our tickets for l.a in december have been purchased. we’ll be there for 10 days. on the menu food-wise: sea harbour, a sentimental return to jitlada, mori, probably kiriko for lunch, night + market/song (we’ve never been), aburiya raku (ditto and with prices having risen sharply at kinjiro…). There’ll be some koreatown eating too, as that’s where we’ll be based, as always.
i’m looking for sgv tips: if we only eat 1-2 sichuan meals is there a place you’d recommend over sichuan impression and/or chengdu taste as worth a try? any other regional chinese that’s come up in the last year and a half that you think should not be missed?
and any recommendations for non-high-end sushi of a good quality?
U-Zen in the Westside is respectable middle-tier sushi.
Can’t speak to Sichuan recommendations.
Recommended at Raku: personally, any of the sashimi specials, the chawanmushi, and most of the chicken skewers (I was not a big fan of the meatball but others like it). I hear that the various tendon offerings and grilled fish bellies are also excellent.
If you have a free dinner slot or even a bit of time in the late evening (before 11:30 pm) on a Friday or Saturday night, stop by Here’s Looking at You (in K-Town) for some spicy frog legs and cocktails. They often have a very solid Manhattan iteration.
There are lots of good Sichuan places, but I don’t see why you would choose them over Chengdu Taste and Sichuan Impression. Those are the places I recommend most.
The sashimi moriawase
The sashimi special of the day
Did I mention the sashimi
Grilled salmon or hamachi belly
Tsukune
Pork cheeks
Agedashi tofu
Grilled foie gras
Pig ears
Kanpachi kama
Anything chicken on a stick
Only because we’ve eaten at those fine establishments on more than one occasion and howsoever foolhardy it may be, it’s tempting to branch out from time to time.
Thanks! All doable at lunch as well or only at dinner? I ask because on their website the lunch menu seems highly limited but lunch reports here seem to show pictures of dishes well beyond that menu.
You might try Mian, which is a sister restaurant of Chengdu Taste that focuses on noodles. It’s on Jonathan Gold’s 101 list. I have not been but hope to visit soon.
My go-to for Sichuan when I don’t go to Chengdu Taste and Sichuan Impression is Yun Chuan Garden on Garfield. Although it’s a hybrid Yunnan/Sichuan restaurant, the Sichuan dishes taste authentically Sichuan to me. The biggest thing it has going for it is the wide array of pre-prepared cold dishes, which you can order by sight.
Hope you like Raku. What @PorkyBelly said. But just for fun…
Any of their Housemade Tofu dishes (Raku Chilled Tofu (with Ginger, Herbs), Oyaji Tofu (Chilled with Housemade Takana Pickled Greens (awesome), some heat / spice and other goodness), Agedashi Tofu).
Popeye Salad or Ken2 Salad.
Stewed Pork Belly
Juicy Deep Fried Asajime Chicken
All their Yakitori (Grilled Chicken Skewers).
Note that they use Asajime Chicken, which is dispatched that day. You might notice a (good) distinct poultry, real chicken-y taste (vs. bland, mass produced Chicken we’ve come to think of as “Chicken”).
Tendon Skewer - so good!
Intestine Skewer
Pig Ears
Kamameshi (Off Menu) - Iron Pot Rice with Salmon & Ikura
Sashimi - MUST GET.
Yellowtail Belly Grilled (ask for it)
Niku Jaga (Specials Menu sometimes)
Foie Gras Chawanmushi
Foie Gras Skewer - Grilled over Binchotan Charcoal.
Assuming you’re referring to what also went/goes by the name of Yunkun Garden, it used to be a regular place for us in the pre-Chengdu Taste/Sichuan Impression days. i think our last meal there was this one, four years ago.
And thanks for the reminder re Chengdu Taste’s noodle restaurant.
That restaurant (Yunchuan/Yunkun Garden), now known as Yunnan Restaurant, has always had solid Sichuan fare, which I feel is somewhat underrated. With the caveat that I haven’t been for a while, Shu Feng Garden was also very good too, and also underrated.
What