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Archive for mapo tofu

Szechuan Impression West

Dec01

Restaurant: Sichuan Impression

Location: 11057 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 444-7171

Date: October 10 and November 6 & 30th and December 17 & 19, 2018 and Jan 9 & 30 and April 21, 2019 and July 16, 2019

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: SGV on the Westside

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I’ve been waiting all summer for Sichuan Impression — one of my favorite SGV haunts — westside branch to open up and so it was that Yarom, Keong, and I descended on them at 11am opening day! Plus returned twice a month later for more updates.
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They took up residence in the old Jin Jiang which I used to eat at all the time in the old Flektor days. Right above Hamasaku. Only problem with this location is the lousy parking (the lot’s always full).
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The interior is newly redone — except the icky bathrooms.
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Crowded on a Friday night.
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There is some patio space too. Never see that at Chinese!
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The menu is posh.
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Yarom with the chef from Chengdu and the owner Kelly (on the right).
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For my 11/6/18 lunch Liz brought this perfect light (low alcohol) Riesling. 2016 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Spätlese Faß 23. VM 93. This “two-star” auction lot is more northerly in fruit personality than the corresponding Fass 7, prominently featuring grapefruit and white peach laced with fresh lime and garlanded in apple blossom and honeysuckle. The lusciously fruited palate is buoyant, glossy and subtly creamy, but at the same time almost electrocharged in its expression of brightly juicy citrus. The vibrantly sustained finish gains mouthwatering appeal from a suffusion of mineral salts and invigorates with an impingement of grapefruit zest, peach fuzz and stone.
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Juicy Steamed Chicken in Chili Sauce (10/10/18). This classic cold appetizer was excellent here. Not absolutely perfect. The sauce was great, but the chicken maybe could have been slightly better. But still very strong.
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Impressive Bean Jelly (10/10/18). Green bean jelly, crushed peanuts, scallion. This actually was impressive. First of all, it’s cut in Chengdu street style instead of the longer noodles (which I also like). It’s cold, with the jello-like texture and the awesome tangy/spicy chili sauce. 10 out of 10 for this fabulous dish.

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On our second and third visit (11/6/18 & 11/30/18) the dish was cut more like noodles. I actually preferred the slab version slightly although it was still great.
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Bamboo shoots in chili sauce (1/30/19). This is a simple dish, possibly just steamed bamboo shoots with chili oil on top, but I liked it a lot. Nice crunch. Some real heat — and kinda healthy!
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On 2/10/19 a version of the bamboo shoots with sauce on the side.
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Cold Noodles (11/30/18). This is the worst dish I’ve had here. Cold, chewy, an not much flavor.
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Szechuan French Fries (11/30/18). A little soggy but great flavor.
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Eggs and tomatoes (2/10/19). A Chinese home classic.
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Wonton’s in chili oil (11/6/18). Could have used a bit more chili oil, but the wontons were delicious. I just dipped it in the noodle sauce.
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Impressive Sausages (4/21/19). Very good cold Chinese Sausages. Spicy and Sweet and Salty at the same time.

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Shredded Pork with Garlic (11/6/18). Cold bacon-like pork with garlic and cilantro. I was actually expecting the pork in fish sauce but this was a great dish too. Not as hot as at Gu Yi.
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Twice Cooked Pork (7/16/19). An excellent example of the classic Szechuan Dish. Tender meat, lots of salty/pork flavor, offset by the big strips of green onion.
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Steamed Pork with Rice Flour (10/10/18). Marbled pork, pumpkin, scallion. I’ve never had this dish before. The meat was very fatty and very soft and had a moist texture from the rice flour — not to mention an interesting almost almond-like taste. Quite comforting and nice, if a touch “weird” to American standards.
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MaPo Tofu (10/10/18). 10 out of 10 version of this classic dish. Salty, but not too salty, with lots of mala.

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Everything hot pot (11/30/18). This had tripe, spam, shrimp, veggies, and some kind of scary dark organ meat. It was delicious though, particularly the spam.
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Fish filet with green chilies (11/30/18). Really nice version of this dish. Thick soft fish and lots of green heat. Very delicate and flavorful.
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Fish filet in golden sour soup (11/30/18). Photo is after it was mostly eaten. Awesome fish dish. The soft fish complemented perfectly with the mild tangy soup/sauce.
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Tea Smoked Pork Rib (10/10/18 & 11/30/18). Pork rib, dry chili, scallion, minced peanuts. This was a moderately contentious dish in the group, but I loved it as always. The meat is super tender, melt from the bone, with a dry and nutty heat.
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Sweet and Sour Shrimp (10/10/18). Super garlicky, spicy, tangy. Really like this dish too.

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Sizzling chicken with chilies (11/6/18). Nice version of this dish. Not as heavy on the peppers and aromatics but I liked the celery (coated in chili bits).

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Pig trotters (11/30/18). Chewy, but lots and lots of flavor.
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Kung Pao Chicken (11/30/18). Fabulous. Very much Chengdu style with the heat, sweetness, and tangy quality.
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Kung Pao Shrimp (12/19/18). Not only did it have the same goodness (and lots of ginger) but there were tons of succulent shrimp!
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Griddle Style Shrimp (11/30/18). Really nice flavor.
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Frog hot pot (11/30/18). Not our favorite. The frog meat was good, if boney but it was a bit overcooked and the sauce more flat.
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Ginger Rabbit (4/21/19). Rabbit was meaty and had minimal bone for rabbit. The sauce had a nice ginger flavor and was HOT — very hot for mortals.
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Spicy Hot Free Range Chicken (1/9/19). This dish was one of the hottest dishes I’ve had here, with a searing green/red almost Hunan style heat. Nice flavor and a lot of good garlicky burn.
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Griddle Cooked Squid (4/21/19). Great griddle cooked flavor. Hot but not too hot. Nice chewy squid. Crunchy vegetables. Excellent dish.
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Cumin mutton (11/6/18). Super tender. Awesome version of this Szechuan classic.

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Mustard Greens (11/30/18). Really delicious. Crunchy with lots of garlic.
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Lettuce (11/30/18). Also very good.
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Crunchy veggies and egg with tomato (11/30/18). Boring stuff for vegetarians.
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Rice cake with syrup and peanut dust (11/30/18). Interesting gooey/chewy texture and pleasant flavor. Mild though like most Chinese desserts.
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Natural Bubblegum Gelato made by me for @sweetmilkgelato (11/30/18) — turns out you can simulate bubblegum with a bunch of fruits and vanilla! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #bubblegum #weirdflavors #natural
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Pina Colada Sorbetto — just like the cocktail with Thai coconut milk, pineapple, a touch of lime and dark rum — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato (11/30/18) — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #PinaColada #CocktailIceCream #pineapple #coconut #lime #rum

Service was nice but very slightly confused as this was the opening hour for the entire restaurant. The owner Kelly was super nice. They have one of their chefs in from Chengdu for the opening, and the food was extremely tight, extremely authentic, and as good as the SGV branch. He will head home at some point, and so it will be interesting to see where it goes. The menu is big and interesting with all sorts of non-American favorites like intestines and kidneys and rabbit. Yum!

Super excited to have this on the westside — and they have a liquor license too so we will be coming back for a wine dinner in November.

I have heard that the lines are quite bad at dinner time and the staff hasn’t totally figured out how to service the demand yet — but they seem committed to figuring it out. I’m happy it’s busy too because that means it will do better and last longer! Because this is real Szechuan food (or as close as we come in America).

My second lunch on 11/6/18 was medium crowded. They took a bit of time to take our order but it came fast and everything was still delicious. It maybe was 5% less on point than the first time, probably because the Chengdu chef returned home, but it was still really really solid and about the same as the SGV version.

Third dinner on 11/30/18 was very good. A few dishes were off like the cold noodles but most were great. They had a bit of a tough time (although they tried) with the complex two table ordering and were bringing things out a bit fast. But they also had the best bus boy ever!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

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Papa Limor 83rd bday!7U1A2414
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High acid, fruit hiding a bit, but very nice.
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Tasted like a pinot. VERY fruit forward.
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Great with the spice.
IMG_1443Nice and dry.

Related posts:

  1. Cui Hua Lou – Szechuan Shed
  2. GuYi — Szechuan in Brentwood?
  3. Eating Chengdu – Szechuan
  4. Hop Woo is Hop New
  5. Szechuan Everywhere
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, chili, Chinese Food, Gelato, hedonists, mala, mapo tofu, opening day, Sichuan, Sichuan Impression, Skylar, spicy, Szechuan Impression, West LA

Eating Chengdu – Szechuan

Sep26

Restaurant: ? in Chengdu

Location: ? in Chengdu

Date: August 5, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Solid Szechuan, but not the best we had

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After our day baking in the 100deg heat at Leshan it was late enough that we didn’t have time to go back to the hotel before dinner — Chinese restaurants all closing quite early.
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So instead we headed to another of Chengdu’s many lovely restored alley streets for more crowds and dinner.
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Again, if any of my Chinese reading friends can translate this name so I know where we ate, I’d be grateful.
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Cute interior.
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More beer to sooth the heat.
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Plain noodles for my son.
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Plain noodle soup for another kid wary of the red.
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A Szechuan pupu platter of sorts — or a selection of (mostly) cold plates.
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Spicy vegetable.
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Smoked beef or ham, again like pastrami.

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Spicy beef. I get this cold dish all the time in LA and love it.
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Another (delicious) kind of spicy vegetable.

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Mysterious sauce.
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Mung bean noodle with spicy sauce. One of two variants. I think this one was hot.

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Cold Mung bean noodle with tangy/spicy sauce. I love this one.
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Sweet rice cake. One of those weird chewy-sweet Chinese desserts.
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A single hot wonton.

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Two slightly less lonely non-spicy wontons.
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Baby dan dan mein.

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A few random dim sum.
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Mapo tofu. How could we not order it again? This one was saltier, not as spicy, and with less depth than the one we had our first night in Chengdu. It was fine, but not nearly as good.
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Rice for the mapo.
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Pork belly with preserved vegetables. I really enjoyed this dish. Rich fatty meat offset by the salty/funky vegetables underneath.

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Weird spongy mushrooms and bock choy. Not bad for a vegetable.
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Cabbage and lotus seeds in egg yolk sauce. Pretty good actually. This is a combo I’ve only had once, at Duck House in the form of a crab, egg yolk, and cabbage dish.
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Crispy beef with crispy rice and a whole lotta-chilies. I loved this dish. The beef was nice and chewy with a delightful hot aromatic quality. Not actually that spicy.
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Fresh flounder in chili oil. Lots of oil. Lots of chilies. Lots of bones. But tasty.
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Pan fried rice cakes with Szechuan peppercorns. The peppercorns were a surprise to the kids who otherwise wanted the rice cakes. Gave it a bit of a tingle!
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Sesame eyeballs. Gooey rice with sesame inside. Actually one of the best Chinese desserts.

Overall, this place was solid. Flavors weren’t as complex as at Chen Mapo Tofu but we had some interesting dishes and they were quite good.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

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Afterward we took a walk done the large and deserted alley — not, it was the usual Chinese mob scene.
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There was all sorts of street snacks, and pretty much only traditional Chinese snacks like these mooncakes and jellies.
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Fruit with dry ice.
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More ear cleaning.
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And even panda dumplings!

Related posts:

  1. Eating Chengdu – Chen Mapo Tofu
  2. Eating Chengdu – Fiery Hot Pot
  3. Eating Chengdu – Alley Noodles
  4. Chengdu Taste – Power of the Peppercorn
  5. GuYi — Szechuan in Brentwood?
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chengdu, China Cuisine, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, mapo tofu, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan cuisine

Eating Chengdu – Chen Mapo Tofu

Sep14

Restaurant: Chen Mapo Tofu

Location: 197 W Yulong St, LuoMaShi, Qingyang Qu, Chengdu Shi, Sichuan Sheng, China, 610000. +86 28 8675 4512

Date: August 3, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Most balanced Szechuan I’ve had

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Being an obsessive lover of Szechuan food I’ve been wanting to go to Chengdu for years.
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It’s really quite a neat city with both modern…
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And “antique” buildings — something you don’t see as much of in many Chinese towns. It also has A LOT of crowds having grown in the last 20 years from about 3 million to over 16 million people!
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For our first night we arrived late from the train and rushed around the corner from our hotel to this recommended classic Szechuan place named Chen Mapo Tofu. The downstairs part looked hipped and was MOBBED. The guy at the front barely talked to us but basically told us that there were more people waiting than were going to eat tonight so he sent us upstairs to their less crowded area — we think.
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The upstairs was through this portal.
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And here is the menu.
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I took a picture of the first page of the huge menu. Wish I had the patience to photo 20 pages, but alas I did not.
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Signature mapo tofu. I’ve had a lot of “pocked marked old lady face tofu” and even make it myself. This might have been the best I’ve had, certain was great. Look at all that Szechuan peppercorn on top for the extra numb effect — love it!
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We had to get some rice, of course, for the quintessential combo.
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Mapo over rice.
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Had to try some Kung Pao Chicken at the source. Really nice. Not too spicy, but with a complex savory/sour kind of flavor that was really good and much more lively than the bland American versions.
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Tofu and mushrooms. Very nice mild yellow broth type of tofu. The chewier more fried kind.
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Clams and chicken with chiles. The chicken had all the bones, beak, feet etc. Very tasty sauce though with all the pepper. I really enjoyed this dish.
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Fresh whole fish boiled with chilies. Really nice version of this Szechuan classic soaked in chili oil and oozing with peppercorns and chilies. The only problem was all the bones.
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Greens.

Overall, this was a great meal, best we had in Chengdu. I’ll have to go back because I know the city has so much good stuff to offer. I really enjoyed the complex spicy, numb, tangy, sour flavors.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

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The face of a (bamboo eating) angel

Related posts:

  1. Pockmarked Old Lady Tofu
  2. Chengdu Taste – Power of the Peppercorn
  3. Quick Eats: Tofu Ya
  4. Tofu with a Seoul
  5. Eating Beijing – Xiao Long Pu
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chen Mapo Tofu, Chengdu, Chinese Food, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, mapo tofu, Sichuan, Szechuan cuisine

Hop Woo is Hop New

Jul11

Restaurant: Hop Woo

Location: 11110 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (310) 575-3668

Date: May 30, June 3 & July 25, 2018 and January 6, 2022

Cuisine: American and Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Surprisingly excellent Szechuan!

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Incredible as it sounds, just a few days after hitting up new Brentwood Szechuan GuYi Erick and I explore another new westside Szechuan. Plus, this is a composite posts with returns on my own and a Hedonist visit.
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This time disguised as venerable American Chinese Hop Woo, which has been serving a big menu of Cantonese inspired classics for years — but it turns out they have a new Szechuan chef and a secret Szechuan menu!

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The space is vintage LA Chinese.


At night, it’s packed with us Hedonists taking up 3 tables!
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Here is the special Szechuan menu. You have to ask for it. Some of the more challenging items they didn’t even bother to translate!
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The big regular menu has a few gems too, but everything here from my first two visits is from the Szechuan menu.
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Cold Szechuan Noodles (June 2018). Not even on the Szechuan menu, but they can make them. Basically nice wheat noodles with a tangy/spicy Szechuan chili oil sauce.
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You mix them up and they are quite addictive. But the third time I had them (7/25/18) they were different, heavier, not as much chili, and not nearly as good.
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Toothpick lamb (June & July 2018). The classic cumin rubbed lamb nibblettes. Quite nice.
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Griddle cooked Bullfrog (June 2018). Very nice sauce and flavor. Mind the little kermit bones.
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Griddle cooked lamb (June 2018). Somewhere between a griddle and a cumin lamb.
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Garlic Shredded Pork (June 2018). Big dish, full of flavor, and nice texture.
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MaPo Tofu (June & July 2018). Really a 9 or 10 out of 10 version of this favorite of mine. Tons of mala (numbing Szechuan peppercorn), you can see it dusted on top. Eaten over rice this is just so good. I have had this every-time I have been.
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Hop Woo Signature Fresh Rock Fish with Hot and Spicy Flavor (June & July 2018). A very nice white fish smothered in delicious chilies (and chili oil). Some good vegetables like lotus leaf are hiding in there too. Could use more veggies though.

Slightly spicy fried calamari (7/25/18). Not bad. Very fried.

Cold chicken in chili oil (7/25/18). Delicious dish of boneless white meat (and skin) with a tangy spicy Szechuan chili oil.

We liked the sauce so much we ordered some Hainan chicken (boiled chicken, ordered 7/25/18) to dump into the extra sauce. Tasted the same but had bones.

It came with this bagna caulda (aka garlic oil).

Spicy lobster (7/25/18). Salty and full of flavor. Excellent lobster actually, if perhaps very slightly over done.

Garlic greens (7/25/18). Typical greens and garlic.

Shrimp with chilies (7/25/18). This is normally chicken with chilies, but we got it with shrimp. Basically salt and pepper shrimp (you eat them whole) with dry aromatic chiles. Pretty good.

Cauliflower with bacon (7/25/18). Awesome dish. Nice crunch to the vegetables and made 10x better with the soft pancetta like ham/bacon.

Panda Express Fried Sesame Pork Balls (7/25/18). Someone wanted a “white guy dish” and this fit the bill perfectly. Tasty enough, but REALLY fried.

Fish filets with green peppers (7/25/18). A savory mix of regular green chilies (Jalepenos or Serranos) and Szechuan peppercorns. Nice flavor and burn and numb.

Braised eggplant (7/25/18). This might be their take on “fish flavor eggplant.” Hard to tell, but it was tender and had lots of garlic. Not that spicy.

Below is a return post pandemic 1/6/22 meal:

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Cold chicken with chili sauce (1/6/22). Great sauce. Chciken itself was a little big on the tendon factor.
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Garlic cucumbers (1/6/22). Pretty good.
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Jellyfish (1/6/22). A bit chewy.
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Honey Walnut Shrimp (1/6/22). Very tasty. Not the best ever version of this dish, but quite good.
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Sichuan Garlic Scallops (1/6/22). A bit sweet and cloying.
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Clams with garlic and scallions (1/6/22). Not bad, but not amazing either. Not so much clam meat.
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Whole fish with Rattan Pepper (1/6/22). Awesome broth. Fish was very tender. Lots of numbing. Bones, yes, but delicious. DOTN.
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“Peking Duck” (1/6/22). Not bad, but huge chunks of Southern Chinese style roast duck.
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Thin sweet hoisin.
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Salt and Pepper Pork Chops (1/6/22). Very salty, but quite tasty.
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Mooshu Pork (1/6/22). Extremely mushy and not very good.

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Mexican Tortillas instead of real spring pancakes. Not kidding, just el patio.

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Orange Beef (1/6/22). Super sweet and fried. Kinda delicious in a dessert sort of wait.
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Cumin lamb (1/6/22). Pretty decent.

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Fried Rice Cake with Brown Sugar (June 2018). The owner gave these to us on the house. Very interesting Chinese dessert, all about the texture as usual. Chewy inside and dusty sweet on the outside.

Mandorla Tostata Stroopwafel Gelato (Toasted Almond) made by me for Sweet Milk Gelato (7/25/18) — toasted Sicilian almonds and Dutch Stroopwafel, because, why not?
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Classic oranges and Fortune Cookies.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Szechuan items. It’s not a huge menu of them, and they aren’t quite Szechuan Impression or anything, but a few of these dishes, like the MaPo Tofu and the fish were absolutely first rate. Nice balance of tangy, hot, and numbing. It’s great to have a few real Szechuan choices on the westside!

Given my repeat and must larger visit with a lot of dishes I actually think the Szechuan here is on par with a second tier SGV Szechuan like Lucky Noodle King or maybe Spicy City. Some dishes better, some worse. It’s not the BEST Szechuan in the city by any means, but it’s the real deal and surprisingly very good for Westside. The even have really legit dishes like MaPo tofu with pig brains!

On our 1/6/22 visit a certain spice hater forced us to order about 3/4 from the regular menu. It was pretty consistent that almost everything from the regular (Chinese American) menu was very mediocre while stuff from the Szechuan menu was pretty good.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Random wines, only a few of the ones we brought:









Related posts:

  1. GuYi — Szechuan in Brentwood?
  2. Cui Hua Lou – Szechuan Shed
  3. Hunan Mao
  4. Huolala Hot
  5. Hip Hot
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Gelato, Hop Woo, mapo tofu, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan, Szechuan Chinese

Lao (Hipster) Sze Chuan

Feb29

Restaurant: Lao Sze Chuan

Location: 152 S Brand Blvd. Glendale, CA 91204. Phone number (818) 552-8888

Date: February 28, 2016

Cuisine: Szechuan

Rating: A little Americanized

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Regular Hedonist Chevy has been trying to get us to go to this new “hipster Szechuan” in Glendale since it opened.

Lao Sze Chuan is from China by way of Chicago, but this branch is located across the street from the Americana mall in Glendale.

It’s not as “home style” in decor as the SGV joints.

And the menu is a mixture of Szechuan and other more generic popular Chinese dishes.

Chevy in the house.

We had a great private room that was sealed off, large, and quiet.

2009 Ariston Aspasie Champagne Brut Millésimé. Bitter citrus carries through to a slightly austere finish.

Cold garlic cucumber. Normal enough version of this Chinese classic starter.

From my cellar: 2011 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault. VM 90. The 2011 Meursault is quite beautiful, even if it shows some tightness from its recent bottling. White peach, pear and spice notes all wrap around an energetic frame. I very much like the way the 2011 opens up in the glass. The Comtes Lafon Meursault is now a blend of various parcels, mostly Clos de la Baronne, En la Barre, Luraules and Crotos.

Shanghai Style Jellyfish with mustard. Not a lot of flavor.

2011 Greenlip Wine Sauvignon Blanc. 84 points. Some petrol, but not a particularly good wine. Way too light to stand up to Szechuan too.

Cold Spicy Beef Tendon. Nice dish. Good Szechuan chili oil flavor and a bit of peppercorn numb.

1995 Schloss Schönborn Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Spätlese. 93 points. Beautiful golden color, nose incredibly fresh, elderflower, ripe peach, slate, no oxidation. Depth of flavor with high acid, fresh with long lean finish. Could not believe Michael Jordon was playing baseball when these grapes were harvested… it’s holding up well.

Dan Dan Noodles. Of the “chili oil” variant.

Mixed up. Noodles themselves were over-cooked but the flavor was good, with a little mala. Not as nutty as I like.

From my cellar: 2004 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese. GV 92. #1; COLOR-nice golden; NOSE-burnt BMX tires meets peaches, apricots & pears; spritzy; TASTE-beautiful bluestone; gorgeous dried Apricots; viscous & oily; gorgeous peach juice; very polished; great, great wine; very delicate; nice floral aspects; subtle cactus juice & on the finish; a concoction of Cantaloupe & dandelion dancing on the back-end; very complex; great balance of acidity & fruit; great structure; absolute elegance at it’s finest; DS-92; GV-92

Numb Taste Wontons. Not as much flavor as these should have.

Spicy Cabbage. Great dish with a lot of mala from the excellent house chili oil and a nice bit of crunch.

Lao Sze House Fried Rice. A bit of everything. Solid. Not too fried.

Crispy Shrimp with lemon sauce. White guy Chinese, but still nice and tasty. Guilty pleasure.

Same dish with sauce on the side — not nearly as good.
 1995 Bieche Vouvray. Sweet and tangy. Pretty good, and a good pairing.

Eggplant with garlic. Decent, although I’ve had much better versions of this dish.

Tea Smoked Duck. Pretty good. Looks like Peking duck but this had a smoked flavor. Not as characteristic as the best versions I’ve had, but good.
 Ma Po Tofu. They said there was even no pork in this version, which is odd. It had the correct chili oil mala flavor, although it wasn’t super spicy. The chili oil here is pretty good.

2012 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. VM 93. Opaque ruby. Potent, mineral-laced raspberry and cherry aromas are complicated by suave floral and spice qualities, picking up white pepper and cola accents with air. Seamless, round and sweet on the palate, offering intense red berry preserve and floral pastille flavors with a touch of allspice. Finishes sappy and precise, with velvety tannins and a late jolt of cherry compote.

House Spicy Beef. Fried to oblivion, but very tasty.

2008 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape. VM 91. Bright ruby. A heady bouquet displays fresh red berries, sandalwood, dried flowers and a hint of baking spices. Creamy in texture, with lively acidity lifting sweet red and dark berry and candied rose flavors. Becomes sappier with air and finishes with very good clarity and lingering spiciness. Avril thinks this wine will surprise people with its ability to age.

Lao Sze special pork chop. A really tasty sparerib covered in Szechuan goodness.

Szechuan Style Boiled Fish. Drowned in Szechuan sauce. Fish itself was a little mushy.

White rice.

Mixed Hunan Style Vegetables. Mediocre. And not too Hunan.

Combination Chow Mein. Fried noodles with everything. Tasty enough.

Szechuan Chili Hot Pot with lamb. Good stuff with a nice chili oil and cumin flavor and crispy vegetables. Good amount of mala numbing here too.

Cumin lamb. Soft lamb. High quality meat, so not a bad version of this classic.

Shrimp Lo Mein. Not too exciting.

Szechuan String Beans. I’ve certainly had better versions of this dish, but I’ve had far worse.

Various ice creams. Green Tea, Plum, Strawberry, Lychee, and Black Sesame. I loved the three fruit flavors. Nice texture.
 And the plum was insanely good, with a fabulous finish.

Overall, Lao Sze Chuan beat my expectations slightly. It is Szechuan, but it’s not seriously hard core about it. Food-wise, I’d say they are middle of the pack as SGV Szechuan restaurants go. The ingredients were pretty fresh, and the meat better than many SGV places. The location is good too, and there is some decor to the build out. Prices are reasonable. Service was great too, better than you’d likely get at a more authentic spot. Very nice servers and they did a great job staging stuff. They didn’t charge us corkage and even gave us a regular discount (as Chevy lives across the street and goes all the time)! A+ for effort.

Now somehow, mysteriously, Lao Sze Chuan has been voted “one of the best Chinese restaurants in America.” Or at least it garnered a real reputation in Chicago. This isn’t hard to imagine as real Szechuan is probably nonexistent in Chicago. Here it’s just fine. Good even if you live in Glendale and don’t want to drive down to the SGV. For me, since Glendale is actually slightly further (in terms of driving time) than the SGV, I’d only go if meeting friends.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Chuan’s – Back for more Burn
  2. Hip Hot
  3. Pockmarked Old Lady Tofu
  4. Lucky Noodle King is the Dan Dan Emperor
  5. White Guys Can Cook Noodles
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dan Dan Mein, Lao Sze Chuan, mapo tofu, Sichuan, Szechuan cuisine

Pockmarked Old Lady Tofu

Jan18

The same shopping trip that picked up ingredients for my homemade Dan Dan Mein led me to make my other favorite Szechuan dish, Mapo tofu. This fragrant and spicy dish translates roughly as “pockmarked old lady tofu”, possibly due to its “unattractive” appearance.

Again I used a hardcore online recipe as my base.

Like most Szechuan dishes, it involves a lot of chilies. Above some Chinese dried chilies.

I made this into chili oil by taking peanut oil and frying the chilies. For whatever reason, it didn’t get very red. It tasted chili-enough. Maybe I needed some chili flakes.

And, of course, Mapo wouldn’t be real Mapo without Szechuan Peppercorns, about to be lightly mashed. These incredibly aromatic bits of vegetation provide the “mala” (numbing spiciness) that is so characteristic of this dish.

I fry them up here in oil.
 Meanwhile chopping garlic and ginger.
 Add in the garlic.
 Add in the ginger.
 Then I used ground lamb as my meat, since I can’t use pork.
 Mixed in to brown.
 Szechuan hot bean paste is a key salty ingredient to this dish. This is a mix of fermented broad beans, soy beans, salt, and various spices.

Mix that in.

Then some (Kosher) chicken broth.

Adds a little liquid to the sauce.

Which we proceed to thicken up with that age old thickener, corn starch.

Mixed with water.

And added to the dish.

Then that whole pot of chili oil went in. Woah! This is one oily suspension (it always is at a good Szechuan restaurant).

Silken tofu is another key ingredient, here cut by me into cubes.

In it goes, this isn’t the most complicated of preps really.

And on top a bit of scallion.

Cook for just a touch longer and serve.
 This isn’t the loveliest dish, and mine was uncharacteristically tan instead of red — despite packing a pretty serious hot and numbing punch — but it tasted pretty dead on like a nice Szechuan restaurant version. The lamb was a good addition too, adding a “spicy” heft as opposed to the pork. Really delicious stuff which got the forehead sweating!

Related posts:

  1. Tofu with a Seoul
  2. Quick Eats: Tofu Ya
  3. Hip Hot
  4. White Guys Can Cook Noodles
  5. Spicy City!
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: mapo tofu, Scallion, Sichuan, Soy sauce, Soybean, Szechuan cuisine

Hip Hot

Sep14

Restaurant: Hip Hot

Location: 500 N Atlantic Blvd #149, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 782-7711

Date: July 23, 2015 & January 28, 2016

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Updated awesomeness

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I love my Szechuan. This pepper-fueled branch of Chinese is all about flavor — and it’s certainly hot right now (and all the time). Hence the name of the restaurant.

The Atlantic Blvd interior is updated and reasonably modern.

The tables have glass tops and cool dioramas inside! Each one is different.


The menus.

Watermelon juice. Comes in it’s own “evil genius” watermelon!
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Another cold Szechuan drink, the super yummy smoked plum juice.
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Mung bean noodle with chilies. Love this dish as it has a tangy/hot quality to it.

Cold chicken noodles. These lovely noodles have chili oil and bits of chicken. Cold, a bit spicy, and very pleasant.

Dan Dan Mein. One of my favorite dishes. You mix it up.

This version was very tasty, with lots of pork, but it didn’t have the characteristic nutty/peanut paste richness that I really love, or much Szechuan peppercorn numbing.

Ma Po Tofu. One of my other favorite dishes. This version was excellent, with a nice numb factor, good texture, and lots of chili oil.

Sliced fish boiled with chilies. Another Szechuan classic. The fish was a little thick, but there was plenty of spice to the broth.

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Chongking boiled fish. Might even be the same dish on a different day. Seemed to have different vegetables in it though and less crushed pepper.
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Cauliflower with pork belly hot pot. Rather yummy. Nice crunch to the vegetables and fatty pork goodness.

Spicy chicken. Fried chicken bits tossed with aromatic peppers. Nice salty spicy version of this dish.

Lamb chops. This was a stunner. Really, really good dish with tender lamb chops and delicious spice mixture on top.

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Mutton stew with buns and potatoes. You were supposed to eat the mutton in the buns. The meat was super “gamey.” The lamb cops were better. The combo was interesting, but the little rib bones in the meat made eating it like a sandwich a bit of a challenge.


Crab with chilies. The crab itself was tasty but a bit hard to get into. I loved the mixture below of potatoes, peanuts, rice cakes and the like. When the potatoes had soaked up the chili oil and peppers. Yum!

Taro toast (on left) and rice cakes (right). The taro was mild but had a nice texture like a taro stuffed spring roll. The right was a bit chewy and inaccessible.

Hip Hot is good. The style and plating are updated a lot from the likes of Lucky Noodle King and a little bit above Spicy City. The ingredients were good. The menu isn’t as big as Spicy City, but what they did serve us was very good. I wish the Dan Dan was just a bit nuttier. It’s fairly similar to Chuan’s in being a bit more modern, but I think Chuan’s is a bit better.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Spicy City!
  2. Posh Spice
  3. Chengdu Taste – Power of the Peppercorn
  4. Silk Road Journeys – Shaanxi Gourmet
  5. Palace of Pepper
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Dan Dan Mein, Foodie Club, hip hot, mapo tofu, Sichuan, Szechuan Chinese

Lucky Noodle King is the Dan Dan Emperor

May13

Restaurant: Lucky Noodle King

Location: 534 E Valley Blvd #10, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 573-5668

Date: March 11 & May 6, 2015

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Amazing Dan Dan

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I had a craving for Chinese noodles so strong I drove 60 miles round trip by myself for them! Well, not just for any noodles, but for what Jonathan Gold describes as “the best Dan Dan in LA.”


Located in the same mini-mall as Hunan Chili King, the location isn’t much to look at.


Although I find this kind of “authentic” SGV homey and comfortable. Oh, and see those dishes on the wall? That’s about a quarter of the “decorations.” We ordered by saying, “bring us the wall.” (i.e. every pictured dish)!

Everyone gets this starter, spicy pickled cabbage with peanuts. You might say, ick, but it was actually delicious. There was Szechuan peppercorn in there and it had this delight interplay of crunch and numbing spice.



NV Camille Savès Champagne Brut Grand Cru Rosé. Burghound 93. Savès typically makes a relatively deeply colored rosé by the standards of the genre and this latest version is no exception. The cool and distinctly pinot nose also reflects notes of various red berry fruit aromas though notes of yeast are discernible. The delicious, intense and very crisp flavors are underpinned by a fine effervescence that is perfect for the mouth feel of a rosé that is actually much more vinous than most examples, in particular because there is a wonderfully savory quality to the long finish that practically begs for another sip. Lovely stuff that could be enjoyed now or aged, though it is so good presently that I doubt that a case would make it much past a year or so in my cellar


Pork potstickers. Fairly typical versions.

2003 Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spätlese. 90 points. Some spritz in the initial glass — nose of honey and peach with some sulfur. very nice palate — medium acidity — not quite enough, but almost there. honeydew melon with a sprinkle of sugar, other melon flavors, tropical fruit, peach, and red apple. i really liked the taste of this, even if the nose wasn’t anything special. shortish finish leaves you wanting another sip — at 8% alcohol.

Numb taste wontons. Nice soft pork wontons coated in…

Chili oil. There was some Szechuan peppercorn action here.

2007 Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese. JG 93. 85 grams per liter residual sugar. Haart reports that the grapes were picked two weeks after the Kabinett and showed higher-than-average must weight. Fine petrol and mineral aromas open into a dazzling purity of concentrated stone fruit and green-gage plum, with notes of earth and mushroom appearing on the long, refined finish.

Beef, beef tendons, tofu. This cold dish was dominated by chile and cilantro.

Stir fried shredded pork with dried bean curd. I thought I’d like this dish, and I was right. A slightly sweet savory pork with that stiff tofu, night textural counter point. Even the crunch of the celery and the chew of the greens went nicely.

2003 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Auslese. 90 points. The best parcel of Schlossberg was harvested November 19 in a single pass as an experiment in block picking, which was standard practice until recent times. “We gambled and we were lucky,” says Selbach. The varied condition of the bunches-“without any skimming or homogenization,” in the winemaker’s words-is directly mirrored in the wine’s complexity, with fresh tropical fruit and citrus notes; spiced, baked and dried orchard fruits; and honey-drenched, ennobled white raisins all taking a turn in the spotlight. That said, the overall impression, without lacking elegance, is certainly fatter and softer than the norm here this year, which may of course say as much about the lateness of the picking as it does about its comprehensiveness. The texture is also uniquely doughy, with a lovely, subtle chewiness. Potential 2 stars.

Pork intestine with pickled pepper. A spicy mix of pig guts and whatnot. The sauce was pretty good and the chitlins had this earthy flavor — not my thing.

From my cellar: 2000 Trimbach Pinot Gris Sélection de Grains Nobles. VM 93-95. Bright medium gold. Superripe aromas of apricot jam, exotic spices, honey and tobacco; just misses the clarity of the best SGN bottlings from this producer. Very dense but not hugely unctuous thanks to firm, perfectly integrated acidity. Sappy, vibrant and very long on the aftertaste.

Ma-Po Tofu. I always order this when I can. This was a nice version. Not the best I’ve ever had, but darn good. I could just have used a bit more numbing (like Chengdu — well, that’s more than a bit more numbing). And there was a good amount of SMG (probably), or at least salt. But it got my head sweating a bit.

Dan dan noodles. This is what the trip was all about. Soft noodles, lots of meat, peanuts, some peanut or sesame goop, mustard, green onions, and chili oil.


You mix it up into this incredibly savory porridge of meat, spice, and carbs. It’s super addictive, tasting just ok on the first bite and getting better and better as you work through the bowl.

Noodles with meat soy sauce. Sort of Szechuan spaghetti Bolognese. Not spicy, but rich and tasty.

Mixed up.

ChongQing sour & Spicy cold noodles. These classic mung bean noodles are covered in a tangy spicy sauce with both chile and numbing heat. Yum.

2011 Domaine Joseph Roty Marsannay. Burghound 87. A mildly toasty nose of red currant and dark pinot fruit gives way to energetic and quite fresh middle weight flavors that possess acceptably good depth on the moderately long, clean, cool and balanced finish where a bit of oak toast surfaces. This is both slightly rustic and austere though there is very solid length.

ChongQuing Spicy Chicken. Very fried chicken with aromatic peppers. This was some fabulous fried chicken — very fried — with a nice delicate pepper flavor.

Have some peppers!

2009 Gaston & Pierre Ravaut Ladoix 1er Cru Les Basses Mourotttes. I’ve never even heard of this appelation — or if I did I forgot it.

Cumin lamb. The traditional wet form of this dish. Hot with a lot of cumin.

Stir fried pork belly with vegetables. Bacon and greens?

2011 Cameron Pinot Noir Arley’s Leap. 90 points. Clear, light ruby color. Bold spice elements (tobacco, black pepper, oregano, pickled peppers) accenting the bright cranberry and red plum fruit, hints of light roast coffee. Bright acid makes this refreshing to drink, fine-grain tannins help as well. The red plum, cranberry and red cherry fruit is crunchy and fresh, gliding across the palate. This wine has a whole lot of pickling spices and mineral notes working for it, and it’s hitting all the right spots. Cool, clean, complex yet elegant. Ready to drink now but the stuffing for some near-term aging is here. From the highest vines in the Abbey Ridge Vineyard, this is a stunner for my palate.

Not sure what meat this was, beef or pork. It had a lot of flavor though and was fairly mild.

Crazy flavor in savory spiced eel. I admit, I wanted to order this dish — but I regretted it. Not only was it spicy and VERY oily, but it had this fishy flavor that made me nervous.

2009 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard. VM 93-97. Inky purple. Alban’s 2009 Syrah Reva is drop-dead gorgeous. Sumptuous, layered and absolutely impeccable, the 2009 boasts stunning depth and richness but it is never overdone or excessively heavy. Today, the aromas and flavors remain intensely primary, so readers will have to be patient. Still, the Reva is simply thrilling, pretty much as it always has been from barrel. As compelling as Alban’s higher-end Syrahs are, in 2009 I prefer the Reva, as it is the most polished, impeccable and balanced wine in the range. It will be interesting to follow the development of these wines over the next few years.

Twice cooked pork. This was some tough old pig. Very “gamey” and not in a great way.

Fish filet w/ spicy sauce. The sauce was excellent with a lot of numbing peppercorn.

Braised Beef noodles. Like a Pho basically. Quite nice.

Tomato & Fried egg noodles. Different, and not bad at all.

Contrary to internet complaints, the service was excellent. But for me, the single lady was extremely nice and friendly — and the food came out fast and hot. They were extremely on top of it (by SGV standards).

Lucky Noodle King is a homestyle place, and some of the dishes are great. Most of the noodle dishes (particularly the Dan Dan), the fried chicken, etc. Some of the dishes were fine, like the cumin beef, or the Ma Po tofu. However, their meat quality isn’t the highest, so there was a gamey factor with a bunch of dishes and they are heavy handed with the chili oil. Not that I mind the spice, but the ill feeling after Szechuan is directly related to the amount of chili oil consumed.

For most dishes, Spicy City and several other places are a bit better.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lucky Ducky
  2. Hedonists Noodle over Hoy-Ka
  3. More Awesome Dimsum – King Hua
  4. Chengdu Taste – Power of the Peppercorn
  5. Serious Szechuan
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asian cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Dan Dan Mein, Dan Dan Noodles, hedonists, mapo tofu, Sichuan, Szechuan cuisine, Szechuan Pepper

Palace of Pepper

Dec29

Restaurant: Chuan Ren Bai Wei

Location: 6420 Rosemead Blvd. San Gabriel, CA 91775. (626) 286-5508

Date: December 28, 2014 & June 16, 2015

Cuisine: Beijing / Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Great!

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Just six months ago I ate in this same space, but it was a different Chinese restaurant at the time, Beijing Duck House. Now, due to the rising popularity of Szechuan cuisine it has been rebooted. It still looks the same. It still serves Peking Duck. But there’s a lot more pepper on the menu.


2012 Gérard Boulay Sancerre La Comtesse Monts Damnés. IWC 93. Bright yellow. Spicy aromas of tangerine, lemongrass and cardamom, with a subtle floral twist. Tightly wound, offering citrus and spice flavors, with excellent clarity and finesse. The tenacious finish is long, saline and pure. This is one of the finest Sancerres of the vintage.


Boiled peanuts. On the table at most real Chinese restaurants.


Cold appetizers. Shredded potato. Cured spicy meats and cabbage. Beef tendon.

Water. The mason jar is one little tidbit of trend that has crept into this otherwise fairly old school SGV place.

2005 Gérard Raphet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques. Burghound 91-93. A gorgeous and seductive mix of red pinot, raspberry, cool minerality and a touch of earth complements to perfection the full, rich, deep, serious and intense flavors that manage to pull off being powerful and concentrated yet supple and delicious without compromising in the slightest the balance, which is not easy to do. A really lovely 1er that offers grand cru quality.

They have a real duck carver.

Peking duck. This was one of the better peking duck’s we’ve had. Maybe not quite so good as Tasty Duck, but the meat was fabulous. The skin could have been a tad crispier, but the hoison sauce was top notch.

On our second visit the duck came in this cute duck plate.

Awesome hoisin sauce.


Pancakes and condiments.

Leftover skin is for some reason placed on a separate plate.

2011 Louis Jadot Meursault Les Narvaux. 90 points. Nice strong vanilla notes.

The second of the “3 ways” for Peking duck is the duck soup.

Duck soup. A mild but pleasant broth with bits of meat and tofu.


Duck lettuce cups. The third of the ways. Not really that exciting.


House pancake. A nice fluffy bit of fresh bread with a little sweetness.

2004 Newton Chardonnay Unfiltered. 90 points. Well integrated with pear and apple notes and overtones of oak and vanilla, but not cloyingly so… Great body, mouthfeel and smooth finish.


Bean noodles. This is mixed up and the mung bean noodles are coated in a peanuty/spicy/tangy sauce. The sauce was awesome, with a bit of a mustard component. The tofu had a spongy texture, but the dish was overall quite nice.

Pork fried rice.

It’s evil cousin, chicken fried rice.

Spicy and sour glass noodles. I love this dish, with it’s heat, both hot and numbing, and strange vinegar tang. Not for the mild mannered or uninitiated.


You can see the noodles here. And the pepper!


2013 Errazuriz Chardonnay Wild Ferment Aconcagua Costa. 90 points. On the nose, a bit of young Burgundy-like tar on the nose in addition to some lively tropical fruit. Rich fruit on the palate, along with the aforementioned tar in the background. Nice acidic foil that is approachable now but should contribute to aging this a bit. Very approachable and enjoyable now, but I suspect better and more integrated in 2+ years.


Sweet corn. Pretty much what it looks like.


Cumin lamb. A really nice version of this dish. A lot of good lamb flavor.

Sizzling beef. Isn’t the animal-shaped dish cute?

2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentürmchen Spätlese. 91 points. Ripe apples, nectarine and slight tinned peach aromas dominating. A slight struck flint quality and also some creamy notes. In the mouth the flavours of ripe, but slightly tart, red apple is to the fore – on this tasting the acidity is a little spiky for the residual sugar but it really is very good. Fresh and lovely, I think this wine has a long life ahead of it.


Whole fish in peppers. The last part of the name is true. There wasn’t so much fish, even if the pan was huge.


But there sure were a lot of peppers, peanuts, lotus root, garlic and the like. The sauce was actually pretty darn good (and hot).

Fish with two chilies. Under that mound of tangy chili sauce (in green and red) is another fish. It was pretty darn good.

1998 Nikolaihof Riesling Federspiel Steinriesler. 93 points. Light on its feet, pure, focused with bright citrus and pear fruit, a stony mineral undercurrent, and gentle floral and high toned herbal accents. Seamless and very polished on the palate.


Kung Pao Chicken. This slightly unusual take on the classic was hot AND sweet. Very interesting, and delicious!


Spicy chicken. This classic triple fried dry woked chicken was amazing. It was hot in both ways, and full of intense fried flavor. Very salty.


Have a few peppers!

Sweet and sour spareribs. Bony, very fried, and quite tasty.

2005 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots. Burghound 88-91. Strong wood influence currently dominates the dark berry and black raspberry-infused nose that precedes the somewhat woody medium weight flavors that are round and sweet with fine depth and complexity but the wood is not subtle and it causes me to question whether it will cause the finish to eventually dry out?


Spicy noodles. Kind of a pepper noodle soup with bacon.

Dan dan mein. Tasty, but way way too soup to really be proper dan dan. The sauce on the mung bean noodles was closer.

2011 Faiveley Monthélie Les Champs-Fulliot. IWC 89-91. Good bright red. Vibrant aromas of cherry and pungent minerals convey a strong limestone character. Then sappy and serious on the palate, richer and deeper but less open than the Duresses. Finishes with big, rich tannins and noteworthy persistence. Very suave and structured Monthelie with good mid-term aging potential.


Shredded potato. The more or less typical Hunan / Szechuan version of this dish.


Vegetable dry hot pot. Mostly cauliflower. Nice spicy flavor. Similar to the dish (and only dish) served at Tasty Dining.


More peppers! Perhaps you sense a theme.


2007 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. Parker 97. Evolving beautifully, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de La Reine des Bois has shed some of its crazy tannin and is showing a more layered, voluptuous profile. Possessing beautiful kirsch, blackberry, candied licorice, flowers and lavender, it offers knockout richness and decadence to go with brilliant purity of fruit, superb concentration, and a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel. While I don’t think it matches the ’01 or ’10, it’s an incredible bottle of wine that can be consumed anytime over the coming 10-15 years.


Lamb skewers. Nice cumin flavor.


MaPo tofu. One of my favorites in general. This was a fine rendition. Not the best I’ve ever had, but certainly still had that nice soft texture and gradual heat.


2010 DeRose Zinfandel Dryfarmed Old Vines Cedolini Vineyard.


Dumplings. Very nice straight up steamed potstickers. No sauce was in evidence, so we made due with Hoisin.


Kung Pao shrimp. Same sauce as the chicken above. Fabulous dish actually, even if not totally typical (with that spicy sweet vibe).


Fish filet boiled with green peppers. I couldn’t resist photoing this at a neighboring table. This is a Szechuan classic, with more of an emphasis on the numbing peppercorns (see them floating in the broth?).


Mixed Szechwan skewers. Little random bits in hot sauce.


Morning glory / Ong choy. Or some similar colon sweeper.

Overall, another highly enjoyable Chinese meal. The duck was on par with Tasty Duck and the other dishes were arguably better. This place was good before, and it’s even better now. Really, this was some very enjoyable food. A number of dishes were off the charts like the “spicy chicken.”

It should be noted that service was very good. On our second visit, our server Lulu did a fabulous job handling our “chaos.” She helped out with the ordering, managed the pacing well (not always the case at Chinese) and along with the other staff really were on point replacing plates, providing napkins, and the like. At one point when I was hunting for toothpicks she even went and brought some on a plate!

After all that heat we felt the need to cool off with a pair of massive shave ices:

Mango shaved ice with almond jelly, mango jelly, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream.


Strawberry shaved ice with almond jelly, vanilla ice cream, and honey boba.


Rose tea.

Then finished off with a nice foot massage next door. Ah, the SGV.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Chengdu Taste – Power of the Peppercorn
  2. Spice Up Your Life Szechuan Style
  3. Century City Heat
  4. Revenge of the Han Dynasty
  5. Serious Szechuan
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Chuan Ren Bai Wei, hedonists, Hoisin sauce, mapo tofu, Peking Duck, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan Chinese, Wine
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