Tasty Garden - Arcadia

I have eaten at the Alhambra location before and reviewed it at totaltemptation.blogspot.com and its good solid food. Authenticity and amount of MSG may be suspect.

This place is located in an area not as crowded as the Alhambra location, double the parking of the Alhambra location. The restaurant itself is pretty large with a tea bar in back. On this Saturday at 1 in the afternoon, the restaurant was packed. While in line, they have a paper menu you can start choosing your order from so things are quicker once you get inside.

We did have an incident this time through, not sure if it was lack of communication, mistake, or what. We were given number 41, but there was another group given that number also, and then they put us as 6 people instead of 7, so they made us wait until number 51 was called. Kind of strange, albeit it was only 20 minutes difference.

Once we sat down, it took awhile yet for the waitress to pick up our order sheet. Just a note: you can order stuff not on the sheet but on their full menu also.

The food: (I apologize for the pictures, they were taken with camera phone and in a hurry before hungry peeps tried to grab the food)

Based on recc on Yelp, tried the Walnut Shrimp - definitely not what I would imagine an authentic dish tasting like, but it was so yummy!. In fact, no picture, because it was the first to come out and everyone was hungry! The shrimps are fresh tasting inside and tender, the batter is thick and crispy the outside. The sauce covering the shrimp had a nice consistency and taste. 4.5/5 stars

The Orange Beef was a little bland compared to everything else. It was made more of sour oranges than sweet from what I could tell, causing a strange after taste. 2.5/5 stars

French Style Beef - The beef itself was tasty and tender, as long as you didn't pick up too much basil on it. 3.5/5 stars

Chow Fun with Garlic on top - This was excellent, the cripsy garlic crumbs added a unique taste and texture to the noodles.

4.5/5 stars

Veggies - this had ginger in it, they looked fresh and full of color, I was looking forward to it until the taste of ginger. I'm not a ginger fan, but for those that love it, order this! 2.5/5 stars

Squid with Spicy Salt - Super Salty, but crisp on the outside, chewy but tender on the inside like squid should be 4/5 stars

Yang Chow Fried Rice - Kind of bland actually, but edible 3/5 stars (not pictured)

We also had the Hong Kong Waffle again, excellent, love the batter for this, and the smell is like that of a fresh bakery. Must have. 5/5 stars (previously pictured here http://totaltemptation.blogspot.com/2010/01/tasty-garden-alhambra.html )

Overall Service was not great especially with the incident above, food was on par or slightly above average. Prices for "lunch specials" were a little on the higher side despite the portions being a little on the scarce side for many dishes. 3/5 stars

Kosuke - Ramen in Alhambra

Ramen! Gotta love the stuff on a cold day, heck wifey loves it any type of day!

This little ramen place is situated in what I would call downtown Alhambra. Parking is in back, and is a little tight actually. The movie theater parking might be a better option, but its a little bit of a walk away.

The waitress that served us was nice, and talkative (wife's brother is a regular here), and even my wife says she is naturally cute....

On to the main topic: food!

We both ordered ramen, I ordered the Spicy Ramen with corn, and my wife ordered the miso ramen with corn. At first glance, prices do seem a little on the expensive side, 8 dollar ramen and extra for anything added (extra egg, corn, etc), however...

The spicy ramen was excellent. It actually surprised me and had quite a kick. More importantly it swirled in rich broth unlike Orochan's ramen from a previous review. The pork chasu was aplenty with thick juicy slices. The egg slightly underdone on arrival, but the ramen is hot enough to cook it through the way anyone chooses to eat it. The extra corn ordered, actually was a decent amount. The ramen noodles were cooked perfectly al dente and had a different texture to them, giving more substance.

The miso ramen was also good, an even richer broth with hints of pork and seafood in the taste.

Overall Impression: Yes this place is a little bit expensive, they serve ramen in a slightly smaller bowl than most places, but those places usually fill up the bowl with broth only anyway. This place does your ramen right, especially the actual ramen noodles. I will definitely be back.

4.5/5 stars

My Delight CupCakery - Ontario, California

Wow high grades for cupcakes, here is my take!

My Delight Cupcakery is located in a strip mall in Ontario south of the 10, same complex as Wingnuts and Subway. Location right by the freeway is a good thing!, This strip mall has somewhat limited parking compared to what could be found in the strip mall. The place itself is a small store, with nary a place to eat in house. In fact with three people in line, it felt very crowded, but right away in their display area, on a gourmet tiered tin, are their cupcakes, all sorts of colors and flavors in 2 different sizes.

Here is what I tried: (not in one sitting!): we bought a dozen minis, some were special, so did not get a discounted price.

For those reading my picture review, they are in reviewed in clockwise fashion starting at top left of each picture.

Picture 1 - German Chocolate - Rich, soft cake - overall 4/5 stars

Vanilla with Chocolate Sprinkles - This one was excellent, not too rich, soft cake 5/5 stars

Red Velvet - Standard red velvet, definitely red velvet done correctly. This one is not a knock off. 4/5 stars

Pistachio Truffle x2 - This was excellent. I like the nutty addition to the sweet, and the crunchy texture compared to the soft cake. Probably my favorite of the bunch. 5/5 stars

SnickerDoodle - my brother and his girlfriend trid this, they both arent cinnamon lovers, and I didn't realize cinnamon is part of a snicker doodle. i won't rate since I didn't try myself.

Picture 2 - Lemon x2- I liked the lemon cupcake, a little tang with the sweet. 4.5/5 stars.

SnickerDoodle - as above

Breakfast Cake - Once you get over the fact that the frosting takes like pancake and the bacon bits are real bacon, this is an interesting taste that piques interest. Its a must try, but for me 3.5/5 stars, not to my tastes for a cupcake.

Red Velvet - as above.

Vanilla with Vanilla sprinkles - good stuffs per my wife who does not usually like american sweets. Again I won't rate because I didn't eat it.

Overall excellent tasting cupcakes, I have not tried Sprinkles Cupcakes, so can not compare to them.

Only complaint is the price, $1.50 per cupcake for the minis, more for the specials of the week, and $3 a piece for regular sized cupcakes.

Overall I give 4/5 stars and will be back, but probably only for sales or special occasions.

Pollos Kikiryki - Claremont

Peruvian food in the IE? This is one of them! And a good one it is. My wife loves the ahi (green sauce) served with their chicken.

This place is located in a strip mall in Claremont. It would be easy to miss if you were not looking for it specifically. The place actually takes up some space and probably can seat 50 comfortably. We ordered early lunch and just sat in the "Fast food" area, and not in the actual dining room.

As you enter, you can see the chicken on the rotisserie, and the smell of wonderful Peruvian spices. We ordered the large chicken combo with large fries, Also we ordered a fried plantain as dessert.

Chicken was juicy and cooked well with the slightest hint of pink near the bone. The spices and the ahi sauce were excellent.

The french fries were hot, fresh fried, but they were just french fries, nothing special, had to eat them with the ahi sauce as they became somewhat bland. The plantain was good, not too sweet, super hot off the fryer though

Overall good food for the price, we will be back in the future. Solid 4/5 stars.

Joe's Mexican Food

Best Carne Asada in Town.... with a sign like that, I had to stop by after a trip to the post office.

This is located on the southwest corner of Foothill and Sierra in Fontana. There is a small parking lot out back. The place itself reminds me of a doughnut or milk drive thru from the old days, except they no longer have drive thru windows. It also reminds me of most Wienershnitzels. There is one ordering window and one pickup window.

On this day I ordered what they called the best:

I had the All Meat Carne Asada Burrito, and a side of french fries.

The fries when hot were tasty, but were not salted evenly and mostly not salted enough.

The burrito overall rates pretty high on my lists. The complaints are that its uneven also, most of the cilantro, onions, and sauce ended up being on one side of the burrito. That side of the burrito was excellent tasting! The side of the burrito that got missed was a little dry and bland. The green sauce is typical and not spicy at all, which I sort of expected. The red sauce had minimal kick, but left me disappointed as well.

Price was pretty good, definitely can get more bang for my buck here than at Taco Factory.

Taking into account this is a tiny sort of dingy hole in the wall, I actually give the burrito 4 stars. The location as a whole, and the fries kind of lack though, and overall I'll give 3.5 stars.

Ono Hawaiian BBQ - Fontana

Pretty good fast food. In the mood for Hawaiian food?

Here it is. Is it authentic? Probably not, but large portions, decent prices make this place a solid place to visit.

Friday night in the IE, we decided against cooking this night and visited Ono Hawaiian BBQ, basically a clone of L&L, or is L&L the clone? This is located in the strip mall on Summit and Beech, amongst lots of competition from other fast food joints. At 6PM on a friday night, this place was definitely busy. We were second in line, but there were only 2 tables left when we got there, and the food actually took 20 minutes to get ready.

We ordered 2 combos, one was the Chicken Katsu, the other was the Hawaiian Combo.

This chicken katsu was good, crispy and chicken tasted fresh.

The Hawaiian Mix combo consisted of beef short ribs, regular beef and Hawaiian Chicken. The chicken was juicy and sweet (most Hawaiian food has a sweet taste to it). The beef a tad on the dry side and the ribs were slightly overcooked for my taste, but that is the way these ribs are usually made.

The sides were rice and macaroni salad. The macaroni salad had a little tang from somewhere.... kind of an unpleasant surprise in my view.

Can't complain overall , we will stop by again, maybe there won't be such a line next time.

3.5 stars out of 5 overall.

Flame Broiler - Rancho Cucamonga

Wife had a hankering for some Flame Broiler so off we went. As an aside, I have had Flame Broiler also from their Pomona and Torrance locations.

This Flame Broiler is located in a small strip mall, not on a corner. Its on Foothill Boulevard on the south side of the street between Rochester and Miliken. Its a rather small location with both outdoor (maybe 3 tables of 2/3) and indoor seating. This particular location provides kim chi and brown rice on request. They also have rooster sauce to drench your food with.

What we had today

Wife had the Rib Platter - Ribs are well cooked, and probably the only meat that does not require some of the Magic Sauce or Spicy Magic sauce, although a touch of rooster sauce may help. Vegetables are boiled. The only grief wifey had here is that you can't get the ribs in bowl size, they only come in the platter size. The Walnut locations you are able to get them in bowl size.

I had the beef with vegetables bowl. I get the vegetables just to trick myself into believing I'm eating healthy. Without the spicy magic sauce and rooster sauce mix I put on top of the meat, it is usually too dry, but with the sauce, its magic!, I only put one small cup full, but it brings out the flavor.

Overall for fast food, this place it pretty good. My wife would rate it above Yoshinoya. I give it 3 stars myself out of 5.