When my stomach growls for Cantonese food, you’ll find me at Mr. Chopsticks Seafood Restaurant (盛和海鮮酒家). Hidden in a small plaza in El Monte, Mr. Chopsticks is a great spot for both lunch and dinner. They have an extensive list of dishes for you to choose from on their menu, all of which are absolutely delicious. They are most well-known for their wintermelon soup (served in a big wintermelon), and their ginger milk pudding!
Food at a Cantonese restaurant is best enjoyed with your family or a group of friends. Unless you’re ordering fried rice or noodles, a typical lunch dish is made up of meat or vegetables that are meant to be eaten with a bowl of rice. These dishes are served on a large plate so that they can be shared family-style. Everyone at the table would order a different dish so that your meal can be complete with a variety of meat and vegetables!
Your hot tea is brought to you once you are seated, so you can look through the menu as you sip your tea. For their lunch menu (which has both English and Chinese), the price ranges from around $7.25 to $9.00 per dish – the dishes with meat and seafood are usually closer to the $8-$9 range. Your meal starts with complimentary soup, which is brought to you soon after you order, along with the familiar red container filled with rice. It’s not the same soup every time, so it’s always a surprise what you’ll get! By the time you’re done drinking your soup, your dishes should almost be ready to be served!
I always start scooping my rice as soon as I see the dishes coming out – this helps keep my rice warm and fresh until it’s time to eat. Below are a few dishes I like to order:
干扁四季豆
String Beans with Minced Pork
咕嚕肉
Sweet and Sour Pork
蒜炒菠菜
Sauteed Spinach with Garlic
椒鹽雞中翼
Chicken Wing with Spicy Salt
粟米斑球
Fried Fish Fillet with Sweet Corn Sauce
椒鹽鮮魷
Squid with Spicy Salt
梅菜扣肉
Steamed Sliced Pork w/ Preserved Vegetable
魚肚炒蛋
Fish Maw with Scrambled Eggs
干煎全魚
Deep Fried Whole Fish
The portions here are pretty big, so don’t worry if you can’t finish it – you can always pack it up for your next meal. If you’re planning to come here for dinner with a group, I’d definitely recommend pre-ordering their wintermelon soup – it is very unique, very good, and serves at least 8-10 people!
To wrap up my meal, I would order the ginger milk pudding (姜汁撞奶), which, unfortunately, is not always available. This hot dessert is hard to make, and even harder to find. It takes around 20 minutes for the chef to make it, and it is well worth the wait. The taste of ginger and milk combined is just so yummy and it’s not very sweet, which is exactly how I like my dessert.
If you’re wondering about the service, it’s pretty much the same as any other Chinese restaurant – you won’t get the same attention as you would at an American restaurant, but that’s how you know this place is an authentic Chinese restaurant. It can get pretty crowded during peak hours, but whether you’re looking for lunch or dinner, Mr. Chopsticks is worth the drive out to El Monte!
Mr. Chopsticks
10990 Lower Azusa Rd, Ste 10
El Monte, CA 91731