Mei Long Village - San Gabriel

E: I'd heard about the delicious steamed juice dumplings (xiao long bao) at Mei Long Village from other food blogs, and I was dying to try some. On a whim, we decided to stop at the restaurant for dinner. Inside, there were about half a dozen large tables and about 8-10 smaller tables, and mostly everyone spoke Chinese. When we arrived, every table was occupied, and the restaurant stayed at nearly full capacity the entire night.


R: The pork soup dumplings were good, just not as Luscious Dumplings. The juices didn't explode in your mouth like they do at other restaurants.
E: I agree. The flavor and texture were good, just not superb.
E: I asked the waitress to recommend a fish dish. She said a lot of customers order this the tail of a "yellow fish" in a brown sauce. I loved it. The fish was super tender and juicy, and the tail had a lot of meat on it. Because it was the fish tail, there was extra fat and skin, which I love. The brown sauce looked menacing, but it was quite flavorful and not overpowering.
R: I like the dish, but there was too much sauce. Too saucy.


R: In the black bean chicken dish, the restaurant used good quality chicken meat. It had good flavor and they didn't skimp on the quantity of meat either.
E: Unlike some restaurants that use corn starch or some other type of tenderizer to "enhance" the texture of the meat, this restaurant didn't. They used small nuggets of chicken that were juicy and flavorful. The dish packed a lot of flavor without too much heat.
E: This is their house noodles, which is a thicker round noodle with vegetables and small slices of pork. I found the noodles themselves quite flavorful, and I love the dense texture. I could eat this all day.
R: I'd go back to this restaurant. It wasn't fancy; they offered good dishes with good flavors.

Mei Long Village
301 W Valley Blvd # 112
San Gabriel, CA 91776