getting cut @ JTYH

it's hard to say no to good food when you hear about it. it's even harder to say no when there's great company to boot....even if it means driving all the way out to rosemead (no insult to you rosemeaders but you guys live far!). on sunday, yutjangsah, a friend, and i met up at JTYH for some eating, gabbing, and kung-fu antics.

first off, the place is TINY and they speak only mandarin so i couldn't use my cantonese to curry any favors at all. shit, forget about currying favors...how about communicating PERIOD?! IN FACT, the little mandarin that i learned through a few college courses only took me so far as getting us a table for 3 and to say "thank you" when appropriate. to add insult to injury, the rambunctious convos we had at the sidelines eventually sparked a customer to tell the server to tell us to shut the fuck up....but of course i didn't know what the hell she was saying because she was smiling the whole time and since yjs is a korean momma (so no help there), i nodded my head and smiled and kept repeating "3" thinking nothing of it....it was only after asking this guy standing next to me that i found out what she ACTUALLY said. i am TOTALLY going to demand a refund from my mandarin courses!!! don't give me "A's" and give me this false sense of competence. it's like telling a fat man that he looks good in a speedo. meanie.

i had to take a spy pic of mr. cranky pants. he's the dude in white all the way to the right. after we were seated, i saw him yelling at his kid...dang, i would have hated to be a child of his loins...he must like to complain all the time.

so with my not so competent mandarin, i pieced together a few words like a sad ass language quilt and asked our server to recommend a few dishes. she immediately rambled a bunch of things and we nodded yes to all of it. i wanted to try the pig ears though and yjs was smart enough to point to the item on the menu as i sat there with my dazed look trying to convert my cantonese words into mandarin. then i resorted to pointing too.

sliced pig ears slicked up with chili oil. the pig ears were not as crispy as i would have liked it and the taste was bland to me. a few sprinkles of salt to season this appetizer would have helped up its tasty points.

beef rolls. i thought these were tastier than 101 noodle express. there is some hoisin sauce in it and the beef slices were super tender. i liked this a lot.

green onion pancake. TOTALLY skip. very bland though not as oily as other pancakes i've eaten.

the mooshu fried noodles topped with egg scramble, wood ear, meat strips, shredded cabbage, and green onions. i liked this dish a lot. subtle, light flavors and the knife cut noodles (their signature noodling style) were fun to eat. they were thick and chewy like gummy worms. i would heif this down again.

beef stew soup with knife cut noodles. the broth is light with very pungent 5 spice (?) flavors. i thought it was ok since i'm not much of a 5 spice fan.

at the end of the meal, like typical crazy asians, we fought for the bill and yutjangsah slipped HER credit card into our server's collar, near boob territory. shit, i can't fight with that so THANK YOU SOOK for a tasty meal. good convos, good eats, and total bewilderment that i can get a friend and i from shenzhen to beijing speaking mandarin but i couldn't handle myself in a restaurant. MAN my language skills were moldy!

JTYH Restaurant
9425 Valley Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770
(626) 442-8999

price: $
verdict: tasty, try it!