Dragon 99-Closed

Dragon 99
9335 Monte Vista Ave
Montclair, CA 91763
909-621-1699

Dragon 99 is located on the western part of the Montclair Plaza.  The stupid owners of Montclair Plaza have changed the name of the mall to Montclair Place, but the sign that is visible from the 10 freeway still has Montclair Plaza.

I'm pretty sure this building used to be Tony Roma's. A quick search shows there are still three Tony Roma's are still open in the LA area!! Szechuwan Garden is the other Chinese restaurant I've tried in Montclair.

They have lunch special, which includes soup-choice of wonton, hot and sour, and egg drop, salad rice and a choice of entree for $7.75.

The hot and sour soup was warm, but had good flavor, but not much spice.

The standard green salad with red cabbage, carrots and iceberg lettuce with a sesame dressing.  The white rice was cooked perfectly!

Sauteed string beans- a good dish.  The string beans were cooked well, maybe a tad too much.  But, overall still crispy.  They put a good amount of onions in the dish.  Regular menu price is $8.95.

Shrimp with snow peas.  Surprisingly, this isn't on their regular menu.  But, most of their shrimp dishes are priced at $13.50.  There were about half a dozen medium sized shrimp in this dish  They were cooked perfectly.  The veggies were fresh with carrots, and water crest in addition to the snow peas.  A good dish and well worth the lunch special price.

Service was OK.  They are friendly. But, they took forever to take my order.  They took forever to bring water.  While the restaurant was busy, it wasn't like they were understaffed or overwhelmed.  The food came out quickly and was hot.  So, that wasn't the issue.  Just making me wait forever to take my order and get water!

Dragon 99 is a good value for lunch.  But, you maybe late getting back to work with their slow service.  Now that China Gate in Upland has closed, this maybe the best Chinese place in the area.

Fatburger-Closed

Fatburger
8790 Central Ave
Montclair, CA 91763
909-920-4417

Fatburger was a popular burger chain back in the 1980's.  After some ownership changes, including Magic Johnson, Fatburger is trying to make a comeback in a very crowded burger market.  Not only is iconic In N Out still the top burger chain in the LA area, but carpetbaggers like Five Guys, have come into the market.

I wanted to try Fatburger because they have the Impossible Burger!  I'm not a big fan of the Impossible Burger, mainly because of their false marketing that does not tell the consumer that it is a GMO product!!  I've tried the Impossible Burger at Umami in Anaheim, and Tony Dart's Away.  I wasn't overly impressed with the taste from either one, but like Tony's better.

Impossible burger, $8.99. All burgers at Fatburger come with mayo, lettuce, onions, relish, mustard, pickles, and tomatoes.  I asked for no onions.  The burgers are made to order, so expect a wait.  This was very good.  A no frills burger.  The pattie was a little too chard and salty, but otherwise a good way to make the impossible burger.

Service was good.

I would go back to Fatburger for the Impossible burger!  This is the best way a restaurant has made the Impossible burger!

Szechuwan Garden

Szechuwan Garden
8851 Central Ave Ste A
Montclair, CA 91763
909-625-1878

David Allen reviewed, Szechuwan Garden, and told readers about the history of this space in a strip mall that is still stuck in the 1980's!  The first restaurant to occupy this space was Royal China in 1987.  Then Golden Buddha. Golden China opened in 1998 and closed in 2014.  This is David's review of Golden China, the last restaurant that occupied this space. 

The strip mall is interesting in that there are four restaurants total, and a Jenny Craig diet center.  The older exterior, though well maintained, could use a renovation.

The restaurant has a small waiting area, then a huge size room in the middle and another good sized room in the back.  It wasn't that busy during my visit.  Maybe six tables of people, including a big group of maybe 8-10 people, during my visit.

Vegetable fried rice, $7.95 with bean sprouts, green onions, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, and broccoli.  This was very flavorful and well cooked.  Portion size was great and well worth the price.

Shrimp with mix vegetables $13.95-broccoli, mushrooms, water crest, snow peas, and bok choy.  While the veggies were mostly broccoli, they were all well cooked and the sauce was outstanding.  The shrimp was medium to large sized shrimp was also well cooked.

Vegan chicken and broccoli, $12.29.  Surprised to see vegan items at a non vegan Chinese restaurant.  The broccoli was well cooked, but the lack of sauce made this a dry dish.  Now, the vegan chicken was just some soy protein sliced.  It lacked flavor and seasoning.  Not worth the price and I wouldn't order this again.

Service was good.  There were two people working the front of the house, maybe the owner and his wife?  Anyways, they were friendly and helpful.  But, there was nobody at the front waiting area and I just stood there for a few minutes before the man noticed me.  Maybe somebody called in sick and they were short handed?  Not that big of a deal, but being greeted by somebody as you walk into their restaurant sets a good tone for the meal!

The food, expect for the vegan chicken, was good but I found this place to be on the pricey side.  Portion size was good, quality of cooking was good. But, this is Montclair, not Beverly Hills.  I would go back, but won't rush.

Burgerim-Closed

Burgerim
9359 Central Ave
Montclair, CA 91763
909-399-0009

David Allen recently reviewed Burgerim, and new burger chain based in Israel, that opened in Montclair about a month ago.  Burgerim, is Hebrew for “many burgers” and thus, you get at least two burgers in each order.  The burgers are slightly bigger than a slider, they say 2.8 ounces per burger.  You can choose from a wide variety of patties; a few kinds of beef, chicken, turkey, veggie, and salmon.  You also can choose the type of bun.

The duo is two burgers with fries and a drink for $9.95, while a trio is three burgers with fries and a drink $12.95.

I got the duo, $10.77, with a veggie patty-green onions, carrots, tofu and lentils and salmon patty both with a wheat bun.  The burgers come with lettuce, tomato, onions, and house sauce which is a no relish thousand island. 

The veggie patty was very good.  Many restaurants should copy this recipe!  But, the burger was very dry.  They should put the house sauce on both buns and apply a bigger amount!  The veggies were fresh, but the bun was a bit too well toasted. 

The salmon burger was also very dry and the salmon had a weird smell.  I wasn't impressed.

Service needs improvement.  Management needs to train their employees much better.  The young lady who helped me was very nice but she wasn't much help to a first time customer.  Since Burgerim is a new concept, it's not like going to In N Out.  They need to help first time customers!

She didn't tell me I had a choice of bun.  I only found out when the guy next to me was asked by a different employee what kind of bun.  She also got confused about the choose of fries.  She said I had a choice between regular fries, sweet potato, onion rings for $1.50 more, or home fries.  When I picked home fries, she ask her co-worker how to ring that in.  The co-worker told me home fries aren't an option and can only be ordered on their own.  Home fries are cubed potatoes in a sweet chili sauce topped with sesame seeds.  Not a big deal, but it shows the lack of training management is providing their employees.  But, I want to make sure people understand the employees are very nice and willing to help.  They just need to be trained better to know the menu!

Burgerim is in the fast-casual price range and overall I think it is worth it.  You only save $1 ordering al carte, so might as well get the fries and soda.  If I do return I will make sure to order extra sauce on the burgers.