Great Chinese food in LA
February 14, 2018 1:55 PM Subscribe
A friend is going to be in LA for about a day before she gets on a cruise ship, and wants to spend that time eating great Chinese food. She'll be in the Long Beach area, possibly staying on the Queen Mary but if not in a hotel in that area. Where should she go?
I haven't been an Angeleno for years but I remember there were a lot of really great Dim Sum restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley/Monterey Park area. Ocean Star was a very popular place. In LA's Chinatown, Empress Pavilion was my favorite place to go.
posted by cazoo at 2:43 PM on February 14, 2018
posted by cazoo at 2:43 PM on February 14, 2018
Best answer: Is she willing/able to drive?
Hands-down the best place for Chinese food in the LA area (in the USA, if you ask me) is the San Gabriel Valley, which is not right next to Long Beach, but also not like driving across the whole metro area either. There are probably hundreds of Chinese restaurants, and at minimum dozens of very good ones.
Some well-known dim sum spots I can recommend: Sea Harbour, Elite, Lunasia, Ocean Star, Capital Seafood. There are different vibes/price points, so it pays to do research on individual places, depending on what she's looking for. You don't mention if she's traveling solo, but if so, I don't think it's uncommon for dim sum places to decline to seat parties of one.
Personally, I would recommend Beijing Pie House, Luscious Dumpling, Chongqing Special Noodle, Mian & Chengdu Taste as some of my favorites for non dim sum eats. If she's interested in xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings) there is a Din Tai Fung in Torrance, which is closer to Long Beach than the SGV.
On preview: cazoo's comment reminded that there's a chance your friend might think the place to go for Chinese food is Chinatown. It's really not. There are some okay places to eat there, but really it's absolutely nothing compared to the places in SGV, and both are a drive from Long Beach anyway.
posted by dadaclonefly at 2:44 PM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hands-down the best place for Chinese food in the LA area (in the USA, if you ask me) is the San Gabriel Valley, which is not right next to Long Beach, but also not like driving across the whole metro area either. There are probably hundreds of Chinese restaurants, and at minimum dozens of very good ones.
Some well-known dim sum spots I can recommend: Sea Harbour, Elite, Lunasia, Ocean Star, Capital Seafood. There are different vibes/price points, so it pays to do research on individual places, depending on what she's looking for. You don't mention if she's traveling solo, but if so, I don't think it's uncommon for dim sum places to decline to seat parties of one.
Personally, I would recommend Beijing Pie House, Luscious Dumpling, Chongqing Special Noodle, Mian & Chengdu Taste as some of my favorites for non dim sum eats. If she's interested in xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings) there is a Din Tai Fung in Torrance, which is closer to Long Beach than the SGV.
On preview: cazoo's comment reminded that there's a chance your friend might think the place to go for Chinese food is Chinatown. It's really not. There are some okay places to eat there, but really it's absolutely nothing compared to the places in SGV, and both are a drive from Long Beach anyway.
posted by dadaclonefly at 2:44 PM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Also Capital Seafood in Irvine, if she'd rather go that direction. Hoping she has a car!
posted by exceptinsects at 4:53 PM on February 14, 2018
posted by exceptinsects at 4:53 PM on February 14, 2018
Best answer: Seconded for Din Tai Fung in Torrance.
posted by huskerdont at 4:57 PM on February 14, 2018
posted by huskerdont at 4:57 PM on February 14, 2018
Best answer: That Din Tai Fung is very good, close, and a near-iconic LA thing at this point, for locals, if that appeals.
posted by kensington314 at 8:23 PM on February 14, 2018
posted by kensington314 at 8:23 PM on February 14, 2018
Best answer: Din Tai Fung in Torrance. There's usually a wait there, so plan for that.
posted by Everydayville at 2:13 PM on February 15, 2018
posted by Everydayville at 2:13 PM on February 15, 2018
Response by poster: Followup from my friend - they went to Din Tai Fung and although the wait was indeed really really long, she said the food was fantastic. Many thanks from her!
posted by PussKillian at 1:46 PM on March 23, 2018
posted by PussKillian at 1:46 PM on March 23, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by PussKillian at 2:03 PM on February 14, 2018