I have been on a curry kick, and tried more of the curry in Puente Hill North, so now I am branching out to El Monte. This place cooks Cantonese curry with out coconut milk. Tastes ok. Over price for what they give you. Will not be back. They are running a lot of specials, but they should tried to improve the quality of their foods first. The carriage does not go in front of the horse.
May C.
Classificação do local: 4 Arcadia, CA
Came here on a Sunday afternoon with my sisters and cousins for lunch. It was not really packed when we first entered, but more customers started arriving afterwards. The set up is really unique, I like how they have the sign to the Women’s Restroom as Ladies’ Market, that definitely made me laugh. After pointing that out, my cousins told me that all the different signs the restaurant had up were names of actual streets in China. If you spend over $ 35 you can buy one of the 3 items they have posted up on the wall for either $ 1, $ 2, or $ 3. We ordered the German Pork Knuckle for $ 3, which was really good! I am a big fan of Indonesian Fried Rice, so wherever I go, if there’s Indonesian Fried Rice on the menu, that’s what I will be ordering. I have to say that the fried rice here is really similar to the fried rice at Ray Ray’s which is my favorite. When I return to WeChat, I will definitely be ordering the Indonesian Fried Rice again. If you order a dish, you can pay an additional $ 1 for a drinks such as the Lemon Iced Tea, Milk Tea, and some other drinks. I enjoyed coming here for lunch and will likely return, especially since it is so close to my house. Also, this place is CASHONLY, so definitely remember to bring cash! The prices are great, service is great, and food is great. If you are in the neighborhood and just want a quite bite or a place to hangout with your friends, WeChat is the place to be!
Jonson C.
Classificação do local: 5 Rosemead, CA
If you love Hong Kong style typical dishes, this is the place that you will fall in love with! I believe they have one of the best lamb ribs in town and it’s a must try if you come to this restaurant.
Richard L.
Classificação do local: 2 Los Angeles, CA
Wechat is a popular social media app in China and among Chinese. So the restaurant have a name wechat is very unusual. The restaurant serve Cantonese food and HK style. The selection is limited and the quality is mediocre at best. I been here number of times, it seem the quality and service is worst each time… I try numbers of item here, portion size isn’t that big. The food are hit and miss and there seem to be more miss than hits. The most standout food is the woodcase ramen or udon. It look nice and pricey not bad. But the broth is way too salty… The lamb chop was dry and actually one of the least tasty lamb chop I ever had or remember. Their cofee and lemon drink is $ 1 and is refillable. They had TV showing sport game most of the time. Service here is pretty much you has to tell them several time to come over, I just don’t feel this restaurant trying hard and there’s a lot of area it need to improve to win me back as customer.
Tom T.
Classificação do local: 3 Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA
Coming from the ‘hood of Highland Park, WeChat Café seemed kind of a journey for some food I could easily grabbed elsewhere in the SGV. I was hoping that this place had something special that would bring me back here, so I can relive my days of going to cafes/teahouses and studying for hours upon hours. Looks like this place wasn’t the case. The place does look like one of those teahouses one would sit and crash for hours; however, it seemed to be catering more towards a family-orientated café sit down places, which isn’t a bad thing. The atmosphere itself had the quiet vibe, with the random Canto-Pop songs playing in the background. I opted on ordering one of the chef’s specials, the steak fried rice, while Mother T. wanted the fried chicken steak with mushroom sauce. Both looked presentable to eat, but it felt like something was being held back on both dishes. For example, my dish was missing a hint of salt(which was easily fixed by the salt shaker at the table) and Mothers dish looked like they were cutting back on the sauce and the veggies, both portions were on the smaller side. The chicken steak was fried, maybe a bit over-fried, as it left a dry feeling on the throat. There are some specials, and with the limited Chinese I can read, Mother explained that if you spend up to $ 35, you pay an extra buck for something, and extra $ 3 for something else, and another $ 5 for another thing. Wasn’t really paying too much attention, as I was trying to figure out whether or not the lemon tea they made me had artificial sugar. Not a complete lost of a place; just that if I wanted a café style kind of dive, I think I’ll stick around something closer to home than to venture that far.
Gayi L.
Classificação do local: 2 Newport Beach, CA
It’s better than Irvine one… but I still can’t give 5 stars.(I know they are two different owners) 1. Pricey. This is absolutely not in El Monte price. 2. Sauce was more than meat. That special Red wine beef meal. The taste was nothing special, so blend. 3. Portion were small. 4. Cleanless. 5. Poor decoration, look very old and dark building and smell stink. 6. The dishes were so cheap. Old and ugly plastic dishes. 7. Chiefs were talking in the kitchen. They were so loud. 8. Dirty and sticky menu. Two stars go to … 1. Waitress spoke Cantonese 2. Cantonese food I don’t think so I will come back.
Natalie L.
Classificação do local: 3 Irvine, CA
Hubby and I came to WeChat because of its Chinese name 九龍冰室. There is a restaurant that had the same Chinese name in Irvine, but it is definitely not related. This one is so much better. The servers in this restaurant spoke Cantonese! So it made you felt like ‘back in Hong Kong’. We had the baked pork chop over rice and it almost tasted like the one in Hong Kong, just missing pieces of tomato, but the taste brings back childhood memory in Hong Kong. Milk tea and lemon tea are with unlimited refills and very tasty. My only concern was cleanliness because there were flies inside the restaurant and the bathrooms were not clean. But the food was good. Don’t forget to look at the specials on the board.
David Y.
Classificação do local: 2 Las Vegas, NV
After reading some Unilocal reviews and looking at the photos, we decided to give this place a try. Verdict: this place was a disappointment. We ordered the curry beef stew and baked pork chop rice. What we received was a plate of curry sauce with only a few small pieces of beef inside. What a rip off for just under $ 10. The curry sauce was quite tasty but definitely not worth it. The baked pork chop rice was also a let down as the size of the dish was so small. I don’t know if there was even one bowl of rice at the bottom of the dish. Also the tomato sauce in the baked pork chop rice was too sour to my liking. The only thing good about this place was the service.
Jackk Y.
Classificação do local: 2 Chino Hills, CA
WeChat. .. Better call it WeCrap! Two thumbs down! I’m from HK and this place is a disgrace! Baked pork chop served with thin chopped up pieces hidden under very little sauce to hide the pork chop that is also very dry. Would never come back here for the food. Not sure how they got 4 stars! Must have a lot of friends.
Cindy C.
Classificação do local: 4 San Gabriel, CA
This place usually looks closed, but they probably aren’t it’s just they have all their blinds down. This place is very spacious, plenty of tables, just horrible parking. I definitely recommend trying out their Chicken Cutlet with Mushroom sauce with your choice of pasta or rice, but I would say choose the pasta. It comes with a side of veggies and potatoes. When you order a meal you can get a Milk Tea for $ 1! Now that’s a bargain! The service here is decent, it’s just a bit awkward when they are there standing there waiting to assist you. Just a bit too attentive for my liking, but they are just trying to do a good job.
Vicky H.
Classificação do local: 4 Millbrae, CA
Service is courteous and decent, reasonable price, food is delicious. We stayed until closing, but didn’t feel forced or rushed to leave. I ordered Black Pepper Chicken Steak, and my friend had Vegetable Curry, both were very good! The HK style milk tea is served in a signature jug like the kind served in HK, very authentic and cool. The next time I visit L.A., would like to go back again. :)
Angel L.
Classificação do local: 3 San Diego, CA
Was here to hang out with a group of 6 after badminton, just ordered a milk tea. Service was ok. Only one of us got refills of our teas(lemon iced tea, milk teas). I wanted hot milk tea, being that it’s a HK café style, and they are out!(What?) They have the iced version so I said ok but half sweet, and it came out pretty sweet still. I might as well go to a boba place, but oh well. Their dishes look pretty good, I may come back in the future for the food when I’m in the area.
Leslie T.
Classificação do local: 5 Chino Hills, CA
Ordered Indo fried rice, Chicken Eggplant pot, German style pork knuckle :) The food came out fast! The Chicken Eggplant pot came with a side of rice. Service was great and they refilled our drinks quite often. Very good overall!
Edward L.
Classificação do local: 4 El Monte, CA
I constantly drive past this place on the way to work and never thought to stop by until my friend made the suggestion. I’m glad we stopped by though. Its a cute place inside is very roomie and there is plenty of seating. It was a bit awkward having the waiters standing around and staring at us, but I guess they wanted to be very attentive. I order the Cutlet Chicken Steak with Black Pepper Sauce and my friend had the Grilled Chicken Steak with Mushroom Sauce. My order was delicious the cutlet was crispy and it came with a side of flavorful sliced potatoes. The Black Pepper sauce did seem a bit bland, good thing the cutlet was great by itself. With an entrée you get Milk Tea, Lemon Ice Tea for $ 1 with free refills. That was pretty cool, even though the Milk Tea tasted more like Coffee. I would definitely come back, it just sucks they close early for a Café.
Ellen L.
Classificação do local: 5 Rancho Cucamonga, CA
It was my first time visit here and definitely going to be my #1 choice café. I’ve been to many café, this one is by far the best! I’m usually not a café person but after reading all the positives high rating & reviews on Unilocal,it was worth a try. I am so glad I was open-minded in try new restaurant. It had 5-star service and the food was simply delicious! The menu has many choices… from authentic Chinese food to American fusion, a taste for everybody! I brought my kids there, this is a kids-friendly restaurant as indicated, a pleasant experience overall. Atmosphere was nice and clean which made my dinning more appetizing. Parking was easy. As for pricing, it is very affordable! The potion size is good for sharing; you get more than what you pay. I can go on and on praising this café, but you have to try it to believe it! What I order: 1. Grill Pork Chop with Lemongrass $ 7.95(my favorite) It looks simple but it was so tasty! The meat has so much flavor. At first glance, looks like an ordinary pork chop just like any other restaurant but the marinated succulent meat gave tons of flavor. It’s a must order dish! 2. Grill New Zealand Premium Lamb Rib Chop $ 16.95 — meat was marinated with good flavors. order only if you like the taste of Lamb. It cook to my perfection — medium well done. The dish come along with some potato and vegetables which I love. Although a little pricy comparing to other dish, but you are paying the quality rack of lamb! The meat are 80−90% lean, a healthy choice! You have a choice of rice or spaghetti side dish on all the main dish. I love the spaghetti personally. One order can fulfill two adult’s stomach… REALLY! 3. WeChat Special Hainan Chicken Rice $ 7.50 It’s not over the top, but his is a popular dish that’s under WeChat Café Chef’s Special so it won’t go wrong if you order it. The dish come with lots of bone-less shredded chicken, two different sauce, and chicken-flavored rice. You have to dip the chicken in the sauce to top the taste buds and eat it with rice. I asked for a refill on the sauce and the waiter was cool with it. The best thing is no extra charge. Lunch time has daily free soup as a starter. The tomato soup I got today was up to my taste… not salty like most restaurant. Overall, I had a great lunch! I can’t wait to try something new on the menu next time.
Susan K.
Classificação do local: 4 Los Angeles, CA
I really like it here. The food is quite fulfilling and the prices are very reasonable. This Hong Kong style café isn’t quite like the others. I like that at least half their menu leans toward Western cuisine. You won’t find wonton noodles or congee on their menu but they do very well with the classic chicken steak. My family and I came here for Mother’s Day brunch. The service is always efficient and friendly. The most important thing though is the quality of the food. Here’s the review: Grilled chicken steak($ 8.95, I think – forgot to take the receipt with me): This isn’t grilled. It is definitely pan-seared. The skin is always very crispy. The meat is a moist darkmeat section cut into boneless steak. I have had this with a black pepper sauce and a garlic sauce before. Other options include the mushroom sauce and something else I don’t recall. The plate comes with perfectly steamed carrots and zucchini pieces and a couple of pieces of scalloped potatoes. You can choose having a plate of steamed white rice or spaghetti with meat with tomato on the size. I don’t know why I always order the spaghetti because I really don’t like the meat with tomato sauce. In fact, next time, I should just get rice that I can mix with the awesome black pepper or garlic sauce… or just plain spaghetti that I can toss with the sauce. Ramen($ 9.50 or so): My mother ordered this with the angus beef. It literally comes in a wooden bucket container. The broth is white in color so perhaps it is miso. The order also comes with half of a seasoned hard oiled egg, seaweed and other things. Baked rice with fish filet and spinach($ 10.95): My grandmother ordered this and it was delicious! She’s been dealing with some intensive dental issues and for the most part is on a soft food diet. This dish was perfect. I had a taste of it and it was far tastier than j expected. The fish is likely sole. The sauce is a cream sauce that reminds me of cream of mushroom but lighter. The spinach pieces are scant though. The whole thing is topped with some cheese and probably put in a broiler as the top was lightly toasted. I’m going to order this for myself next time. Spicy salt chicken wings($ 6.95, I think): These wings were really, really moist and flavorful! I love me a good fried chicken wing that isn’t covered in breading. They were crispy on the outside and bursting with juice on the inside. The wings were tossed with a scallion and jalapeño mixture. I’m totally ordering this again next time and might even have it as an entrée with a side of rice. Ginger seasoned chicken with scallion and ginger sauce($ 1): You read that right. This dish cost $ 1 and would have been enough to feed an adult. There’s a sign in restaurant in Chinese that says if you spend $ 30, you can have this chicken dish for $ 1. The cut of chicken is similar to the chicken steak except I think it was steamed. I had just a piece of chicken from this plate. It was tender but not as flavorful as my chicken steak. We brought this home. Drinks with each entrée: You can add a lemon iced tea, milk tea or coffee for $ 1 with the order of each entrée. These are refillable. I had the lemon iced tea which was refreshing but just a tad bit sweeter than I like. My grandmother had the iced coffee and she said it was really good. Glass jelly slushy: My mother ordered this drink/dessert. It is black grass jelly with coconut milk and ice. She loved it. I have no idea how much this cost but I’m guessing it is around $ 3. It is served in a mason jar. I have been there before when there was no parking in the lot and we had to wait for a table. It isn’t too big inside so I imagine they can get pretty busy although for our Mother’s Day brunch, several booths were still vacant by the time we got up to leave. I prefer eating here over Café Spot, Tasty Garden, Garden Café and all the other HK-style cafes I’ve tried throughout the years. I hope they will expand their menu one day to include some desserts like the waffle egg cake things. Lunch for four people with leftovers was $ 55. Great deal!
Teemo Carry U.
Classificação do local: 4 Covina, CA
I did not like the 6 spaces of parking. 3 on one side and 3 on the other. Lol I doubt the back is related to this restaurant since it was more like a car shop? I also did not like the fact it was Cash Only. That’s all. Anyways. Customer Service — Good. My boyfriend and I were pretty much like the 2nd customers that walked in during that time. No way that they wouldn’t acknowledge us lol. The girl was cool. Brought us water and waited till we’re ready to order. Salmon with Herring Roe Fried Rice — I did not try this because I was coughing like a monster. My boyfriend did tho. He like it, plus with salmon on that. No way you can go wrong. Salmon Fillet Spaghetti In Lobster Sauce — Just enough sauce. There were more salmon than I imagine. I ended up taking home because it was just too much for me. It also came with the garlic bread. I did not know that soooooo a plus for you guys also.
Kenny N.
Classificação do local: 5 El Monte, CA
One of the better cafes in the SGV in my opinion and also one that’s hidden. I don’t think a lot of people know about this café located in El Monte. Been here a couple of times and never had to wait long. Service was good and the staff here are very nice. Café is a good representation of how Hong Kong cafes usually are not because of the staff but the food as well. Ordered their Baked Chicken with Spaghetti and plenty of tomato flavor. It kept me wanting for more though I was full. Milk tea and iced lemon tea tasted like authentic Hong Kong style drinks. Prices are decently priced for everything on their menu. Wasn’t too expensive but comparable to other cafes. There are additional parking in the back. When first coming here, it looks like there are only about 6 spaces up front but check the back for more spaces. If you want to try a new café spot, this is the place to go.
Joanna L.
Classificação do local: 3 Los Angeles, CA
Mom discovered this place on a newspaper ad and wanted to try it so yesterday before picking up my niece we came here to have lunch. It was Friday and the place was pretty slow… the first thing I noticed after looking at the menu was wow it is definitely a lot more expensive here than other cafes in the area — It was at least $ 2 – 3 more for the same dish — say Chicken Steak at Garden Café or Ledo Café or KT café is like $ 6.95 — $ 7.95 well here it was $ 10.95…so definitely there is a huge price difference. We only ordered two dishes — the Beef Chow Fun with Soy Sauce and the Indonesian Fried Rice — plus an iced coffee and lemon iced tea — bill was about $ 21…so about 9 dollars per dish and a buck for each drink. To me that was pretty expensive since the portions weren’t like super huge and I could have gotten the same thing at another café for cheaper. The food was pretty good though. My iced coffee tasted a little weird though. The waiters were very nice and welcoming. Greeted us when we went in and thanked us when we left. The location of this place though is kind of out of the way for us to go to… it wasn’t near a whole lot — like markets or plazas… it seems to be kind of isolated even though it was on Valley Blvd. Overall I liked the service, the food was pretty good but probably just the prices wasn’t very appealing since it’s definitely not very cheap.
Jennifer T.
Classificação do local: 3 Alhambra, CA
Hmm… it’s like, I want to give this place more stars, but don’t feel like I should. Not gross… but not amazing, and definitely didn’t make me a fan. Also, cash only. =( FOOD: 1. Veggie Curry: Not bad. I liked the fact that there was a lot of corn and corn flavor in the end. Definitely a lot of vegetables in the curry as well. The curry had a decent amount of flavor, though it didn’t seem special, but I liked that it didn’t have a heavy-greasy feeling to it, as many curry tend to have. Comes with a small plate of rice. 2. Thai Style Seafood Fried Rice: This dish was a little too salty for our taste. It also looked a bit too greasy from the moment the plate arrived. I don’t think fried rice should be like that. Anyway, if you like something really salty, go ahead and order it. Didn’t see much seafood either(unless boyfriend ate it all first… but I doubt it). DRINKS: 1. Milk Tea: Not bad. 2. Red Bean Ice: Pretty good, but kind of small. SERVICE: Fast, and friendly… which is kind of rare for a Hong Kong style café. The moment I walked in, I was loudly greeted by one of the waiters in Cantonese…“HELLO! *&%^&(#&#!!!” Since I didn’t understand him, I thought they were telling me, «HELLO! WE’RECLOSED. SORRY!» He was so funny! He apologized when he realized I didn’t understand Cantonese. AMBIENCE: Kind of a dingy place. But, according to boyfriend, this place is REALLY similar to an authentic Hong Kong café… in HK. Seatings, interior, service and even the Chinese name of the restaurant. FINALVERDICT: Though it’s not a restaurant that I’d avoid, I’m not truly a fan yet. I wouldn’t so much go out of my way to come here.