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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Shau May Restaurant in Monterey Park

As fires continued to creep closer and closer to my home, I sat here making a mental list of the things I'd grab if things get any worse. Photos, video tapes, computers, essential papers. And then I looked through my food photos and reminisced about the day we went to Shau May in Monterey Park. It was a chilly day after a night of rain, and yet this was just a couple of weeks ago. What a difference a few weeks make. And although right now would be prime weather for shaved ice, it's much too smoky to be anywhere outdoors.

Cooler weather didn't stop us from getting shaved ice that day. Shau May is the best place to get it, in my opinion. It's a cheap heaping serving of goodness topped with yummy condensed milk. I always get my faves: the almond jello, black grass jelly, and pink and white glutinous rice balls. It use to be much cheaper back in the days, but I guess inflation has taken its toll. And I also remember the rice balls back then were actual balls, not irregular shaped chunks. Anyways, still good and still cheap. Hubby likes lychee in his. I don't. One serving is always good for two people, as I always get an attack of painful, frozen throats when I eat these. Our family actually heads to the Hsin Hsin Shau Mei in Rowland Heights more often for our shaved ice needs, and both locations pretty much have the same shaved ice. But for a more extensive menu of other food items, go to the Monterey Park Shau May.

The parking lot for this place is large, but I always have a hard time finding parking here, even at 3 in the afternoon as it shares its parking lot with the neighboring eateries. Inside the restaurant, it's usually packed, but I guess not so much at 3 pm.

You can order cheap combo plates of various food items at the counter, but I had a craving that day for some of Shau May's Shanghai pan-fried dumplings. These are really large fried dumpling balls sprinkled with black sesame seeds and green onions and filled on the inside with juicy pork. Be careful biting into these because you might get sprayed with hot juice. Might be my imagination, but I remember these used to be juicier a few years ago, but they still got lots of flavor packed into each bite.

What the inside of these looks like:

We also got the steamed pork dumplings which were flavorful as well, but the pan-fried ones are definitely the better of the two.

Shau May has plenty of other dishes available, including Taiwanese breakfast dishes which I will probably never get to try since I can never get myself over there that early. It's is open late for the partying crowd though, great for the younger folks in town. I still put myself in that last category, by the way.

Live life to the fullest. Don't hold on to the material stuff in life as those things can go poof in a second. Enjoy a good meal out with your family when you can because goodness knows, I'll be cooped up indoors tomorrow with the kids since the fires have closed up the schools tomorrow, wishing I could go out and get some shaved ice.

Shau May is located at 104 N Garfield Ave., Monterey Park, CA (626) 571-2727

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Shizuoka, Japan!
Thank you so much for your kind comments!
You seem to like your ice!
If you come to Japan or if you can find a Japanese ice-cream shop, ask for "kake koori"!
You'll love it!
Cheers and all that,
Robert-Gilles

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Stay safe!

My family goes to Kang Kang Food Court for our shaved ice cravings. Their pan-fried dumplings look juicier than your photos. I love their Jin Dong meat pie. Will have to blog about it soon. It used to be Shau May long ago. Ah, I remember when shaved ice used to be $1.50. :)

shavedicesundays said...

shizuokagourmet, now I'm curious to what that is. I wish I can come to Japan. Should have done it when my brother still had in-laws in Japan.

WC, I've been wondering about Kang Kang Court. I've seen it but wasn't sure if that's the old Shau May or not under new ownership. I used to go there all the time when Shau May was there for shaved ice but since they closed, I haven't been back. I'll have to make a trip soon and try their pies then.

Unknown said...

The Kang Kang Food Court place does have very juicy pan fried meat buns! When freshly cooked they are truly delicious and full with juice! Yum :).

shavedicesundays said...

wsl98787, will hopefully try it out soon! you know you should start a food blog of your own since you've been around!

Piee and JSBanana said...

Ahaha. I have such a HUGE craving for shaved ice now! I'm not to sure, but if I remember correctly, my family and I used to go to Ranch 99 for Shaved Ice. Longan, Red Bean, Condensed Milk! It's been too long. >.<"

--JSBanana

shavedicesundays said...

Piee and JSBanana, really at 99 Ranch? There's a shaved ice place inside the plaza where our 99 Ranch is located, but twas not that good. I guess I should try red beans in my shaved ice one of these days.

Anonymous said...

I like your stuffed cabbage recipe, think I'm gonna try it soon :-) Seeing your entry I actually remember that my Mom used to make this, but since we haven't had it in such a long time I almost forget it being a vietnamese dish. Thanks for posting it.

shavedicesundays said...

mycollegekitchen, you're welcome. Yes, try it and let me know if you made any improvements. Thank you for coming by here and leaving such a kind comment.

joanh said...

man i haven't been there in ages... still looks good, though it doesn't compare to shaved ice in taipei!

Gastronomer said...

Not only have I never had shaved ice, I've never even heard of it until your post! When the weather kicks back up to 80, I'm there! - Cathy (http://gastronomyblog.com/)

shavedicesundays said...

joanh, that's the first thing I will get if I ever go to Taiwan!

Cathy, you don't have to get them when it's hot. :) We just went to get frozen yogurt last night in the rainy weather. I'm definitely a cold weather kind of gal.

Anonymous said...

Kang Kang restaurant in Monterey Park has very bad service.