Came for lunch slightly before opening and there were already about 20 people waiting. Even with an ipad waiting list it was a free-for-all when they finally opened. Lots of ucla students in bare feet and slippers.
Pro tip: if you want more heat and like to live dangerously wear a white shirt.
juicy steamed chicken in chili sauce aka saliva chicken
Pleasantly spicy with a slight sweetness. Loved the bamboo and onion slices underneath the chicken, wish there were more. Also wished they used more dark meat, the one or twice slices I got were dynamite, the white meat was slightly dry.
Overall pretty good for their opening week, service was friendly and food is just as good as the original. Will come back to try more. The only thing I didn’t like were the stingy rice portions. You pretty much have to eat this food with rice and they only give you at most half a bowl for a dollar each. I wonder if there’s a corkage if you BYOR?
I’ll update this post with an after-meal bathroom report tomorrow TBC.
Sichuan Impression
11057 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 444-7171
Been twice to Sichuan Impression Westwood in the last week…while very good (I don’t know how much better than hop woo to be honest)…I also went to Chengdu Taste Alhambra this week (my gold standard) and CT absolutely crushes SI and HW still.
Chengdu Taste is simply transcendent, no competition.
Good news, everyone! They now do takeout but you have to order it in the restaurant, not over the phone.
Tried the mapo tofu and kung pao chicken, both of which were EXCELLENT. I could have used maybe a touch more ma la in the kung pao, but the carmelization on the chicken more than made up for it.
Their version of Laziji (Chili Chicken) is really tasty! Also, they’ve already named a dish after me (Big Mouth Ginger Frog). Probably because I’m such a good customer.
I’m no expert on hotpot, but I thought it was very good, it was rich without being heavy. There was heat and numbing, but I think they toned down the spice, because it was pretty mild, and I’m no spice hound. You might have to emphasize if you want spicy, like, really, really convince them.
