Long time ago I blogged about this neighborhood Shanghai restaurant at Temple City called Lulu (here and here). They revamped themselves under a new name called Bamboo House. The food is still good and it’s been a regular favorite of mine. However it got forced out later by a bank who wanted their location, I was so bummed! They finally reopened as Shanghai Bamboo House, tucked away at the even more sleepy suburb mall in the city of Monrovia.
Initially I worried about their traffic: it’s not close enough to the Chinese enclave. There’s no vibrant Chinese supermarket plaza nearby, nor the Arcadia Sinbala/Din Tai Fung spill over. My worries seems unfound as we walked in: there’s a wait for a table.
Dongbo Pork invented by and named after a famous Chinese poet, this delicious braised pork belly is a Hangzhou’s signature dish. The grease is cooked away from the fat, and gave the pork a gelatin-like, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. The meat is unbelievably tender and deeply flavored. The sticky rice round it off with a wonderful texture. Even though there’s a lot of fat in it, I could finish this all by myself because it’s so good!
Xiao Lung Bao. So good and so juicy~ They slide into your mouth smoothly. and the broth is delicious.
Fish with sea moss. Lightly fried fish with sea moss, it’s not greasy, light and very good
Fish Head Casserole. Yummy, flavorful but light soup.
I’m glad to see the return of this place, and it’s just as good as before.
Shanghai Bamboo House
933 W Duarte Rd. Monrovia, CA 91016
Tags: Chinese, Shanghainese
Agree, it’s a pretty good place, but I’ve never had to wait before- maybe I just visit during off times. Their xiao long bao actually comes from a supplier, I’m guessing it is the place called Dean Sin World since it tastes exactly the same as their version!
That’s a great find! It’s not very easy to find a Dongbo Pork; didn’t even eat it when I was in Hangzhou.
Good to know Monrovia is still holding down in the pan-Shanghainese restaurant front.