Kim Ky Noodle House — Restaurant in San Gabriel

Once, my friend Danny was chatting with me and said, "I have a friend from Chengdu, a couple who owns a restaurant. Do you know how hard they work? From morning till night, 24/7, all year round. They never take a break, working every day for seven or eight years, and during that time, they managed to buy two or four houses." I knew exactly who Danny was talking about—a small restaurant in the Mon-Arc Center in Monrovia, CA. What Danny didn't know is that I also know the couple.

Danny mentioned that restaurant to show me how hardworking typical Chinese people are. I told him I knew of two restaurants that only serve breakfast and lunch, closing before dinner. Both are great: Fortune No. 1 on Valley Boulevard in Monterey Park and Kim Ky in San Gabriel.

In my opinion, Kim Ky is top-notch in terms of flavor. The funny thing is that I've only visited this restaurant twice in the past eight years, mainly because they close at 5 p.m. It's quite unusual for a restaurant to skip serving dinner.

As I was preparing the photos for this review, I was surprised to realize that I ordered the same dishes on both of my visits. They were simple, straightforward dishes, but they were outstanding.

Kim Ky is a Vietnamese-style Chinese restaurant—or at least they speak Chinese. Their menu primarily features noodles, both rice noodles and wheat noodles, with seven types to choose from. I prefer wheat noodles over rice noodles—thinner is better, at least for me.

The restaurant has several light boxes in front of the window displaying the current jackpots for several big lotteries. Strangely, though, I've never seen them sell lottery tickets inside.

Now, let's talk about the food:

Beef Satay Sauce Noodles – $12.75

The presentation was a full bowl of ground meat in a red sauce, looking almost like a light paste, as if it were full of red chilis. But don't be fooled by the appearance or color—it's not spicy at all, and there's no chili pepper in it. The flavor of the satay was incredibly authentic, just like the kind I had in Chaozhou. The beef was tender and juicy, and the thin yellow noodles were perfectly cooked—not too hard, not too soft. This isn't a noodle soup; it's mixed noodles with sauce, so skip it if you prefer soup-based noodles. Rating: 8/10

Assorted Beef Variety or Assorted Pork Variety

Both are good, but I recommend the pork version over the beef. The reason is simple: you get more variety with pork because it's easier to source the ingredients. The pork version includes intestine, heart, kidney, liver, and more. With the beef version, you mainly get tripe—and only white honeycomb tripe, which doesn't taste as good as the black tripe. Beef: 7/10, Pork: 8/10

Fried Chinese Doughnuts

These are Chinese doughnuts, but different from the local Shanghainese style. The Shanghai version is lighter and crispier, but these are still very good. Rating: 8/10

Assorted Meat & Shrimp

If you can't decide what to order, go with No. 1 on the menu. It's a noodle soup served in a light yet umami-rich broth with Thai basil and other fresh herbs you can add to the hot soup. The noodles come with pork kidney, shrimp, ground pork, and other ingredients. It's a consistently satisfying...

OH MY BELOVED KIM KY.... I am forever grateful for all the hangovers you have cured. I would choose this over pho any day. Don't get me wrong, this place is just as good when you're sober as well. I know a lot of people have their go-to orders here, but it kinda varies for me each time I come. I do like to order their egg noodles dry with whatever meat i feel like having that day and they will still bring out a soup for you on the side. This way, I can eat their noodles dry with their bombb satay sauce and when I get sick of it, I'll pour my soup in my noodles and I can then enjoy it as a noodle soup after :) Best of both worlds! haha If you still have room for more food, I like ordering their coconut jelly too. It comes in the actual coconut and it is refreshing on a hot day.. or during a hangover lol Most dishes ranges from about $6-7? Oh, and don't forget that it's cash only. Parking in their lot SUCKS and is usually packed so I don't even bother trying most of the time and I'll just try to park...

Best Teochew noodle house ever, I have been coming here since my high school days. It does get very busy during peak hours, parking is hard too find since the lot is not big. I tend to order to go or get there during non peak hours. I almost forgot to mention, this noodle house accept CASH only. Introduce this noodle house to my girl who is now my wife, and now even my son loves their noodle too. We always get the wanton w/ yellow big noodle, fish & chicken w/ yellow & white big noodle, fried rice cake w/ egg, salted fish & chicken fried rice, fired Chinese doughnuts which is so good when you dip it in the soup. As for the noodle, I usually order them dry w/ soup on the side, add any spices which they provide, I make mine very very spicy, sometime I even bring my own chilli as siracha is not spicy enough. Looking for a Chinese noodle place to eat around San Gabriel Valley area, I strongly...