I'm not that familiar with Taiwanese food so it was with much anticipation that I went to
SinBala in Arcadia. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially since the last time I had stinky tofu hot pot -- a Taiwanese staple, I'm told -- I didn't like it.
I need not have feared.
The perfectly braised cubes of pork belly dotted a rice dish that came with strips of bamboo shoots and fried tofu, all topped with sprigs of fresh cilantro. What a deceptively simple dish that combines the porkyness from the meat with the stringy bamboo shoots and softness of the tofu. They were all seasoned similarly with a soy sauce-based sauce that was equally delicious. The pork belly pieces were tender, as they should be, after having been slow cooked for hours.
The pork and shrimp dumplings were a revelation that later inspired me to make dumplings at home to mixed success. I'm usually super picky with my dumplings because either the quality of the meat used isn't on par and it smells too porky (and not in a good way) or it tastes too doughy with the skin. But these dumplings were ethereal -- light and fluffy. The filling was so flavorful and best of all, it wasn't too dry and didn't even need a dipping sauce because it came with some nicely seasoned liquid. Another unusual topping: ground nuts or some kind of nutty goodness and freshly diced scallions. Everything fell right into place. I venture to say this was my favorite dish.
Then there was fried chicken. The cut pieces of chicken were crunchy and perfectly seasoned. I'm totally in love with this place at this point. How can
everything be so good?
We got the spicy sausage made in-house and they were very juicy and salty but not overly so and sprinkled with some dried pepper flakes that added yet another dimension both in terms of flavor (subtly spicy) and texture (crunch) to the sausages. Sure, they were on the heavy side but then again, they were sausages made with pork fat, after all. I didn't mind at all. Would make a great breakfast dish, perhaps without the pepper flakes. I've been having a hard time finding good breakfast sausage so this is a good find.
It's a shame it's so far away from where I live and work but I'd like to return as many times as I can so I could try everything on the menu. It's
that good.
