1 week Ago
The “good alley” that the wildly popular Good Alley dumpling and noodle restaurant sits in isn’t so much an alley as it is a street named Vachon Drive that’s between a strip of restaurants and shops, and the adjacent parking lot.To me, an alley is a narrow, cluttered street between buildings where the sun rarely permeates. In this case, if the sun is shining, Vachon Drive is bathed in San Gabriel Valley light.
And a crowd waits outside the restaurant, hungry for Kurobuta pork soup dumplings and A5 Miyazaki Wagyu beef burgers until the sun has set. And then long after.Ah yes .
.. those burgers.
Chinese dumpling and noodle houses usually do not offer burgers. Chinese restaurants, in general, do not offer burgers. And the burgers served at Good Alley seem to be neither western nor eastern.
They live in a culinary world all their own. They come in a bun that seems to be made out of compressed noodles, formed into a flat bun shape, and lightly browned top and bottom. There’s a choice of three burgers within — Wagyu beef, Kurobuta pork and cumin lamb.
Chinese dumpling and noodle houses usually do not offer burgers — but Good Alley in Rosemead does. There are three options on the menu: Wagyu beef, Kurobuta pork and cumin lamb. (Photo by Merrill Shindler)Beef wrap at Good Alley in Rosemead (Photo by Merrill Shindler)Cold sesame noodles at Good Alley in Rosemead (Photo by Merrill Shindler)There’s a good number of dumplings at Good Alley in Rosemead, including these pork dumplings.
(Photo by Merrill Shindler)Show Caption1 of 4Chinese dumpling and noodle houses usually do not offer burgers — but Good Alley in Rosemead does. There are three options on the menu: Wagyu beef, Kurobuta pork and cumin lamb. (Photo by Merrill Shindler)ExpandIntentionally or otherwise, they seem to be smash burgers, squeezed down on the grill to help them cook faster, and keep them really juicy.
I think I detected something like hoisin sauce in the beef and pork burgers. But otherwise, they’re herbed and spiced with care but also with muscle; the kitchen doesn’t hold back on flavoring its food. The flavor is wondrous — especially the intensity of the cumin lamb.
But do take note; it’s not easy to lift one of these creations. And eating them with chopsticks involves a level of dexterity I lack. Next time, I’ll hide a fork and knife in my pocket.
But not ketchup. That would be gilding the patty.Good Alley sits amid some very tasty company.
On one side is 888 Seafood. Golden Delight Vietnamese is on the other. Shin-Sen-Gumi is just a few doors down.
The fabled Ji Rong Peking Duck is nearby. But when a bowl of cold scallion oil noodles is what your jittery soul demands, this stylishly modern café is right up your, ahem, alley.Begin with a plate of the cold cucumber in XO sauce.
XO is a sauce from Hong Kong, usually made of dried scallops, chili peppers, Jinhua ham, dried shrimp, garlic and vegetable oil. The name “XO” refers to “Extra Old” cognac, which is not an ingredient in XO sauce. But the letters have come to suggest a sort of elegance in Chinese cooking.
XO isn’t so much an elegant sauce, as a complex one. It’s hard to discern the ingredients, which are well-married. But they definitely give the ordinariness of raw cucumber a kick that turns them into a vehicle for the intense flavor.
It’s like Ritz crackers dipped in Dijon mustard. The cracker disappears.There are enough appetizers on the menu — a two-sided paper checklist divided into snappy sections like “Signature Beef Wraps” and “Hand Muddled Lemon/Lime Tea Series” — to keep your mouth busy while you contemplate your dumplings of choice.
Like the sliced beef and ox tongue in chili sauce, the happily chewy sweet and sour pork ribs (very meaty!), the chunky Japanese scallops with lemon dressing, and even the free-range chicken in black truffle sauce (which at $25.50 is the most expensive item on the menu by far).But then, it’s onto the dumplings — more than reason enough to wait for that table when every table is piled high with dishes, and populated by large groups happily digging in.
We live in an age when soup dumplings are as essential to a proper feed as plates and chopsticks. At Good Alley, they come with four fillings — along with the hot broth which has to be sipped with care: Kurobuta pork, Kurobuta pork and crab meat, Kurobuta pork and truffles, and organic chicken.The restaurant’s love of Kurobuta pork is easy to understand.
It’s from the Kurobuta breed of pigs, raised in southwest Japan, developed from the Berkshire pig of England. Kurobuta is more tender than our local pork, with a sweeter flavor. It is to pork what Wagyu is to beef.
More Merrill: These 4 Pasadena restaurants serve oodles of tasty noodlesIt’s found at Good Alley in combination with Napa cabbage; shrimp, egg and chives; and in a shape called a shepherd’s purse. Kurobuta comes with the pork Zhajiang noodles; in a Tianjin-style steamed bun; and in the stir-fried noodles as well. And, of course, in one of the burgers.
I’m happy to find cold sesame noodles on the menu ...
just because I always am. The stir-fried string beans with XO sauce are the perfect vegetable to have with all those dumplings. And then, there are all those teas, one short of 20, drawn from categories like “Cheese Foam Tea Series,” “Silky Milk Tea Series,” “Matcha Series” and “Icy Series.
”You‘ll find jasmine tea among “Fresh Brew Tea Collection” — along with osmanthus and magnolia green. There’s no dessert on the menu. But then, Fosselman’s isn’t that far away.
Like a great dumpling, it’s always worth the trip.Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.
com.Good AlleyRating: 3 starsWhere: 8450 E. Valley Blvd.
, RosemeadInformation: 626-280-2800; www.good-alley.comWhen: Lunch and dinner, every dayDetails: Many teas; no reservationsThe food: The latest in a fast-growing world of Chinese dumpling houses.
It’s very modern and very fast, with a sizable crowd at all hours checking in for a table using an iPad-like device. Nearly half the menu is dedicated to many options for tea.How much: About $25 per personSuggested dishes: 9 Appetizers ($6.
58-$25.50), 4 Soup-filled Dumplings ($13.58-$23.
98), 5 Hand-made Dumplings/Wontons ($13.58), 2 Steamed Buns ($9.98-$11.
98), 6 Soup Noodles/Cold Noodles ($13.98-$15.98), 4 Stir-fried Noodles ($13.
98), 4 Fried Rice ($13.98-$16.98), 3 House Special Burgers ($10.
98-$13.98), 3 Stir-fried Vegetables ($13.58-$16.
58), 2 Stir-fried Meat & Vegetables ($18.58-$20.58), 3 Soups ($8.
58-$16.98), 19 Teas ($5.95-$7.
55)Credit cards: MC, VWhat the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal.
Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.
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