Cheng du taste - sichuan cuisine
Sea harbour - Cantonese style banquet meal
Hai di lao - fancy hot pot
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Ji Rong…something for everybody.
One of the less expensive Canto’s
Lots of Sichaun/Yunnan/Northern options but ambiance-free - for the most part.
Agree with @CiaoBob - Ji Rong has solid cooking, doesn’t pinch the wallet as much, AND also does a wonderful duck.
Sea Harbour is a tad on the expensive side but also well worth it for the excellence coming from their kitchen.
Hot pot is best done well at home IMHO - I don’t consider the genre befitting a special occasion. My peeps go there when they don’t feel like chopping things up. #HotTakeIKnow
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I agree hot pot is best done at home the only sad part is I don’t have a duo pot for mala and regular soup.
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I agree with hotpot, especially with 10 people… i would end up doing all the “cooking” and none of hte eating. same with KBBQ. I do love the mini pots, ala Tasty Pot!
I saw Ji Rong. What about that versus Duck House? Any recent comparisons?
carl
Wait, an instant pot can be used for shabu shabu???
WHY I AM ONLY LEARNING ABOUT THIS NOW???
Joydeem Multifunctional Electric Hot Pot with Divider JD-DHG5A,Shabu Shabu Hot Pot,Double Flavor Non-Stick Hot Pot,Temperature Control,Large Capacity 5L for 6~8 people,1500W,White https://a.co/d/gtigrVZ
This is what @hungryhungryhippos was referring to.
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OHHHHHH. There’s a model of Instant Pot that is/was called “Duo,” so that’s where I got mixed up.
Okay, carry on. 
I’m not sure about prices, but Mei Zhou Dong Po is a great choice for groups. I recall that they have private or semi-private rooms, but the regular tables probably fit ten people. The interior is nicer than Bistro Na’s and Jiang Nan Spring IMO. We think the food is good, not great, but our native Chinese friends like it a lot. There’s nothing not to like about the food; it just all feels a little too safe.
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We like Sea Harbour – I would happily eat their geoduck sashimi every day for the rest of my life – but it is much more expensive than Bistro Na’s, I believe, if you order the best (live) stuff. In my opinion, it does not offer good QPR. For what it’s worth, a friend from Guangdong said he prefers Henry’s to Sea Harbour. I would choose Sea Harbour personally.
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Y’all really need to go to the better kbbq joints for special occasions. Having someone else do the cooking (if you are normally the one doing the cooking) is a game changer.
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LOL, I can’t afford high end KBBQ any more. I have 11 and 14 yo boys who consume beef like they drink water on a hot day… For the same reason, we no longer go to tapas, yakitori or dimsum with them and reserve those meals for our date nights
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this is a bit outside the box, & you’d probably want to contact them in advance and have them put some tables together (and they’re closed sun-mon) but you might like babita. they’re in the michelin guidebook.
Babita Mexicuisine – San Gabriel - a MICHELIN Guide Restaurant
but it won’t be cheap.
+1 Ji rong
Wow!
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We ended up at Duck House. It’s an unassuming looking restartaurant on the outside, like you’d expect it to be dingy inside. But it’s clean and well maintained, which was a plus. Food was great. Love the way they so diligently separate and crisp the skin with a mound of tender duck in the middle. The wraps are excellent - stretchy, delicate but just thick enough to not rip when stuffed full. Also had the eel sticky rice, which was pricy but the kids loved it.
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If you want to continue your San Gabriel theme, you may want to consider Shanglander Palace Arcadia’s banquet menu for next year. The least expensive basic version is what I recommend. The higher cost banquet menus will include lobster fruit salad, sashimi, steamed fish which are not strictly Shanganese.
Ah, yes, good call! My in-laws live across the street practially from Shanghailander Palace so we’ve done a few holiday dinners there over the years. Have always had a top notch meal! The other place we do a lot of, which is perhaps not as nice interior, is Momo Bistro for superbly executed Taiwanese cuisine and became our go-to after Fusion went downhill.
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Taiwanese is not my fav (but my dad likes it a lot) and this place is a wee bit far from my parents, but maybe I can convince them to try it. What do you like from there?
I absolutely love their chicken and clam soup. Their san bei dishes are very well executed. My kids love their fried taro dessert. BBQ Eel Rice - more “sticky” rice than the version at Duck House and delicious.I always get their sliced boiled goose because it’s on so few menus. Their live lobster and fish are also generally quite good - we usually get hte steamed prep here. Honestly, I haven’t had bad dishes here and it’s our standby for Taiwanese dishes now.
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