SIX TASTE
EAT YOUR WAY THROUGH L.A. ONE NEIGHBORHOOD AT A TIME

There’s no better way to really appreciate your city than by knowing the best off-beat places to truly chow down, and Six Taste, founded a year ago this August, offers guided tours throughout Los Angeles County, including Little Tokyo, Thai Town, Arcadia, Downtown’s Financial District, and San Gabriel Valley, bringing you closer to the heart of L.A. one meal at a time.

The notion behind Six Taste, offering 11 tours every weekend to more than 125 people introducing them to local restaurants and international cuisines, is that there have always been four classic tastes: bitter, salty, sweet, and sour; and a relatively new discovered taste: savory, also known as umami. By taking the food tour, the hope is that collectively the group may discover a “sixth taste.”

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Opting for the pork-heavy guided New Chinatown Tour in San Gabriel Valley, I was looking forward to dim sum and BBQ galore. For those in the know, tourists and curious locals have overrun Chinatown, so San Gabriel Valley is now considered the new Chinatown of the Greater Los Angeles area. This community has grown and now hosts a number of restaurants and ethnic eateries that serve its local Chinese population well. San Gabriel Valley is armed with clusters of delicious Cantonese cuisine and Six Taste will happily guide you through a tasty food tour offering an introduction to local dishes and fresh Chinese pastries, as well as an interesting Dim Sum 101 lesson.

Offered Saturdays and Sundays at 9:30AM, this all-inclusive $55-per-person tour includes five stops, including dim sum at New Capital Seafood, an assortment of BBQ at Sam Woo Barbeque, fresh pastry from Kee Wah Bakery, buns and more from Happy Kitchen, and a delicious Chinese dessert at Tasty.

Guided by Michael Lin, an outgoing and gregarious local Arcadia youth that also guides the Taiwanese Dumpling food tour from his very own backyard, be prepared for a 3-hour walking tour filled with loads of delicious treats.

Known as the ‘Chinese Beverly Hills,’ San Gabriel Valley offers a cornucopia of wonderful and outrageous culinary delights so it’s great to have an expert, especially an entertaining one, show you around.

Our first stop was the vibrant New Capital Seafood, already packed by 9:30AM. Our dim sum tasting, via Lazy Susan, included a lesson in the social aspect of “dim sum” which actually translates to ‘go get tea,’ as well as delicious dishes such as Shrimp Har Gow. Pork Siu Mai, BBQ Pork Buns, Xiang Sui Gok, Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf, and BBQ Pork Rice Noodle. All dishes are pre-selected by Six Taste, whom also reserves a table for the group in advance, so it was a nice gesture when our guide ordered an extra dish of Chicken Feet after someone on the tour brought it up. Nice touch.

Then it was time for some tasty BBQ at neighboring Sam Woo Barbeque, as well as a sweet Pineapple Cake, a traditional Chinese dessert, that I opted to save for later, at Kee Wah Bakery.

A definite tour highlight was a stop at local mom-and-pop Happy Kitchen that features Northern China Cuisine such as the hearty handmade pork and shrimp dumplings, as well as tea-smoked chicken, and a great beef wrap. We were even treated to a quick, impromptu handmade dumpling lesson by the owner herself.

And dessert at nearby Tasty, a light mango and coconut cocktail with sticky rice, a perfect summer choice, was a wonderful way to top off our food-fest.

With plenty of food, you won’t feel like you’re about to burst but your definitely satiated for the rest of the afternoon. I know I’m already looking forward to my next guided tour…bring it on!

Advance purchase is required on all tours. Click here to get information, check tour schedules or buy tickets. Use Code DINENCLUB6 for a 10% discount on any Six Taste tour. Need more info, email info@sixtaste.com or call 888-313-0936.

http://www.sixtaste.com