You can make an absolute statement like that about authenticity if you’re in the San Gabriel Valley and have a reasonably homogenous clientele (with apologies to the non-Chinese on this board who know their Chinese food, but in recognition of the fact that if you walk into a Sichuan restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley at any point in time, the percentage of non-Asian diners is in the low single digits). As I believe you pointed out several decades ago on the predecessor board, back then opening up something like Din Tai Fung on the Westside would have been foolhardy despite a similar corps of Chinese-knowledgeable Westsiders posting on that board, as that category of such diners were not numerous enough to keep a restaurant in business. Well things have changed, with Mainlander students and other Chinese moving to the Westside, plus the increased sophistication of non-Asian millennials paving the way for the Westside opening of places like Din Tai Fung, Tasty Noodle, Popcorn Chicken and so on. However, the Westside is still the Westside, and while we’ve persuaded native Westsiders to enjoy dumplings, noodles, beef rolls and other modern non-Cantonese dishes, a Sichuan restaurant opening up in Brentwood will still have to rely on a substantial non-Chinese clientele to stay in business. And I don’t think you want to chase them away by turning one of their comfort foods like Kung Pao chicken into an unexpected total numbness.
I hear you. I’m not saying it’s inauthentic or you can’t get a good version at a real Sichuan place. But I’ve definitely had meh Kung Pao from places that served great Sichuan food otherwise and great Kung Pao at places that were not particularly authentic. For me personally, mapo tofu is the test of a Sichuan place. YMMV.
It just seems like an afterthought at real Sichuan places. My understanding was the dish doesn’t have the same popularity for Chinese peeps. For example:
I can’t ever recall your posting about Kung Pao chicken before. What are some of your favorites?
Yes.
And that is why I would not order it on my first visit.
I think - without them knowing me - they would sweeten it up and spice it down (unless I spefically asked them to make it otherwise, which I did not want to do first outing). For me (other than the hot and sour soup) the dishes we got reflect (a small portion) of what we like in good Sichuan and Gu Yi passed the test admirably.
FWIW, the specialty of the night was a whole fish (not on menu) that sunded like the traditional whole fried sweet and sour fish for about 25 bucks. This too may be great, or terrible, there but not something I would want to try on a first visit sussing out “authentic” Sichuan near me. The menu is definately a hodgepodge and, as I said, about to change.
And Brentwood along San Vicente is still Brentwood on San Vicente. Which is to say, even the westside is not monothilic and completely homogenous in terms of taste and preference.
BTW, has anyone been to California Wok recently? I’d kill for something like Tasty Noodle in that location b/c it’s w/i super easy walking distance…
How funny. Mapo tofu, for me, is mom opening a package of spices from 99 Ranch and making a very watery dish (which I still liked). 
Sichuan Boiled Beef (水煮牛肉)
Beer Braised Duck (啤酒鴨)
Ants climbing a tree (蚂蚁上树)
Saliva chicken (四川口水雞)
Sour and spicy potato noodles ( 酸辣粉)
Hahaha me too! Except for me, it was the watery Korean-Chinese version. That and jajangmyeon were like comfort food growing up. I remember the first time I tried authentic Chinese mapo tofu and Zhajangmian – the flavors were such a revelation. I guess I’m forever chasing that dragon. 
Oops, I meant your favorite versions of Kung Pao chicken. But I think I’ll start a new thread rather than threadjack Bob’s post.
Stopped by Guyi the other day for some takeout and can confirm they are serving real Sichuan food with lots of Sichuan peppercorn.
We ordered Mapo Tofu and Popcorn Chicken (Laziji). The Mapo Tofu was a little disappointing tbh. The sauce was thinner than I like and without pork. Even so, I would rank this version ahead of Northen Cafe and Qin’s on the strength of the peppercorns. Meizhou Dongpo’s Mapo Tofu is still the best you can get on the Westside imo.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8gZjCY74Xynwv5eU2
Laziji was pretty darn good. The peppercorns were nicely toasted in the wok and provided a slight crunch along with the chicken. My main complaint with this dish was the price. The portion was generous but at $19 I was expecting more. The same dish costs the same at Meizhou Dongpo but comes with two containers of food.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AwPgeh89fFf3HIwQ2
One thing I wish they’d done with both dishes was use a combination of ground and whole peppercorns. (They seem to use only whole.) As I say, however, they did not skimp on the spice. It may have helped that I ordered the Laziji by name and emphasized how happy I was to have authentic Sichuan on the westside.
Is it SGV good? Not quite. But if you crave the coppery, numbing taste of Sichuan peppercorn, Guyi will definitely scratch the itch.
Stopped by Gu Yi and this looks like the real deal. Can’t imagine them surviving in that space for long, though. Regular menu is uncompromisingly authentic BUT they do have a secret lunch menu with Americanized favorites such as General Tso’s Chicken, and I think Kung Pao Chicken. It’s a secret menu because they keep it behind the counter and appear to only have two copies available. Ironic when compared to all of the Americanized Chinese restaurants that have secret authentic Chinese menus. Could only try the marinated dry fried tofu, which was the same as you get in the SGV at double the price.
How did you like Chengdu House? What did you order, and would you visit again? tia
Actually I don’t have an opinion yet. The separate Sichuan menu looks good, though. I was running tight for a funeral so I just grabbed something I could munch on in the car, chicken dumplings, which were OK. However I was a little surprised to see that there were no Chinese customers in the restaurant.
Got some food delivery from here via postmates. Ordered the pig intestine with veggies, fried squid (asked for extra chile), tripe in chile oil, and layer eggplant. It was all fairly good.
The pig intestine was numbing if you ate without a break. The veggies gave it a nice crunch and texture. The intestine was nicely cooked, though I wouldn’t have minded it it was a tad softer. I was hoping it would be more like the intestine I had at Fey in Menlo Park, but not that good. Still, I would get this again.
The squid didn’t have much chile at all, but it was well fried and we finished it off!
The tripe was served cold. Even my husband liked it, and he’s not a huge tripe fan. Definitely would get again.
The eggplant was exactly like the one I get at my local Thai resto that delivers. It was good, meaty, and a tad on the sweet side.
Very average meal last night.
Downhill already I would say.
And they are abandoning the thoughts of a beer/wine lic.
The “Popcorn” Chicken was all white meat and dry as hell - with little-to-know sichuan numb taste taste.
Vinegar potatoes had almost zero vinegar flavor.
Fried Spicy Shell- on shrimp were quite good.
Water boiled fish was a B minus.
… and on the heels of this news, Hop Woo (Cantonese bastion on Olympic & Sepulveda) is now doing pretty damn good Sichuan! There’s a new Sichaun section of the menu there.
And yes, I was wary at first about a Cantonese place suddenly “adding” Sichuan to its repertoire, but damn if the ma la isn’t kickin’, and the water boiled fish be on par with SGV preparations…
What does hop woo have ma la wise ?
Skeptical about gu yi
“Lamb on Toothpicks” is from the Toothpicks Provence.
What are the three dishes below it (all in characters)?
Why do restaurants do that? So many ramen places and Chinese places do the bait and switch. Also, there’s the whole name change thing that @chandavkl is always writing about.
Don’t these place want to be successful? It seems so corrupt.
- Exquisite taste brains
- Brains with mapo tofu
- Kung pao (spicy) kidneys
(Yeah baby. Spongiform encephalopathy, here we come…)
I had the Lazi ji chicken @ Gu Yi about 3 weeks ago. I thought the frying technique was actually fairly strong, but it definitely could’ve used a lot more szechuan peppercorn. Using them whole rather than ground probably didn’t help, though. Sad to hear about the downhill slide.
To celebrate my move to the westside (along with my roommates), we stopped by Hop Woo for dinner after I saw this. My dining mates inexplicably got Walnut Shrimp and General Tao’s (Tzo’s?) chicken, which thankfully were still prepared with better technique than you usually get for such things. BBQ pork (appetizer) was depressing - limp and vaguely chewy.
Lazi ji chicken was decent - much stronger on the spice and numbness, but a bit inconsistent with the frying. Some pieces were a bit too soft. Not sure if it was a temperature issue - they were a bit oily but probably not as much as you’d expect if that was the problem.
Still, this is far better for scratching that itch than Gu Yi (and cheaper too). Will try the water boiled fish next time.
Got delivery from here again. That cold tripe is definitely a winner!!
Got the intestine without the veggies, wanting to see if it was a different cooking method used for the intestine. No, it’s the same. This time, the intestine was more tender, which is great, but the dish is better with the vegetables.
Got some blurry lamb dish that my husband ate and liked. I don’t think I tried it.
This was pork knuckle served cold. I was hugely disappointed to find out it was boneless. I think I meant to save it for quesadillas but then forgot we had it.
Am very happy that this place is close by and delivers!