BCD Tofu House

BCD Tofu House
1731 Fullerton Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626-964-7073

I went to BCD Tofu House in 2015 but never got around to posting a review.  Now, I can't find the pictures I took of the food.  So this review will be a bit different.  I am posting a picture of the outside of BCD Tofu House, but instead of a picture of the food I ordered, I am just putting a link to a picture of what I ordered.  The picture in the link is exactly what I got. 

Hot-Stone Bibimbap with tofu, rice, carrots, spinach, bean sprouts, cucumbers, $13.95 for lunch back in 2015.  This was light, fresh, pretty good sized portion.  But, it was very bland and not worth the $13.95 price tag.  If this was good, I would go back and take a picture. But, it's not worth it!

Service was good.  Pretty friendly and I didn't lack for anything.

BCD Tofu just isn't for me.  Other dishes maybe good, but I'm not a fan of what I ordered and won't go back!

Sushi Land

Sushi Land
2129 S Hacienda Blvd
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
626-369-1143

I was craving sushi and found Sushi Land after doing a search.  The first place I wanted to go, Ootoro Sushi, is closed on Sunday.  I did make it to Ootoro Sushi about a week later.  So, Sushi Land was an easy decision.  Located in the CVS shopping center that used to have China Mandarin, Sushi Land is a small restaurant with seating at the sushi bar in front and what seems to be tables in the back.  I didn't go to the back room.

All day on Sundays is Happy Hour, so California rolls, spicy tuna roll, and mixed tempura-two pieces of shrimp tempura and 3 vegetable tempura are $5.

California roll- regular price $6.  A good sized California roll.  Good, fresh ingredients!

Spicy tuna roll- regular price $6.  A bit small, but a good quality, fresh roll.

Mixed tempura-regular price $8- I'm guessing you get more pieces of shrimp and vegetable for the regular price.  This was only ok.  A frozen piece of shrimp, good batter to shrimp ratio, but not as crunchy as I would like.  Only good thing was this came right out of the fryer! 

Crunchy roll $8.  This was good, but too much of the crunchy toppings.  Otherwise fresh and tasty.

Shrimp $6 and blue fin tuna sushi- $7 special price,  Regular price-$9.  Shrimp was good, fresh and flavorful.  The blue fin tuna is a steal at $7.  Very buttery and flavorful.  Maybe the best blue fin tuna I've had.

Service was good.  Nice, friendly, and quick service.  I was never lacking for anything, drinks were refilled quickly.

I would go back to Sushi Land anytime!!  Very impressed with the quality of the fish, the service, and the good value.

Tamarind Restaurant & Catering

Tamarind Restaurant & Catering
4047 Grand Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-364-9141

Next door to Pizzita Circle, a restaurant I reviewed back in 2015, is Tamarind Restaurant & Catering-an Indian and Pakistani restaurant.  They have a lunch $10.95, and dinner buffet $13.95 which includes a drink.

As you walk in the buffet is set up to the right.  They have a ton of chicken dishes, including Chicken Tikka Masala and Tandoori, I didn't touch any of them.  For vegetarians they have lentils, mixed vegetables in herbs and spices, a cauliflower and potato dish, and cold salad.  They do not have samosa on the buffet.

The lentils were the most bland lentils I've ever had. No flavor, not taste nothing.

The rice was fluffy and flavorful.

The mixed vegetables is just frozen veggies in herbs and spices.  It was ok, but nothing overwhelming.

Service is good.

A friend paid for lunch, since she owed me for flaking on lunch a couple weeks before.  I'm glad because if I had to pay for it, I would not be happy.

Tummy Stuffer

Tummy Stuffer
5530 Schaefer Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-628-6882

I was in Chino and found Tummy Stuffer by doing a search.  After eating there, I noticed that David Allen reviewed Tummy Stuffer about five years ago.  There are over 101 sandwiches on the menu.  It's a bit deceiving because for roast beef, they have 3-5 different options-with cheese, with other meats like ham, etc.  Plus soups and salads, pasta dishes, fish and chips, and burgers!

I got the provolone, Swiss, pepper and American cheese, #59 on the menu, $6.99, on wheat roll, with mayo, lettuce and tomatoes.  The sandwich was fine, but nothing outstanding.  There were the slices of  cheese on the bottom, both pieces of bread had mayo, and a good amount of lettuce and tomatoes.  All the ingredients were fresh.

Service was ok.  The people are nice.  But, it took forever to make my sandwich,  Maybe they had a big to go order; but whatever the reason my sandwich took about 15 minutes and there were only two other people who came in after me.  I was charged tax for the sandwich.  When I go to almost every sandwich shop, I do not get charged for a cold sandwich.

If you're like me and don't want to support a national chain, Tummy Stuffer, is a good alternative.  But, really you're getting chain quality sandwiches. 

Dragon 99

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.

Mariscos Jalisco

Mariscos Jalisco
753 E Holt Ave
Pomona, CA 91767
909-634-6808

I'm not a food truck chaser!  I have only reviewed four food trucks while maintaining this blog.  If there are food trucks without a long line, I will order something, but I won't follow them on social media to chase them around town.  Mariscos Jalisco, recently went from food truck to brick and mortar store in Pomona!!  And of course, David Allen wrote a story about the Mexican seafood items sold here, and how they landed in Pomona.

Shrimp taco, $2.25.  This is a fried taco with tons of shrimp, tomatoes, cilantro, inside with salsa, avocado outside.  This was outstanding! I liked the coolness of the avocado with the crispy fried shell!  A steal at $2.25.  Full disclosure-while I was waiting for my order, the woman, who I believe is the manager and owner's daughter, gave me a free shrimp taco.  But, I did pay for the two shrimp tacos I ordered!  I would have given the same review if I didn't get a free taco.

Service was good.  She was very nice and helpful.  She talked up David's story and how the night before they sold out of everything before their regular closing time; 6pm.  They are closed on Wednesday.  But, this will quickly become a Pomona favorite! 

Honeybird

Honeybird
714 Foothill Blvd
La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011
818-415-0489

Honeybird is another competitor to the fried chicken scene in the LA area.  Howlin Ray's is the most popular with very long lines for their chicken.  Matter of fact, David Allen wrote about his long wait at Howlin' Ray's!  But, even though in 2017 I ate chicken about 10 times, about 1.5%, I missed out on Honeybird.  But, I saw their menu and noticed a fried fish sandwich and a shrimp po'boy.

Located on a very busy stretch of Foothill Blvd., Honeybird is a big restaurant.  There is a parking lot behind the store, but I got lucky and found parking on Foothill.  As you enter from the front, there are tables to your left, and counter with some of their pies displayed.

I got there are Happy Hour, 3-5pm Tues-Fri.  Half off the fish sandwich and $1 off all sides.  All orders are cooked to order, so expect a wait!

PHIL LEE O FISH $10.25 Crispy Whitefish, Lemon Dill Aioli, Homemade Pickles, Tomato, Cabbage. Happy hour price is $5.  The fish I'm pretty sure is swali or catfish.  The guy didn't even know.  He did say it was farmed.  The fish was well cooked, very crispy and good.  But, the sandwich just didn't come together because the bun could not hold up the all the toppings, it just became a mushy mess.

Service was good.  Nice and friendly, but I would like them to know what kind of fish they use for their fish sandwich.

I may come back and try the shrimp po'boy and the fried chicken, but I'm glad I didn't pay full price for the fish sandwich.

Cinnaholic

Cinnaholic
101 W Imperial Hwy Unit C
Brea, CA 92821
888-530-1666


Cinnaholic is a vegan cimmamon rolls place.  They give vegans a nice alternative to Cinnabun.  They have a few location in the LA/OC area.  I went to their Brea location.  A small shop with tables along the wall and the counter on the left as you enter.  I seems like an ice cream place, but the smell of cinnamon rolls is all over.

One thing I notice, there is only a very small size, near the OC Health Department sign, that tells customers this is a vegan place.  If you didn't know this was vegan, you would never guess! 

They have a display with the name of the cinnamon listed.  But, what they don't tell you is that there is no special price for these cinnamon rolls.  The pricing is the basic $4.75 for the old school cinnamon plus 25 cents for the frosting and 50 cents per topping, each one had at least two toppings.  So each one was $6.   They are served warm.

You can also put as many toppings and frostings you want.

German chocolate- This was my favorite.  Lots of coconut and walnuts.  The cinnamon roll itself is very soft, a bit chewy, but good texture and it holds up to the toppings!

Apple crisp- Surprisingly very little apple flavor. 

Smores-this was very good, but the graham cracker texture and flavor were off.  I would get this without the graham cracker and put regular graham crackers instead.

Peanut butter and jealous- This was just ok.  The chocolate chips seemed off for peanut butter and jelly. 

Service was good.  But, they should tell you the cinnamon rolls displayed are priced by the number of toppings. 

Cinnaholic was fine, but just too pricey to make this a regular stop.

Village Inn Fish & Chips

Village Inn Fish & Chips
6406 E Stearns St
Long Beach, CA 90815
562-430-2977

Village Inn Fish & Chips used to be H. Salt, the fish and chips chain, that was once popular!  My go to place in Long Beach for inexpensive fish and chips is England Fish and Chips.  I wanted to see how Village Inn compares.

A small place with 4 tables.  It's mostly a take out place.  Parking can be tight in the area with a pizza place, and a bar in the complex.

Tuesday special-6 pieces of fish for $8.95.  Regular price-$2.49 per piece.  The fish is Alaskan pollock.  The pieces of frozen pieces of fish, with a medium coat of batter.  It's pretty good, but England is better with a bigger portion.

Jumbo shrimp-$2.25 each.  This was ok.  The shrimp was chewy.  Not as crunchy and a bit oily.  I'm guessing the shrimp went into the fryer when the oil wasn't the correct temperature.

Service is good.  The owner arrived about 25 minutes late.  But, he apologized and added an extra piece of jumbo shrimp.  The fish is cooked to order, so expect at least a 15 minute wait.

Overall Village Inn Fish & Chips is a good alternative to England Fish and Chips, but England is still the best place in Long Beach for fish and chips!