Shanghai No. 1

Dim sum options in Los Angeles, and especially in the San Gabriel Valley (the "626", as the kids who are definitely cooler and younger than me have coined the area), are a dime a dozen. (Coin - geddit? Geddit?) But first world foodie problems pop up, and sometimes you just want to try something new. So on one Saturday morning, my family and I ventured out to try a place called Shanghai No. 1. 

This place looks like a normal chinese restaurant from the outside, but as soon as you walk in it's a color explosion. There are tons of decadent and ornate Chinese restaurants around already, but this would be the even flashier, extremely flamboyant cousin that loves musical theater and pinterest. The display above greets you as soon as you enter the door. Elaborate decorations line all the hallways. If you look on the top picture, the dining room has red velvet walls, ornate plush chairs, and chandeliers. 

The place is styled like old-time Shanghai, from the decorations down to the outfits of the waiters. It's unusual to say the least, as theme-dining for Chinese food is something you'd usually only see in pseudo-Chinese restaurants for tourists. The dim sum menu looked pretty standard though.

Sauced duck - sweet and very salty. 

Traditional dim sum fare of turnip cake and a beef rice roll - the sauce on the rice roll is sweeter than usual.

Pan fried soup buns - very nice! 

Pork and thousand year egg congee - ok, but not salty.

Cha siu rolls.

Shrimp dumplings and shu mai, the most standard of dim sum fare. I have to note that portions here are pretty gigantic for these.

Vegetable dumplings - didn't like this one, the filling was slimy and strangely tart.

Portuguese style egg tart - yum!

Overall, many of the dishes here have a distinctly sweeter flavor for their sauces and fillings - almost like a Shanghainese interpretation of traditionally Canton style foods? The dishes had good execution, but I think I prefer less sweetness and more flavor in some things. My phone kept ringing while I was eating with Facebook notifications telling me this place is mediocre, and I would for the msot part agree. The pan fried buns and the egg tarts are excellent though.

If you live in the area and get tired of your existing dim sum options it's worth it to try this place as a flavor twist on dim sum dishes and just to experience the amount of crazy kitsch that is involved in being served by a middle aged waiter wearing a pageboy outfit, but I wouldn't recommend it as a dim sum spot if you're just looking to satisfy a good dim sum craving. I didn't have dinner here, so no opinions on their usual dinner service.

I did get a lucky tea stem standing up in my tea while here, so that's gotta count for something.

Shanghai No. 1 Yelp

San Gabriel, CA

Coconuts Fish Cafe

My favorite Seattleites AK and DV went on a well deserved vacation to Maui, Hawaii with FT and me. We went with almost no food planning, as even food fanatics take breaks. That, or we were just lazy with planning...

Luckily, a leisurely yelp search while lounging on the beach showed a place in Kihei with almost a thousand great reviews. FT also had some kind of obsession with fish and chips during this week and badgered us until we went.

The place is in a pretty ordinary strip mall, but the inside has delightfully quirky shared surfboard seating: take your number, sit down, and make friends. Alas, being socially awkward people who also ate late on a weeknight, we had no strangers to meet, but the intent is good. 

We all got the highly recommended fish tacos, which boasts as having fresh fish, a mango salsa, and 17 different ingredients. Not sure what all 17 would be, but it's delicious and comes in a giant portion to boot - each order contains two tacos and comes on two separate plates.

With each plate color coded, so you can't split your order with someone else then swap them in the middle... alas, for I would've tried, they were incredible. I'd place them on the heartier side of the fish taco spectrum - pretty filling and heavy.

FT had a hankering for fish and chips as well. Chips are fairly standard thin fries. The fish is a thin batter on two types of fish - I believe one is mahi, and the other one might be ono? The fish is great and fresh, but I personally like a fluffy batter better. 

AK and DV also opted the ahi wasabi fish burger, which comes with a giant slab of ahi covered generously with the promised wasabi mayo. 

And yes, before you ask, delightfully rare inside. I had a quarter and it's delicious with the wasabi mayo.

We also had an order of onion rings, which made for an insignificant photo when all the fish tacos are blurring your vision, but they were nice as well - thick slabs of onion with light batter, golden brown.

The Coconuts Fish Cafe website indicates they now have a location in Scottsdale, AZ - logical next step for a fish restaurant to expand its reaches? Who knows. But if you happen to be on the south side of Maui, Coconuts Fish Cafe is a great place to stop by. Good fish, casual and not really that touristy; I'd highly recommend both the tacos and the ahi wasabi burger. And hell, if you're being a tourist, just splurge and get an extra order of the tacos, or you'll be typing up a blog post a few months later salivating and wishing you had both of your tacos instead of splitting your order...

Coconuts Fish Cafe

Coconuts Fish Cafe Yelp

Kihei, Maui, HI