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By Lafayette C. Hight Jr.

Entering Wang's was, well, interesting.

There's neither a service counter inside nor a podium of any sort, so while standing at the entrance for about many minutes I thought I'd been accidentally dipped in invisible ink.

Maybe there actually were only a handful people working that night, but the half-empty dining room - which had only about six tables occupied - didn't seem to warrant the lack of attention.

Eventually we did manage to catch someone's curiosity and found ourselves at a table, where we perused the menu and decided upon the Mandarin dinner, at $13.95 per person, which included a choice of soup and two entrees and some appetizers.

There were two of us, so the meal seemed a perfect fit. We opted for Hot and Sour Soup to start things off. When it arrived I was a bit worried because it came with a very strong smell of sesame oil. I was happy when I tasted it, though, to discover that it was the same soup I'm familiar with.

Shortly afterward, a plate with wontons, egg rolls and foil-wrapped chicken showed up.

It was here that I discovered that Wang's food seemed to only have one temperature. Hot. Screaming hot. Hot enough that Dante might have seen it served in the inner ring of the seventh circle.

It's almost as if the temperature was supposed to take your mind off the fact that the food was lacking in the flavor department.

Had my eyes been closed, it would have been difficult to tell the difference between the vegetable egg roll, the wonton and the fried wonton skins that were delivered as an appetizer  - tasting kind of like deep-fried paper. The small piece of baked chicken, however, was pretty good. The problem was that it was minuscule, about the size of my thumb.

Then the entrees arrived. The best part of the entrees was the shrimp. Not the whole dish, but the individual crustaceans. So it became a bit of a race to see who could get the most shrimp, without being obvious that we were trying to out-shrimp each other.

I was also trying to figure out why the chow mein arrived in a pie plate. Not the tin type, but a glass pie plate, while the beef dish had a normal serving dish.

But I couldn't even think about that, as I was busy attempting to perform a miracle with the soy sauce (red, not green), salt and pepper that were on the table.

I figured out the right proportion after about 10 minutes - a splash of soy sauce, three shakes of pepper - to add at least a semblance of taste to the dishes.

I have to admit, that what I did like about Wang's was that the restaurant has a full bar with some pretty decent drinks, not typically found in Chinese restaurants in the Valley.

And by the end of the night, I needed one.

Wang's is located at 120 E. Lemon Ave. in Monrovia. For information, call (626) 303-3071.

A few weeks ago, I was sent out to work out of one of our other sister papers' office in Torrance and while I was only there for a couple days, I thought I would venture out for lunch and see what the city had to offer.

The first day, on my way into the office I passed by a sushi place that caught my eye and I knew I had to try it for lunch - Sushi Boy.

From the outside it looked like a fast-food type of sushi bar and even though that didn't sound too appealing, I was intrigued.

As I walked in, it was just what I thought - fast food. They did add some cool Japanese art throughout the dining area to get a more authentic Japanese restaurant feel to it.

The menu featured a variety of sushi rolls, sashimi and sushi, as well as combo meals with salad noodles and bowls offered.

Wanting to try a little of everything I ordered the Takumi value meal for $6.80 which came with four pieces of california roll, one salmon and one shrimp sushi serving, three pieces of tekka maki and kappa maki each (tuna and cucumber, respectively) and a spicy tuna hand roll.

Each value meal comes with a serving of miso soup, or get a fountain drink instead for a few cents more.

My order came out pretty quick - ten minutes or less - and with the price, I was a little hesitant.

Everything looked surprisingly fresh for how quick it was served. The soup was okay but there wasn't much, if any, tofu which I'm used to having in my miso soup.

I dug into the Califoria rolls first - they were average, nothing special but pretty good for fast food. I don't know what type of wasabi they served but it didn't taste like wasabi I've had before and it wasn't necessarily good.

The cucumber and tuna tasted fresh but the seaweed was sometimes a bit too chewy. The salmon and shrimp tasted pretty fresh and not fishy. I wish I had better wasabi to serve it with.

The best item by far was the spicy tuna hand roll. Not only did the spicy tuna have the right amount of heat but there was plenty in there and it all fit perfectly with the cucumber and rice.   

When I first spotted Sushi Boy I never seen anything like it and I thought maybe I was trying something that could only be found in Torrance but as I perused the to-go menu I discovered there is a Sushi Boy in the San Gabriel Valley!

Or at least a version of what seems like a franchise. The company has 12 California locations in all including one in West Covina - Marukai West Covina at 1420 Azusa Ave. 

I will definitely have to try Marukai in West Covina one day but I may still call it Sushi Boy because it sounds cooler. For the other locations, visit www.sushiboy.net .

For the variety and price, I was happy with the quality of my lunch at Sushi Boy.

SECOND DAY

For lunch on my second day in Torrance I thought I would entrust my new Blackberry to help me find something I hoped would be different and unique.

Craving noodles, I was torn between a Thai restaurant and a curry one.

Since I don't have too much experience with curry I thought I would give the Curry House a try and it was only across the street from the office.

When I stepped in it was a nice sit-down restaurant. I was seated by a hostess and soon visited by my waitress. She sensed I was new there and gave me more time to look over the menu.

I don't know much about what exactly is normal for a curry restaurant menu but there I knew it didn't seem normal to have jambalaya on the menu.

The jambalaya entree was special to Curry House because it also included curry sauces. 

I really wanted to try something with a good curry sauce but the Jambalaya-style curry meal came with rice and I was still craving pasta or noodles so I went with something else.

The Seafood Tofu Shirataki Fettuccine ($10.05), featured shrimp, white fish, baby clams, squid, onion and bell pepper in a curry cream sauce - perfect! Pasta and curry all in one.

I ordered hot tea and water but there was a wide variety of beverage options with tropical iced tea, iced oolong and green teas, shirley temple, iced cafe au lait and more.

And if you have a reason to celebrate or feel like a little libation they also serve alcoholic beverages such as plum wine and Kirin Ichiban, a Japanese beer, on tap.

The table settings and the atmosphere of the restaurant was nice but it didn't seem too busy at the time but I was having a late lunch so I hope, for their sake, there was more customers there a little earlier.

Despite not having too many customers, my meal took a little while but that only made me believe it was freshly made to order by real cooks in the kitchen.

By the time I did get my plate, I was pretty hungry. It was hot but luckily for me not too hot (I can't stand extreme temperatures in my mouth).

I dug right into the squid and the fettucine, swirling it around in the curry sauce to get a nice taste of it.

The squid wasn't too chewy but it did have a bit of a fishy taste and after having some bites of the perfectly tender and flaky white fish I knew it wasn't that. Maybe it was the baby clams.

It was pretty easy to scoop them out of their little shells but they also had more of a fish taste than clam flavor. The fettucine was nicely cooked and the curry sauce was tasty but I was expecting it to be spicy and it wasn't.

Overall for a seafood dish it was tasty but I would skip the clams next time and maybe ask for some spicier sauce on the side or instead of.

Now, it being my second and last day in Torrance I thought I was having lunch at a restaurant that again, is exclusive to Torrance but once again I was mistaken.

Curry House is a small chain of restaurants with 11 California locations, (one being take-out only), including one near the Puente Hills mall in the City of Industry.

There is such a variety of food on their menu that it's a good thing there is one closer to me so I can try other offerings.

There is everything from salads to curry rice dishes to spaghetti dishes and even kid's meals.

Curry House in Puente Hills is at 17865 Colima Road in the City of Industry. For more information on other locations or menus, visit www.house-foods.com/CurryHouse.

So much for adventure dining in new cities.... At least I don't have to drive to Torrance to try these places again.

By Maritza Velazquez

The sushi may not be spectacular, but the price is just right. 

Sakura of Tokyo in West Covina probably has the best lunch specials of any Japanese restaurant I've ever frequented.

My lunch companions and I pondered over the expansive menu that included more than 35 lunch combination specials for at least 10 minutes before making a decision. 

After members of the attentive wait staff returned to take our orders more than once, I finally settled on a combination plate of sushi, sashimi and tempura for $8.50. It included salad, rice and a serving of miso soup. 

Probably the biggest disappointment was that the five pieces of sushi on my plate were really only just three. Two of the pieces included only egg and rice. The shrimp sushi wasn't the most fresh seafood I've ever tasted either.

But the sashimi (sliced raw fish without the rice) consisted of a good-sized helping of my two favorite fish - salmon and tuna.

The tempura, a popular Japanese dish of battered and deep- fried meat, included both shrimp and vegetables. 

If you're not familiar with sushi, or Japanese cuisine in general, Sakura of Tokyo is a great place to start. Every menu item has an accompanying photo, and each booth has a poster of the names of all the different kinds of fish.

Lunch specials range from $5.75 to $8.50 and include many different options, such as California rolls, gyoza (fried chicken dumplings), beef and chicken teriyaki and even egg rolls. 

Dinner specials at Sakura aren't too shabby either. All priced at $8.25, there aren't as many options as the lunch specials, but you can still order some of the same fare - teriyaki, sesame chicken and sushi. 

The whole staff at Sakura of Tokyo is friendly from the get-go. It was great that we never had to wait, and even our food came out in less than 10 minutes.

The restaurant is adorned with random trinkets consisting of both Japanese and ocean themes. My aquaintances and I enjoyed observing all the fun decorations - like the blow-up oversized Sapporo bottles and killer whales, combined with faux cherry blossoms and Japanese lanterns.

Sakura of Tokyo is at 533 S. Glendora Ave., in West Covina. It's open seven days a week, and closes between the hours of 3 and 5 p.m. On Sundays, it's only open for lunch from 4:30 to 9 p.m.

For more information, call (626) 960-7155.

By Emma Gallegos

If it's lunch hour, my coworkers and I are probably at Hong Kong Plaza in West Covina, even though the plaza has gotten emptier and emptier over the course of the year.

It's been a trying year for restaurants and anyone else angling for customers' waning expendable income. The year was especially tough for businesses at Hong Kong Plaza, which is awaiting the arrival of a new supermarket called HK2 owned by a younger generation of the family that owned the Hong Kong Supermarket that used to fill the gaping vacancy in the middle as the plaza's anchor.

But we still have a few expendable dollars, so at least once a week we're back at the plaza visiting old favorites like Krua Thai or the 1+1 Dumpling House. 

It helps to plan ahead and figure out what we're doing, but we still feel confident winging it and driving around the empty parking lot blindly and picking our next culinary adventure: Should we try Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean or Thai?  

Beijing Cuisine Garden exemplifies the spirit of Hong Kong Plaza adventure: quick, reasonably priced, fresh and intense flavors. 

None of the dishes' flavors are bland or halfway: They're spicy, salty, oily and sometimes tinged with a splash of wine. When the food went wrong, it went too far in this direction.

There was a BMW parked out in front of Beijing Cuisine Garden and men in business suits inside the restaurant, but for those of us in a different tax bracket there are lunch specials, ranging from $4.95 to $6.95, that include rice and a soup of the day.  

The waiter recommended the dishes in kung pao style, and, indeed, the dish that blew me away (and made me forget subsequent mediocre dishes) was the Kung Pao Shrimp ($6.95). Fresh shrimp tossed in with a flaming mix of bell peppers, onions and red peppers. 

The Kung Pao Beef ($5.95) had the same addictive spicy sauce, which would have been a recipe for success except that the beef was a little tough.  

There's nothing that cools the palate like a plate of spiced cucumbers - unless of course you decide to add some jalapenos, as was the case with the Peking Cold Cucumber with Parsley and Hot Pepper ($2.95).

The dishes that had enough liquid to qualify as stews were weaker bets.

I mostly enjoyed Fish Fillet in Hot Bean Sauce ($6.95), juicy medallions of white fish and strips of tofu submerged in a red hot sauce with a hint of a rice wine. It could have stood to have a little less oil and salt.

My coworker could barely eat the Hot and Spicy Vegetable with Beef ($8.50), which came in a thick, brown broth that she said was also just too oily and salty.

Avoid the submerged dishes but try something new in Hong Kong Plaza. You don't have to have a BMW. All you have to do is literally go the extra mile from the Westfield West Covina for something that won't be bland, boring or overpriced. And, for now, there's no traffic.

Beijing Cuisine Garden is at 965 S. Glendora Ave., West Covina, and can be reached at (626) 851-8875.

By Amanda Newfield, Correspondent

Arigato Japanese Restaurant in Azusa was delightfully satisfying in the most Japanese way, even if I nearly missed the restaurant as I drove up Azusa Avenue.

The face of the venue is nothing special, with a small and almost non-existent porch. But it was the inside of the restaurant that caught my attention.

As I ventured into a narrow building and walked past the sushi bar, I noticed cherry blossoms and a Japanese woman painted on the wall to my left and old style brick that reminded me of the east coast to the right.

The ambiance was peaceful as a Japanese restaurant should be - the restaurant was not too loud and yet not so quiet that one feels compelled to whisper.

The server was pleasant and attentive but not overbearing.

Then came the food - in a prompt manner, by the way - and it was more than I expected. The $9.95 Dynamite Roll lived up to its name with scallops and crab covering the roll with a sweet soy sauce to top it off. The fish was fresh and tasty and the rice was sticky and delicious.

What Japanese lunch is complete without tempura? The vegetable tempera was good. I was a little caught off guard by the tempura-covered bell pepper, but the crispy and fresh shrimp tempura was superb.

Arigato, which means thank you in Japanese, offers more types of rolls then I could have asked for, from spicy tuna to Hawaiian volcano. The choices were almost overwhelming.

I decided to be daring and ordered the $4.95 Eel Avocado Roll, which did not disappoint. The eel and avocado were fresh and satisfying; it was a good-size roll for the price.

The family-owned restaurant is at 722 N. Azusa Ave. in Azusa. Operation hours vary. For reservations or to call ahead an order, you can reach the restaurant at (626) 334-5545. Or for menu information or business hours visit www.mrarigato.com.

By Lafayette C. Hight, Jr.

A couple of things threw me for a loop when I walked into Rolling Sushi in Duarte.

First were the high-boy tables and chairs, which are typically found in any type of casual-dining establishment other than a sushi bar, (it took several hours of mind-racking before I would remember that it used to be a sandwich shop/ice cream parlor) and the second was the absence of an actual sushi bar. 

But I decided to focus on the reason I was there, a craving for sushi.

Rolling offers about 18 different rolls, ranging from the $4.99 vegetable cut roll to the high-end $8.99 rainbow roll. I opted for the latter and a $7.99 spider roll, which was discounted because they were having a 50 percent off deal for the second roll.

I learned that this second in a two-chain restaurant opened about three months ago. The first restaurant is Sushi in the Box located in Temple City.

It took just a few minutes for the chef to create the rainbow of salmon, tuna and halibut, shrimp and avocado over a California roll, which he did just behind the counter.

I'm happy to say that the roll tasted exactly as it should. The fish was fresh, the rice was moist, and with the proper amount of soy sauce and wasabi it was great for a "quickie sushi" type of place.

The soft-shell crab roll didn't disappoint either. It is easy to overcook the crustacean, which will make it the consistency of battered rubber, but Rolling got it right on par with the fancy-schmancy restaurants that charge twice as much for the same dish.

In addition to sushi, the restaurant offers several rice bowls - a couple of ramen soup varieties. They don't serve alcohol, however, for those looking for sake bombs. 

Rolling Sushi is located at 1114 Huntington Drive in Duarte. For more information, call (626) 471-3568.

By Evelyn Barge

I've been known to develop strange food obsessions.

Jellied cranberry sauce, at any time of year. Cheetos-brand bacon-cheddar crackers, which are less about cheese and more about a cheddar-flavored paste substance. Cottage cheese and sliced black olives - together.

But I recently had a food re-awakening and started forming some dietary habits that are actually good for me. And guess what? Healthy food is addicting, too.

Now I feel deprived if I don't start my day with a banana, or if I forget to add avocado to my sandwich at lunch.

My desire for a healthy menu that, most importantly, tastes good brought me to Bean Sprouts Vegetarian Restaurant in Arcadia. It's one of a limited number of veggie-friendly eateries in the San Gabriel Valley, and a popular one no less.

I've had great success with West Covina's One World Vegetarian Cuisine, from which I frequently order take-out, but it was time to expand my horizons.

The offerings at Bean Sprouts trend toward a variety of Asian dishes, all vegetarian, with lots of noodle and rice plates to choose from.

Sitting down in the dining area, which is immaculate and modern, a menu on the table was placed with the lunch specials facing up. After that, there was almost no reason to turn the page, save for curiosity.

The lunch-hour specials are all $5.99, for a generous helping that comes with soup and a cold appetizer. For $1.99, you can add a side dish; For another 99 cents, a glass of the winter melon tea, for which people would willingly pay three times as much at Coffee Bean.

As my main dish, I ordered the noodles with fermented bean sauce. It was an oversized portion of an average entree, anchored by (thankfully) above-average sauce. I wanted to eat the sauce and bean curd off the top, and leave behind the rather bland-tasting noodles.

The servings of fresh-steamed veggies like cabbage, carrots and celery along with the small side of rainbow rolls - all come included with lunch specials - played a bigger role in filling my contented belly.

In the past, tasteless and dry vegan sushi has scared me off from the genre as a whole, but since the rainbow rolls came as a package deal, it was a good chance to jump back on the horse.

Now I know what I'll order next time. With carrot, lettuce and peanut powder wrapped in seaweed and rice paper topped with vegan mayonnaise, the rolls were crunchy clusters packed with plenty of flavor. I might have ordered another round, if I wasn't already stuffed to the brim.

The side dish of pan-fried radish patties - made of shredded radish, rice flour and oatmeal - was also a stellar addition with a really unique, mild flavor. The patties held a similar consistency to scallion pancakes, but with much less sodium and much less guilt.

Bean Sprouts has its storefront on Huntington Drive in an extremely walkable part of downtown Arcadia. Next time, I'll take advantage of its close proximity to the Arboretum and create a custom picnic bento box to bring along.

Bean Sprouts is located at 103 E. Huntington Drive in Arcadia. For more information, call (626) 254-8708 or visit www.beansproutsrestaurant.com. 

By Emma Gallegos

By now, I've memorized the tics of the best restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley. 

Sure, the best restaurants don't have to be tucked away in unassuming strip malls with the kind of signage that necessitates illegal U-turns. The best food doesn't have to be enjoyed over the strains of someone with Mariah Carey's phrasing and penchant for swelling strings, if not her range. I'm sure the best chefs don't necessarily request that the dining room decor resemble a garage sale.

But when I find myself at a restaurant like Hunan Chilli King in San Gabriel with menu items scrawled in magic marker on fluorescent posters, I've started to feel like I'm in good hands. (I thought I'd made it out of the woods because there was a satellite TV beaming from China instead of music, but by the time I got my food, live-recorded footage featuring one of Ms. Carey's acolytes was rolling.) 

And I was in good hands. This was my first experience with cuisine from the Hunan province, which is the most famous for bringing the heat - if you don't count Sichuan. 

All you true believers out there may be disappointed to discover that I didn't try the dish the restaurant is known for. The Hunan steamed fish head was $16.99. True believers would call this a steal but it didn't quite make the cut for a budget dining column. 

Instead, I tried the pork in a Hunan brown sauce for about half the price ($8.99) - tender pork in a brown sauce with thin celery stalks, red peppers and almost translucent peppers that brought the heat. The vegetables were sauteed just long enough to absorb the chili and garlic but were still crispy. 

The waitress suggested "on choy" with a garlic and bean curd sauce ($7.99), a cooling vegetable that's somewhere between spinach and bok choy. It took the edge off of the pork, though at a certain point nothing could really combat the heat.    

I tied it all together with a heaping bowl of fried rice ($6.99). I've been so abused by fried rice at terrible Chinese restaurants. The rice here was delicate - flavorful, not too greasy or soggy with soy sauce or dried. It was a deep brown, almost charcoal color, laced with bits of egg.

The restaurant was bustling at lunchtime with groups of twenty- and thirty-somethings, but service was swift and efficient. I did laugh that I had to ask for water at a restaurant with stuffed plush chili peppers hanging from the walls. 

Maybe I didn't try the restaurant's delicacy but I left the table impressed: tingling lips, ruddy face. I've heard that the sting of spicy food can release endorphins, which seems about right since I felt something akin to a runner's high before I descended into an MSG daze. The daze and the restaurant's "B" rating are the only facts that might have besmirched my experience. Then again, why does a "B" rating seem to be another one of those tics of the best food in the Valley?

By the time I paid for food, tax and tip, my meal came to $30. Going to a Chinese restaurant alone is foolish, but the meal I ordered would have served three easily. Next time, I plan on bringing my own twenty- and thirty-something friends in tow.

Hunan Chilli King is at 534 E Valley Blvd., San Gabriel.

I fell in love with banh mi sandwiches after I first tasted them at Xa Vietnamese Grill restaurant in Irwindale.

But sadly, Xa Vietnamese closed months ago and has left me longing for those tasty French Vietnamese sandwiches.

So I scoured the Internet and surveyed colleagues for nearby Vietnamese restaurants that served the baguette sandwiches.

Mr. Baguette in Rosemead was suggested plenty of times but it is not in the coverage area of our weekly community newspapers (I will give them a try later anyway).

After finding many pho spots on the Web, I hit on Pho 2007 in Rowland Heights. Though not really near the office, I thought I would give it a try since it is within our coverage.

As I drove up Colima Road toward a little side street called Otterbein, I knew I found the place when I was greeted with a large "Pho 2007" sign over what used to be a Taco Bell restaurant.  

I was eagerly greeted as soon as I entered and was handed a menu, which varied from spring roll appetizers to banh mi sandwiches, and pho (rice noodle soup) to rice plate entrees, and more.

I took a chance on three original shrimp spring rolls for $4.50, and a banh mi sandwich with grilled pork for $3.25.

The rolls come with about three medium-sized shrimp (cooked and peeled), small pieces of cooked chicken, cilantro leaves, lettuce and vermicelli rice noodles, all tightly wrapped in rice paper.

The rolls were nicely sized for their price (I only finished one) and the accompanying peanut sauce was a great complement.

The first thing I noticed about the sandwich was the size. It was wider than what I was used to. When I unwrapped the paper covering the sandwich, I found out why.

Pho 2007 used a bolillo (a thick and wide Mexican roll) instead of a baguette (long, thin French bread).

This made the sandwich a little difficult to bite into, but I knew my way around a bolillo so I dug into the thick crusty bread. 

I liked that the sandwich had all the banh mi ingredients I was used to - sliced carrots and cucumber, cilantro sprigs, and sliced jalapeno with a light spread of mayonnaise. The sandwich also had a half-round slice of tomato, it was nice but a little too thick so it kept coming out. 

The pork was nicely seasoned with soy sauce and something a little sweet. The pieces were nicely sliced, not very fatty, which you may find with pork, and slightly grilled. 

For the price, I would say the sandwich definitely satisfied my craving for banh mi.

But I can't say how often I will go out of my way from the northwest side of West Covina to the southeast end of San Gabriel Valley just to get to Rowland Heights. That would take up my whole lunch hour.

Of course, those cravings don't go away forever ...

Pho 2007 is at 19208 Colima Road in Rowland Heights and is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. They are closed on Tuesdays.

Be sure to have cash in hand as they do not accept any cards. $5 dollar dine-in specials are offered on Wednesdays. For information and to-go orders, call (626) 839-8100. 

By Maritza Velazquez

Tofu. The first words that probably come to mind are bland and flavorless.  
 
But this healthy protein-packed food is not just for die-hard vegetarians. Nor does it have to be merely a meat substitute. 

At Koba Tofu Grill in Diamond Bar, you get both. 

This Korean eatery offers a dozen selections of soon, a type of Korean soup, which combines bold, spicy broth, soft tofu, and your choice of meat served in a boiling hot pot. 

I tried the Dumpling Soon Tofu, which features delicious beef dumplings and small slices of beef. Unlike many other soups I've tried, there's no fishing through the broth to find the good stuff. It's loaded with tofu.

My order came with six good-sized dumplings. Regularly $8.99, all of the soon varieties are now on special for just $6.99. To name a few, you have your choice of seafood, kimchi, seaweed, vegetable, curry, beef and octopus, or oyster soon tofu. 

You can order it mild, medium, spicy or very spicy, depending on your degree of chili tolerance. And I have to warn you, this stuff is hot!

The weather has been heating up too, so if you're not willing to tolerate the spice amid 90-degree temperatures, you can also try some of the other dishes and specialties Koba has to offer.

The restaurant also offers dishes like tofu and vegetable salad, pork bulgogi, barbecue beef ribs and chicken teriyaki. 

All of the Korean soon come with a plethora of side dishes. When I ordered, I had no idea I would be getting a mini feast - bean sprouts in a sesame sauce, fried fish, kimchi, white rice, potato salad and garden salad were a few of the offerings. And for dessert, you get a tiny cup of tart frozen yogurt. 

I enjoyed most of the sides with a few exceptions - I hated the garden salad and spinach, and the kimchi definitely wasn't up to par. 

The servers weren't particularly friendly either, but they did bring out the food quickly, and kept it coming. Anything else I needed (like refills on water and the check) was promptly brought to my table after waving them down. 

All in all, I had a good experience at Koba, which also has locations in Irvine and Fullerton. For under $10, I got a huge meal, with more than enough food to spare. 

The decor is great, too. A very clean, modern restaurant with dark woods, soft lighting, and calming wall colors, this place was a great find. 

Koba Tofu Grill is at 2839 S. Diamond Bar Blvd. in Diamond Bar. For more information, call (909)839-2898.

By Evelyn Barge, Staff Writer

The word's trickled out - twice now - on a relative newcomer to Garvey Avenue's pho-cluttered landscape.

The spotlight first fell on Pho Minh Vietnamese restaurant in December, when famed L.A. Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold heaped piles of praise on the eatery for outshining all its look-alike neighbors.

Then, in a front-page news story on May 1, the L.A. Times trained its eye on Pho Minh, where customers are quick to rave about the classic noodle soup but slow to make their way through the front door.

The consensus among interested parties? More people should be eating here. And now you can add me to that list.

My small-bowl order of pho dac biet (No. 2 on the menu, $4.75) was without doubt the best I've ever noisily slurped in a San Gabriel Valley strip mall, and there have been plenty of those occasions, though last week marked my first at Pho Minh.

I've been a longtime fan of San Gabriel's much-talked- about and always-packed Golden Deli, where I can order a feast for two for under $20, and the drive itself from Pasadena through San Marino's upscale, winding roads is part of the joy.

But at Pho Minh the joy is concentrated - simply and richly - into what's most important: the food.

Sailing down Garvey during the lunch hour, it's easy to get distracted. With the concentration of Vietnamese signs increasing on the drive west, so comes the onslaught of pho stops. Without a destination in mind, each seems indistinguishable from the next.

"Is that one it?" "Wait, maybe this one?" "How about we just stop there; They're all the same, right?"

A word to the wise: Don't stray from the hunt. Buried in the back corner of International Plaza is your target - one that's worth the series of risky U-turn maneuvers required to get there.

Here, the broth is mellow and exquisite; the jumble of meats, hearty and fresh. Pho zen is achieved with a scattering of both the tabletop fish and chili oil.

What's more, this brothy concoction didn't leave me in sodium-induced shock nor with an MSG hangover, both of which I've come to warily expect from hole-in-the-wall joints in the Valley. Leaving Pho Minh, I felt lightly energized with a warm, full feeling in my belly.

And did I mention free iced tea, tinged with jasmine no less? That's no rotating special, either; It's printed on the menu. One day after the L.A. Times article landed on front lawns and newsstands across the city, Pho Minh was packed, every seat in the house filled. The staff and servers were overwhelmed by the traffic, literally running to clear off one table to the next.

For me, that translated into an extra-long lunch hour with lots of waiting involved. It was my only disappointment.

But busy is not the standard fare. Though certainly a long-distance destination for foodies around L.A. and Orange counties, it seems Pho Minh isn't drawing the necessary support from locals, the ones with the power to sustain its day-to-day business.

The dearth of diners probably has less to do with the recession (who would refuse a full meal for $5-$6 in this economic climate?), and more with the location and its dissonant chorus of equally-priced competition.

Save yourself the weeding process, and write this down:

Pho Minh is located at 9646 E. Garvey Ave., Unit 108, in South El Monte. For more information, call (626) 448-8807.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Looks like we're not the only San Gabriel Valley News folks looking for good eats in the SGV.

Check out our Public Editor Larry Wilson's Public Eye blog as he dishes about great little finds in the east and west side of the valley to enjoy a delicious, fresh meal. 

Although I've tried a few different dishes at Chang Thai in Irwindale, a thai joint Larry mentions, I can't resist the silver noodles salad with shrimp, chicken and black mushrooms in a tasty spicy sauce (and yes I would say it's 7 or 8 on a 10-scale of spiciness.)

And although I'm on a week-long high protein/low carb diet, I am now tempted to return to Birrieria y Cenaduria in Baldwin Park for some of those ropa vieja tacos. The first time I went to this local joint, a sweet older lady working there served me a yummy warm bowl of albondigas soup as I waited for my to-go order. So sweet and motherly (sigh).

By Claudia S. Palma

Walnut Tree Chinese Restaurant in Walnut offers your typical Chinese dishes.

But on my recent trip to this little spot, hidden in an industrial strip off Valley Boulevard, my visit was not very typical.

With my past experiences with Chinese food establishments, I know it's a hit and miss to get good quality food.

In Walnut Tree's case, it was a total miss. Not even some re-cooking the next day with more spices helped these dishes much.

I knew I had to try staples like fried rice, some type of noodles and orange chicken to get a good comparison with other Chinese restaurants.

I ordered a small plain fried rice for $1, vegetable pan-fried noodles for $8.50 and orange chicken ( $5.50 for lunch and $6.95 for dinner). 

I also wanted to try some spicy dishes like garlic shrimp at $9.95 and steak with black pepper at $9.95.

The fried rice was definitely plain, no vegetables or egg, and it also had no flavor.

The pan-fried noodles were not much better. The noodles that were not in the sauce were hard and chewy. Covering them all in sauce only helped slightly.

The orange chicken was OK - it was nothing special either. It wasn't spicy like the menu said it would be, but the pieces of chicken were slightly bigger than other orange chicken I've had.

The pieces of meat in the steak with black pepper were also bigger than usual but this "spicy" dish was also dissapointing in the heat factor.

The only dish that had some heat to it was the garlic shrimp. This dish did have a nice amount of shrimp and vegetables and the spicy sauce was decent enough. 

The garlic shrimp was the only dish I finished.  

I even tried re-frying the rice, noodles and steak the next day and added some more spices, but it was no use, these dishes were hopeless.

I've read from other online user reviews that this location has changed owners many times, changing the quality of the food.

Maybe they should try changing their menu or chefs, not just owners.

If you want to take your chances at Walnut Tree, they offer daily lunch and dinner specials starting at $4.50.

The combos include the soup of the day, egg roll, fried wonton, and fried or steamed rice. For dinner, the combo changes the fried wonton for fried shrimp.

Walnut Tree is at 382-A S. Lemon Ave. in Walnut, (909) 595-6026. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, closed on Sunday. 

By Maritza Velazquez

In Rowland Heights, there's no shortage of great Asian cuisine.

Banana Bay is no exception. This popular restaurant has a huge menu, with so many offerings that anybody with a liking for Thai flavors is sure to find something. For me, it was difficult enough choosing just one dish.

That's the beauty of eating with others. An acquaintance and I shared three courses, with more than enough left over to take home. For an appetizer, we ordered the Hand Rolls ($5.95), which had a great mix of tofu, sausage, crab, cucumber and bean sprouts. Wrapped in raw egg roll skin, it was topped with a very sweet peanut-based sauce.

Although I enjoyed the mixture inside of the Hand Rolls, especially the Chinese sausage, the sauce that smothered the two huge rolls didn't do a lot for the dish. I think it would have been much better without their "special sauce."

The soup came out next. The Seven Sea soup ($13.95), served in a boiling hot pot, is a treat for any seafood lover. It has scallops, shrimp, king crab legs, squid, mussels, tender white fish and baby clams, all in a very spicy broth with lemon grass and lime juice.

With chunks of dried chili, this one is not for those with sensitive taste buds.

For the entree, I ordered the Continental Fried Rice ($7.95), a simple dish with fried rice and fried chicken topped off with a fried egg and a sweet and sour dipping sauce. Although this tasted like the least authentic Thai dish of the three, the chicken was both tender and flavorful. And the sweet and sour sauce made the perfect compliment.

The total came out to about $32, but three could have easily enjoyed this meal. There are some great entrees, though, that run under $6, and some that reach $15. 

The service here varies, as you'll find if you decide to take a trip to Rowland Heights. I've been here several times, and my recent venture was definitely the most pleasant.

Although the server made no attempt to say hello or make conversation as he took our drink orders, at least we didn't have to wait 15 minutes before a server came at all (yes, that has happened here a few times before).

Despite this, the atmosphere is fun, and the dining room big enough to accommodate large parties.

Banana Bay is at 18230 Colima Road, Rowland Heights. For more information, call (626) 839-5511.