Mission Impossible?

I’m not terribly fond of New Year’s Eve – probably since I don’t drink alcohol?

That said, I always use holidays as an excuse to do something out-of-the-ordinary. We see a lot of movies throughout the year, but rarely huge blockbuster/action ones. Ghost Protocol at The Arclight Cinerama Dome was fun!

Our next mission – find a last-minute, delicious dinner that wasn’t overpriced and overhyped. Impossible on December 31st, right?

Not in the San Gabriel Valley…

…no prix-fixe menus or reservations required here!

101 Noodle Express has several locations (including one in the Westfield Culver City mall) and many accolades

They’re famous for their beef rolls – but I knew I couldn’t handle an entire order by myself

After much discussion with the waitress over the menu, we discovered the few vegetarian dishes to share

Steamed Dumplings

Scallion Pancakes

Ya gotta have noodles for new year! They had one without meat, but it was in soup form, which Abe doesn’t like…

…instead, we ordered the Dan Dan Noodles with Minced Pork Sauce on the side

Abe garnished his handcut noodles with the condiments on the table…

…chili oil, vinegar, soy sauce…

…and this wonderful hot cilantro mixture

I wound up eating 2 porky bowls myself…

…plus one of the veggie-filled dumplings

Mostly we focused on the scallion pancakes, since they don’t taste as good leftover.

Ate about 4 or 5 pieces…

…with “Abe” sauce…

…made my own meat rolls too

The waitress’ English was much better than my Mandarin, but I still couldn’t get a glass of ice water throughout the entire meal! Finally, I asked for a Diet Coke, and it was brought out pronto. I guess everyone understands the language of $$$…

…speaking of which, Mission Accomplished – “Dumpings” et al = less than twenty bucks!

Missed seeing the ball drop, but a (somewhat) big apple made an appearance near midnight

Felt like I got my party fix on Friday night, so we turned down a few invites and stayed off the roads. Did some writing, watched another movie, and hung out with Julius instead.

What’d you do to ring in 2012?

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Tagged as: chinese, dumplings, noodles