Joy — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Ah, Joy—a name that promises happiness, and honestly, it mostly delivered. I got the Joy Combo, because why settle for one thing when you can have a sampler platter of Taiwanese-inspired goodness?

Scallion Sandwich with Pork Belly

Let’s start with the star of the show: the scallion sandwich with pork belly. The pork belly was tender, but if you’re expecting that deep, rich, soy-braised Taiwanese flavor that haunts your dreams (or at least my dreams), this isn’t it. It was more of a “lightly seasoned, still delicious” situation. However, it did have the rare gift of being fatty without leaving a regretful grease film in my mouth, which I appreciated. The scallion bread itself? More like a scallion focaccia—a surprise, but a pleasant one. I was mentally prepared for something like a Roujiamo (Chinese-style flatbread sandwich), but Joy zigged where I expected a zag. No complaints.

Wonton Soup: The Overachiever

I was prepared for a delicate, simple bowl of wonton soup. What I got was a flavorful, umami-packed broth with six—yes, SIX—wontons. Who does that?! Usually, you get like, four, maybe five if the kitchen is feeling generous. The wontons had a lovely nuttiness, with a subtle hint of sesame oil that made me feel like a fancy person with refined taste. A true dark horse of the meal.

Ice Tea: The Flatline

Listen, I wanted to love the ice tea, but it just existed. It was the Switzerland of beverages—neutral, inoffensive, utterly unmemorable. If you're hoping for something special, lower those expectations.

Bean Curd Salad: A Tragic Tale of Fullness

I ordered the bean curd salad with the best intentions, but alas, I was too full to even attempt it. It sat there, lonely and ignored, like the last guest at a party no one remembered to say goodbye to. My deepest regrets.

The Verdict

Joy was poppin’ on a Thursday night at 8 PM, which tells me people love this place, and honestly, I get it. Street parking only, so bring your parallel parking A-game. The staff was super friendly, the vibes were good, and the food was solid. Would I come back? If I was in the area, sure. But would I drive across town for it? Ehh… with L.A. traffic, that’s a big ask.

Final Score: 8/10 – A solid choice if you’re nearby, but maybe not worth an odyssey...

Not sure why this place is so popular. I randomly picked it and decided to try it out. There was a line that went outside of the restaurant. I thought it must be good. The owner seemed very nice and even came outside to ask if anyone needs water and informed us about the long wait time. However, I was very underwhelmed by it. Sorry to the very nice owner, but I have to give the most honest review I can give. I ordered the Chiayi Chicken with Rice, Minced Pork with Rice and lotus root and bean curd. The rice was definitely not cooked right. After having rice almost every meal for the past thirty years of my life, I would rate it 3 out of 10 which means it's barely edible. Its texture doesn't have that Q-ness and it was almost soggy. When it comes to the taste, my Taiwanese friend tried a bite of the chicken and he just laughed. (BTW Chiayi Chicken is a Taiwanese dish.) I could not finish the dish. The flavor of the minced pork was decent. The lotus root is ok, but the bean curd could have been more flavorful.

When it comes to the service, it was also subpar. They forgot the side dishes that we ordered. We had to remind them to bring them out. My friend and I were having a good conversation, so we stayed a littler longer. Two separate servers came over to take our plates away and ask whether we need boxes. It's pretty much a very polite way to say get out of the restaurant please because we have other people that we want to take money from. I think the reason why this place is so popular is because people are just blindly buying into the good reviews and too shy or don't know much about Asian food to disagree.

There is a good attempt here to try to bring Chinese food to someone who's never had authentic Chinese food before. Yet, it's just an attempt. If you've never had authentic Chinese food before, this is probably what you think authentic Chinese food should taste like. It is somewhat close to authentic Chinese, but not good ones. If you truly feel adventurous and want to have amazing Chinese food, just drive twenty minutes east from there to Monterey Park or Alhambra, pull out a map, and throw a dart. Wherever that dart lands, look for a Chinese restaurant. I guarantee you, it will be so much better...

WOW. Before i start talking about the food, let me just say the atmosphere is very calm and chill, but warm but also not too intimate. Perfect for a first date or friendly dinner or even with a longtime partner and y’all show up every 2nd Wednesday for like a year straight. Music is a mix of lo-fi and rnb and also hip hop and tame impala and some house. Pretty solid. Staff are all cool and are all pretty unique in their own way. Very helpful and don’t mind answering questions.

I had to show y’all two pics of the bao because it was that fire. I was using their chili/red pepper oil like a mf’er goes perfect with everything. Not really that spicy until you put the other thicker chili sauce on too. But bao was pretty fluffy steamed bun. And pork cuts were thick and seasoned very well. Just needed some extra sauce fr.

The layered pancake was so worth it, i got everything on it cuz that was suggested by the waitress. And dawg that tasted like one of the items they have to be known for. As you can see i added a lil sauce on this one too. 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽

I completely forgot the name of the soup i had(slack season) but i remember it had shrimp inside and i also ordered the five spice beef on the side and threw it into my soup. Crazy enough, it wasn’t dry whatsoever but retained its moisture even outside of the broth. Because i definitely added it to my noodles. And as you can see i cleaned the whole bowl out.

The only thing i wasn’t too much of a fan of was the rice pudding. The sweet potato taro inside however was actually pretty good and i enjoyed that but the texture of the pudding mixed with the overall sweetness just didn’t sit right with me. I will get the mochi next time for sure.

They also have an extensive selection of beverages. From teas to booch and sake you really can’t go wrong at all. Overall this place brought me total joy from beginning to end. And i was doing my happy dance while eating the whole time. Would definitely...