Morning Appetite Satisfied at Huge Tree Pastry (Monterey Park, CA)

423 N Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 458-8689

For a peculiar reason I am unable to fathom, I have never in my 21 years of life had Chinese breakfast. And yes, I am Chinese, grew up with Chinese parents, even spent a good portion of my childhood growing up in Oakland Chinatown.

Or perhaps this is Taiwanese breakfast? I'm pretty sure it is, but the owner also spoke Cantonese, which I am fluent in.

I stumbled upon these place on Yelp after scrounging around for a good breakfast place Sunday morning. The pictures and excellent reviews sold me!

I'll cut to the chase; this is what I ordered:

1 - Chinese donut in sweet soy milk - I got a "small" soy milk, which was pretty darn big. Ahhh...if you've never had fresh, crispy Chinese donut soaked in hot sweet soy milk...you're missing out! And I have indeed been missing out my entire life until this moment.

2 - Pan fried egg - Thin tortilla wrapped around egg. I expected the egg to be extremely greasy/oily, as all Chinese foods go, but to my delight it wasn't. Tasted like steamed egg.

3 - Salted pork in sticky rice - delicious! Again - WHY HAVEN'T I HAD THIS BEFORE? By this time, I was so stuffed with everything else I saved half of it to be eaten later.

4 - Beef noodle soup - the boyfriend ordered this, claiming he needed his "meat" fix. Excellent noodle soup, broth wasn't as greasy or oily as others as I have eaten.

The whole breakfast/brunch cost me ~$15. When I ordered, I awkwardly pointed at the menu items since I didn't know Mandarin, but it turns out the cashier was Cantonese too! I read previous reviews commenting on the language barrier, but I had no problem ordering. There are also very helpful and friendly staff who speak fluent English if you don't know either dialect.

I would definitely come back, and highly recommend anyone looking for a hot, delicious, and affordable Taiwanese breakfast!