J J - San Gabriel

I visit Alhambra every three months and every time I do, I swing by here for lunch. This trip, I was very disappointed to find out they are permanently closed. I love their xiao long bao and Shanghai noodles. We ended up getting our xlb and noodles from another restaurant but it just wasn't the same.

My go-to Shanghainese restaurant closed down last month. This place felt like home to me, where I can fulfill my Shanghainese stomach, speak my not-so-fluent Shanghai tongue with the Shanghai aunties working there. On their last business day, I had to bring my largest pot to take a huge amount of yee-do-she , in order to properly say goodbye to J&J. I wish you all the best, aunties and uncle. Congratulations on your retirement

My all time favorite place to get xiao long baos. I grew up eating here as a kid and the flavors are super nostalgic to me. I know my review is a lil too late because this place is closing it's doors after 30 plus years. Their last day will be Feb 27th 2022. I will surely miss them.

Called in a to-go order of the crab xiao long bao, pan fried shanghai noodles, and the finless eel noodles. Went in the 20 minute eta and the food was ready. The look of each item was exactly how it appears in the pictures posted online and smelled great! Crab XLB 4/5 the flavor and amount of meat/crab were good. The amount of dough used to make the XLB was thin enough, not too thick. The downside to it was that there wasn't that much soup in each bao. Shanghai Pan Fried Noodles 1/5 it looked good when I opened the box but after digging into it, it was a disappointment. The flavor was nothing like I remembered it to be 15-20 years ago when I ate at the same restaurant. There was a pasty consistency to the sauce which didn't seem right. It was like having a diet version of the dish. Very sad to experience this. Finless Eel Noodle Soup 5/5 the noodles were great, the sauce was savory and enjoyable, the eel was a good texture and flavor. Mix everything together and start eating and enjoyed it! Almost exactly the same as I ate at another Shanginese place.

J&J, or Jing Jiang, is the real deal. I’ve been going here for years… One of the former servers, became the owner.Phenomenal XLB with crab. Stir Fried Glutinous rice cakes. Sheng Jian Bao is great too. Kao Fu. Fantastic Shanghainese cuisine!