Chung King was on Garfield. And then the original restaurant moved to San Gabriel while somebody else carried on using the same name and menu.
While I donāt disagree with you that Chengdu Taste was not the first perhaps we can draw a demarcation between Szechwan and Sichuan - the latter being where places like Chengdu Taste come in, and the former being the province of restaurants like Chung King.
Now, Iām not saying thereās a difference in the geographical reference point for Szechwan versus Sichuan, just that the transition from the former to the latter in Western dialect and lexicon certainly represents two distinct phases of the cuisine.
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Hmmmā¦I donāt think the gap between Chung King at its best (in the first 4 or 5 years) and Chengdu Taste etc. is quite so stark as itās being made out here. Again, Chengdu Taste and Sichuan Impression are much better restaurants but itās not like the scene went from shitty to excellent. It went from goodāand sometimes very goodāto very good and excellent. There are things we ate at Chung King that are pretty close to the versions at the later restaurants (the classic Sichuan dishes); and there are some special dishes we ate there (kabocha stuffed with spiced ground pork comes to mind) that are not even available at the newer places.
As for objecting to crazy spicy and oily and salty dishes, that could describe a large number of things on Chengdu Tasteās menu as well.
Also, though I keep mistyping it as Sichuan Impression, the restaurantās actual name is Szechuan Impressionā¦
No. Chung King was pretty awful.
People waxed poetic about it back then because expectations were so much lower back then.
People who were familiar with Sichuan cuisine were never enamored with Chung King. It was crude, and basic.
Loving the thread drift from kevinās current sushi article to how awful szechwan was back in the day.
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Ok.
Yeah, shouldnāt a mod split that part off into a more appropriate thread? 
I would agree - LAās Sichuan 2.0 is certainly better, but not exponentially so.
And - if the lineage described by Jonathan Gold is correct Review: Jonathan Gold enters Nothingness and finds somethingness ā namely, Thunderbolt frog and BBQ potato - some variation of the original Chung King folks are cooking at nothingness, where I dined last night for the first time, and loved it.
Best Dan Dan mein flavor profile I have had since a China trip (noodles were slightly mushy though). Absolutely soaring with Chongqing flavors.
Excellent Dishes:
Luhe fish (ādelicious cubed fillets in a green chile sauce with pickled mustard greensā),
BBQ potatoes (cumin-y as fuck),
delicately sauteed Pea Sprouts (greener than the green hornet),
Cumin beef
Crispy Fried Pork with dried chili (Gold thought it was dry but we loved it).
Nothing super spicy but no holding back on the Sichuan peppercorn for a lovely lip-tingling New Years Day meal.
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Yeah I tend of think of Chungking as the most notable pre-Chengdu Taste Sichuan restaurant in SGV
Ok, Iād still prefer this discussion, good as it is, be split off, but Iāll attempt to wade in here, though thereās a lot to unpack and it will take a bit and a few posts to cover it all.
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That is not a lineage JGold is describing, but a location. The chef cooking at Nothingness is the chef from Huo La La, which replaced the last of several versions of Chung King at that location on Garfield. The only connection to the original Chung King is the building at that location once housed it.
The touted chef from Chung King wound up at a restaurant in San Diego c. 2009, but Iāve since lost track of him
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Best not to pay attention to things that JGold says when it comes to Chinese food.
Thanks. I should read more carefully. As I recall that space house a Yunnan place once upon a time - but I may be wrong about that too.
Have you tired it, Jim?
I thought it was very very good.
Which part of the above examples? 
The part about the chef from Huo La La being at Nothingness wasnāt JGold intel 
No, that was your intel. Which I trust.
With respect to JGold. Just generally.
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Bob, no I have not. The original Huo La La had its fans and detractors, which is putting it mildly. The opinions seemed really pronounced.
Then again, how different is that than all other restaurants here?
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Thanks ipse. Sometimes there is a bit of miscommunication between my Chinese and their English, which has caused a few embarrassing gaffes, but I truly try. Iām out there, all by myself, working without a net (or translator).
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As to that other restaurant on Garvey, I have no idea, Jim. Sorry. I did ask around. But no intel.
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What I would say finally about Chung King and other Sichuan restaurants in the pre-Chengdu Taste era is this: a number of us ate Sichuan food in the SGV pretty continuously in the years before Chengdu Taste opened. Our first meal at Chengdu Taste made it clear that we were at a more elevated level of Sichuan cooking. But it didnāt make us go: āoh man, everything weād eaten till now was shit and this is just a different universeā. I suspect this is borne out in most peopleās experience. I think for most people there was a continuity and the starkest change was from menus driven by more traditional and rustic preparations to more contemporary dishes and approaches (and better ingredientsāespecially at Szechuan Impression). Again, the new restaurants are markedly better.
It is, of course, entirely possible that we donāt understand Sichuan cuisine at all or enough to evaluate or recognize stark differences but in that case our enthusiasm for Chengdu Taste and Szechuan Impression is also suspect.
(Iām not a big fan of Jonathan Gold either but I donāt think his praise had anything to do with Chung King being crammed full of Chinese diners in the early years.)
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