DRMW
[Purist]
21832
Pine & Crane
Happy Friday everyone!
Here in Los Angeles, we have all kinds of restaurants serving great Chinese food. It used to be all in Old Chinatown near downtown L.A. but now it's Monterey Park, San Gabriel, and areas out that way. For Taiwanese style cuisine we headed out to the Silver Lake area. What??? Silver Lake? Yep! A place called Pine & Crane opened just north of Sunset Boulevard on the closed off street on Griffith Park Boulevard.
Situated next to a coffee shop and a bakery. Pine & Crane:
The restaurant interior is rather small. There a few 2-4 person tables and a large communal style bench. When you walk in you see a marker board that instructs you on how things work. It's a bit different here as you grab a menu off the table (which has some bottles of wine). There are several wall sided chalk boards that describe the different tea and drink offerings as well as the seasonal vegetables and fresh fruit. You walk up to the counter and order your food. Well actually you usually have to wait in line to order your food as this place gets packed. We're here a little past the regular lunch time but from what I hear dinner time is really busy.
The menu:
They have a glass display 'deli case' that has the cold appetizers adjacent to the order counter. A large basket of the seasonal fruit is also at the counter near the register. Today they had watermelon but instead of the normal red they had the yellow colored ones. Their menu is not huge but luckily it has most of the stuff we usually get at a Taiwanese place.
They have a glass display 'deli case' that has the cold appetizers adjacent to the order counter. A large basket of the seasonal fruit is also at the counter near the register. Today they had watermelon but instead of the normal red they had the yellow colored ones. Their menu is not huge but luckily it has most of the stuff we usually get at a Taiwanese place.
After taking our order and grabbing bottled soda from the fridge, we get our number and find a seat. We got lucky and found seating inside but since the street is closed off they have additional seating outside. Each table has metal chopsticks, hot chili oil sauce , soy sauce, and black vinegar. For those not used to eating with chopsticks, they have forks too!
IMO Coke taste better in a bottle...
For the starters we did two of the cold appetizers. Seaweed:
This was seasoned well with plenty of finely chopped garlic. It had a nice crunchy texture to it, very good!
IMO Coke taste better in a bottle...
For the starters we did two of the cold appetizers. Seaweed:
This was seasoned well with plenty of finely chopped garlic. It had a nice crunchy texture to it, very good!
Next we were brought out the Pig's Ear:
I thought this was good too, the portions are small but that's good if you want to try many things.
I thought this was good too, the portions are small but that's good if you want to try many things.
A common item in Taiwanese restaurants is the Scallion Pancake:
You can get the ones with meat in it (aka Beef Roll) but we got the plain ones. These were on the thick side and not the thin and crisp way that I like. Flavor was good though.
You can get the ones with meat in it (aka Beef Roll) but we got the plain ones. These were on the thick side and not the thin and crisp way that I like. Flavor was good though.
Spicy Wonton IMO was the best dish at Pine & Crane, their version are filled with shrimp. The chili oil had a good heat to it but not too spicy...delicious!
The Jah Jiang Mein aka Chinese Spaghetti:
The noodles they use here is really good but I didn't like all the onions and scallions they put, next time I will tell them to go a little lighter. Sauce had the bean curd mixed into the meat, overall I enjoyed it.
The Jah Jiang Mein aka Chinese Spaghetti:
The noodles they use here is really good but I didn't like all the onions and scallions they put, next time I will tell them to go a little lighter. Sauce had the bean curd mixed into the meat, overall I enjoyed it.
Another popular item, Beef Noodle Soup:
The beef was very tender and the soup base was very tasty.
The beef was very tender and the soup base was very tasty.
Last but not least my favorite, Pot Stickers!
One thing to note is that their version is not greasy or oily. The skin was pan fried to a crispy texture with the right balance of filling. A standout was the dipping sauce, I usually use the vinegar but the sauce was excellent!
One thing to note is that their version is not greasy or oily. The skin was pan fried to a crispy texture with the right balance of filling. A standout was the dipping sauce, I usually use the vinegar but the sauce was excellent!
The sweet potato fries with plum powder sounded interesting so I'm looking forward to coming back to try that and their Dan Dan mein. Overall Pine & Crane was good I would definitely go back. If you crave Taiwanese food you won't find anything closer that is as authentic unless you head out to east to Monterey Park or further.
-MW
Pine & Crane
Happy Friday everyone! Here in Los Angeles, we have all kinds of restaurants serving great Chinese food. It used to be all in Old Chinatown near downtown L.A. but now it's Monterey Park, San Gabriel, and areas out that way. For Taiwanese style cuisine we ...
Damn you Ming !!!!
I just opened this post with an empty stomach .... looks great !!! :-) Bim
it's limited edition! :)
Its the newest flavor and I picked it up the other day, haven't even tasted it yet. -MW
Caramel Apple ...
I fear it will be too sweet for my taste ... i notice people in Belgium have developped a taste for dark (bitter) chocolate .. i even find the Swiss chocolate too sweet ... though i really like certain variants ... Choco-latta-Bim
you are correct...
I just ate one, it was a bit too sweet. However it won't stop me from eating them all! LOL -MW
Now that looks really good
Never thought to venture to visit the Silver Lake area for Chinese food. But in your pics the food looks really good. I love the scallion pancakes, I always ask the server to tell the kitchen to make ours extra crispy/well done. Same with the potstickers ...
