Seasons Cafe-Closed

Seasons Cafe
23415 Golden Springs Dr
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-860-8646

Seasons Cafe opened up where Thai Diamond Bar BQ used to be.   I believe at least two other restaurants opened in this space before Seasons Cafe came in.

It's a small restaurant with booths on the left side and tables seating on the right.  They also serve sushi, which is half priced and if you bought two, you got one free!

It wasn't that crowded when I got there around 1pm.  Maybe I missed the lunch rush?

Shrimp chow mein- $7.35.  Maybe six pieces of shrimp throughout this dish.  Good flavor, the noodles were cooked perfectly. 

Shrimp fried rice- $6.99.  Made with shrimp, carrots, and peas this was good, if a bit under seasoned dish.  Just a touch more salt would have been perfect.  Again a small number of shrimp, only 6, but everything was well cooked.

Service is good.

Seasons Cafe is pretty good.  I may try their sushi, but with all the specials, I have a feeling the sushi isn't selling well.  But, the Chinese food is good!

BRB-Closed

BRB
1381 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-396-9968

BRB is a Korean restaurant that has sushi and bento boxes on their menu!  I'm not big on Korean tofu, but I decided to try their sushi.  They had a good selection of rolls, and nigri sushi, all at an good, inexpensive price.

There are tables spread throughout the restaurant with a sushi bar/counter on the right hand side of the restaurant.  It was fairly busy for a Monday at 2:30pm.

Spicy tuna roll $5.95 and shrimp tempura roll $6.95.

The spicy tuna roll was fine.  Pretty fresh, a good value, much better than the super market sushi. 

The shrimp tempura roll could have been good, if they didn't put a ton of sauce all over it! 

Sun Oh Roll- $9.95.  Tuna outside, and crabmeat and avocado inside.  This had a bit too much sauce, it wasn't soaked with sauce like the shrimp tempura roll. Good fresh tuna, avocado, and crabmeat.

Service is good.

If you want inexpensive sushi, BRB, fits the bit.  They are a Korean restaurant with Korean dishes on the menu.  But, they do a good job with their sushi!

Mr. Poké

Mr. Poké
20651 Golden Springs Dr
Diamond Bar, CA 91789
909-598-1333

Long time residents of the area will remember this location as the original location for, Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe.  They moved about a mile away, and for the past two years, Mr. Poke has been here.  Cafe Terrace was a restaurant that went into this space after Charlie's moved. 

Regular poke bowl-$9.85.  Shrimp, Ahi tuna, and spicy tuna as the three proteins.  Spring mix and brown rice as the base, corn, edamame, corn, jalapenos, green and red onions, with sesame seeds on top.

Fusion 2 Any 1 Sushi & Roll

Fusion 2 Any 1 Sushi & Roll
1261 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-396-1900

If Fusion 2 Any 1 Sushi & Roll looks familiar, it should!  It is the latest restaurant to go into this space.  It originally started as a Rudy's Pizza.  Then Rendino's opened and closed.  Yoko Yoko Sushi and Roll took over, and closed earlier in 2017.  Fusion 2 Any 1 Sushi & Roll took over, they just made a sign and kept the sushi & roll part for their outside sign!

It's still a large restaurant with booth around the walls and table in the middle on the left part of the building; with the sushi bar on the right.  It's dimly lit and there were about 12-14 tables the time we were there.

It's all you can eat for $24.95 for dinner.  Again, with all you can eat sushi, I'm not expecting top of the line sushi.  I expect fresh sushi.  Aside from the tuna nigri I got fresh sushi.  Some rolls I didn't care for and will go into more detail under their picture.

 Shrimp, tuna, and crab nigri. The tuna wasn't fresh, very mushy. 

Lobster and spicy tuna hand roll. The lobster hand roll maybe my favorite here. Very good with the imitation crab meat very good and the crawfish fresh.  They could have put a little less sauce on the roll, but overall very good roll.

 Baked lobster roll- inside-crab and avocado. outside-crawfish and crab.  I didn't care for this roll.  Too mushy and just too many flavors working against one another.

 Shrimp lovers roll-shrimp tempura, crab, and avocado. outside-avocado and shrimp.

 Shrimp tempura roll-inside-shrimp tempura and cucumber. outside-avocado

Aloha roll- inside-spicy tuna and cucumber. Outside yellowtail and jalapeno.  If you like it spicy, this is for you! 

Service was ok, but their policy is terrible.  They had two ladies working the night we went.  My friend hadn't decided what he wanted, so I put in my first order; the nigri.  Then my friend decided and placed his order.  While he was working on his rolls, I placed my order.  But, what the server didn't tell us was that even though it's all you can eat, you can only place orders three times!!  But, there is nothing on the menu saying that!  I mean, if we knew that, we would have combined the first two orders!  When she took the order, she should have told us about that stupid policy!  I mean six pieces of sushi counts as the first order??  I mean come on.  Plus, they make sure you're aware of the policy that any unfinished food will be an additional charge!  So, I'm not going to place an order for more rolls than I can eat.

Another policy is you have only one hour.  That's fine but when the servers take forever to pick up the order and the sushi chefs take forever to make the orders, that limits how much sushi you can eat! Again, there were only two servers for about 12-14 tables.  That shouldn't be too hard to get people's orders!  They did have a help wanted sign for servers.  But, good servers can easily handle 6-7 tables.

I won't return to  Fusion 2 Any 1 Sushi & Roll!

China Tasty & BBQ-Closed

China Tasty & BBQ
2040 S Brea Canyon Rd Ste 130-150
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-895-7453

China Tasty & BBQ is a new restaurant that replaced Misora, a now closed sushi restaurant.  It's actually going back to it's roots, this location used to be Shanghai Palace, a very popular Chinese restaurant.  I went on Monday after seeing their menu.  But, there were closed, even though their signs says they are open on Monday!

It's a big restaurant with about 20 tables, all of them empty the day I went.  Maybe people haven't heard about China Tasty & BBQ?  They have a large menu with BBQ items and your standard Chinese items.  

Shrimp chow mein, $9.99, peas, carrots, mushrooms, fungus, cabbage.  This was very good expect the noodles were a bit undercooked and the peas and carrots were clearly from the freezer.  But, otherwise this was a well balanced tasty dish.

Service was good.

A few things that China Tasty has to correct.  On their door the days and hours are listed as Mon-Sat., 11am- and unlisted time.  On their business card it says they are open 7 days.  The reality is they are open Tues.-Sun.  They are closed on Monday.  I'm guessing the hours listed on the door was the hours for Misora and China Tasty never bothered to take it down!  They need to list their correct hours to prevent people from wasting a trip!

Makomae

Makomae
868 N Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-861-6537

Makomae has been open for about 18 months at the site of Sushi Koyo, former home of the Sushi Nazi! I don't think much has changed inside the restaurant or the menu.  Don't expect to find a ton of rolls on the menu.

Tuna, $4.95 and Yellowtail $4.95.

Halibut with ponzi sauce, $4.95.

Spicy tuna roll, $7.95.

All the sushi didn't taste as fresh.  It seemed as though the sushi had been sitting around for a long time.  I wasn't happy with the quality of the fish.

Service was good.  Nice and friendly people.

A review site rates Makomae very highly but I wasn't impressed.  Maybe it was an off day, but when the sushi isn't fresh, I'm not coming back!

Far East Cuisine

Far East Cuisine
1220 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Ste C
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-612-1695

I recently noticed Far East Cuisine and decided to give them a try tonight.  This location used to be Taza Fresh, which closed within a year of my 2008 review.

To be blunt, this place sucks!  The tables and floors are dirty and dingy.  I don't really mind because I'm ordering take out.  There is one lady waiting for her take out order and nobody else in the restaurant.

I'm at the counter ready to order, and instead of helping me, a couple walks in and the man who I believe is the owner, helps them!  They called in an order, but I should have been helped first!

I place an order at about 6:20pm and he tells me it will be 7pm until my order is ready!  Again, there was one woman, who got her order, before I ordered, so there is nobody in the restaurant!  So why would it take almost 40 minutes to get my two dish order?

Some people just shouldn't be in the restaurant business!!  Terrible!  I will not come to this terrible restaurant ever again!

Dilliwala Indian Kitchen

Dilliwala Indian Kitchen
303 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-860-7444

Dilliwala Indian Kitchen has been open for about 8 months, in what used to be Papa G's Pizza.  While I thought Papa G's served up great pizza, the interior had not been updated since the 1980's.  Now, the interior of Dilliwala is very inviting.  There are about 10 tables with some bench seat along the walls. 

Aloo Samosa, $4.95, crispy fried savory pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes.  While very flavorful, with a good amount of spices, this wasn't worth the price.  Two fairly small sized samosa for about $5???

Dal Tardka, $9.95, chickpea lentils tempered with ginger, garlic, tomatoes, onions, green chillies.  This was a fantastic dal/lentils.  Very flavorful, while the green chillies stood out, they didn't overpower the flavor. 

Service was very good.  Nice and friendly people.  Food was ready quickly.

Dilliwala Indian Kitchen is better than the other Indian restaurant in Diamond Bar, Diamond Palace.  I would go back to Dilliwala anytime, but wouldn't order the samosa because of the price.

Intiraymi Restaurant-Closed

Intiraymi Restaurant
23545 Palomino Dr
Diamond Bar
909-861-1200

So Diamond Bar gets a Peruvian restaurant and I finally get a chance to try it.  Located in a strip mall behind a gas station and an overpriced Chinese restaurant-that I won't go to, Intiraymi Restaurant has been in Diamond Bar for about a year.  It is a good sized restaurant with seating for about 20-25 people, though the decor is very basic.  

Pescado Frito-fried fish-sea bass with steamed rice and salad, $11.95.  The fish was lightly battered and well fried but very bland.  The fish itself was moist and flavorful.  I would guess they use fresh, not frozen fish, but I could be mistaken.  The rice was fine.  The salad was standard.

Service was good.  The man who took my order, who I believe is the owner, was nice, friendly and helpful.  I got the order quickly, considering they had to fry the fish.

I was disappointed with the fried fish.  Some of their other dishes look great and I may give them a try the next time I go to Intiraymi Restaurant.

Hot Dog Pops-Closed

Hot Dog Pops
808 N Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar
909-860-1235

Does the outside of Hot Dog Pops look familiar?  Yes, this space used to be D' Antonio's, which was a long time Italian restaurant in Diamond Bar.  After D' Antonio's closed, a Thai restaurant opened and quickly closed; I doubt they were open for more than six months. Then Hot Dog Pops replaced them.

In regards to the name, hot dogs should be easy to figure out.  But, the pops is for soda pop.  They have a large selection of bottled soda!   Most of the bottled sodas are made with sugar, not that nasty HFCS crap.  

Hot Dog Pops has basically the same layout as D' Antonio's, I bet the booth are the same exact booths as D' Antonio's.  But, the decor is different.  There are empty soda bottles all over the store.  
 

Aron dog, $6.50, on Dutch bread with garlic spread, lettuce diced tomatoes, fried onions, and avocado.  The hot dog is a 1/4 pound all beef skinless hot dog.  I'm betting it's a Hoffy brand hot dog.  It was pretty average and nothing I couldn't get from the store.  But, the hot dog was deep fried, they never mentioned that on the menu.  The vegetable toppings were fresh, though I got tomato slices not diced tomatoes.  But, the onion rings were just frozen onion rings fried in their fryer.  The bread wasn't a bun, but Dutch bread.  This just engulfed the hot dog.  This hot dog was a complete waste of money and time.

Service was pretty good.  The server was nice, but she needs to be trained better.  She brought two boxes since we had leftovers.  When she walked by again, she asked if we needed a bag.  We said yes.  She come by and brings a bag and just leaves it on the table.  Why couldn't she take the 20 seconds to put the two boxes in the bag?  I'll admit this isn't that big of a deal.  But, come on, take the extra step to do a good job.

Hot Dog Pops really should change their name.  For a restaurant that has HOT DOG on it's name, they should have more hot dogs on the menu.  They only have 11 hot dogs on the menu.  But, they have over 20 sandwiches on the menu!  A Montana Dog has chili.  When has Montana ever been known for chili?  How about a Chicago dog?  Or a New York dog?  None of the hot dogs have just mustard and onions; your basic hot dog.   They only have one type of hot dog; a very average brand of hot dog.  They do not have any turkey or veggie dogs.   They could actually steam or grill the hot dogs, instead of deep frying them. Then the price of the hot dog; $6.50, is a complete rip off!  I saw on their business card that all their hot dogs and sandwiches are over one pound.  Well, hell, when the bread is about 1/2 pound, it's easy for the hot dog to be over a pound.

I won't return to Hot Dog Pops. 

101 Cafe

101 Cafe
2763 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar
909-595-9100

101 Cafe is located next door to Mr. G's Pizza, and is a Taiwanese restaurant.  What is the difference between Chinese and Taiwanese?  To be honest, I'm not sure.

101 Cafe is a fairly small restaurant with about ten tables inside and a few table outside.  It wasn't busy when I walked in on a Saturday night. 

Sauteed spinach, $7.95.  This may have been the best dish I ordered, even tough it was a very small portion.  The spinach was cooked perfectly.  But, was bland and lacked flavor.  It was a bit put off by the clear liquid that was as thin as water.  Put some corn starch and thicken that liquid!  I was also put off but the large slices of garlic in the spinach.  I love garlic, but come on, cut it into smaller pieces!

Chicken chow mein, $6.50.  Again, very bland and lacking flavor and it's white.  Where is the soy sauce?  Not only would it add flavor, but it would look at chow mein from every other Chinese restaurant I've been to!  Again, a small portion and not worth the price.

Kung pao shrimp, $10.95.  Finally a dish with some flavor!  But, it wasn't spicy at all, even though there were the dried chili.  What was missing was a good amount of shrimp.  They small number of shrimp that was in the dish were cooked perfectly but I have a feeling the shrimp was frozen, because it wasn't as fresh as it could be.  Now, there were too many fillers, like huge pieces of zucchini and huge slices of garlic.  Portion size was not worth the price!

Service is pretty good.  The guy who took my order was nice and helpful.  My order came up quickly.

If 101 Cafe is an example of Taiwanese food, I'll still to the Chinese food at Diamond Palace Seafood Restaurant!  Hell, even white washed Chinese food at Mandarin Taste, is better than 101 Cafe.

Sushi Koshu

Sushi Koshu
20627 Golden Springs Dr
Diamond Bar
909-869-7881

Sushi Koshu is tucked away in the back corner of a shopping center at the corner of Golden Springs Dr and Lemon in Diamond Bar. I've gone to Double O a Korean BBQ that wasn't that good, that is in the same shopping center. 

Sushi Koshu is a fairly big restaurant with booths and tables.  The decor is a fake Japanese house.

Spicy Tuna roll, $6.50.  I usually try somehing from the sushi menu and got the spicy tuna roll.  Overall good, not great.  Didn't seem as fresh as it could be, a bit mushy.

Pork Cutlet and sushi lunch combo, $15.  The lunch combos are a good deal with salad-standard iceberg lettuce with a nice dressing, miso soup-which I didn't eat.  The pork cutlet was great.  Very crispy with panko bread crumbs and the pork was nice and tender.

Sushi-tuna, red snapper, salmon, yellow tail, and shrimp.  I'm not expert on sushi.  As long as the sushi is fresh I'm good with it.   All the sushi was fresh and tasty.  I liked the yellow tail, which was really fresh.  I was impressed.

Service was very good.  Our server was nice and friendly.  But, she forgot to give us a sushi menu, which seems stranger, but when I asked for a sushi menu she brought it right away.  See servers, it's not making a mistake that I rip restaurants, it's how a restaurant handles the mistake.  She didn't argue with me or make an excuse.  She went and got a sushi menu.  A simple mistake and a simple solution.

I would go back to Sushi Koshu anytime.  The sushi was fresh, except fo the spicy tuna, and service was very good.

Ranch House Cafe and Grill-Closed

Ranch House Cafe and Grill
21130 E Golden Springs
Diamond Bar
909-598-5359

Ranch House Cafe and Grill is owned by the same company that owns Carrows and Coco's. They are a steakhouse that follows the Sizzler way of ordering at the counter. All entrees and burgers include unlimited trips to the salad bar.

The salad bar is your standard salad bar; iceberg or romaine lettuce, spinach, and lots of other fresh veggies. They also have a pasta, potato and macaroni salad. The items are all fresh and they are restocked quickly.

The most interesting part of Ranch House is that the servers are NOT allowed to accept tips! It says so on your receipt. They are paid differently than a regular server, but I can't believe that makes up for the lost tips. But, who knows?

Rib eye with mashed potatoes and crispy onion strings, $18.99. I asked for my steak medium, it was more medium rare, which is fine, but a steakhouse should cook a steak perfectly every time! Anyways I'm not expecting this steak to be prime and it wasn't. But, it was pretty good and tender. It could have been seasoned a little better, but otherwise it was fine. It was worth the $18.99 especially considering the unlimited trips to the salad bar.

The onion straws were clearly sitting under heat lamps, because they had lost their crispiness. The mashed potatoes could have been good if they were hot, you can see the unmelted cheese on top.

Service, when ordering was fine. The guy was nice and friendly. The steaks were brought out quickly by a friendly server.

I wanted to try out Ranch House and I came away fairly impressed. Their sides need to improve but their steaks are worth the price. I would come back again.