Brunch at 美林豆漿餐飲店 [Mei Lim] restaurant in 小吃街 [little eats street] in Alhambra

Yes, I know, yet another restaurant post. Hey, I mostly eat out only when I go home to visit L and company. I was hunkering for some Northern Chinese breakfast, so P obliged and took me and L's mother out to brunch at 美林豆漿餐飲店 [Mei Lim Restaurant].

美林 is located on 1257 E. Valley Blvd. Alhambra, CA 91801. Down the street is P's favorite Northern Chinese breafast place 永和豆漿餐飲 at 1045 E. Valley Blvd, but it's always a pain trying to park there. P settled on 美林 as an acceptable substitute.


美林: storefront

The store does a good "to-go" business in the form of 燒肉粽 and other assorted 粽子and frozen dumplings and buns. 粽子 are lotus-wrapped, steamed glutinous rice "dumplings", for lack of a better term. They can be savory, filled with pork and assorted items like peanuts, egg yolk, and shrimp, etc.; or they can be sweet, filled with red bean or date paste. There is a history behind them, but I won't go into it in this post.

Anyway, 美林 makes especially good meat 粽子, one called 燒肉粽, a Shanghai version which is mostly Chinese sausage and pork chunks and peanuts. You can seem them through the front window. It's true they aren't refrigerated here, but trust me, they go fast so whenever we buy some to take home, we can be reasonably certain they were only recently set out on the table.


美林: popular specialties, to-go items

Northern Chinese breakfasts seem a little less refined and less splashy than Southern Chinese ones, but they are nonetheless extremely satisfying . Monterey Park/Alhambra/San Gabriel are great places to get good Northern Chinese breakfasts.


美林: menu

Often one starts with a bowl of soybean milk. When I was younger, I only went for the "sweet" version, that is, freshly made hot soybean milk, with sugar added to taste. Lately, I've been preferring the "salty" version, or, more correctly, the "savory" version. Normally the soybean milk is coagulated, with vinegar, diced preserved veggies, dried shredded pork stuff, dried shrimp, and topped with a fried dough "kruller" and a drizzle of sesame oil.

Mei Lim's version is okay, not great, but they didn't include dried shrimp or much of the dried shredded pork product (I don't really know how to describe the last). Ding's or Yonghe's version is superior.


美林: savory soybean milk soup

P decided to go after one of the items handwritten on a piece of paper at the counter. It basically looks like a flour tortilla or other flat bread wrapped around beef and scallions and cilantro. Ever since the Chinese have had flour they have been rolling out bing, which Americans might consider flour tortillas.


美林: specialty -- something like a beef and green onion wrap

Up next was a fried item redolent with Chinese chive. I've had all sorts of versions of this fried chive and mung bean noodle pie. Sometimes chefs add a little bit of scrambled egg into the filling. When I was in Taiwan, I had an awesome version that used yeast, although mostly the dough is fried and doesn't include yeast.

It's pretty pungent -- eat it if you like chive. Normally one eats it with vinegar drizzled into it. Mei Lim's version wasn't too greasy or too salty, which was good, and they did remember to add some dried shrimp.


美林: fried Chinese chive and noodle pie

Last up, a side order of stinky tofu was put on our table. Some preserved veggies dotted the side of the plate, and P asked for some black vinegar as dipping sauce. I like the pink/magenta kind myself.


美林: their version of fried stinky tofu

Anyway, their stinky tofu was acceptable, but not the most memorable part of the meal. 美林豆漿餐飲店 may not be P's or my favorite Northern Chinese breakfast spot, but their food is satisfying, they have accessible parking, and make outstanding 粽子. We've yet to buy any of the refrigerated buns or frozen dumplings, but we plan on doing it in the future.