In twenty five years of dining out together, my bride and I have been very blessed to discover, then enthrone, a handful of very special restaurants among our HOLY GRAIL of go to restaurants. If we're craving Mexican, we KNOW that our friends Susan and Paolo Diaz at Casa Moreno in Claremont will leave us both with a "estómago lleno y corazón feliz" (a full stomach and happy heart). Pursuing Chinese? We've been die hard partisans of Happy Kitchen in Chino Hills for 15 years. Tempted for Thai? You cannot possibly go wrong with Hoy-Ka Thai in Hollywood's Thai Town.
Today, and with special thanks to my fellow Yelp reviewers for lavishing this establishment with consistently very good reviews averaging mid-fours over 225+ reviews, we discovered The Upper House in Claremont.
In my experience, Chinese food is either off the charts, belch contentedly and order more, damned good OR pedestrian. In the past we loved the Golden Gate in LA's Koreatown before it sadly went out of business. Whenever we are in the Newport Beach area we try to stop by Aaron and his friendly staff at Mandarin King. And, yes, Tai Shan in our nation's capital is worth risking a missed flight during a layover at Reagan National just for their legendary cuisine.
The Upper House is a small, simple and family run restaurant. The decor is clean, bright and uncluttered despite its cozy (read: small) dimensions. And no, despite the nearly endless loop of Whitney, Mariah and Celine's greatest hits wafting through the air, you DID NOT accidentally stumble into your favorite Pinay friend's Karaoke party!
As prior reviewers have noted the chef brings over three decades of experience to his recipes and the proof is in the stellar reviews he repeatedly earns.
We started with a quintet of the sharpest looking egg rolls I may have ever seen. These five could've easily come adorned with little "Miss Claremont" banners wrapped around each one, that's how golden brown and luscious each one looked. They positively explode with texture- the glassy shatter of the paper thin wrapping as it splinters against your mouth competing with the crispness of the slivered cabbage, onions and carrots.
Next up a sizable vessel of Hot & Sour Soup. The Upper House throws a curve ball here, cleverly deploying finely minced scallions and velvety little mushrooms as part of their piquant, oh so savory broth.
Next to arrive was our trio of entrees, a Vegetable Medley, Kung Pao Chicken and Orange Chicken. The vegetable medley's star is the sweet sugar snap peas which, true to their name, literally clink with audible joy when eaten. The Upper House deluges their take on kung pao with a generous allotment of water chesnuts with spartan pieces of finely cut bell pepper and of course enough peanuts to drive Mr. Peanut himself destitute. The Kung Pao Chicken is very good, but not quite up to the par of the kung pao ladled up by Tai San in WDC. The orange chicken is a revelation! Take perfectly sized chunks of white meat chicken, dress them in a tight fitting breading then lavish each with a shimmering, velvety smooth sauce that literally glistens. Visually a 5, with flavor a very close second at 4.5 stars!
Leave room for a sweet finish, 'cause The Upper House features a staggering SIX DOZEN CHOICES for every sweet tooth to choose from! Between smoothies, milk snow icees, cold and hot desserts, it's as hard to choose JUST ONE dessert as the first time you ever visited Baskin Robbins as a kid and were blown away by their 32 varieties!
We ultimately shared a large Taro Smoothie, which was very good but in a spirit of total honesty must disclose that they inadvertently made WITH boba after I had requested "no boba." I'm almost positive the friendly, service focused staff would've gladly remade my drink, but since we took our drink to go we didn't discover the small faux pax 'til we were headed home. On our next visit I am dying to try out their "Milk Snow Ice," and will likely ask for their "Taro plus egg custard" flavor.
All in all, I confer The Upper House 4.5 stars on taste, 4 stars on service, 4 stars on pricing and 3 stars on cleanliness. Note: the bathrooms were suitably clean and tables freshly wiped down but we had to request a second soup cup for my wife after the one they first brought out had a little bit of caked on food sediment on it. Overall verdict? A very high 3 stars which I've bumped to a well deserved 4 on the merits of their outstanding food and friendly, super efficient service!
The Upper House has anchored the Peppertree Square at the intersection of Arrow Hwy and Indian Hill in Foothill since January, 2017. Judging from our delicious, well priced feast today, they certainly belong in the upper echelon of Chinese restaurants this side of Monterey Park. read more