I love Chinese Food.
Always have. Family legend has it that my parents ate from “Jenny’s Szechuan” constantly while my mother was pregnant. It only snowballed from there. These days, I seek out authentic regional Chinese flavors from Anhui to Szechuan — old fashioned and modern — cheap and expensive — in LA’s San Gabriel and back in China and all over the world.
Looking for more specific Chinese Food coverage? Check out my Ultimate LA Peking Duck Guide.
If for some reason, you can’t live without dairy or are a wok hater, you can always retreat to the main FOOD INDEX on the right sidebar (the knife and fork icon).
LA Chinese Meals / Restaurants
(click links below for detailed photo reviews)
Los Angeles is blessed with one of the best collections of regional and eclectic Chinese food in America. I’d argue THE BEST. This list celebrates that bounty by listing my epic Chinese meals from the last couple of years. Most are located in the San Gabriel Valley (AKA the SGV or 626).
At lot of these dinners are organized through a group known as Yarom and the Hedonists. We meet a couple times a week for serious eating and drinking. It’s a fairly open group and the only conditions are that the food is delicious and that each person brings a great (and appropriate bottle of wine). Most of the time we have 10-20 people and we really take over a restaurant and go to town. It’s all great fun. If this kind of thing appeals to you the Meetup for the group can be found here.
China
Chronicling my Chinese eats at the source — back in China. Currently, these feature a 2 week trip in 2018 hitting Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Guilin, and Shanghai.
Day | Meal | Restaurant | City | Regional Style | Rating |
Day 1 | Dinner | Dadong | Beijing | Peking Duck | !! |
Day 2 | Breakfast | Opposite House Breakfast | Beijing | International | |
Day 2 | Lunch | Xiao Long Pu | Near Wall | Beijing Chinese | |
Day 2 | Dinner | 3.3 Noodles | Beijing | Noodle House | |
Day 3 | Lunch | Xian Lao Man | Beijing | Beijing Dumplings | ! |
Day 3 | Dinner | Country Kitchen | Beijing | Beijing Cuisine | !! |
Day 4 | Dinner | Jia San Soup Pau | Xi’an | Shaaxni Cuisine | ! |
Day 5 | Breakfast | Xi’an Sofitel Breakfast | Xi’an | International | |
Day 5 | Lunch | Unknown | Xi’an | Shaaxni Cuisine | |
Day 5 | Dinner | De Fa Cheng | Xi’an | Chinese Dumpling House | ! |
Day 6 | Dinner | Chen Mapo Tofu | Chengdu | Szechuan Chinese | ! |
Day 7 | Breakfast | Chengdu Ritz Breakfast | Chengdu | International | |
Day 7 | Lunch | Unknown | Chengdu | Szechuan Noodle Shop | |
Day 7 | Dinner | Unknown Hot Pot | Chengdu | Szechuan Hot Pot | |
Day 8 | Lunch | Unknown | Leshan | Szechuan Noodle Shop | |
Day 8 | Dinner | Unknown | Chengdu | Szechuan Chinese | |
Day 9 | Dinner | Chungji | Guilin | Guangzhou Chinese | ! |
Day 10 | Dinner | Amys on the Li | Yangshuo | Guangzhou Chinese | |
Day 11 | Breakfast | Amys on the Li | Yangshuo | Guangzhou Chinese | |
Day 11 | Lunch | Chungji | Guilin | Guangzhou Chinese | ! |
Day 11 | Dinner | Paradise Dynasty | Shanghai | Shanghai Chinese | ! |
Day 12 | Lunch | Shanghai Tang | Shanghai | Shanghai Chinese | !!! |
Day 12 | Dinner | Xinrongji | Shanghai | Shanghai Chinese | !! |
Day 13 | Dinner | Cheng Long Xing Xie WangFu | Shanghai | Shanghai Chinese | !! |
Day 14 | Dinner | Jade Mansion | Shanghai | Shanghai Chinese | ! |
Chinese Diners outside LA or China
China Gourmet (2021) | Philadelphia | Cantonese Chinese |
China Gourmet (2022) | Philadelphia | Cantonese Chinese |
Ding Hao | Adelaide Australia | Chinese |
DJ Kitchen | Philadelphia | Szechuan Chinese |
Feng Nian | San Francisco | Chinese |
Han Dynasty | Philadelphia | Chinese |
Hei La Moon | Boston | Cantonese Dim Sum |
Long Beach Dempsey | Singapore | Singaporean |
Joy Luck Palace | New York | Cantonese Chinese |
Mark’s Duck House | Washington D.C. Area | Cantonese Chinese |
Ping Pong | Washington D.C. Area | Modern Dim Sum |
Q by Peter Chang | Washington D.C. Area | Szechuan Chinese |
Wendy Wuo | Mammoth Lakes | Homemade Hot Pot |
Also, check out my other Foodie Club diners which tend to be more formal/modernist.