Dong Ting Chun — Restaurant in San Gabriel

Food ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Service ⭐️ Ambience ❌

Oh my goodness! I have never witnessed a restaurant's decline as stark as this, especially considering how brilliant it once was.

Unfortunately, the menu books were found to be extremely sticky and damaged, with pages that were either torn or broken. Prices seemed to have been altered numerous times by either scribbling over the original price or covering it up with stickers. Simply handling the menus left me feeling quite disgusted, and I would have left immediately if not for the purpose of writing this review for a restaurant that was once excellent.

Regrettably, the service at the restaurant was subpar, with the waitress simply delivering our dishes and providing no further assistance or attention. Moreover, she continually inquired if we wanted more food, leading to an overabundance of leftovers due to excessive ordering.

Despite the unfavorable conditions, the dishes served at the restaurant remained true to typical Human cuisine. For this reason, I am awarding the restaurant two stars.

Black Wood Ear with Chinese Yam ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It offered a pleasantly refreshing taste that was satisfying.

Sautéed Young Duck ⭐️⭐️

Although the Sauteed Young Duck had an acceptable taste, it was a bit disappointing to have many broken bones chunks within the dish. Additionally, the meat of the duck itself was rather tough and chewy, detracting from the overall experience.

Boiled fish with pickled cabbage ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was delicious. Although the fish wasn't particularly tender, it was certainly fresh, resulting in a flavorful meal.

Stewed Pig Feet ⭐️⭐️

While the taste of the dish was satisfactory, it was unfortunately overly chewy in texture. If I had prepared the dish myself, I would have cooked it for a longer period of time to achieve a more desirable, jelly-like texture.

Sautéed intestine with pickled string beans ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Sautéed intestine with pickled string beans was flavorful, with the intestine boasting a crispy exterior and a satisfyingly textured interior. Additionally, the pickled string beans were not overly salty, a common issue encountered at other restaurants. Overall, it was a delightful and enjoyable dish.

Sautéed Eggplants and String Beans ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was also quite enjoyable, with a well-balanced and...

My new favorite Hunan restaurant! Or maybe just my general favorite spicy food restaurant.

Spicy and salty in the best kind of way is the best way to describe this place. All the dishes we got were fantastic, mouthwatering, and exceptionally executed. It's quite spicy (for all you heat lovers) but you can still clearly taste the meat/veggies and seasonings in your burning mouth.

The stinky tofu is THE BEST here. Super stink, super delicious broth it's cooked in, lots of spicy, I could eat this every weekend.

Sliced Lamb (non spicy version): Just so we would have a palette cleanser, this was loved by all and was very flavorful. Would recommend this if you want something tame to balance out your meal.

Spicy Pork Belly: SO GOOD! You must get this. The salty and spicy comes into play here but tastes great and mixing the meat bits with white rice balances all the flavors out.

Stinky Tofu: You can do the standard fried, but we requested they give it the same treatment as the stinky tofu + meat just without the meat cooked in that little tin foil thing. This was my favorite dish overall!

Spicy Green Bean: Great as a veggie dish, perfectly cooked. It also has some garlic bits that was really good.

Hot and Sour Pig Blood Soup: Their big blood is super clean tasting, really enjoyed it and the hot/sour broth was very delicate and not as strong as some restaurants which was really pleasant.

There's a million restaurants to try in this plaza but be sure to check this one out if you're not sure where to go and...

the Male waiter is extremely rude. I did not have a pleasant experience here. the place had been great prior to the hiring of this employee with basketball shorts. the Male waiter rudely asked me if I was ready to order even though he was not my server and I was looking at the menu. After I paid the bill in full, I left and 5 seconds after I stepped away and left they had already counted the money the Male waiter chased me across the plaza from the center to the North wing and asked me what was wrong with my payment because he wanted 32 cents more in tips and he felt what I paid in full was inadequate. Afterwards, he yelled across the balcony and threatened me not to come again, as if he represented the owner. I was familiar with the place and the restaurant for 20 years since the 90s. What atrocious behavior from...