Your favorite Kung Pao Chicken?

The one in OC is not affiliated with Newport Seafood in San Gabriel and Rowland Heights.

My first taste of Kung Pao Chicken was at Hunan Restaurant and Chinese Friends Restaurant in Chinatown back in the early 1980s. The flavors from their Americanized interpretation became embedded in my memories. To this day, I still enjoy having Kung Pao Chicken from Chinese Friends…

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Chengdu Taste Alhambra is the GOAT

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Welcome to FTC! According to your link Won’s has permanently closed. Too bad as decent Chinese food of any region is tragically scarce in the Valley.

It says it’s open tomorrow

Apparently it’s under new management and the name is changed. I was there in 2014.
That place will be missed.

New name is Hong Kong Diner.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/hong-kong-diner-los-angeles?osq=hongs

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Ugh, can’t stand Meizhou Dongpo. If you want Sichuan on the Westside, go to Sichuan Impression in Westwood or GuYi in Brentwood.

The Cantonese and Toishanese learned that to keep cost low, reduce the amount of chicken used in the dish and add bell peppers and onions to it. That’s why egg rolls from Chinese American places these days are filled with nothing more than just shredded cabbage and carrots, when back in the 1970s, egg rolls were filled with ground pork, bamboo shoots, shitake mushrooms… it’s all about keept costs low and not having to raise prices.

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Did you try it? Thanks for the info.

I made the mistake of having Panda Express kung pao today - it was like mushroom chicken with the addition of peanuts and 1 dried chile

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I was there last year and had a pretty decent bargain lunch. The place was busy. It was 110° F outside and I was amazed at how many people were eating soup.

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So I recently tried Meizhou Dongpo at Century City, and I have to agree with you. I also was greatly let down by Dongpo Kitchen at Universal. I say this as a fan of the Santa Anita location.

One must judge Dongpo Kitchen against competitors within a 30 minute drive

Dongpo Kitchen and Meizhou Dongpo Century City were both equally bad to my palate in comparison to the enjoyable meals I have had in Arcadia.

I will have to check it out.

It was nothing spectacular. It was in the area. But it wasn’t bad. Though like I said, lots of soup being eaten. It was more interesting that it was a diner with “Chinese” and American. If I was in the area I would rather go to any one of all those delicious Peruvian places.

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True there are some great Peruvian places, as well as Don Adrian’s cemitas poblanas. Probably give it a pass after all. Thanks for the advice!

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I don’t agree that Chuan’s is excellent. In two trips there, I have found the food awfully bland–not in a refined, nuanced sort of way, but rather in a “make an ordinary dish but remove the peppers” sort of way. The fact that Michelin (which I highly respect) gave Chuan’s a Bib Gourmand indicates to me that the inspectors’ palates are not attuned to spicy cuisines. See also Thai Thing (a ridiculously bland, inauthentic Thai restaurant that received a Bib Gourmand).

You are correct—Chuan’s has gone way, way down hill and we do not go there anymore. I believe what I said was correct when I said it, but not now. I should have updated my original post. I think what happens with many Chinese restaurants is they loose their chef and everything goes to hell. Anyone can cook an excellent steak with prime meat and the right equipment, but not so with Chinese food!

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Chuan’s in Rosemead/Temple City started as branch of a well known Sichuan restaurant from mainland China. It opened with a lot of money behind it (including a very expensive Sichuan wooden tea house that was imported from China and featured a nightly Sichuan dance/mask/show) and a strong management team and chef.
Sadly, I believe the ROI was not there and original team/chef have long ago left it to flounder.

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