TBA
Hui Tou Xiang
Going off some of the many dumpling lists, such as Luckypeach and LAist, we hit Hui Tou Xiang in San Gabriel.
Kimchi, bean curd, and seaweed were reasonable starters-- spicy kimchi was included-- and then onto the real reason to come, dumplings! The pork hui tou were larger than usual for potsticker-type items, with a moderately thick skin and mouthfuls of deliciousness. Boiled dumplings were good, and it was the xiao long bao that were surprising. Not quite Din Tai Fung delicate (no one is!), but these were the closest I'd seen in SGV, and they were a worthy alternative.
Beef noodle soup was good, but not as good as Bull Demon King. About the only real so-so item was the shrimp chow mein, which was just okay.
Down the street to Factory Tea Bar, which was a surprisingly hard to find tea and dessert place next to Mission 261. A dark, wood-themed, comfy place with couches and tables both, a Nom Nom Milk Tea that wasn't too bad at all, merely okay spicy fried chicken, and holy cow, a crazy huge and sweet brick toast. Worth a visit if you can take all the insane levels of sugar from the brick toast (and offset it with the popcorn chicken), but probably not on a Friday or Saturday, when it's probably crowded with high school and college kids.