Taco King

Taco King
600 E Foothill Blvd
Azusa, CA 91702
626-334-1312

I've driven by Taco King so many times, but never stopped in.  Located a few blocks east of Taco Tapatio, Taco King has another location just a few miles south of here, on Azusa Ave., just north of the 210 freeway.  Taco King is playing off the name of the very popular King Taco in East LA and the King Taco in Pasadena. 

I don't believe King Taco serves fish tacos or any seafood items, including shrimp and fish tacos and burritos.  Taco King has a good selection of seafood items.  On Tuesday, they have $1 fish tacos, which are normally $1.99.  On Wednesday, they have $1 tacos with any meats. 

The fish is basa, and it's deep fried.  Then topped with cabbage, crema, tomatoes, and cilantro.  This was ok.  The fish isn't fried to order, since I got my order in a couple minutes.  The other ingredients were fine.  But, nothing outstanding.

Service is ok.

I wouldn't go back to Taco King for the fish tacos.  But, they serve corn, and I may go back and try the corn!

Siam Palace Thai Cuisine-Closed

Siam Palace Thai Cuisine
992 E Alosta Ave
Azusa, CA 91702
626-334-0441

Siam Palace is located behind what used to be Country Chiken & Ribs, which is not only closed but the building has been torn down! It will be interesting to see what will be built on that property!

Siam Palace is a big restaurant, taking up two spaces in this strip mall.  One side is the front of the house and kitchen, while the other side is the dining room.

Shrimp fried rice-$9.95. Shrimp, eggs, tomatoes.  This was an ok dish.  It was a bit too greasy for my tastes.  There were about six shrimp for this dish.  The rice stuck together, which shouldn't happen with fried rice.  Portion size was a little small for the price.

Pad-Gar-prow- scallops, $9.95-small size scallops with chili, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and garlic.  This was an ok dish.  Not that many scallops, which were pretty well cooked.  I didn't get any basil flavor, mostly I got some chili, onions and bell pepper flavors.

Service was good.  I was surprised we were the only people in the restaurant for most of our time.  There was another table but they left within 10 minutes of us sitting down.

I won't go back to Siam Palace.  I don't think the food is that good.

La Tolteca

La Tolteca
429 N Azusa Ave
Azusa, CA 91702
626-334-0302

Not far from Canyon City BBQ, is La Tolteca, a huge Mexican restaurant in Azusa.  I went to La Tolteca a few years ago and the service was terrible and the food mediocre.  The girl who helped me was rude and just lacked customer service skills!  But, I was back in Azusa and decided to do a review of La Tolteca.

2 Fish Tacos al carte, $5.95, beer batters cod with lettuce, pico de gallo, cilantro, and jalapenos on a corn tortilla. The 2 fish tacos plate comes with beans and rice was $10.80.  These two tacos were huge!  The fish is frozen, but had a good crunch and texture, that made it able to handle all the veggies.  This was a very good fish taco! 

I got chips and salsa with my order.  I thought you had to order a plate for the chips and salsa to be included.  Either way a nice touch, as it is hard to turn down chips and salsa!

Shrimp ceviche tostada, $5.70. Again a huge portion!  The shrimp was nice and tender.  This was a bit sweeter than other shrimp ceviche that I've had.  But, I liked it, good flavor and fresh ingredients!

Service was great!  The guy who took my order was nice, friendly and helpful.  He explained how their system worked; this is counter service and they will bring your food to your table.  He answered my questions and he even asked things like "Have you been here before?" and "Do you live in the area?" 

I'm really glad I went back to La Tolteca.  The food was very good and the service was great!

Taco Tapatio

Taco Tapatio
502 E Foothill Blvd
Azusa, CA 91702
626-969-7100

The best places for tacos are the hole in the wall restaurants.  In Azusa there are many taco restaurants, so a restaurant has to standout or they will quickly go out of business.  While Taco Tapatio is large, the front of the restaurant is small and easy to miss when driving on Foothill.

Fish tacos, $1 on Wednesday, $1.45 regular price.  They use swai fish, which is battered and is fried to a nice golden brown with a good crunch.  They use corn tortillas which is great, the cabbage, crema, hot sauce, red onions and tomatoes were all fresh.  This was very good example of a fish taco-good sized portion and well worth the $1.45 regular price, a steal at $1!

Service is good.  Nice helpful people working there.

I would go back to Taco Tapatio anytime!

Fish N More Seafood & Grill-Closed

Fish N More Seafood & Grill
1123 E Alosta Ave
Azusa, CA 91702
626-335-1111

Fish N More Seafood & Grill used to be Falafel ME.  Of course, there was a change in concept and I'm pretty sure the owners of Falafel ME were the ones who changed to a seafood place.  Located in a Stater Bros. shopping center, Fish N More has a small dining area with some booths along the back wall, and counter seating.  You order at the counter and the food is delivered to you.  They offer a variety of seafood- from poke, fried, and grilled seafood. 

Fish & chips-$7.99 with coleslaw.  Fish is swai.  Two huge pieces of fish, nice and moist.  Not as crispy or crunchy as I would like.  Fried were undercooked and had been sitting under heat lamps for too long.  I didn't touch the coleslaw.  Overall a ton of food for the price.

Shrimp and chips-$8.99. Eight jumbo shrimp that came from the freeze to the fryer.  The shrimp was fine, but again, already fried and sitting under heat lamps.  I realize people are in a hurry, but fry these to order!  People do not mind the wait!  Fries were the same undercooked fries like the fish and chips.

Two things about the menu I want to mention.  On the menu they have fish and chips for $7.99 and white fish (swai) for $8.99.  I asked what is the difference and was told the white fish is one piece and the fish and chips is two pieces.  Then I asked what kind of fish is used for the fish and chips and was told swai.  So what is the difference? 

In the Grill & Garden section they list the protein and sauce-Mediterranean, House, Caesar, and ORIENTAL!  What?  Are back in the 1950's?  Who uses ORIENTAL anymore?  That went out with Negro and bell bottoms.

Service is pretty good- nice friendly people.

I realize they just recently changed concepts but they have work to do.  Portion size and prices are fine, but they need to fry items to order and not keep them under heat lamps! 

Cafe Cola-Closed

Cafe Cola
180 W Sierra Madre Ave
Azusa
626-969-5500

I've read a lot of glowing reviews about Cafe Cola and wanted to give them a try. Cafe Cola are known for their fresh food, no freezers or microwaves, and the burgers. So I head up to Azusa and find Cafe Cola in a small strip mall. It's a small place with about six tables and a counter with about 3-4 seats. It is very busy and crowded the day I went, which is always a good sign.




After my trip to the East Coast, I was craving a cheesesteak. So I got that instead of their burger, $6.95 with provolone cheese, onions, and mushrooms. While waiting in line I saw them prepare other cheesesteaks, and they were slicing a fresh rib eye into thin pieces. A very good start. I also heard the owner say they use Porto's Bakery rolls, another good thing. So my cheesesteak comes out, and I take a bite. It's very greasy, and some pieces of rib eye are charred. Not what I was expecting. The provolone cheese, onions and mushrooms were fine, but I couldn't get past the greasiness of the cheesesteak. The rolls, which has a nice firm texture, did hold up very well to the greasiness, soaking up a lot of that grease.

Service is very good. The owner is nice and friendly. But, the wait for the food seems a bit long. I think we waited about 15-20 minutes for our food. I wasn't in a hurry but I thought the food could come out quicker.

Cafe Cola for the cheesesteak didn't meet my expectations, I think Philly's Best is better, but I will come back and try the burgers.