Rainbow Donuts

Rainbow Donuts
1432 S Azusa Ave
West Covina, CA 91791
626-917-4933

I haven't been to the shopping center where Rainbow Donuts is located, in about 2-3 years.  Last week I drove by and noticed that a Boston carpetbagger donut chain opened up in the same shopping center!  Then I read the story about Teddy's Tacos being saved from demolition, at least for a few months, and they mentioned Rainbow Donuts.  So, I decided to support the mom and pop business!

Both donuts were good, and much better than any carpetbagging chain!! 

Coconut glazed donut  $1.  A ton of coconut on this donut.

Chocolate glazed donut $1.  A large donut, with a generous amount of chocolate. 

I got there about 3:30pm, so the donuts had been sitting around for awhile.  I'm sure the donuts will taste better in the morning!

Service is good. 

Rainbow Donuts is a part of the fabric of this community for 30 years.  It's sad they may struggle with a carpetbagging chain, right next door. 

Emperor Mongolian BBQ

Emperor Mongolian BBQ
138 N Grand Ave,
West Covina, CA 91791
626-332-2869

Emperor Mongolian BBQ is in the same complex as AYCE Sushi, a restaurant I reviewed back in 2016.

Emperor is a huge place with seating for about 40 people.  It was very busy the night we went.  A tour bus of about 20 people came in about five minutes later.  Then a couple big groups with about 7 or 8 people came in.  But, the lines moved quickly, and the place was kept clean.

Dinner is $14.95 for all you can eat.  There is beef, chicken, and pork for meats.  They have a good selection of veggies; spinach, shredded carrots, celery, onions, green onions, mushrooms, green bell peppers, broccoli, and even cabbage.  The sauce selection includes, kung pao, sweet and sour, soy sauce, garlic, teriyaki, and house-which seems to be a soy sauce based with green onions.

Since you put what items you want, these is no reason to take multiple pictures.  But, the items are fresh, and the table is always well stocked.  The broccoli came out a bit too crispy, maybe another minute or two on the grill, but otherwise this was good.

Service is good.  Like I said the veggies and meats were well stocked and clean.  We got refills and didn't lack for anything. 

I may not rush back since I don't go to Mongolian BBQ places that often, but I would have no problems going back to Emperor.

One Veg World

One Veg World
178 S Glendora Ave
West Covina, CA 91790
626-917-2727

If the address of One Veg World looks familiar, it should, it is a few doors north of the now closed, Chicken Box- a very good place for broasted chicken!  Chicken Box is now a Mexican restaurant.  One Veg World recently celebrated their 13th anniversary.   They also have a location in Pasadena!

The restaurant has two units in this complex.  The unit where you enter is the market and to-go orders, with a few overflow tables.  The other unit is for their main dining room.  A good sized restaurant, but they need to fix the air conditioning!  They had 3 or 4 fans on trying to cool the place off in no warm day! 

Teriyaki and broccoli, side of brown rice, 8.50.  A very good dish.  The brown rice was cooked perfectly.  The veggies, including broccoli and carrots were cooked crisp but tender.  The meat was a very good example of fake meat.  It tasted exactly like beef, the only difference is the texture, which is a bit chewy.  The portion was a bit small, but otherwise a very good dish.

Buffalo drumsticks, $6.50.  Not the best veggie wings I've had but pretty good.  The outer texture is a bit off but the inside was nice and firm.  The sauce wasn't that hot and just had the right amount of tang. I still think the buffalo wings at Bulan are the best veggie wings I've had!

Service was below average.  While the young lady helping me was nice, she was just "off."  She was behind the register and she asked if I wanted to dine in or take out.  I said take out.  She said I can take your order here.  Good start.  I go there and she said do I know what I want.  It's my first time there, how the hell am I suppose to know what you got.  She makes me go to the hostess stand and get a menu. Great service there!  That's like making the customer get his own silverware or drinks!   I place my order and pay in cash.  She completely forgets to give me my change!  I tell her, I need my change!  It seemed as if her attitude was I was going to leave the entire amount of change as her tip!

They need to train her better or she needs to improve her attitude. She should get the menu for me or they should leave a menu at the take out counter.

While the food was impressive at One Veg World, the service wasn't acceptable and a turnoff.  I wouldn't rush back here!

Lobster & Steak Express

Lobster & Steak Express
947 S Glendora Ave
West Covina, CA 91790
626-387-2788

About a mile south of Johnny's Shrimp Boat, is a huge plaza of restaurants including Lobster and Steak Express.  There are other Chinese restaurants, along with Pho, Sushi, a diner, and a Mexican restaurant in the plaza!  Parking maybe tough to find on a busy night with all the restaurants.

Shrimp noodles-$6.95.  Noodles were cooked perfectly.  There weren't that many veggies, but the cabbage and carrots were fine.  The shrimp were tough and overcooked.  Portion size was a bit small.  This could be a good dish if they cooked the shrimp correctly.

Pan fried shrimp-$8.99.  I wasn't expecting peel and eat shrimp.  Again the shrimp was overcooked and tough. 

Service was good. 

I'm surprised that a place with lobster in it's name overcooks seafood.  They sell lobster for about $15/lb.  They better know how to cook lobster properly at that price.

I wouldn't go back to Lobster and Steak Express.  Maybe I'm being too tough, but there are many other Chinese restaurants in the area that can cook shrimp properly. 

Johnny’s Shrimp Boat

Johnny’s Shrimp Boat
803 S Glendora Ave
West Covina, CA 91790
626-813-3818

Johnny’s Shrimp Boat first opened up on 2nd and Main,  Los Angeles in 1945.  As the city expanded,  Johnny’s Shrimp Boat was a victim of progress.  But, they expanded and had a location in Temple City and another one on Whittier Blvd. in East LA. 

The West Covina location is in bad need of a facelift.  Missing letters on the sign, worn seats and tables, and in need of a fresh coat of paint.  It's a small restaurant with about eight or so booths.  It was surprisingly busy on a Sunday afternoon.

2 piece fish and 2 piece shrimp, with fries-$7.03.  The fish is frozen haddock, but is mostly batter.  It is also very greasy.  I got my order in less than five minutes.  I doubt these are cooked to order!  Or the fryer isn't hot enough.  There was so much oil, it made me sick to my stomach.  The shrimp was the same as the fish-mostly batter and very oily.  The fries were frozen and lacked salt.

Service is ok. Nothing special or bad.

I wouldn't go back to  Johnny’s Shrimp Boat because the fish is just way too greasy.

Anna’s Pizza

Anna’s Pizza
1240 Lakes Dr
West Covina, CA 91790
626-918-5929

The day after National Pizza Day and I decide to look for a new pizza place.  Anna's Pizza comes up and I figured why not give them a try.  Located near the movie theaters and the now closed Chicken Box, in West Covina, Anna's is a family run pizza place.

It's a medium size place with about 12 or so tables and a small bar.  I would think many people have had a pizza and a movie!

It was mostly empty when I walked in there for lunch.  3-4 tables were filled.

Lunch special 8in two topping pizza, mushrooms and jalapeno $9.80, with salad and soda.  The pizza had way too much crust!  This is more than many pan pizza.  The dough was pretty good, nice chewy texture, but just too much!  Sauce was ok, nothing special and the cheese and toppings were fine.

Service is friendly but a bit off.  Maybe I got there right after the lunch rush, but when I got my salad- pretty standard-iceberg lettuce, shreaded mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives, the young lady said she would bring me silverware.  A few minutes later she brought a plastic fork and said they are washing the silverware and would bring me a fork when they are done.  Well, I never got a real fork, but a plastic fork works.  But, really what kind of place runs out of silverware and/or takes forever to wash them?

I wouldn't go back to Anna's because the pizza wasn't good.  There are better pizza options in the area like Red Devil Pizza.

AYCE Sushi-Closed

AYCE Sushi
116 N Grand Ave
West Covina, CA 91791
626-966-4420

I found AYCE Sushi looking online.  I figured I would give them a try.  The shopping center is undergoing construction and AYCE is tucked in the corner with no outside sign!!  So, it can be tough to find, especially at night.

A pretty small restaurant that was packed on the night we went.

All you can eat is $25.95 for dinner.  A good deal since most rolls are $10.95 or more each.  I thought the rolls were smaller than other sushi restaurants, which is good, you can try different rolls. 

Crab sushi

Shrimp sushi

Popcorn lobster roll-inside-avocado, crabmeat and cucumber.  Outside- deep fried crawfish.  It was ok, but if you're going to call it lobster put lobster in there.  Yes, I know crawfish and lobster are from the same family.  But, crawfish and lobster are different!

Salmon crunch roll-Inside- avocado, cream cheese, crabmeat.  Outside-slamon.  This was suppose to be deep fried.  It was deep fried but too soggy, as if the oil wasn't hot enough.

Shrimp tempura roll.

Side salad

Shrimp tempura- Frozen shrimp tempura that is deep fried and kept under heat lamps.  Not very hot or crunchy.  Very thin pieces of shrimp.

AYCE Roll-Avocado, spicy crabmeat, cucumber, shrimp tempura. Outside- salmon and tuna.

In N Out Spicy Roll-inside-avocado, crabmeat, cucumber and shrimp tempura.  Outside-spicy tuna and crunch.-  Pretty good but the spicy tuna isn't that spicy.

Soft shell crab- very small soft shell crab.  Crunchy, but very greasy.  Not a good item.

Service was good.   The servers were nice and friendly.  The rolls and sushi came out quickly.  Drinks were refilled quickly.

I would go back to AYCE Sushi, although I would get some of the rolls like the lobster popcorn roll or the roll I couldn't remember the name.  But, overall the sushi is pretty fresh and decent quality fish.  It's all you can eat, I'm not expecting prime grade sushi and if you are, you're an idiot!