Nature Pagoda
Chinese restaurant · San Gabriel ·
Clay pot rice, herbal soups, traditional medicinal dishes, herbal tea
Clay pot rice, herbal soups, traditional medicinal dishes, herbal tea
"Nature Pagoda is a tiny mom-and-pop that has been around since the ’90s. The entire menu is based on traditional Chinese medicinal principles meant to balance the body for optimal health. The quaint restaurant serves traditional herbal teas and medicinal soups, but the star is clay pot rice (bao zai fan), a Hong Kong specialty. The rice at the bottom of the clay pot is crispy, while the interior rice is moist and steamed with ingredients like mushrooms, bamboo shoots, Chinese sausage, pork ribs, and salted fish with ground pork and tofu. All clay pot rice dishes are made to order, so prepare to wait." - Kristie Hang
"Nature Pagoda is a tiny mom-and-pop spot that has been around since the ’90s. The entire menu is based on traditional Chinese medicinal principles meant to balance the body for optimal health. The place serves traditional herbal teas and herbal medicinal soups, but the star dish is the clay pot rice. A Hong Kong specialty, clay pot rice (bao zai fan) is a one-pot meal that is similar to Korean bibimbap. The bottom of the rice is crispy while the rest of the rice is moist and steamed with ingredients like mushroom and bamboo shoots, Chinese sausage and pork ribs, or salted fish with ground pork and tofu. All clay pot rice dishes are made to order so it may be a bit of a wait." - Kristie Hang
"A daring eatery that serves unusual items such as crocodile and hog stomach, but whose standout element for the critic is its crusty rice." - Hillary Dixler Canavan
"I listened to Jonathan Gold on KCRW discussing the rice at the bottom of the clay pot at Nature Pagoda in the San Gabriel Valley; it's an interesting listen and part of what Gold truly does best." - Farley Elliott
"Out in the San Gabriel Valley I discovered a modest Hong Kong clay-pot rice specialist called Nature Pagoda, specializing in Chinese herbal soups and Cantonese clay pot rice and tucked among San Gabriel’s marble-encrusted Chinese malls. The Cantonese hot-pot-style clay pot here demands perfectly timed sauce pouring and mixing: if you pour and mix quickly and patiently you’ll be rewarded with a tawny, crunchy crust at the bottom, but pause to snap photos, spoon chile oil over the top first, or stir in bits of ham, braised choy sum, or catfish before adding the sauce and there will probably be no crust. I call particular attention to the clay pots made with fresh frog, chicken with lily flower, and preserved meat, and I also recommend the four mixed herbs with black chicken soup and the wei kei rabbit soup." - Crystal Coser