2.31 Tasty!

Posted on September 16, 2008
Filed Under Chinese, Dessert |

I’m trying to hit up a few more good Chinese places before we end year two, there’s so many little genres of Chinese food and I want to cover as much as possible. An example of this is the “knife cut” noodles that I often had growing up in Taiwan. I’ve often seen chefs stand a good 5 feet away from a the boiler whittling a chunk of dough with a metal blade and having these thick strands of noodles splash landing in giant vats of boiling water.

The restaurant we’re hitting up tonight specializes in knife cut noodles. From the outside I can only call it “Tasty” and it’s in the same plaza as Green Village on Valley Blvd, in San Gabriel.

First up is their signature beef noodles. I have to say, beef noodles is such a common dish, it’s hard to stand out, but Tasty does a honorable job of it. The ever-important soup base is flavorful but not too heavy nor salty, a perfect amount of spicy kick to it. (I barely taste it)

The noodles are the best part, with its fantastic texture and satisfying chewiness. The beef is also very tender and flavorful, this is a very nice bowl of beef noodles.

We also ordered a shrimp stir fried noodles. This was incredibly good, all the advantages of the knife cut noodles is enhanced by the fact that it’s not soaking in soup but in a relatively dry sauce. The noodles, with its large surface area, can really pick up the flavors of the sauce. Combine it with the variety of textures in the noodles — the shrimp and sprouts, the egg and dates, it’s out of this world tasty.

We also ordered a radish cake, very much like one you’d order at Dim Sum. This, unfortunately, is a miss. The turnip is shredded and retains the stringed texture, it’s new and different, but not particularly good.

Here’s a green onion pancake. It’s thick and crispy and loaded with tasty green onions, not too greasy. Definitely recommended.

Tasty also has a large selection of desserts and drinks. THis is the Mango and coconut milk with aloe jelly. Very refreshing and tasty. There’s a variety of add-ons you can try, but it’s rather expensive sometimes. (Bird’s nest, for example, is $9)

We also had the black and white ice combo. Black sesame and white coconut shaved ice topped with fresh fruits. This was sweet and refreshing also, with the sesame and coconut complimenting each other very well.

The first time we went to Tasty we were stopped from taking pictures. After talking to the Joy, the owner, we were invited back. The desserts were complimentary of the house on our second visit. Overall, service was good and the excellent noodles showed depth. The desserts were quite good as well, leaving the side dishes to be the weaker links. I’d like to come back for more varieties of their knife cut noodles and indulge in some desserts.