deliciously lost at green island restaurant

generally once a week, i head out to the sgv to nosh with my other family...which explains why my belly has grown exponentially over the year. sometimes the places are just aight, and other times, i'm quite smitten by what i eat. last night, they brought us to another fab place, one that filled my belly to the limit and i still feel full and am burping as a result of eating TOO MUCH. ugh, i need to look up the word self control in the dictionary....it starts with the letter "s" right?

helllllllloooo green island restaurant! it's located on las tunas drive, the infamous "bride street" in which you find oodles and oodles of bridal shops and all things related to THAT day in which you will be handcuffed to one person forever. after shopping there, perhaps you can pop into green island restaurant to give it a taste? make sure you try on your dress BEFORE you eat.

the decor inside this restaurant is totally vegas. i dug the strands of glass balls hanging from the ceiling and though the concept was a stones throw away from being gaudy, overall, the ambiance was different from the typical hole in the wall sgv places which i appreciated.

they also have an open kitchen in the back of their dining area. you can press your face against the glass walls to watch your food getting prepared if you so desired. unlike krispy kremes, i'm not sure if the cook staff will appreciate that.

we commenced to order an adequate amount of food to stuff five faces. first up was the sizzling prime rib eye fried rice ($9.99) which comes in an extremely hot flat stone dish. the ingredients are layered with raw meat at the very bottom for quickest cooking and then a layer of rice, corn kernels, and green onion.

the server mixed the ingredients in a flurry of ninja like gestures. the end result was a stone bowl of aldente fried rice with thin slices of rib eye in a fatty, medium rare state. i REALLY enjoyed this dish a lot and would order it again. yum! certainly a signature dish of theirs and totally worth a taste if you've never had this before.

roti canai ($2.99) was a love child conceived during a tryst between a chinese green onion pancake, naan, and a tortilla. a buttery menage a trois if you will. though morally conservative individuals would not approve, i thought it was good.

pan fried large noodle with black pepper beef ($7.99). ooooh, i really liked this one even though it started getting a bit salty for me at the end. the flecks of black pepper flakes were generous and reminded me of pippi longstocking and her freckles. the chewy udon noodles were slippery and paired with tender beef made it a hearty entree. i would order this dish again as well. yum.....

pan fried whole tilapia porridge in pot ($14.99). i love how the fish carcass gets brought out along with your porridge (jook). feel free to spoon some of the soy sauce onto your jook because i found the flavors to be rather mild, bordering on underseasoned. though naked without it's meaty parts, the plate of steamed fish can be picked through for bits of leftover flesh as well as the head. oooh, the mighty, mighty fish head with the tender fish cheeks and hard, beady eyeballs.

the tiger prawn & scallop with curry sauce ($11.99) was my least favorite dish of the night. after eating superb homemade curry dishes, this one tasted a tad too sweet and coconutty for me.

sauteed broccoli with dried fish ($8.50) which is really chinese broccoli (gailan) stems with salty dried fish (haam yu). i order this dish whenever is see it on the menu. dried fish when done right gives a burst of complex saltiness to your typical sauteed gailan dish. this salty dried fish had a tinge of sweetness to it which didn't sit well with my tastebuds. it's like seeing a shirt with stripes and polka dots. odd. i like my dried fish salty and that's about it.

the service was quick and attentive which is great when you're hongry. the drinks had unlimited refills and since their restrooms were super clean, you can go pee all you want peoples without fear. booths on the side have their own t.v., methinks a perfect place for watching nba finals and they are normally opened till 12 a.m. i like green island and will come back again. yummy.

Green Island Restaurant
9556 Las Tunas Dr.
Temple City, CA 91780
(626) 286-6788

price: $$
verdict: tasty, try it!

mango lovin'

Olympic Bakery
5623 Rosemead Blvd
Temple City, CA 91780
(626) 285-8532

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

i have a friend that kept raving about the mango cake at olympic bakery and i got brainwashed into thinking i HAD to have it. ahhh, she is so right!

i recently got a small 15 inch mango cake. the hype was met 100% and everybody that got a taste of it thought it was delectable. the cake was dense but moist, the icing was fluffy and not too sweet (asian style), and the mango slices were just perfect. it would be even better if they had more mango pieces in the middle, but all in all, the combo made for a great cake! i will drive those 16 miles to experience that yummy goodness all over again.

if you want to use a credit card, there is a minimum charge of $25. also, i don't suggest that you ask them to write messages for you. the last time my friend got a cake there, they misspelled mother = monther and jennifer = jeniffer. if you do, just take a good look before you leave...but then again, it all ends up in the same place anyways...a happy stomache.

yumminess for the tumminess.

mango log. yes!

layers of mango deliciousness.