Din Tai Fung - Arcadia, California

Address: 1088 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007

Items Ordered:

• Xiao Long Bao: juicy soup dumplings with pork and fish
• Shanghai rice cake with pork
  
• Stir fried green beans

I visited Din Tai Fung (DTF) only so I could brag to my parents that I could have an authentic taste of Taiwan in L.A. while they'd have to resort to eating their own cooking...suckers! After waiting 30 minutes in the sweltering heat, the restaurant was kind enough to offer us cups of ice cold water. When we were finally seated, the soup dumplings and green beans arrived looking extremely photogenic. Tastewise, the dumplings lacked the spoonful of soup which I love, but the outstanding flavor of the fish dumplings made up for the scarcity of soup. The stir fried green beans were crunchy and devoured quickly. Overall though, eating at DTF just made me jealous that I couldn't eat my parents home cooking :(.

--y

Half & Half Tea House - San Gabriel Valley, California

Address: 120 N San Gabriel Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91778

Items Ordered:

• Shaved ice with boba, lychee jelly, pudding, and red bean
• Iced milk drinks with pudding and honey boba
  
• Green milk tea
• Almond brick toast

Half & Half Teahouse's honey boba has been described as the best tasting boba in the U.S. That probably explains the line out the door on a typical night here. I ordered a regular ice milk drink with honey boba, and while the drink itself tasted like the milk I buy from Ralphs, the honey boba was sweet, chewy, and delicious. I prefer the shaved ice to any of the drinks at Half & Half, and the portion is huge so it's perfect for sharing with friends. I've been back to this teahouse b/c it's a fun place to hang out, but Class 302 is still the ultimate shaved ice/dessert winner!!

--y

Class 302 - Rowland Heights, California

Address: 1015 S Nogales St, Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Items Ordered:

• Mango shaved snow: mango snow, condensed milk, fresh mangoes, mochi
  

I LOVE LOVE LOVE (x 1,000,000) Class 302's shaved snow. It's the best I've had anywhere in the United States. The mango snow is soft, silky smooth, and really just melts in your mouth. The mangoes taste fresh, and mochi is probably my favorite topping for the sugary sweetness and sticky texture. I've had a few of their other flavors of shaved snow, and they are all fantastic. This place is not a very well-kept secret though, the lines are long, and after a certain time they might run out of shaved snow. However, it is totally worth it to visit. If I lived closer, I would probably go to Class 302 10 times a week!

--y

Guppy House - Anaheim, California

Address: 5642 E La Palma Ave, Anaheim, CA 92807

Items Ordered:

• Kim chi fried rice
• Pineapple fried rice
• Popcorn chicken
• "To-Go" shaved ice with mango and strawberries

The food at Guppy House is not particularly interesting, but the upside of the place is that it's a good hangout spot and the plates are GINORMOUS so there's always enough to share. The pineapple fried rice is a pass, but popcorn chicken and shaved ice are pretty tasty. The "to-go" option is the smallest portion they have, but it can easily feed 5 teeny bopper girls. The one in Irvine is always busier than the Anaheim location so keep that in mind for Fri/Sat night outings.

--y