I went on Clarissa's second SGV Chinese food tour several months ago and it was just an excellent experience. As one who enjoys food tours because of the variety of food, the information that I glean from the guide about the neighborhood and the food, and the fun of meeting other foodies, this tour lived up to all of my expectations.
Meeting early on a Saturday morning in San Gabriel Square, a group of 9 of us met for the "Four Tastes of China" tour. Clarissa took us to some of her favorite restaurants and we sampled a variety of dishes from various regions of China.
1. Chengdu taste - water boiled fish, toothpick beef, mung bean noodles, cold garlic noodles, dan dan mian. ***Everything was very spicy!
2. Bebe Fusion - oyster omelette, three cups squid, stinky tofu
3. Shaanxi Gourmet - stewed pork burger, bread pieces in beef (lamb) broth
4. Wang Xing - soup dumpling with crab and pork, shalom bong
Goodies from Oh My Pan Bakery & Tea were not included in the tour price but Clarissa took us by there and people could buy pastries.
There were several dishes that I hadn't tried before such as the oyster omelette and stinky tofu. Although I probably would never order either of them again, the beauty of this tour was that it exposed me to dishes that I otherwise likely would never have tried. Also, unlike most food tours that I've been on, this was not a walking tour. Per Clarissa, this was intentional so that we could cover more ground and so that she could take us to great restaurants which didn't happen to be within a few blocks of each other.
Given Clarissa's background as a food writer for the LA Times and her in-depth knowledge of Chinese food, she was a fantastic guide, despite the fact that it was only her second group tour. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and although I was stuffed after the first stop, I'm glad that I managed to keep eating! read more