Update #2: These guys totally redeemed themselves. Seated right away. Great service throughout the meal. AND they purchased more highchairs.
Jane C.
Évaluation du lieu : 3 Alhambra, CA
The food was not impressive. I ordered Teo Chow noodle soup and my husband had baked pork chop rice, we both thought the food was not the best we had. However, the service was good. They even got wireless charging for iPhones and android!!!
Helen D.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 Pasadena, CA
Good food and good service! Love this new place in the city of El Monte. I don’t need to drive all the way to San Gabriel anymore.
Joe L.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 Arcadia, CA
This place is pretty big! It’s new and it’s clean! Prices are reasonable AND the food is mind blowingly good! Considering it’s located like middle of random and not clustered next to any other Chinese plaza. The hainam chix rice is really good, rice wasn’t over seasoned or oiled. I also tried a few other items on their menu and they were all very good. I thought the owner/manager looks surprisingly familiar… Not sure if i dare to say it outright… I recognize her from another place I used to love their hainam chicken also… And coincidentally the menus are very similar… And that place I am referring to was sold/changed ownership… Hmmm
Lisa T.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 Monterey Park, CA
I been trying to be good and bring lunch to work everyday, however, we decided to do «no home lunch» on Friday. This is awesome cause food always taste better when you leave it to the professional. I look forward to Friday all week long. It was my turn to pick and Unilocal mapped me to here. This place was not too far from my workplace. Extra plus. I decided to go with the minced pork with egg over rice. It was good(not as delicious food corner good but it will do) and the box was huge. I think, I was able to make three servings out of it. The egg was cooked perfectly. The flavored was on the minced pork wasn’t too bad. I think I was just missing the spiciness. My co-worker got the french beef cubes with red rice. I got to try a piece of the beef and it was cook nicely. It was season well and the beef was super tender. The menu is pretty big, with lots of options. Parking was easy. There is front(street parking) and back parking(private lot). I was able to call in my order and my food was ready when I picked up. It was fast. Everyone was super friendly. Overall, it was a good restaurant to try and I can’t wait to try all the other stuff on the menu.
Cook F.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 Tustin, CA
Already tried several entrees and they are ALLGOOD! The hainan chicken rice is superb ~ gotta try the RICE ~ VERYFLAVORFUL ~ Mince pork with egg over rice is another good one! Beef & beef ball rice noodle soup is another one that I like! You gotta try this place if you are nearby the area!
Jennifer L.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 Arcadia, CA
Server was very friendly and attentive. Food was delicious. Ordered the chicken wings. Pbb the best I’ve ever had! Crispy and flavorful. Crispy noodle too. Fried perfectly. A little disappointed with the pork chop rice though. Tasted just like ketchup and nothing special.
Fion H.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 Rosemead, CA
Nice and clean café to eat at. Fairly easy place to find. Plenty of parking in the back. Once we arrived, we were seated right away. This was on a Sunday night. Service was friendly. I would suggest that the waiter tries to look up more often to see if any guest needs help. He was attentive but we had to catch the moment when he was looking around. I imagine if the café gets more business, the waiter will have to adopt that habit. We ordered the French Style Beef with Red Rice and the Baked Chicken and Corn with Cream Sauce over Fried Rice. Food arrived quickly. The French Style Beef was delicious! The beef was really tender and seasoned well. It’s what the café seems popular for. The red rice was lacking a bit of flavor. There was a slice of tomato that went bad but plated anyways. A bit irresponsible of the chef to do that. The Baked Chicken and Corn with Cream Sauce over Fried Rice was very tasty as well. Baked to perfection. The fried rice was made well. The chicken was not dry and the sauce had the right flavors. The ice milk tea tasted a little different from what I’m used to. Not too sure whether it’s because of the type of tea they used or they put less milk or sugar. It was still good. Definitely good that it taste a little less sweet. I’m so glad this café opened. I hate the crazy amount of traffic some hk cafes get but crave for the same type of food. Grand Central Café is a nice quiet place to eat at. I’ll definitely come back.
Lita T.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 San Marino, CA
Food was okay and cheap so not too bad on the prices for the taste and food. The food isnt salty like the other places and there is no msg. There is wifi and a huge projection for you to watch sports or tv. The place is extremely clean and have special tables that can charge your phone wirelessly. This is a nice hole in the wall place. The parking is in the back. Service here is extremely good and they are super nice and attentive. I would recommend you to give this place a try. :-) Food: 4 star Parking: 5 star
Calvin L.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 San Gabriel, CA
New place in a ghetto area. But the food is awesome! Hainan Chicken Rice(w/Bone and Dark Meat)($ 9.50) Great food. I kept wanting more after each bite. I loved the flavor of the meat and the tenderness. Not as good as Savoy but still delicious and I would get it again. No questions. French Beef Steak w/Tomato Fried Rice($ 9.50) The steak was tender and the fried rice was moist. This was probably my favorite dish here. Highly recommended.
Eva I.
Évaluation du lieu : 3 San Gabriel, CA
Located on the farther east side of the heavily HK café saturated SGV. The service was wonderful, and the food. The good: — Curry Beef + Rice — Hainan Chicken Rice The curry was flavorful with a good amount of heat. It came with a combination of meat and tendon which were all very moist and tender. The hainan chicken meat was also moist and not too chewy. The rice that came with the hainan chicken was cooked with chicken broth and was very delicious and not too oily. The not so good: — Baked Pork Chop Rice — Hainan Chicken Congee — French Beef + Tomato Rice The baked pork chop rice(one of my favorites at HK style café) was slightly disappointing. I found the sauce to be too tomato-y and too acidic for my liking. The hainan chicken congee was a bit on the salty side. I didn’t think the vermicelli nor the preserved vegetables belong there. The texture of the rice was cooked nicely though. The french beef was tender and soft in a bad way, perhaps too heavy handed on the tenderizer? A chemical taste lingered. The black pepper sauce with the onion and lettuce underneath the beef were tasty nonetheless. The rice was a bit dry. Dishes are hit or miss. I would probably give it another try because of the service!
Cho Y.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 El Monte, CA
I’ve bookmarked this place for quite some time but wanted to give it a few months for the reviews to pour in. Came in here with a pal on a quiet Tuesday afternoon, to a clean establishment and kind waiter. Ordered the French beef steak or better known as filet mignon cubes elsewhere in a medium, and baked porkchop and tomatoe sauce over fried rice. WEWERETHOROUGHLYSATISFIED. The beef was fresh, and the red rice was flavourful. The pork chop was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and definitely one of the better ones in town. We’ll definitely come back for their hainan chicken rice(another of their specialty), looks delicious! Came back for their hainan chicken(dark meat and bone in), and it came with a tangy ginger sauce, yummy!
Blair K.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 Covina, CA
I have heard about this fine establishment and have been wanting to try it out. I finally got a chance and was pleasantly surprised. They have a nice menu that isn’t too overwhelming, but has enough variety to satisfy all cravings. We ordered the French beef with tomato rice which was absolutely delicious. The beef was so tender and full of flavor. I was able to try the Hanian chicken which was also really good, and thought it was pretty cool to see that they offer it in dark or white meat. I also tried the chicken curry which was also very delicious, and not too spicy. Pros: Service/servers is fast and efficient. Perfect place to come for lunch break. The food is great, and really can’t beat the price for the quality you get. Everything we ordered exceeded our expectations. I am not really into the teas and coffee drinks but I guess they were really good. They have wifi and wireless charging stations. Cons: None Overall: I highly recommend coming here and trying this place out. The food is outstanding and you really can’t beat the price. Next time I come here I really want to try out the Pork Chops.
Sam T.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 El Monte, CA
Finally a Hong Kong Café in El Monte! We’re moving on up! The menu is not as vast as your typical Hong Kong café, but it has all the typical items. Food: It looks like their Hainan Chicken and Filet Mignon cubes are the most popular items here. I ordered the Filet Mignon cubes and a chow fun(wet style). Both were pretty good. Filet Mignon was fairly soft though not the best I’ve had. Service: Very friend attentive staff. Not your typical Chinese café service. Environment: This area of El Monte is semi questionable. Luckily they have a fairly sized parking lot. The interior looks fairly new. They even have those wireless phone chargers. Price: Fairly priced to compete with the other cafes in the 626. Food: 4 Service: 4 Environment: 4 Price: 4
Jennifer D.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 El Monte, CA
I was excited to see a new HK-style café open in El Monte! Saw it while passing by and knew I had to give it a try, so I swung by on a Saturday night for dinner. I tried the beef cubes with tomato rice and the baked pork chop with rice. Both dishes were great! The meat is tender and juicy, and they give really good portion sizes(had enough for lunch the next day!). Service was top tier as well! Very attentive staff and quick to get you anything you request for. I am all about supporting local businesses and I was so happy that I liked this place so I can come back as well as recommend it to my friends!
Susan K.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 Los Angeles, CA
The food here is pretty good! I know it is listed as a Taiwanese restaurant but it is more Cantonese/Chiu Chow/HK-style than it is Taiwanese. One of my favorite HK-style cafes in the area is WeChat Café on Valley Blvd. This place is better in several ways. The portions are bigger. The food is prepared well. The service is really friendly. The space is more open and comfortable. They have free Wifi and wireless charging stations at the booth seats(if these matter to you). We came here for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. We were one of the first parties there at 11:30am but it slowly filled up during our meal. I ordered the basil chicken with tomato fried rice. The chicken was very flavorful and was sautéed with peppers, onions, jalapeño and Thai basil. For $ 7.50, the portions were huge. I didn’t even finish half of it. The tomato fried rice was OK. I could barely taste the tomato but that’s OK with me. The MSG is either minimal or non-existent. Yeah! Since it is still their Grand Opening phase, several drinks are only $ 1.50 with the purchase of an entrée. I got the iced milk tea and it was pretty good(but not HK-authentic). You even get one free refill but the cup is so big, I didn’t need a refill. The rest of my family got the beef stew curry for $ 8 which was quite tasty. The meat could have been more tender. It was real beef stew with chunks of good looking tendon included. The order came with a plate of steamed white rice. The grandma got her favorite Chinese café dish — the baked cod with spinach in cream sauce over fried rice. This order was HUGE for $ 8.50. It is cheaper than WeChat’s, nearly twice as big, had generous servings of the cod and spinach, is really cheesy and includes bacon bits for a little extra bite and smokiness. I had a bite of this not seeing the bacon from across the table(no pork-diet for me). It is done well. My mom got the Teo Chow noodle soup which had phở noodles, beef balls, tail-on shrimp, slice of pork and chicken, bean sprouts, etc. Again, the portion was very generous and only cost $ 6.50! Everyone else ordered iced French roast coffee which was on the sweet side and not so strong but not bad(I had a sip). This new restaurant is a nice addition to this stretch of Garvey which is heavy with Vietnamese, Chiu Chow and Mexican restaurants. If they keep up with the quality, quantity and cleanliness of the food and space, respectively, they’ll do well. I anticipate I’ll have many more visits in the future.
Eva L.
Évaluation du lieu : 3 Arcadia, CA
The French beef with tomato fried rice is pretty much the gem here! I haven’t had a chance to try their Hainan chicken rice, but I would definitely try that for my next visit(since it’s also one of the dishes on their popular items menu). The French beef tasted good; although it could use a little bit more seasoning. The tomato fried rice was good, albeit sometimes I found it to be a bit dry — but it has potential to be improved. My friend ordered the beef curry here and it tasted decent. Service here is okay. We were the only ones there for an early dinner, so it’s not that hard to come by every so often to check up on us. When you drive here, just look for the pathway next to the restaurant because that’s where you park. Don’t drive into the tiny area in front of the restaurant, since there’s no parking spaces there. Credit cards accepted.
Edward L.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 El Monte, CA
New place with new Ownership. This is quite a nice place for being in South El Monte. This café has wireless charging stations which is very unique. The place is very roomy and there are plenty of tables, but only 4 of their tables have the wireless charging stations. They have a special going on right now, which is when you purchase a meal you can get a lemon tea for $ 1.50 with 1 free refill. I had the Pork Chop with Fried rice but I replaced the fried rice with spaghetti. I wasn’t a fan the sauce for the spaghetti tasted more like ketchup than anything, the pork chop was very tasty though. My friends ordered a few things as well, but none of them finished any of their dishes. The service is great though I would definitely come back to try something else.
John T.
Évaluation du lieu : 2 Rosemead, CA
*This restaurant use to be Hoa Binh and the new restaurant that took over doesn’t seem promising… 1) First off, we got major problems if my parents think KT Café is better than this new cantonese/vietnamese café shop. *shivers* 2) Service: The staffers seem like they didn’t want to work there and most of the time I noticed them near the kitchen/cashier area. Hard to flag you guys down if your back is faced the other way. Felt like I was in grade school again… WAITERWAITERWAITER! Pick me! Not much staffer to customer interaction. Didn’t really check on us. 3) For grand opening, it would be nice if you can give a free drink with the meal. The pricing of the dishes are already high. 4) Ordered three dishes(seafood chow mein, braised pork belly with egg, and hainam chicken) and they weren’t good at all. The food looked like it was homemade. They lacked flavored! They gave you more fillers(rice/noodles) than protein(checken/seafood/pork belly!!! Sorry folks! Normally I take pictures of my food, but the food didn’t deserved any pictures. The chow mein was overcooked. Wasn’t fun taking a bite and smelling some of the char. The hainam chicken was uneventful also. I usually look forward to the chicken rice, but it wasn’t great. 5) Please give the correct change! I was going to use that for the tip, but after you come back with the wrong change I was beside myself. I gave you $ 28… The total was $ 25.18 and for change you only gave us back $ 1.81. What happen to the other $ 1.01? My mom told me to let it go and told me to add another $ 1 for tip. Would I come back… it’s to early to tell. I think I’ll give you guys some time to make your changes. Might see you guys in a couple of months.
Felix L.
Évaluation du lieu : 3 Los Angeles, CA
Grand Central Café(named Mong Kok Tea Café in Chinese) is the latest HK-café to open in the 626. Most of the new Cantonese eateries have been moving into the east side of the SGV while an army of Sichuan restaurants have successfully invaded the west SGV. Unlike most HK cafes, Grand Central Café isn’t the«jack of all trades» type. The menu is 2 pages long, not a booklet, and only the chef’s specialties are listed. The chef, claimed to have 48 years of restaurant experience, prepares simple Cantonese stir fries, baked rice, congee, and the famous hainan chicken. I ordered the«beef chow fun wet style» and«baked pork chop rice». Both dishes were notably less greasy than the inedible oil-topped renditions served at JJ or Garden Café. I was happy to find that the pork chop had lean meat without a lot of fat, and it was perfectly breaded. The fried rice base in the baked rice was moist and on point, the chef doesn’t use rotten leftover rice. However, I thought that the tomato/cheese balance was slightly too heavy on the cheese, just my personal preference. For that reason, I liked the baked rice at WeChat Café more. My dining companion ate the beef chow fun. She thought that it was well presented, and the execution was solid but not exceptional. It was missing the critical strong«wok-hei» of a restaurant-style stir fry dish. Grand Central Café’s identity remains unclear to me. Is it a HK-Western restaurant? Not quite, because they don’t serve meal bread or soup before the main course. Is it a traditional Cantonese restaurant? No, because they don’t offer lunch specials that come with a red bucket of rice. Is it a working class HK tea shop? Close, but they don’t offer the quintessential red bean ice. There is definitely an modern American flair to this café, I noticed that fresh dark roasted coffee brewed one by one using an Aeropress is available. This restaurant, however, distinguishes itself from other local HK cafes by offering excellent hospitality and perfunctory service. I thought that prices were somewhat high for the El Monte area, but after a $ 10 coupon, the meal was very reasonable. I would come again when I am in the area.