Hurry Curry

HURRY CURRY

37 S. Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 792-8474

www.hurrycurryoftokyo.com

Soo, I'm going to try to keep this blogging consistent from now on. Read: I will avoid doing my homework at all costs. Anyway, back in December during Winter Break, I went with my boyfriend (my partner in crime for all things, including food-tasting) to this little shack. Well, not so much a shack but a mid-level dining 'place.' I don't remember the cost, now that it's nearly five months later so I'm going to say (as according to Yelp): $$ depending on how much you get. An entree and drink will probably set you back about $10 including tip. Not too pricey but not cheap enough, but one must take into consideration the location, location, location. This particular one is in Old Town Pasadena and caters to the mass amounts of rich kids who live in surrounding areas. On with the review!

The BF and I went between lunch and dinner. We're always hungry so there's never a set meal time for us. Just FYI, we were expected to show up at a Jewish Latkah party about one hour after finishing up at Hurry Curry. He had been here before and rated the food "okay, pretty good." Let me note, then, that my boyfriend has pretty picky tastebuds. He will scarf down a burger from Mickey D's but critisize a steak from Ruth's Chris. I guess you can say he sets standards according to his expectations that come from the reputation of the restraunt. Hurry Curry isn't one of those gourmet places and it's definitely no drive-through. When I left, I also felt like it was "okay, pretty good."

On the flipside of the menu was a picture of 'authentic' Japanese school girls in their sailor uniforms (fuku???) enjoying each others' company. Despite my appreciation for the picture, I couldn't help but feel that this was a bit tacky and exploitative of the "Tokyo culture." This place was obviously one of those white-washed-asian-places catering to, dare I say it, white folk. This created a chain of thoughts that consisted of phrases like: small portion, lack of flavor, plain rice. This will be explained as I review the actual contents of my order.

I ordered the Tokyo Curry. It was highlighted on the menu! How could I resist? Highlighted always means house special, and I always love me one of those. On the menu, it is described as this: A mixture of ground beef and vegetables are combined to make this unique curry, garnished with hard boiled egg. This sounded alright; pretty average stuff. If you've ever had Japanese Curry, it tastes a helluva lot different from Indian and Thai Curry (which share more flavor in common, imo). At Hurry Curry, I was able to choose from a range of spiciness. Considering that this was not authentically Asian, I chose the "hot" option assuming it would be okay for my accustomed tongue. As our 'appetizer' that came with the curry, we had the usual Japanese style salad with the 'special' sauce that you can find at any Japanese restraunt. I thought it was very good actually. I'm a sucker for salads and tasty dressings. The curry was served in a bowl soon after and rice was given separately on a modern square plate. I was delighted with the smell and quite surprised by the appearance of my curry. I expected it to be a lighter brown, but I guess the extra spiciness created a darker hue. It didn't LOOK appetizing, but it sure smelled good. I followed my boyfriend's lead and pushed an indentation into the plate of rice with my spoon. Then I started globbing the curry over my rice. At first taste, I noticed how salty it was. I quickly adjusted the amount of curry in each spoonful, realizing the possible reason for such a large portion of rice. I would have preferred less rice and less salty curry actually. The egg that "garnished" the curry was yummy, but this might be due to my bias for eggs in general. The spiciness, as predicted, was not that spicy. So for all those who have had Schezhuan (sp?) cuisine, don't even trip. This place won't have your mouth burning, but it might have you gulping water [if you don't like rice] from the sheer amount of sodium. I don't think there's MSG, but I still felt thirsty afterward. I don't want to say this place sucks, because it really doesn't. I mean, they do offer you a truckload of rice for the meal, so when eaten in the correct proportion, the curry was "pretty good." I'd say this place is one of those hard to review kind of eateries. My friends have had mixed reviews here and it seems to be a hit or miss kinda place. Maybe they switch chefs often. I wouldn't mind coming back here again, but I haven't thought of it once in the past five months since my first visit there. It's one of those affordable places you go to because of its convenient location after a couple hours of foot numbing, wallet emptying shopping.

Boiling Point

BOILING POINT

153 Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755

(626) 288-9876

I can't believe it's been four months since my last review. I'm such a bad food blogger, but life has been harsh in thrusting me into the cages of death (school + work + bills, etc). All I want to do at the end of the day is stare at the ceiling. However, I've been to a couple of places lately that just cry out to be reviewed (despite my lack of readers). I suppose this blog is more for myself , my camera, and my memories than anything. Someday, when I'm 30 and doing a job that I don't want to be doing, I can go to this page and remember how much fun I had as a teenager. Which leads me to another point: I'm not a teen anymore! Well, at least, by name I'm not. I turned 20 recently; that's twen-ty, not twen-teen. Sad story. Anyway. . . no sad thoughts!

To get me back on track, I want to start by talking about a recent hitwall that I've discovered. Hitwall is a term I made up for hole-in-the-wall. I love these places. They're dirty, dingy, and delicious. I think the fear of cockroach legs kind of authenticates the eatery. But maybe that's just the Chinese side of me. While most of my peers are facebooking, I'm yelping. I go on Yelp all the time to find places to eat. And Boiling Point was one of them.

Two Fridays ago (I think?), I ditched my classes. Not only did I ditch them, I drove nearly 3 hours north from San Diego. What would normally be a 1.5-2 hour drive became a tedious, stop-and-go trip in rainy day weather, which became further worsened as I hit lunchtime/weekend Los Angeles traffic. BUT, I didn't mind knowing my destination would fill me with the happiness of home and good eating.

I met up with my boyfriend at a parking lot in Alhambra so we would only have to take one car. Good thing we did; all the parking is on the street or around the corner in a supermarket lot. When we arrived, I was expecting the smell to have me flat on my back (from what I've read). But it was far from that. It was a pleasant smell, meaning the stinky tofu would probably not live up to my expectations. But, I had to get the House Special Hot Pot (the stinky tofu hot pot) because that's what this place is known for. I ordered this, plus a plate of Pork Blood Gao (it's like a gelatin). This came with a free drink. All of this for $8.99 + $2.00 = $11 + Chinese tip ($1 and change).

In retrospect, the hot pot wasn't amazing at all. But at that moment, I think I was in heaven. Maybe it was the long drive. Maybe it was from being starved by school food (sandwiches and salad, 7 days a week, no variety). Maybe it was the thought of having traditional Taiwanese street food. Or perhaps, it was just being at a hitwall that made my meal so grand. I left full and satisfied. I didn't pay a lot; I was stuffed; I was warmed up to face the cold weather. And the taste? Well, it's basically meat and vegetable soup with various dipping sauces. So when you talk about hot pot taste, what you're really talking about is the sauce. Just the basic hot sauce and bean pastes, but I was still digging it. Even now, my mouth is watering a little just thinking about it.


It's a cozy little store. It's a good place for a date on an empty Friday afternoon. I'm pretty sure it gets rowdy here at night, consdering it's in the heart of Chinatown #2. No eatery in the area goes undiscovered. I'm glad I "discovered" this place. It's one of those places that personifies home for me. My friends at UCSD always ask me why I prefer home to school. Well? Good friends and good eating. =) They still don't get it, but they don't have to. One of those good friends from home once told me that what's important is: "As long as you're happy with what you're doing, and you're happy with the options or outcome, then I'm happy for you." Well, that's basically what he said. It came out as intoxicated gibberish at the time, but I knew what he meant.


UPDATE: My one and only reader commented that I didn't really make any reviews on the actual food itself. After reading over my blog, I find that this is true. My House Special Hot Pot was the Stinky Tofu Hot Pot. It had tofu, cabbage, pork, and various other hot-pot styled vegetables. I ordered "Zhong La" (that's medium spicy). The soup was flavorful, and I found myself spooning it over my rice time and time again. The soup was spicy and savory; it had a salty garlic taste with a hint of pepper. The "spiciness" was not immediate, as it usually is in Asian style hot pot. It was more of a gentle after-bite that left my lips puffy and tingly from the natural spice stimulation. The rice was good, as usual. I love rice with everything; I just can't have it all the time becaues of my diet. There wasn't anything particular about the rice, but it complimented the hot pot food and flavor nicely. The Pork Blood Gelatin was tasty. This was the real stuff, not some fake "nuo mi fan" stuff. I particularly liked the texture. Biting into it definitely had a hard-jello feel but it was smooth on my tongue. After being in my soup for a long time, a lot of the Gelatin accumulated some soup. By the time I got to my last one, I bit into a spicy and juicy, jello-like Pork Blood. This might sound gross, but I love it. It kind of tastes like liver. Oh! And also, the portions are generous! I stuffed myself silly finishing the plate on my own (the boyfriend doesn't like it), but who am I go to complain? The sheer quality and amound made it definitely more than my money's worth. I didn't particularly like the type of tofu that was in the soup. It was the hole-y, juice-gathering kind. I like soft, smooth tofu. This was the spongy stinky tofu. I usually like the deep fried stinky tofu, but I should have known considering it was going to be in a boiling broth. There was a pretty good amount of meat for what I paid. Nothing special about this; just the average run-of-the-farm kind of pork meat. I must admit that there was some MSG in the soup, but I don't mind it the way others do. Actually, I sometimes enjoy it in my food. It adds flavor! Well, I'm not sure if this review is good enough but that's all I can think of right now. Especially because my teacher is lecturing in front of me and I'm trying to concentrate in class and on food. =)

Wowza! Well it's been awhile .. a very long while. And I'm finally going to do another review! Yay! Even though no one ever reads this (except my dear boyfriend), I guess it's important to keep food-blogging. For my own memory. Lately, I've realized how difficult it is for me to remember things as the years go by. I have the worst memory out of all the people I know. It's not quite the importance of the food itself, but the way I felt when I ate it and how much I enjoyed the moment and with whom. All these posts act as memory-joggers actually! :) Although I won't be cheesy and describe my emooootions, I'd most likely remember the general feel at the time. So, here's the review:

In Temple City, California .. there's this wonderful mom and pop joint called Dumpling Inn. They're Chinese-Koreans (meaning Chinese people raised in Korean), so they have customers of both ethnicities, and then some. We were there on a weekday during the lunch special so there weren't many people. Actually, we were the only ones for most of our entire visit, so service was good. The lady who owned the place was very maternal and gave us tips on how to order and what the best deal would be, even encouraging us to order less. She insisted we would not be able to finish. And true to her words, we left stuffed and carrying take-out bags.

(1) Steamed Pork Dumplings - So juicy. So tender. So delicious and home-styled! It's nothing like those tiny pre-packaged supermarket dumplings you would get at Cha for Tea or some other cafe-styled restaurant. This is the real stuff. Hardy, meaty pork and onion stuffed home-made dumpling skin. That's right -- home made dumpling skin. I only know this because I've been going to this place since I was knee-high. Apparently, they do it the old-fashioned way: pulling and tugging on dough until its chewy and thin.

(2) Steamed Fish dumplingsss. Do NOT pass these up! Stuffed with fish paste, these babies are the best ones I've had so far. They're tender and juicy and still pretty big, considering seafoods on the menu are usually served in lesser portions. Well, not these. Although smaller than the pork dumplings, they're still very packed with the paste. =) This was definitely one of my faves.

(3) A fried chicken dumpling and wonton skin that came with the lunch special. Fried isn't my favorite so it was just 'eh' to me. At least it wasn't dripping with grease like some "Chinese" places (ahemmm Panda Express). I do have to admit, it was perfectly crisp on the outside, but the dumplin skin was still chewy and tender on the inside. This I know from the plate of fried dumplings that we ordered.

(4) Fried pork dumplings, I believe. Read comments above.(5) Za Jiang Mien - oh babyyy. There's no direct translation, but look for noodles in dark sauce, or something of that sort, on the menu. =) It's not amazing, but its something I grew up with. So I have a special place in my heart for this. One thing to note about this dish is that the noodles are handmade. All the carbs (minus the rice) at this place is made right in the kitchen, with a chef pulling on dough for chewy perfection. These noodles had the right texture. We couldn't finish this so we took it to go. Note: Eat this hot! It's just not the same heated in a microwave.

(6) This was the lunch special beef and brocolli. It was alright .. just your average Chinese restaurant beef&brocolli. There was definitely MSG though, which accounts for the super savor of the flavor. To all those places that boast NO MSG, screw you! Authentic Chinese restraunts should be using MSG and lots of it -- its the wok staple. To all those Americans who are "health conscious," you all use chemically engineered chicken broth and flavoring for your soups and what not. Tell me that's healthier than MSG. Go ahead, proveee it.

(7) Fried Rice that comes with the lunch special. Its .. fried rice? Nothing special. What a typical Asian mom would whip up in 5 minutes.

(8) Here's the Korean flava to the restaraunt. Kimchee served at every table. Not like Korean BBQ kimchee, although I am told there are different kinds of kimchee. This was on the sweeter side. The lettuce was very crunchy still -- very home-made. By the taste and look of it, it hasn't been underground or soaked for longer than a week. But it's free, so who am I to complain?

All in all, this was a good experience. Now I can cross off one more thing on my list! We left satisfied, our stomachs and wallets. We didn't have to blow big money for this meal. I believe the check came out to be about $25. One bad thing was how hot it was outside (this was during summer break) after so much food and how thirsty we were after the meal (msg dehydrates, as does any salty food). I would recommend this to anyone looking for a home-sweet-home kind of food. The experience was reminiscent of me coming home from college Friday night, and my mom expecting me to down hardy home-cooking. If you come alone or do take-out, $8 can get you 6 of those big fat dumplings in a white styrofoam smileyface box. You will not leave disappointed.

Because I am kind, I have decided to update Love Stuffed. :) For you, Christopher Wu, daily complainer. I don't really know what to review. I've had so many things to eat, I don't even know where to start. But here's your update. =D It will be continued after my Calculus Midterm.

In the U.S.

Back from Hong Kong & Thailand. The trip was pretty good, minus the Thailand part. I'm sure the country of golden steeples and mango sticky rice had more to offer, but whatever it was -- I didn't see much of that grand splendor. I have no pictures of the mango sticky rice, but I just want to say that it was the only dish and only "attraction" I really enjoyed. The rice is mixed with some sort of sticky coconut cream type thing, and you eat it with fresh mangoes. I also want to state that the plethora of homeless dogs was a sad sight.

Hong Kong was definitely a trip. My days were filled with different meals between doing what I did best: shopping, shopping, and more shopping! What the actual city was lacking in glamour on the outside (run-down buildings, clothes hanging in public, and leaky air conditioners), it made up for in convenience (subway/metro/cheap taxis), retail (bargains and bargaining on every corner), and food heavens. Chinese people are known for their affair with food and Hong Kong was a perfect example of that. Whether small or big, the restraunts met my expectations to the "tea."

The first thing I want to review is the airplane food. I know, I know -- what's there to review? Airplane food always sucks, right? Well, I think to really enjoy food, you should always be as broadminded as possible. You can't stab your fork into something with the mindset that it'll already suck. Then what's the point?

I took Cathay Pacific Airlines. If my memory serves me correctly, we had 3 meals and snacks. The only memorable part of the meal was the smoked salmon salad and the cute little green tea cups (I took three with me).


It's not a very good picture but there it is. It's a very simple salad with tomato, lettuce, and smoked salmon. Strangely enough, I had my best smoked salmon experiences on this trip. The first time was this one (where it was perrfect!) and the second time was in Thailand at the hotel's complimentary lunch buffett. :) Inbetween mini bagels, toasted to perfection. YUM!!!

Anyway, the flavor of the airplane smoked salmon salad was definitely close to a 10. It was just the right amount of salty and smoky, with a hint of pepper, and it was not fishy at all! I mean, the salmon flavor was definitely still there, but the fishiness was not overpowering in any way. =) Plus, the veggies were definitely fresh, which is a new one for plane food. The tomato was sweet with the perfect taint of sour. I can't give the same ratings to the rest of the meals, although the smoked salmon sandwich (the snack they were giving out) was pretty good too, forget the overpowering foccacia mini bread that sandwiched the cream cheese, salmon, and tomato slice.

Christopher Wu, tune in to my next post when I review the amazing Pizza Hut.