I was in the hood and was really looking forward to checking out Kam Hong Garden. But they are closed on Wednesdays! Nooooo! I was so disappointed. Well, another time.
And then there beckoned the bright lights of Noodle House.

What. The. Hell. How in the helll does this place get good reviews? How in the hell is it that this place gets known in foodie circles?

Bland. Flavorless.
Beef stewed noodle soup: the broth tastes like soy sauce. That’s it. The beef isn’t quite cooked long enough, it should be falling apart, I shouldn’t have to fight it. Half the beef was mostly tendon. The noodles were excellent, I’ll give them that. Very fresh noodles. But no spicy option for their beef noodle.

Double mushroom pork steamed dumplings. I took one bite. It tasted like nothing. I took another bite. Nothing. I thought maybe I slaughtered my tastebuds with the soy sauce broth, so I drank some tea. Bite three: still nothing. Added the vinegar, and that was the only flavor. At this point it just became food for survival, not for enjoyment.

For almost half the price, I could have had some of the best beef stewed noodle soup and great dumplings at Kingburg. I felt so ripped off.

Is it worth going back to try other dishes? Hell no.

Noodle House? Only in name alone as I would have never guessed this was a dumpling place. I first read about this place in my meet-up group and was intrigued that they make their bao zi right there at the counter for everyone to see. You can order the dumplings water boiled or steamed. Everything we ate was incredibly fresh and steaming hot. We were served within the first five minutes of ordering so we were off to a good start.
My favorite steamed buns are the double mushroom with pork and the pork with spring onions. They were the first to arrive as they were wonderfully hot. With a simple touch they were ready to explode. I knew right then and there that if I dared to put it in my mouth it would surely burn so I poked a hole with my chopsticks and it was like an erupting volcano ready as the nice juicy pork liquor just oozed out. Their bao zi is a perfect ratio of 75% filling to 25% dough.

Next, I had the steamed dumplings. The ones I favor are the steamed pork dumplings with leeks and the pumpkin/shrimp dumpling. Oh yeah, don’t even bother to ask them to pan fry your dumplings because they won’t. Now please keep in mind when ordering the steamed dumpling the skin will be a bit thinner. Why? This allows the steam to penetrate and cook the dumpling all the way through.

Noodle House is just one of many small eateries in monterey park. We went for their dumpling reputation. The dumplings and steamed buns were definitely fresh and good, but I wouldn’t say they were phenomenal. However, you can’t go wrong for the price (everything is around 6-8 bucks). The final bill ended up being only $8.50 per person including tip.

The noodles were somewhat disappointing so if I came back I’d only order buns and dumplings.

The dumplings are all freshly made and very tasty. Unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed as I had expected Shanghai dumplings. Also, I think we ordered too much food and ended up stuffing ourselves silly.