Following a tip from @ipsedixit, I made my way to East Garden, a new Cantonese restaurant that opened up in the location most recently occupied by J R Bistro, and originally by Hong Kong cuisine pioneer Kam Wah some 40 years ago. I’m surprised that Cantonese restaurants continue to open up in LA Chinatown, where the vast majority of newly opened Chinese restaurants in other Chinese communities all across the US are non-Cantonese, and LA Chinatown still only has a handful of non-Cantonese Chinese restaurants. East Garden has no apparent connection to any existing restaurant operations, and does differ from the other Cantonese restaurants in Chinatown in a few ways. They have a significant section of Hawaiian BBQ dishes (beef, pork chop, chicken, fish, shrimp, sandwiches), and a couple of fusion-y items such as spicy shrimp in beer sauce. They also have a relatively short (under 150 items) menu. Oh, and the waiter tried to speak to me in Mandarin, which makes me wonder if this is one of those “fake Canto” places that TonyC talks about. Street address is 750 N. Hill St., #F
i put lunasia in that category myself
Went back to East Garden for a more detailed look. Definitely fake Canto (Mrs. Chandavkl tried speaking to the waiter in basic Cantonese, but he immediately disclaimed any ability to speak), but seems to be in the upper tier of Chinatown Cantonese restaurants, which admittedly is a pretty low bar. Japanese tofu with mushrooms was excellent. One of the best versions I can recall.
Honey garlic short ribs was something different from the usual honey garlic pork chops and was quite good.
And what would a Cantonese meal be without a pork roll (suspiciously similar to Taiwanese chicken roll to those who don’t get the joke).
See no point when you got New Fortune right there
at first glance i thought those short ribs had been done with fermented black bean. honey garlic short ribs song intriguing though. garlic with any beef is hard to get wrong. $13.95 seems a bit pricey for that size portion though (if that spoon is the size i think it is).
i see they offer hainan chicken rice.