Man Chan Cuisine — Restaurant in San Gabriel

Poached chicken (Hainan chicken 海南鸡) is at the best (9/10), most delicious I had in a while, as we always order it as an appetizer in Chinese restaurants. It’s hard to understand the greatness if you have not tried to perfect it as a home chef. Poached chicken is considered one of the most difficult. It needs to be tender, flavorful and juicy. The tenderness comes from the perfect timing in cooking which YouTube has lots of videos I am able to follow. However it’s hard to achieve the rich flavor of the poached chicken at home which requires (1) a rich soup where you repeatedly dipped and poached the chicken (2) sourcing the high quality free-ranged chicken while average home chefs like myself who buys the chicken from Asian market or a butcher in Chinatown. AND the most difficult and missing in most Chinese restaurants is the gelatinous juiciness. It’s a thin gelatinous texture layered between its meat and skin which is done by perfecting the cooling process. I believe most good Cantonese and Shanghainese chef knows how to achieve it but it’s too much of work to do it in most restaurants. I admit I have been little show-off my love and understanding of the poached chicken. But I am really amazed with what they have done here beyond my expectations. The set comes with the tasty chicken rice which is cooked with garlic/ shallots and chicken fat. It can also be order without the rice as one quarter ($12), half ($22) and as a whole ($32, which is little pricey, but definitely worth it as it is the best I had in US. Just a friendly reminder, their chicken is traditionally served with bones, following the customary Chinese presentation found in many Chinese restaurants.

The second must have dish/ desert is their Coconut Custard/ pudding（椰子奶冻）in a whole coconut. It’s a first for us. We were surprised to discover it have tow layers, one clear and one milky. It is not so sweet with pleasant aroma of the coconut. As it is presented in a whole coconut makes it very unique and highly recommended. I ordered the takeaway of their ginger milk custard（姜汁撞奶）which is considered another signature sweet of theirs.

The other dish we ordered with their French stir fry beef fillet（法式牛柳饭）with onion fried rice in red. It is very tasty. I have had them in some Vietnamese restaurants and couple fancy Chinese restaurants. The meat was tender and the taste were sweet and savory. We enjoyed it.

Their house daily special soup is also very delicious to have. The one we had is pork soup with watercress and dry Chinese apricots（例汤：南北杏西洋菜瘦肉）which Cantonese Chinese believes it is good for internal balance of body wellness. The daily special soup（例汤）at most restaurants is cooked for hours. I hav seen they have coconut chicken soup on the menu and wish to order next trip there.

We stepped in this pleasant surprise finding by chance. We were at the famous Taiwanese tea shop “Chi Cha San Chan” (8/10) next door. Since we were still full from an over ordered lunch in “Sushi GEN” (9/10 for its food only), we want something simple and comforting. However the menu is nothing simple as we have expected initially. Although it doesn’t have those expensive live sea food, it is a full extended menu with most of the traditional comforting food includes beef briskets noodles, pork wontons, beef stir fry rice noodles and most of the dishes you can find in an authentic Chinese restaurant. The boss lady is very nice speaks both mandarin and Cantonese. She reminds my of one the old TVB movie actress. I highly recommend this place as home...

Came here right after work at 5p and the place was empty. Ordered To-Go and it was a breeze. The lady spoke Cantonese and English in case you had any questions or recommendations, so it was easy to order. Service 4 stars. Food 3 stars (some dishes were better than others).

Ordered:

Fried Rice w/Salty Egg Yolk & Taro Olives 咸蛋黄榄菜芋头炒饭. $15.99 ** this was actually very tasty and I liked it very much as it was different, I also took this as the recommendation from the owner/lady.

** Roast Pork Belly w/Salty Fish & Eggplant in Hot Pot 烧猪腩咸鱼茄子煲 $17.99 ** - this was too salty :( I wouldn’t order again

Tofu w/Mushroom Wood Ear&Enokitake 冬菇云耳金针扒豆腐. $15.99

• I think this would have been good if I’d eaten it there bc when covered up for take out the consistency of the fried tofu is lost and it isn’t as yummy.

• French Style Filet Mignon - was decently tasty but seemed too little of a portion for $23.99.

With my takeout the lady gave us 3 small cups of soup off the day which was very nice to have and very refreshing.

The inside had a number of small tables and a larger big family table if you’re dining in. I didn’t see any restrooms available though.

Their menus have a strong old...

Ol' skool place, with very attentive folks. They've been here for a while. I've been here once many years ago, but honestly, I don't hit them often enough. Their food is really good. Tried their house chicken with their namesake, and it's SUPER soft. The braised pork was good. Every bite I had was really soft. BUT, my friends also caught some pieces that were also not AS soft, so... Almost there, just a step away from perfect. One of those friends would still disagree though, because he'd much rather have the Shanghai style red-braised pork, "Yes, the red dye, sugar, and a side order of cardio-infarction please!" The braised pork here is more savory than sweet. But I liked it! Their Filet Mignon wasn't bad either! If they gave a larger portion, and the inside was softer while maintaining that glazed protective layer, by cutting them up into slightly larger pieces, they would actually be on par with Tân Cảng (新港). BUT still good!!! Especially...