TBA
626 fooding
Xiang La Hui is solid for Sichuan food. Frog legs were very good but quite spicy (default spice level was level 4), the pork intestine dry pot was generous with the intestine and much more pleasant in spice level (default level 3), and the pea sprouts were fresh and tasty, plus a nice break from all the heat in the frog legs. While tasty, like many restaurants off Alhambra's Main Street, it felt a bit short of memorable. The water fish and a few other dishes looked like they were worth trying, but with only a group of two, there were not enough stomachs to go around.
Short walk away is Formosa Aroma. They seem to have improved since their opening days, and are now quite busy, have a strong emphasis on tea variety and quality, and honestly the Jinxuan mountain milk tea was quite good. Boba was soft and chewy, but not too soft/chewy-- a good balance. I forget what Rebecca got, but what she got looked good as well.
Turned out to be much better than my second stop at Bubble Republic, which was much worse-- significantly below Volcano Tea, nevermind Formosa Aroma, in quality. Like Formosa Aroma, the crowd seemed to be the typical college crowd, although less energetic. A good deal of studying was being done at Bubble Republic, which made sense given the more chill vibe vs. Formosa Aroma. D'Ange Bakery next door felt similar in execution Bubble Republic-- more ordinary than anything, although their highlight of a very expensive slice of bread ($4.75/slice!) did actually end up being pretty tasty, unlike their sponge cake.
Wasn't planning on going back to Feng Mao so soon, but Doug was unexpectedly free, so decided why not. Ong choy was very good (seemed to have good luck with veggies today), the chicken hearts were pretty delicious, and both the beef skewers and the lamb skewers were well-portioned and tasty as always.