10078 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92843
(714) 530-4535
Garden Grove, CA 92843
(714) 530-4535
General:
Okay, Mi La Cay, wo gei ni yi ge ji
hui. Une derniere chance. One more chance, after a bad previous visit.
.... and it paid off.
This place is pretty rundown and harder core than Trieu Chau (although if you look at OC Health's inspection, Trieu Chau is by far dirtier). Frying oil smell and noticeable flying flies upon entry. Gotta really love your noodle to come here. A sweet old lady took our order. I also noticed that staff spoke English to each other.
From the last time, I knew better not to order the House Special (dac biet) that had frozen breaded popcorn shrimps (yucky for a noodle topping). It really ruined my experienced last time. I browsed on the topping options and decided that their best would be BBQ pork and Roast duck.
Soup was great, one of the best for a noodle house. It was chicken and pork bone broth with more emphasis on chicken. Peppery, too.
I concluded last time that the rice noodle was better than the yellow noodle. I was right the first time.
Details:
Small Yellow Noodle with BBQ Pork and Roast Duck, dry (mi xa xiu vit quay, kho): shredded lettuce and ku choy (long green onion) garnish. You are wondering why lettuce? I have the answer. Liquified pork lard, that's why: the lettuce was needed to lighten the effect of the lard. Chewy small yellow noodle was fortified with garlic-infused oyster-sauce-added liquified pork lard. It gave a slick yet heavy sensation on the palate: some people really loved it this way. Where as Trieu Chau's was oily and wet, Mi La Cay's was oily and dry. Flavor profile was strong garlic undertone and garlic and pepper overtone with a bit excessive saltines from oyster sauce. Minus the oyster sauce, this was actually quite a traditional and proper treatment. However, I'd have liked it better if they had gone easier on the lard and oyster sauce: it would have been perfectly delicious. To mitigate this effect and balance the flavor, make sure you add the juice from pickled jalapeno provided. The toppings were still dire. Char Sew BBQ Pork was more to Japanese Chasu style with salt rub than red and honey-spiced Cantonese style. Roast Duck was dry Cantonese style with five spice and hoisin rub. Although their tastes were delicious, these meats were really of poor quality. So, they were tough and far from succulent. Pity. 4 stars.
Big White Noodle with BBQ Pork and Beef Ball, dry (hu tieu xa xiu bo vien, kho): this was the ho fun big white noodle, not the small rounded rice noodle. No oyster sauce here, making a more balanced saltiness. Liquified pork lard, though, was still game on. Good salty. Added boiled bean sprout as a garnish here in addition to the same two. Grocery beef ball. Flavor profile, although still on the heavy side, was lighter, more balance, thus more delicious! I definitely liked this better than the yellow noodle. Topping suffered the same fate as the yellow noodle. 4+ stars.
Give me succulent meats and I'll upgrade the white noodle to at least 4.5 stars.
It was bad toppings that ruined it last time. This time it was a better selection of toppings that made it the experience better. Maybe I should just order my noodle plain with no toppings next time?
.... and it paid off.
This place is pretty rundown and harder core than Trieu Chau (although if you look at OC Health's inspection, Trieu Chau is by far dirtier). Frying oil smell and noticeable flying flies upon entry. Gotta really love your noodle to come here. A sweet old lady took our order. I also noticed that staff spoke English to each other.
From the last time, I knew better not to order the House Special (dac biet) that had frozen breaded popcorn shrimps (yucky for a noodle topping). It really ruined my experienced last time. I browsed on the topping options and decided that their best would be BBQ pork and Roast duck.
Soup was great, one of the best for a noodle house. It was chicken and pork bone broth with more emphasis on chicken. Peppery, too.
I concluded last time that the rice noodle was better than the yellow noodle. I was right the first time.
Details:
Small Yellow Noodle with BBQ Pork and Roast Duck, dry (mi xa xiu vit quay, kho): shredded lettuce and ku choy (long green onion) garnish. You are wondering why lettuce? I have the answer. Liquified pork lard, that's why: the lettuce was needed to lighten the effect of the lard. Chewy small yellow noodle was fortified with garlic-infused oyster-sauce-added liquified pork lard. It gave a slick yet heavy sensation on the palate: some people really loved it this way. Where as Trieu Chau's was oily and wet, Mi La Cay's was oily and dry. Flavor profile was strong garlic undertone and garlic and pepper overtone with a bit excessive saltines from oyster sauce. Minus the oyster sauce, this was actually quite a traditional and proper treatment. However, I'd have liked it better if they had gone easier on the lard and oyster sauce: it would have been perfectly delicious. To mitigate this effect and balance the flavor, make sure you add the juice from pickled jalapeno provided. The toppings were still dire. Char Sew BBQ Pork was more to Japanese Chasu style with salt rub than red and honey-spiced Cantonese style. Roast Duck was dry Cantonese style with five spice and hoisin rub. Although their tastes were delicious, these meats were really of poor quality. So, they were tough and far from succulent. Pity. 4 stars.
Big White Noodle with BBQ Pork and Beef Ball, dry (hu tieu xa xiu bo vien, kho): this was the ho fun big white noodle, not the small rounded rice noodle. No oyster sauce here, making a more balanced saltiness. Liquified pork lard, though, was still game on. Good salty. Added boiled bean sprout as a garnish here in addition to the same two. Grocery beef ball. Flavor profile, although still on the heavy side, was lighter, more balance, thus more delicious! I definitely liked this better than the yellow noodle. Topping suffered the same fate as the yellow noodle. 4+ stars.
Give me succulent meats and I'll upgrade the white noodle to at least 4.5 stars.
It was bad toppings that ruined it last time. This time it was a better selection of toppings that made it the experience better. Maybe I should just order my noodle plain with no toppings next time?
 |
| Small Yellow Noodle, after stirred |
 |
| Big White Noodle, after stirred |
 |
| Small Yellow Noodle, before stirred |
 |
| Big White Noodle, before stirred |
No comments:
Post a Comment