Came to try out this place because it was highly recommended. We were quite familiar with this litle shopping center as we had been here to try other restaurants here before, but oh boy, it has really changed here.....now looks newer and pleasantly upgraded, a decent amount of parking, and set amidst a mostly newer Lake Forest residential neighborhood.....and not too far from the much larger Foothill Ranch shopping area.
Anyway, upon entering this smaller sized restaurant, I thought the place looked pleasant, clean, and casual. What surprised me, however, was that with such a lot of raves about this place, there were only 3 or 4 tables occupied on this Saturday lunchtime.
The staff here seemed nice enough....very quiet.....for a reason. Like some other similar restaurants I have tried, you scan a QR code on your phone to bring up the app's menu, and then place you order there....no need to talk to anyone at all....which some older generation diners may not like.
As for the food, there are so many incredibly delicious sounding items to choose from, and we would have liked to order more, but since there was just the two of us, we went ahead and ordered the Cucumber Salad, Chicken Fried Noodle, Pan-Fried Shrimp and Pork Buns, Spicy Shrimp Wontons, and the Shrimp Shu Mai.
The cucumber salad was very fresh, refreshing, and delicious.....with lots of chopped garlic....which I really enjoyed. My favorite dish would have to be the chicken fried noodles.....the noodles were not over cooked and mushy, flavors were so yummy, and not overly salted, or soya sauced. I just wished that the noodles were pan fried with a bit of wok char ("wok hei"), and that the chef would be a bit more generous with the chicken meat. The spicy shrimp wontons were good sized and delicious too, but the spicy chilli sauce was not enough, and it didn't taste as spicy as it should have. I discovered something though.....add some of this spicy sauce to the chicken fried noodles and the taste becomes pretty darn yummy!
Both the wontons and shu mai had good chunks of fresh shrimp in them.....however, what I found strange about the both of these dumplings was that the texture of the minced pork filling is not as firm as what I am used to, and instead, had a texture which tasted more like minced firm tofu, but perhaps that's just the way they make them here. Whatever it is, they still tasted really yummy.
Lastly, the pan-fried shrimp and pork buns.....looked and tasted delicious, I thought. My wife thought the filling was a bit salty and tasted somewhat porky, but I thought they tasted ok. Had to be careful, though, as they were full of steaming hot and juicy soup inside, just like a Shangai dumpling, and almost burned my mouth.
Overall, this was a good dining experience...nice discovery. read more