Opening Alert: Northern Cafe Beverly Center

Sichuan would definitely work today near UCLA due to the large influx of Mainland Chinese students to campus the past 2 to 5 years. That’s why in Westwood Village Koala T converted to a sit down serving Sichuan dishes, and First Szechuan Wok added to its Americanized menu.

All three are putrid, and none make their living selling Sichuan dishes. The majority of clientele that goes to SG – either for dine-in or take-out – are ordering things like wontons, hot/sour soup, soup dumplings, chicken and broccoli, etc. Same with Legend in Chelsea, where people actually go for the mi-fen (or rice noodles), you know the sine qua non of Sichuan dishes? Like how steaks are a staple of pescatarian diets.

The real penetration of Sichuan places in Manhattan (Midtown and points south, towards Chinatown and FiDi) are hot pot places, just like in SoCal. Fucking hot pot places. Good grief.

I think a main reason for the current growing popularity of Sichuan cuisine and, more importantly, flavors is the lifting of the US import ban on Sichuan peppercorns back in 2005.

Not every place can be Hakkasan amiright?

Don’t misunderstand. These aren’t the best Sichuan restaurants in NYC or even Manhattan. Merely places where you can get authentic Sichuan food in the whitest parts of the city. They may well make their living selling other dishes. IIRC, Legend used to be a Vietnamese restaurant and kept that side of the menu in response to their old customers’ demands.

Speaking of which, did you at least try the Dry Spicy Chicken with Ginger and Peanut I recommended there? I find it really hard to believe someone who tasted that dish would find the food “putrid.” At the very least, it’s miles better than anything I’ve ever had on the Westside. I would welcome places at that level whether or not they meet your high standards.

Where in SoCal though? Any on the Westside? West of downtown even? To be clear, I’m not suggesting the Sichuan food is better in NYC overall. My point is more that LA Sichuan outside the SGV is way worse than it should be, even taking the Chinese population into account.

That was certainly a watershed event, but the influx of Sichuan places in Manhattan really started back in the 1990s with Wu Liang Ye and the Grand Sichuan chain. I remember Zhang surprised everyone by opening a Grand Sichuan in Chelsea of all places. Fucking Chelsea! That’s why I say it may take someone like him, with a similar vision, to spark a Sichuan revolution on the Westside.

I had a solid meal here as well, nice addition to the area. The servers were all very friendly and helpful, and at least on the weekend night I went, parking wasn’t too hard to find (unrestricted parking in the surrounding residential area is only a couple blocks away, but Beverly also has plenty of metered spots).

@skramzlife - I believe their “Spicy Pot” entree had the ma la peppercorns in it, and it was quite spicy and aromatic. Kind of a random combo of ingredients though, including bacon of all things. It’s not a great dish in that the ingredients don’t all seem to work together, but it should scratch an itch for ma la.

Also tried several cold dishes, dan dan mian, shrimp/pork/egg/chive dumplings, red oil chaoshou (“pork wonton in spicy sauce”), and braised eggplant in garlic sauce. Favorite dish was the dumplings - thick toothsome skin with savory, even slightly soupy filling. Will definitely try more dumplings next time.

The cold dishes were decently prepared although the wood ear and cucumbers could’ve used a little more vinegary punch. Dan dan mian were pretty good - although on the milder side, the noodles, while thin, had a decent chew to them. The chaoshou were too sweet - never had chaoshou even close to that sweet before, probably the weakest dish. The eggplant was also a bit sweet although the eggplant itself was really well cooked, almost creamy on the inside with the skin still a little crisp.

Haven’t been to the Westwood branch, but for those of that have, is there a similar combination of milder and sweeter flavors overall? I did wonder if those flavors were meant more to cater to their expected clientele in the Beverly area or if they were just testing things out still.

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Fish Dumplings in Westwood Village

what else?
I have had some dry hot pots in China with bacon/pork belly

I would say that’s a pretty good description of the general flavor profile of the dishes I’ve had at the Westwood branch (but I certainly have not tried most of the menu).

There’s a Northern Cafe opening by USC (on Figueroa / 31st)

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It’s about time there’s a Mainland option besides the Chinese food trucks.

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Posted this to the wrong thread but the system isn’t letting me repost it to the right one, so I’ll just leave it here.

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Maybe @ipsedixit or @robert could move it for you?

I don’t think it’s possible to move a post from one thread to another.

Trying to post the same thing to two topics probably triggers the spam filter. You should be able to copy its contents, delete it, and post it to the right thread.

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Ah I guess I’m unfamiliar with dry hot pots - I didn’t get a picture, but if I recall, there was corn, sausage, shrimp, fish balls, calamari, and maybe a couple other things? The bacon stuck out to me because it wasn’t crispy but kind of limp, and it just tasted like regular American bacon. Chinese hams or braised pork belly probably would’ve worked better with everything else.

Moved for you.

You can find the relocated post here.

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Thanks ipse, much appreciated.

Tried that but the spam filter still caught it. Probably didn’t wait long enough, though.

That is a crazy and random selection of hot pot ingredients - like a mashup of a Boiling Crab dish and a hot pot.

@ipsedixit i rode my bike down Figueroa Just to see where it would be and I didn’t even see a vacancy for them to move into.

Note that there doesn’t have to be a vacancy per se–you can buy an existing location. There are real estate and other brokers who deal in restaurant listings, which often contain the caveat not to disturb the existing operations because the employees don’t know the place is for sale.

The sign is already up.

They are on Fig and 28th (I think). Right next to that Panda Express on Fig.

Looks like they’d be open in a week or so.

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