WHY For the little-known Muslim fare of Xinjiang, China’s autonomous far western region. WHAT The food at this homey café, a mesh of Chinese elements and central Asian nomad cooking, likely bears little resemblance to anything you’ve eaten in L.A. Sure, Xinjiang lamb kebabs are well known, but owner Munire Omar brings out zhuafan, a [...]
January 27, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Chinatown restaurants can seem all too similar, but JR stands out for hot pots, lobster specials and well-prepared standards. ; WHAT The same owners’ JR Restaurant was one of the westside’s top Chinese restaurants, and faithful customers will find many of the same favorites at this slightly slicker updated spot with white tablecloths, beer [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For golden-crusted north Chinese pastries, flaky flatbreads, meat pies, stuffed buns and dumplings. WHAT Probably the first xian bing (meat pie) place in SoCal, this tiny café makes irresistible versions, filled with beef, lamb or veggie mixtures—like leeks with egg or wild mushrooms. Don’t miss the multi-layered homeland meat pie—filled with juicy seasoned beef, [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Our vote for the best Hunanese cooking in Southern California. WHAT A chile-emphatic menu offers carefully cooked Hunan dishes without the usual vats of oil. The toss-fried lamb, glowing like an electric-powered Christmas tree, is a powder keg of a dish lit up with a quartet of chile styles: fresh diced, dried whole, flaked [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY A place for chileheads to give their palate a thrill ride. WHAT Light years beyond kung pao, the Sichuan fare at this nicely designed little storefront is the winning contender for capsicum artistry in a city filled with peppery stir fries and incendiary noodles. The fresh fish hot pot has a fan club, but [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY To spice up your seafood restaurant list. WHAT The Hunan province may be inland, but the restaurant’s name isn’t an oxymoron. The vast Dong Ting Lake and Yangtze River tributaries supply fish, shrimp, frogs and turtle, all of which are on the menu at this modern chrome-and-glass spot. Also here is Chairman Mao’s favorite [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For the delicious thrill of expanding your pasta connoisseurship. WHAT The house specialties, three northern Chinese noodle styles, open a window onto the earliest forms of noodle: dao xiao mian, absorbent ribbon-like noodles that are cleaver-shaved from a stiff dough roll resembling a yule log; cat’s ears, little dumpling-like blobs; and dumpling knots, spaetzle-like [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Addictive tabletop-grilled skewers that blur the boundary between Korean and Chinese cooking. WHAT Feng Mao is a hybrid, its kitchen preparing the Korean-Chinese cuisine of China’s Jilin province. Accordingly, you’re as likely to spot platters of the Korean blood sausage soondae here as you are bowls of mapo tofu. But the fusion is at [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY The best dim sum in town, and a superb Cantonese dinner menu, too. WHAT The San Gabriel Valley’s reigning dim sum house eschews the rolling carts in favor of a large menu of beautiful dumplings and small dishes: deep-fried peanut and sesame cake, flawless sui mai, Macau roasted pork, Macau egg custard pies and [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Among the best Hunanese food in the San Gabriel Valley. WHAT There’s considerable talent behind the stoves at this plain but spiffy café next to the San Gabriel Hilton. The dishes showcase a multiplicity of chile types and styles: dried to an almost black-red or sun-bleached; whole or crushed into flakes; soft and almost [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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