Betcha never seen this one before! Yes, hot Chinese sausages and kiwi! I cracked up after reading this item on the menu, bluntly stated as "Sausage with Kiwi". At first I was very confused, was it a typo? So I ordered it, just for fun. And I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! The sausage, fried till peak popping point, bore a perfectly tight and crisp skin, wrapping the savory sweet juices of the sausage. Paired with cold dices of fresh kiwi, I ate bite after bite trying to figure out if I liked it cause it was odd or because it was just really good. My conclusion? A little of both. The neon green puddle of kiwi syrup doesn't do much other than catching your eye. It's on the thicker side and very sweet, but the color, now that's something. If kiwi isn't strange enough for you, feel free to have your sausages with peaches, chocolate, wasabi and strawberry jam, all at only $1.50 an order. Leaning on the safer side? Sausages with leek, garlic or sate sauce is also available. But really, I think it's worth trying something funky at least once (or a million times in your life :)

As you've probably figure out by this point, SinBaLa specializes in Chinese sausages. Their most basic entree is the SinBaLa Sausage Rice ($4.75) featuring a land mass of rice covered in aforementioned sausages with corn, cabbage and eggs on the side. The "sides" were reminded me of airplane food: lukewarm scrambled eggs in a goopy orange sauce, cold cabbage and a frozen corn, carrot and pea mixture. You're better off ordering a variety of sausages to sample. (Maybe it's just me, but doesn't the food look fake - like the plastic displays found in Japanese restaurants?)

Meg, who's a bit of dumpling nut (and I say this with complements) had the Napa Cabbage & Pork Dumplings ($4.50/10 pieces). I didn't try any, but she finished them all so that must have been a semi good sign. I vaugely heard her mention something about "what the heck kinda dipping sauce this is, so bitter and spicy..." Lesson learned. Stick to sausages with...various toppings. SinBaLa does well what they're known for, but appear to be lost in all other fields.

Also stopped by the supermarket to pick up a box each of black sesame and kinako pocky. The black sesame is my favorite flavor so far, but I haven't tried the kinako yet and god knows I have a habit if eating kinako powder by the (tiny) spoonfuls (if the spoonfuls are too big all the powder busts up right up your nose and chokes your throat).

I just might come back next week...Sausage with Chocolate is calling my name.

SinBaLa
18489 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 581-9885