Awful Experience at Colibri, Portola Springs

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i'm a big fan of XLB (soupy fill pork dumplings)... and I generally think Din Tai Fung is pretty good (I've been to the original DTF in Taiwan, also locations in HK, Singapore, Japan, and Shanghai... and no, I did not eat dog while in China, since that's apparently topical on this thread!).  I also think the XLB dumplings at Joe's Shanghai in NYC and Yank Sing in SF are pretty good too.

I'm curious to know... where can I find better XLB dumplings here in Southern California?  Wait time and service aside... I've tried others that do not compare to DTF, Joe's or Yank Sing's (some come close), but I'm always open to finding/trying something better.  From anecdote, I've heard that Mama Lu's might come close (I need to try to verify).

Found this list from LA Weekly, not sure how trustworthy, but still indicative of how others stack up:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2013/04/best_soup_dumplings_la.php

8)

 
I dunno, none of the xlb places in LA really stand out to me (including dtf)... I think joe shanghai is much better then dtf... But then Nanxiang xlb beats that by a bit (it's like quite a drive from shanghai from what I rememeber... Probably cause its like a whole town that pretty much just makes xlb so competition is fierce)... But then again the xlb my moms used to make back in taipei modified from ingredients bought at those local markets beats that too... So lol... Very subjective hahaha

 
Nan Xiang in Flushing, Mama Lu in MP, JJ Noodle in RH, and Joes by he Bowery are all great and better than DTF but DTF has the best packaging just like Irvine. The meat at DTF needs more flavoring.

Westsiiide! said:
i'm a big fan of XLB (soupy fill pork dumplings)... and I generally think Din Tai Fung is pretty good (I've been to the original DTF in Taiwan, also locations in HK, Singapore, Japan, and Shanghai... and no, I did not eat dog while in China, since that's apparently topical on this thread!).  I also think the XLB dumplings at Joe's Shanghai in NYC and Yank Sing in SF are pretty good too.

I'm curious to know... where can I find better XLB dumplings here in Southern California?  Wait time and service aside... I've tried others that do not compare to DTF, Joe's or Yank Sing's (some come close), but I'm always open to finding/trying something better.  From anecdote, I've heard that Mama Lu's might come close (I need to try to verify).

Found this list from LA Weekly, not sure how trustworthy, but still indicative of how others stack up:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2013/04/best_soup_dumplings_la.php

8)
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i must try JJ's and Mama's then... will report back when i find the time to try...  8)

ok... so what's this thread about again?  oh, Colibri... !  (hope the child that threw up is doing well!)  8)
 
world chaos said:
I dunno, none of the xlb places in LA really stand out to me (including dtf)... I think joe shanghai is much better then dtf... But then Nanxiang xlb beats that by a bit (it's like quite a drive from shanghai from what I rememeber... Probably cause its like a whole town that pretty much just makes xlb so competition is fierce)... But then again the xlb my moms used to make back in taipei modified from ingredients bought at those local markets beats that too... So lol... Very subjective hahaha
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seems like there's a debate over smaller, thinner skinned XLB at DTF, vs. bigger, thicker skinned XLB at Joe's... i like both.  8)
 
lol i thought this thread was about dog meat... i remember an uncle said to me if i aint tried dog meat n beatleneut then i aint taiwanese... like li mm xi dai wan lang style lol... dont even remember what either taste like now cause right afterwards we went to snake alley... haha that place will give westerners nightmares for like 5 generations HAHAHA
 
haha i dont mind the skin too much... im more about the juice inside it... i agree with IHS that the meat in DTF is not as flavorful as it could be...


Westsiiide! said:
world chaos said:
I dunno, none of the xlb places in LA really stand out to me (including dtf)... I think joe shanghai is much better then dtf... But then Nanxiang xlb beats that by a bit (it's like quite a drive from shanghai from what I rememeber... Probably cause its like a whole town that pretty much just makes xlb so competition is fierce)... But then again the xlb my moms used to make back in taipei modified from ingredients bought at those local markets beats that too... So lol... Very subjective hahaha
Click to expand...


seems like there's a debate over smaller, thinner skinned XLB at DTF, vs. bigger, thicker skinned XLB at Joe's... i like both.  8)
Click to expand...
 
The California Court Company said:
do you guys know trash bin lids on UCI campus has this written in Chinese
"Do not take the trash out"
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That's because the recyclables are saved for the whites who take the cans to the back of the Ranch 99 store.
 
It is miserable hot and humid today. Not a good day to have XLB and the line is usually long. I will post pictures of Joe's XLB with juice inside and next to a note "talk Irvine".

world chaos said:
haha i dont mind the skin too much... im more about the juice inside it... i agree with IHS that the meat in DTF is not as flavorful as it could be...


Westsiiide! said:
world chaos said:
I dunno, none of the xlb places in LA really stand out to me (including dtf)... I think joe shanghai is much better then dtf... But then Nanxiang xlb beats that by a bit (it's like quite a drive from shanghai from what I rememeber... Probably cause its like a whole town that pretty much just makes xlb so competition is fierce)... But then again the xlb my moms used to make back in taipei modified from ingredients bought at those local markets beats that too... So lol... Very subjective hahaha
Click to expand...


seems like there's a debate over smaller, thinner skinned XLB at DTF, vs. bigger, thicker skinned XLB at Joe's... i like both.  8)
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
That is what I hope for too  :'(

ak said:
I just hope and pray that Irvine does NOT turn into the next San Gabriel Valley or Hacienda Heights/Diamond Bar/Walnut......Let's all hope it becomes like San Marino.
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world chaos said:
lol i thought this thread was about dog meat... i remember an uncle said to me if i aint tried dog meat n beatleneut then i aint taiwanese... like li mm xi dai wan lang style lol... dont even remember what either taste like now cause right afterwards we went to snake alley... haha that place will give westerners nightmares for like 5 generations HAHAHA
Click to expand...

lol,  take me a good few seconds to figure it out.  My taiwanese must be rusty.
 
gld2 said:
That is what I hope for too  :'(

ak said:
I just hope and pray that Irvine does NOT turn into the next San Gabriel Valley or Hacienda Heights/Diamond Bar/Walnut......Let's all hope it becomes like San Marino.
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Irvine is already a lot more like SG, HH, DB and etc.  The city will keep going that direction as more Asians move in.  Granted it'll still be less of a mess visually compared to the others since there are more restrictions displays and such. 

San Marino keeps the population size in control (no riffraff) by having no apartments, condos or townhomes. They rather have each resident pay more for education and city services rather than growing the number of prop tax payers.  There are practically no Asian stores in SM.  Quite the opposite of Irvine... 
 
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