To be completely honest, my sister and I initially did not have this place in mind. We were originally going to go to Blockheads 
(which is amazing) but it was under renovations so we had to hurriedly picked another place to satisfy our shaved ice cravings. Okay, technically my sister picked it but yea.
(which is amazing) but it was under renovations so we had to hurriedly picked another place to satisfy our shaved ice cravings. Okay, technically my sister picked it but yea.
We ended up at Salju Dessert. Neither of us had heard about it but with over 900 reviews and a 4* rating on Yelp, we decided to go for it. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect because I was mostly craving Blockhead's rice balls so I was really hoping that this new place would have something similar. THANK GOD IT DID.
My sister and I opted for the small with an extra topping which turned out to be $4.95 each. Personally I thought that was a better deal than getting the medium because the amount that the small had was sufficient for me. My sister ordered the matcha snow flavor with 2 orders of mochi and an order of rice balls. I got the black sesame snow flavor with 2 orders of rice balls and an order of mochi. You can clearly tell that we're sisters because we only got the rice balls and mochi toppings. We both had very little interest in the other toppings. Both orders also came with condensed milk on top.
The rice balls were delicious and had the right chewy texture that I absolutely love. You can tell from the picture above that the rice balls were super moist and simply glistened (that sounds wrong...
). The mochi was really good as well but its chewiness had more of a bite to it. The "snow" was perfectly done and the flavor of the black seasame was strong but not overwhelming.
). The mochi was really good as well but its chewiness had more of a bite to it. The "snow" was perfectly done and the flavor of the black seasame was strong but not overwhelming.
Overall, I thought that this place was a good alternative to Blockheads but I think Blockheads is better because the price is about the same but their regular is significantly larger. And since the quality of both places is relatively similar, the price and the size at Blockheads comes ahead of Salju Dessert.
Overall Verdict on Salju Dessert: 🌟🌟🌟1/2
My sister and I later went for dinner. Yes, we grabbed dessert before dinner 
. And again we opted for Sichuan food because my sister and I simply can't get enough of it. Plus, she said that this one was her favorite out of all the ones that she had tried already in the LA area. So of course, I agreed and we headed to Szechuan Chef.
. And again we opted for Sichuan food because my sister and I simply can't get enough of it. Plus, she said that this one was her favorite out of all the ones that she had tried already in the LA area. So of course, I agreed and we headed to Szechuan Chef.
And, of course, we ordered the Mapo Tofu as our first dish. As stated in my previous blog post, a Sichuan restaurant's Mapo Tofu is how their caliber is judged. Compared to the Mapo Tofu that we had the day prior in Santa Ana, I personally found this one to be superior. This one had a lot more depth in its flavor whereas the previous place, while delicious, was more focused on the numbing spice rather than the dish as a whole.
This place also served its Mapo Tofu as a vegetarian dish because there was no minced meat in sight. Maybe it's a west coast thing to have this dish without meat? Or perhaps it's just more common there to cook it without meat, I'm not sure. Regardless, I found the dish to be very enjoyable and it was at a very reasonable price of $8.99 which is far less than what you would find here in NYC (unless it was a lunch special).
The second dish we ordered is another Sichuan classic, Dry Sauteed String Beans. It's actually one of my favorites and I was glad to find this here because Sichuan Impression didn't have it (outrageous 😡!). It was as if my meal wasn't complete without this vegetable dish.
This dish was done properly and I have nothing negative to say about it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found the dish to be flavorful and the ingredients fresh. The price for this dish was also $8.99 which is also a steal coming from NYC where the average price for this dish is about $14-16. To be honest, I played with the idea of ordering another one simply because I can get two of these for the price of one NYC dish.
The third dish we got is again another classic and definitely my favorite of all Sichuan dishes. This is, of course, the Fish Fillet in Spicy Gravy (水煮鱼). Okay, honestly, their English name for this dish is weird but it is what it is. I'm including their English name so for those interested and cannot read Chinese, they can still find this dish without any issue.
This dish was A M A Z I N G
. The size of this was monstrous - I don't know why my sister was shocked to see it because this was not the first time she ordered this dish from this place but I was definitely very surprised. It also came with a heaping pile of dried chili peppers which really speaks for its authenticity. It was also incredibly intimidating because there was just so much food in this one dish. Honestly, we could have just ordered this one thing and been completely satisfied. That's how large this dish was.
I loved everything about this dish. Nothing was too overwhelming for me and the size of each fish fillet was very satisfying. There were also an abundance of napa cabbage which were extremely flavorful because they were soaked in that delicious chili oil sauce. Even though by this point, my sister and I were quite stuffed, we couldn't stop ourselves from eating more. It was just that good. The price for this dish was also very reasonable at $12.99. Actually, it's more of a steal and not just simply reasonable. This dish is usually double the price here in NYC so I was more than satisfied.
Next time I go back to LA, this place is on my list of go-to.
As for the service, there was no wait when we arrived. However, we did arrive on the earlier side around 6pm since I had to go to the airport shortly after to catch a flight back to NYC so that might be why. And because there weren't that many people there, the waitress was pretty attentive. We did have to wait for a bit for our food though - about 15 minutes or so. I'm pointing this out because at Sichuan Impression, our food came out almost instantaneous (~5 minutes). As you can tell, I am clearly comparing this place with Sichuan Impression.
Overall Verdict on Szechuan Chef: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This place also served its Mapo Tofu as a vegetarian dish because there was no minced meat in sight. Maybe it's a west coast thing to have this dish without meat? Or perhaps it's just more common there to cook it without meat, I'm not sure. Regardless, I found the dish to be very enjoyable and it was at a very reasonable price of $8.99 which is far less than what you would find here in NYC (unless it was a lunch special).
The second dish we ordered is another Sichuan classic, Dry Sauteed String Beans. It's actually one of my favorites and I was glad to find this here because Sichuan Impression didn't have it (outrageous 😡!). It was as if my meal wasn't complete without this vegetable dish.
This dish was done properly and I have nothing negative to say about it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found the dish to be flavorful and the ingredients fresh. The price for this dish was also $8.99 which is also a steal coming from NYC where the average price for this dish is about $14-16. To be honest, I played with the idea of ordering another one simply because I can get two of these for the price of one NYC dish.
The third dish we got is again another classic and definitely my favorite of all Sichuan dishes. This is, of course, the Fish Fillet in Spicy Gravy (水煮鱼). Okay, honestly, their English name for this dish is weird but it is what it is. I'm including their English name so for those interested and cannot read Chinese, they can still find this dish without any issue.
This dish was A M A Z I N G
. The size of this was monstrous - I don't know why my sister was shocked to see it because this was not the first time she ordered this dish from this place but I was definitely very surprised. It also came with a heaping pile of dried chili peppers which really speaks for its authenticity. It was also incredibly intimidating because there was just so much food in this one dish. Honestly, we could have just ordered this one thing and been completely satisfied. That's how large this dish was.
I loved everything about this dish. Nothing was too overwhelming for me and the size of each fish fillet was very satisfying. There were also an abundance of napa cabbage which were extremely flavorful because they were soaked in that delicious chili oil sauce. Even though by this point, my sister and I were quite stuffed, we couldn't stop ourselves from eating more. It was just that good. The price for this dish was also very reasonable at $12.99. Actually, it's more of a steal and not just simply reasonable. This dish is usually double the price here in NYC so I was more than satisfied.
Next time I go back to LA, this place is on my list of go-to.
As for the service, there was no wait when we arrived. However, we did arrive on the earlier side around 6pm since I had to go to the airport shortly after to catch a flight back to NYC so that might be why. And because there weren't that many people there, the waitress was pretty attentive. We did have to wait for a bit for our food though - about 15 minutes or so. I'm pointing this out because at Sichuan Impression, our food came out almost instantaneous (~5 minutes). As you can tell, I am clearly comparing this place with Sichuan Impression
.Overall Verdict on Szechuan Chef: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I N F O R M A T I O N O N R E S T A U R A N T S/P L A C E S M E N T I O N E D
Salju Dessert
35 W Valley BlvdSalju Dessert
Ste B
Alhambra, CA 91801
626) 289-3578
Yelp
Blockheads Shavery (many locations)
12 W Main St
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-8727
Website | Yelp
Szechuan Chef
937 E Las Tunas Dr
Ste B
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 872-0106
Yelp
Sichuan Impression (many locations)
13816 Red Hill Ave
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 505-9070
Website | Yelp
IF YOU HAVE BEEN TO THE PLACES MENTIONED ABOVE, LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THEM. - Stephanie
- Stephanie
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