Within the Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Valley is known for offering a wide selection of authentic asian food and desserts. Growing up in the area, I’ve had the opportunity to try some of the best eats the SGV has to offer, but the following places stand out amongst the rest.
Meet Fresh
Meet Fresh is a traditional taiwanese dessert bar that offers shaved ice desserts, boba teas, and herbal jelly. Originating in Central Taiwan, Meet Fresh has since expanded, offering locations worldwide including the U.S., Canada, China, Vietnam, and Japan. The shaved ice bowls come with a variety of mouth watering toppings such as taro, boba, egg pudding, red bean, and sweet potato. These sweet, refreshing desserts are made using all natural ingredients. My favorite items on the menu is the Taro Ball No.2 and the iced jasmine green tea with boba.
Pro tip: if you’re on a budget, buy the egg pudding topped with boba and caramel for only $2.00
Golden Deli
If you’re craving Vietnamese food, Golden Deli has you covered. Golden Deli opened in San Gabriel in 1981 and has continued to grow and gain popularity. It has easily become one of my favorite pho restaurants in the area, but not just because of their noodles. You can’t visit the restaurant without ordering Golden Deli’s infamous fried egg rolls, which may be just as popular, if not more, than their pho. They always arrive golden brown, crunchy, and down right delicious. Los Angeles Times esteemed food critic, Jonathan Gold, has raved about them a couple of time in various articles, no big deal.
Din Tai Fung
Originally founded in 1958 in Taipei, Taiwan, Din Tai Fung has since expanded into an official restaurant and since then has gained global popularity with locations in the U.S., Thailand, Australia, Japan, and China (to name a few). They don’t take reservations, so a 40 minute wait during the dinner rush is to be expected but is always worth it (no joke, this is my favorite restaurant of all time). All dumplings are made fresh to order, are incredibly flavorful, and simply taste like heaven. My personal favorites are the Kurobuta Pork Xiao Long Bao and Vegetable & Mushroom Dumplings. In addition to dumplings, they offer a wide selection of steamed vegetables, noodles, rice dishes, and wonton soups.
Pro tip: order a refreshing pot hot jasmine or oolong tea to your to share with your table.
Factory Tea Bar
Factory Tea Bar, also known as FTB, offers sweet boba milk tea drinks and tasty fried snacks. FTB provides a fun atmosphere to hang out with friends with spacious interior, couches, trendy decor, and a variety of games (Jenga and Uno have a high success rate of providing laughs amongst friends). My all time favorite drink on the menu is the Nom Nom Green Milk Tea: it’s sweet without being overpowering and green tea flavor is still strong.
President Thai
While there is some debate if Pasadena is considered part of the San Gabriel Valley, President Thai needed to be on the list. They offer an extensive selection of delicious, authentic thai dishes in addition to sweet, traditional desserts. President Thai was rebuilt to become the first traditional Thai style architecture restaurant in Los Angeles. I recommend their Pad See Ew and the Pineapple Fried Rice.
Ding Tea
Ding Tea provides an extensive menu of refreshing, fresh brewed, flavorful teas. Not only do they offer classic sweet milk teas, they have fruit teas, latte’s, yogurt drinks, and hot teas for those occasional rainy days. Their shop is small but incredibly cute and perfect for a photo or two with friends (or just of your boba). In addition to their LA locations, they have shops in Taiwan, China, Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia. My personal favorite drinks are the Jasmine Green Milk Tea and the Mango Green Tea.