RISING SUN denim store in Pasadena (LA) - Page 3

I think Din Tai Fung has pretty good dumplings but their two houses in Taiwan are significantly better and there are some other places in Monterey Park and San Gabriel that have better dumplings IMO but they are infrequently visited by Caucasians. I would disagree about the price, as they're pretty expensive IMHO, like $5-8 per pan of dumplings.

I'll agree with the idea that DTF is probably more appealing to non-Chinese eaters, however I don't think DTF falls into the category of a traditional dim-sum style eatery. Although it's a common place to visit in the mornings, as one can see from the substantial lines, I think many people eat there for dinner as well and they offer a full menu in addition to dumplings.

It's also probably true that DTF offers more description of what exactly you are getting with your order and that it's probably less intimidating to eat at without an "ethnic guide" Restaurants in the San Gabriel/MP area can be very hit or miss unless you're operating upon a pool of experience.

I work in Pas and pick up my Anime DVD's in San Gabriel, I would love to find a good dumpling house where I don't have to wait 25 min (avg) to get a table plus I hate leaving the Vette in their parking lot (crowded as hell).

I'll have to agree with GS I'm not much of a Dim Sum guy, but I don't mind if others dig it.

Easiest way to deal with the parking is to park in Wells Fargo or in the shopping mall behind DTF on Duarte.

As far as dumpling houses, there are a number of them in San Gabriel/MP but I don't remember the English names of them. There's a good one that's near the corner of Garfield and Valley as I recall.

When I moved to LA from New York my wife and I lived at her parents house in San Gabriel for a couple of months. I was totally immersed in HK style culture for that time (love the HK gossip mags)!!!!!. I love a good shabu shabu but still find the green leafy steamed vegetables too chewy!. Lots of great chinese food in San Gabriel, a pity I don't recall names and locations.

Ha, a few weeks ago, I added Pho-79 to the Restaurants post in Social Life, Food, Drink. Been going there forever. You ever been to any restaurants in the original Chinatown? My favorite is Mandarin Deli and Family Pastry is a dim sum classic. So I take it you didn't grow up in the area but occasionally visit?

-Jeff

I think Pho-79 is a decent place. My favorite places for pho are down in Orange County (or up) in Garden Grove, Westminster, etc. The most creative pho places, though, are either Pho King on Valley/Rosemead or What the Pho, in HB... heh

yeah, well, Little Saigon...i imagine the Vietnamese food down there is pretty good. a coworker told me about Pho King. i totally thought he was pulling my leg. nice!

-Jeff

You are, of course, referring to the Molten Bomb...spicy Mac n' cheese. That's the place.

Yeah, I've been all over the places in Chinatown. Empress Pavillion, etc. Haven't been to Mandarin Deli. I'll give that a shot. I had the luxury of growing up in two cities: Los Feliz and Alhambra. Since my dad's idea of cooking was adding milk to microwavable oatmeal, we always ate our meals at restaurants. Not to mention that if you know where to look, the meals are so cheap it doesn't make sense to buy the food and make it yourself. The outcome is that I'm a picky eater, not in what kind of cuisine, but quality since I just know better. You're not going to make a grilled cheese sandwich if you're in Alhambra if there's the Hat, not going to Panda Express in Pasadena if it (was) happy hour at Nonya's, and so on. And you're sure as hell not eating breakfast in downtown if there's Philippe's.

damn i was hoping for an update on the store and all i get is posts about restaurants i can't eat at :P i have however eaten at like 4 DTF's in different countries haha.

What store?

There is some amazing Pho in San Diego. Definitely the best I've had is down here in our unofficial Little Saigon.

There's a little saigon up in San Jose, too. A buddy of mine's family owns a place up there that's damn good.