Boiling Point - Stinky Goodness, In A Personal Hot Pot Form (Monterey Park)

Boiling Point

This is a restaurant I should have written about long time ago, though as many of you know, my blogging queue is sadly growing by the day. In regards to Boiling Point, it's a Taiwanese restaurant that specializes in personal hot pots, similar to the ones found at night markets in Taiwan. Having grown up in Taipei, and my yearly return visits back to the Motherland, visiting one of the many night markets in Taipei has become commonplace in my itinerary. One of the more popular food stands, especially during the winter seasons are ones that offer personal hot pot like the ones served at Boiling Point.

Lunch Special Sign



Part of the Lunch Special (Old Point and Shoot Shot)

Though the prices will never be as cheap (or nearly as good) as the ones I've had in Taiwan, the lunch special at Boiling Point is quite a bargain for the amount of food given. For $8.99, you're given your choice of hot pot, choice of rice/vermicelli, and a choice of soft drink or tea (no refill). Dinner time prices are $9.99 per pot, without the soft drink. Still, a pretty decent price.

Sauces (From Left: Chili, Spicy Bean Paste, Garlic Soy Paste)

From the self serve sauce bar, you're given the choice of three sauces: chili sauce (normal, yet adds a nice additional spice to the hot pot and various cooked ingredients), spicy bean paste (a good alternative to those that can't handle the spice of the chili sauce with a subtle soy bean flavor), and finally, my favorite, the garlic infused soy paste (slightly thicker than soy sauce). All the sauces adds an interesting flavor to the hot pot ingredients, I'd suggest trying each to see which of the 3 you'd prefer the most, or just mix 'n match.

Pork Blood Rice Cake

Boiling Point offers a wide variety of a la carte side dishes to add on to the personal hot pot. From various frozen dumplings, vegetable, and meat. On this visit, we went with pork blood rice cakes, one of my personal favorites, though I personally know it will not appeal to many out there. Now, onto the main attraction, the personal hot pot...

House Special Hot Pot

Now, Boiling Point does offer a few various hot pots. From vegetarian pot, seafood pot, to a Korean Kimchi pot, there are about 7-8 different ones to choose from. However, in my numerous trips to Boiling Point, the ONLY pot I've ordered was the House Special Hot Pot. With the numerious ingredients (quail eggs, pork intestines, pork, tomatoes, pork blood, and the most important item, 4 generous portions of my favorite stinky tofu amongst the items) in the pot, along with either rice or vermicelli, it's quite a hearty meal in this recent cold weather.

Stinky tofu, especially with its name, can be hard to take in, as it was even shown on Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods in its Taiwan episode. However, like with durian, moldy cheese, and even beer, it's an acquired taste. For those that are willing to try new things, disregard the smell of the restaurant (Yes, Boiling Point does stink a bit like Stinky Tofu) and try out the house special pot. However, for those that are less inclined, there are other options for you, without the stink! The pots comes in various spice levels. From mild to extra spicy, there's always a pot for everyone. Although I rarely would crave Boiling Point, eating here would remind me of eating at one of those Taiwanese night market stands, especially with the Taiwanese pop music in the background. Ah....good times!

*Note* There is also a Boiling Point located in Hacienda Heights.

Boiling Point
153 W. Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91755
(626) 288-9876

Mama's Lu Dumpling House (一口福) - Bad Grammar, but solid food (Monterey Park)

Outside Mama's Lu

Ah, being behind on food blogging and photo editing. It seems that some food bloggers are better than others, but sadly, I'm pretty behind.


On one raining evening in the SGV, I met up with Matt of Mattatouille, Christine of folie a choisauce, Mike of Pepsi Monster, and Jackie of Citynitz for a Northern Chinese "doughy" dinner at Mama's Lu, a place recommended to me by a friend that I had yet to try. Since I was the lone FOB, *ahem* I mean Chinese speaker of the group, I took the liberty of ordering for the group. Seriously, shouldn't this place be called "Mama Lu's" instead of "Mama's Lu?"

Menu

Green Onion Cake (蔥油餅) - $1.99

We started off with 2 orders of their famous green onion cake. Although it's one of the most simplest thing on any menu, especially at a Northern Chinese style restaurant, I've had some pretty horrible green onion cakes in my days (soggy, oily, you name it). The version found here is simply delicious. Crispy, flavorful, and at only $1.99 to boot, it's hard to beat this version based on taste and price. Call it Chinese Pizza or whatever, it's just plain delicious. Probably my favorite thing found at Mama's Lu.

Shanghai Rice Cake (上海炒年糕) - $5.99

House Special Fried Rice (楊州炒飯) - $6.99

The Shanghai rice cakes were similar to what my mom would make for me at home. The rice cakes, stir fried with some Chinese bok choi, pork strips, and other seasonings were pretty authentic and delicious (and yes, A LOT better than the version found at Din Tai Fung). The house special fried rice was ordered probably due to my love of fried rice. Eaten with ketchup, with hot sauce, even eaten plain, I love fried rice. Heck, I'm sure I'll even like the fried rice found at Panda Express (note: this writer has never stepped foot inside a Panda Express, but sadly has eaten at PF Chang's). With pieces of carrots, peas, Chinese sausages (臘腸), and shrimp, the fried rice was pretty damn solid.

Juicy Pork Dumplings, 10pcs (小籠湯包) - $4.50

Again, going back to my previous post about Din Tai Fung, for something $3 less than DTF, you really can find something as tasty, but a lot better for your wallet. A basket of juicy dumplings (XLB) should not cost close to $8. I enjoyed the soup dumplings here, but the skin is slightly thicker than the version found at DTF. It's a minimal difference, at least for me, and should not deter most of you to try the XLB here.

Fish Dumplings, 8pcs (魚餃) - $4.99

Honestly, I preferred the fish dumplings at Kingburg a lot more. The version here, at Mama's Lu was slightly watery, and bland. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't as good as I had hoped.....

Fried Pork Bun, 6pcs (生煎包) - $5.50

Ever since Noodle House closed down in Arcadia early last year (one of the last meals I had with my ex), I've been searching long and hard for some good fried pork bun. From Dean Sin World, to Kingburg, heck, even the ones at Shau May, I've yet to be satisfied, and sadly, the version here wasn't up to par. I miss the buttery taste of the dough and the juicy filling that awaits to be eaten. While the fried pork bun wasn't exactly bad here, it was just OK.

Pan Fried Dumplings, 8pcs (鍋貼) - $4.50

While the potstickers were pretty solid here, I think I still prefer the version at Dean Sin World slightly more.

In the end, while there were some slight missed during the dinner at Mama's Lu, I was generally satisfied with the items we ordered. As mentioned earlier, I especially love the green onion cake and the house special fried rice. I went back after this dinner and tried the kung pao chicken, and it was actually pretty good. Look, at under $10/person with tax and tip, it's really hard to knock a place too much for their food, and it did not disappoint. Overall, it's a place I enjoyed and plan to make repeat visits. There may be better dumpling places out there, or even better place for fried rice, but based on location, price, and food, it definitely has earned a "solid" rating from me.

*Note* I gotta love my pictures from my old Nikon point and shoot.....*sarcasm*

Final Grade

• Taste: 4 out of 5
• Decor: 3.5 out of 5 (gotta love these LCD TVs at these Chinese places around SGV)
  
• Service: 3.5 out of 5

Mama's Lu Dumpling House
153 E. Garvey Avenue
Monterey Park, CA 91775
626-307-5700

*Note* Close Wednesdays
Hours of Operation
Thurs-Tues: 10:30am -3:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm