Eater LA's 10 Essential Cantonese Restaurants in LA

Yeah I would not agree that Chui chow food is Cantonese. Even though it’s in the Guangdong region the food is very dissimilar. I think you’re mixing in the geographic region which isn’t super relevant as Chui chow ppl speak a totally different language/dialect from Cantonese ppl.

Yeah I’m wrong it refers only to Guangzhou my bad.

Go ahead eat up your young FTC

Do the young taste like the Newport lobster? If so, I’m in!

The lord of light demands a sacrifice

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sadly, this disqualifies JKB for the role of secret azn man. the application has been rejected. true secret asian men labor in stealth.

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I wish Cantonese food references or mentions could go far beyond roasties, dim sum, and Hong Kong cafe fare, of which these are prevalent in SoCal.

Chaosan cuisine came out of China but the people scattered outside and settled in different parts of the world. Even if you just limit it to SE Asia and HK the variations and local adaptations are drastically different. That Trieu Chau Vietnamese Chinese version of marinated duck leg is going to be a far cry from “lo sui” marinated duck at Seafood Palace. You’ll find Chiu Chow high end Cantonese serving shark fin at some banquet style places in HK (they do refer to it as Chiu Chow style shark fin soup at these establishments) and cold large crabs fetching silly money, or perhaps that signature orange squid at the marinated blue collar deli shop in Kowloon, but not so much in other parts. But even with that said, Chiu Chow cuisine in Hong Kong is considered part of the flavors of Hong Kong, as much as Hakka Cantonese. Just like Fujian and Hakka immigrants and the cultures and thus food have on the cuisine of Taiwan.

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True since they’re semi-prominent in HK but the locals do specifically refer them as Chiu Chow cuisine.

Chiu Chow, Hakka and traditional Cantonese have all influenced each other over the years, especially in Hong Kong where the diaspora traveled to. There are certain dishes which have entered the common table in Cantonese cuisine such as steamed pork belly over preserved mustard greens (muy choy kau yuk) which is traditionally a Hakka dish, might as well be a Cantonese one as well seeing how commonly its found on Cantonese tables.

For simplicity sake I think Chiu Chow cuisine to be under the umbrella of Cantonese in the American context is fine since they share so much shared history, geography, and inter-family connections. To ask the general American media public to discern between them I believe is asking too much. It’s already a struggle to get them to comprehend how vast and complex Chinese cuisine is as a whole. Maybe we’ll get there one day but considering how long it took regional Italian to become a thing I’m not expecting anything soon.

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Overall, a really great list! Thanks @euno! It’s great to see some more SGV coverage, even though I live on the West side. I only wish West LA had anything decent…

Nailed my feelings about Sea Harbour. Very pricey, but one of the few places that at dinnertime, reminds me of the nicer restaurants in HK. Plus you can have made-to-order dim sum at dinner too.

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True. And I’d argue that it’s only kind of barely a thing. Everyone is gonna hit me hard with the exceptions to the rule, but the vast majority of Americans and even the vast majority of people who take food very seriously have any inkling of regional cooking of Italy.

So the dining public writ large is just not going to get a lot of the distinctions between the cooking traditions you mention. That reality should not stop us on FTC from hashing things out, though. I know I learn a TON just reading the back and forth from those in the know.

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Oh we def should discuss the differences and nuances here, that’s what made the difference between the old school Chowhounders and Yelp Eliters. People that care to know the actually details of the food they consume. But Eater LA doesn’t cater to use and doesn’t have to be as label specific as we can be here.

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