sitting capacity of about 25 here.

So what did we have?

Wifey was craving some cancun belacan, I have previously reviewed that one and also martabak telor.
The martabak telor was the only worthwhile dish today. It was crisp and tasty, served with pickled vegetables, which were not that sour nor spicy.

The kangkung belacan looked good, but was not where near as spicy nor rich with shrimp paste as we usually like it.

We also had:

Spicy Tripe - this one looked good also, with jalapenos and reddish spicy looking sauce, but this also was not spicy at all and the tripe was a little too soggy.

Spicy Salty Fish Fried rice - not spicy, but otherwise tasted like regular fried rice.

Fried Chicken with Kremes - (little crunchy crumbs) the crumbs were pretty good, the chicken was decent, well cooked.

Fried Frog Legs in Butter sauce - this was similar to before, but I guess wifey was not craving the slight "sea" taste mixed in with chicken taste of frog legs, but I enjoyed this dish. The amusing part was the sauce and oil it was cooked in, matched the color of the plate, making for an interesting splash on several members of our party.

Maybe if this place hadn't been so good in the past and we didn't have expectations, I would squeeze a 3.5 out of the food and dining experience, but given the quality in the past, I am only giving it 3 stars for this visit.