Good Chinese Restaurants on the Wane?

[John in Covina]

Hi All!

Well, it seems to me that here in the LA area there is an invasion of mediocre to bad Chinese restaurants and the good neighborhood Chinese Restaurant is being pushed out.

While the vintage Chinese Restaurant tended to be a local "Chop Suey" or Chow Mein joint, everything was cooked to order and they had some really good stuff to pick from. If you were lucky it was a fairly authentic presentation well made with great flavor, aroma and textures.

First off, Chinese food seems to be best when prepared to order but so many steam table joints have opened so you just don't know when the dish was made and how long it's been stewing in it's own juices. Crisp flavors are gone, soggy egrolls prevail and the freshness has suffered.

Secondly, when did it become fashionable to make everything with some type of overly SWEET sauce? I've have really great Mongolian beef but over time this dish has mutaded to a diabetic nightmare. It seems that the inital wow over Orange Chicken has made some places to believe that every dish had to be sweeter than the syrups at IHOP!

Poor cooking and bad steam table food is on the increase!

What do you think? Also if there is a local place that you think is really good please list it here.

While a Fusion place, I have been very happy with most dishes I have tried at PF Chang's.

http://www.pfchangs.com/location.shtml

[J.J. Gittes]

I can relate to you on the quality of Chinese food, it does seem that everything is comparable to Panda Express, the sauces on food are sweet enough to be desserts! I do know of a great place in Chinatown on Hill Street called Empress Pavillion, (988 N Hill St, Bamboo Plaza, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012). Excellent food, Authentic, not "American Chinese" food. No syrups either! *yucky*

[Carlisle Blues]

John the only way I can help is to tell you I cook and stir fry my own. That was only after getting fed up with the standard fare[huh]

[Red Diabla]

I'm a big fan of dim sum. I was first introduced to it by my husband at a dump called the Grandview Gardens in L.A.'s Chinatown. The owners torched the place, so we moved on to the aforementioned Empress Pavilion, was generally unsatisfied with that, and then found a hole-in-the-wall joint called ABC Seafood on Spring St. The ownership changed about seven years ago, and most of the staff moved down the block to CBS Seafood. I still go there.

When in Monterey Park, I'd go to NBC Seafood. However, the last time I was there a couple of months ago, the food wasn't as good as it used to be. I chalk it up to the mall it was in being totally torn down and redone, so I think they're losing money and therefore cutting costs on food.

For "regular" chinese food, I'll tolerate PF Chang's, but prefer the local L.A. chain Chin Chin. They have the BEST chicken salad EVER. Most other places I've liked in the past have changed their menus to the point where I don't like them anymore. Very frustrating.

RD

[Esme]

I am really cranky tonight.
Before you turn that paper in, it is "wane" as in waxing and waning, not wain, as in - hmmmm, wainscoting?

[BinkieBaumont]

Take a seat and Tell Binkie, your problems

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3321968702_dd9d01d4ac.jpg?v=0
Please dont sit on "Hunni"

[LizzieMaine]

The best Asian food I've ever had in my life was a place called the "Mongolian Bar-B-Q" on upper State Street in Santa Barbara, when I was living out there in the early eighties. You pick the meat, vegetables and sauce and hand your bowl over to the chef, who stir-fries it with a long sword on a big round sizzling-hot griddle. Fresh, hot, delicious, and very inexpensive.

I've never seen anyplace like this in the East, and I dearly miss it. It was the one thing I really liked about California.

On the other hand, the absolute worst Chinese food I've ever had in my life was in Los Angeles, at a place I've blessedly forgotten. Bland, flavorless, and insipid. I gave the container of leftovers to a bum on the sidewalk, and he sniffed it and threw it away.

[St.Ignatz]

We've been pretty lucky in the Philadelphia area. "Chinatown" in downtown philly Has a few Dim Sum restaurant that are worth the trip but a restaurant migration occurred that followed their clients to the burbs. Center city has Foo's (great) and a lot of corner glop on rice places. The burbs range from Yang Ming (fantastic), Margaret Quo's and her three clones, all great to glop on rice. The bigger the market the more room for mediocrity.

Reference to Quo's and Glop on rice should not be lumped together. Quo's are always outstanding.

[Brian Sheridan]

We have an overabundance of the lousy buffet Chinese restaurants, but there is still the China Garden on Peach Street in Erie, PA (right off of I-90). The owner, James Wu, is an artist. He doesnt put money into the decor but all of the ingredients are top notch. James hand makes everything...no sauce sitting around all day. The rest of the places get health dept citations all of the time but never James. He came from Taiwan and studied with the personal chef of Chang Kie-check. Man, I am making myself hungry.

[Feraud]

King Yum, Flushing NY. (http://www.kingyumrestaurant.com/index.html)

[Wil Tam]

The best Asian food I've ever had in my life was a place called the "Mongolian Bar-B-Q" on upper State Street in Santa Barbara, when I was living out there in the early eighties. You pick the meat, vegetables and sauce and hand your bowl over to the chef, who stir-fries it with a long sword on a big round sizzling-hot griddle. Fresh, hot, delicious, and very inexpensive.

I've never seen anyplace like this in the East, and I dearly miss it. It was the one thing I really liked about California.

On the other hand, the absolute worst Chinese food I've ever had in my life was in Los Angeles, at a place I've blessedly forgotten. Bland, flavorless, and insipid. I gave the container of leftovers to a bum on the sidewalk, and he sniffed it and threw it away.

A couple of places here in downtown NY has a set up like that but they serve the lunch crowd only -- buffet style fresh/raw food bar -- take what you want & add some par boiled noodles & the chef will cook it for you on a 5x5 round cooking surface or you can do it yourself, I think they charge by the pound.

There are some really good places here ... but my favorite joint is a Korean BBQ joint on Waverly Place with the Hibachi Tables, where you can cook whatever you order from the menu -- shrimp, strip steak, pork, chicken or lamb plus veggies.

Delish!

[pigeon toe]

John, you should try yelp.com! I am not a big Chinese food fan, so I don't know of any good restaurants, but I know some of my friends are big fans, so there has to be some good Chinese in LA!

Are you into other types of Asian cuisine? Some of my friends live in Koreatown and some of the restaurants there are to die for. It would definitely be worth the trek for you if you dig Korean!

One Chinese place I know of is Hop Louie in Chinatown! Don't go there for the food, though! Go there for the drinks and the crank bartender. :)

[John in Covina]

John, you should try yelp.com!
***********
Funny you should say that, yesterday I did a little search and the Yelp list came up with this:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/din-tai-fung-dumpling-house-arcadia

I got to swing by in the mid afternoon and had some of the pork-shrimp dumplings as a late lunch. It was excellent. The maitre'de came and made a sauce with the fresh ginger, the vinegar and chili paste/oil to which I added some soy sauce.

[John in Covina]

As to other Asian cuisine: I have had good Korean BBQ, a variety of ok to great Thai, good Malaysian and I love Vietnamese Pho Soup!

Also if your down in Orange County there is a chain of sandwich shope names Lee's and those are in a Vietnamese style by using their version of really great French bread.

[Hemingway Jones]

As a general rule, I stay out of any sort of buffet service. I don't need to go to a restaurant to stand in line with my plate in my hand. How can that food possibly be up to par, especially from a cuisine that is designed to be served hot from the pan?

Also, any chain like P. F. Chang, I avoid like the plague. If the chef isn't sourcing his ingredients locally, then I am not interested in the restaurant. Also, I believe in supporting local establishments.

As for Chinese in Boston, the best place I have found, is Bernard's in the Chestnut Hill Mall. The food is outstanding because the ingredients are top-notch. There are some obsessive compulsive sous chefs in the kitchen! Also, Bernard is a very nice guy and an amazing host.

Golden Temple in Brookline has a wonderful reputation and it is deserved, but they are not up to Bernard's standards.

There are also some hidden gems, if you're interested in the real thing, and these are very foreign and very rustic. Victoria's on Comm Ave will serve you what the owners and wait staff are eating, which as you notice, is never what the western diners are eating. Also, in the food court of the Super 88 in Packard's Corner are some take-out places that serve the asian ex-pat and student communities at BU. This makes sense considering that the Super 88 is the go-to local grocery for this community.

[Carlisle Blues]

As a general rule, I stay out of any sort of buffet service. I don't need to go to a restaurant to stand in line with my plate in my hand. How can that food possibly be up to par, especially from a cuisine that is designed to be served hot from the pan?

Also, any chain like P. F. Chang, I avoid like the plague. If the chef isn't sourcing his ingredients locally, then I am not interested in the restaurant. Also, I believe in supporting local establishments.

As for Chinese in Boston, the best place I have found, is Bernard's in the Chestnut Hill Mall. The food is outstanding because the ingredients are top-notch. There are some obsessive compulsive sous chefs in the kitchen! Also, Bernard is a very nice guy and an amazing host.

Golden Temple in Brookline has a wonderful reputation and it is deserved, but they are not up to Bernard's standards.

There are also some hidden gems, if you're interested in the real thing, and these are very foreign and very rustic. Victoria's on Comm Ave will serve you what the owners and wait staff are eating, which as you notice, is never what the western diners are eating. Also, in the food court of the Super 88 in Packard's Corner are some take-out places that serve the asian ex-pat and student communities at BU. This makes sense considering that the Super 88 is the go-to local grocery for this community.

Try "Tom Can Cook" in Waltham. I like my cooking better, but, this place is fresh.

[Brad Bowers]

I have trouble finding "good" Chinese restaurants, too, but my situation's different. I don't like vegetables, and most Chinese food is chock full of them, so I don't eat Chinese food very often. I don't care for the battered and fried chicken most restaurants serve. I'd rather it was breaded and fried. Most people will be horrified to know that my favorite Chinese food is a regional variety only found in southwest Missouri.lol There is one restaurant here in town that serves something quite similar, though, and it's my go to place.

Brad

[Lefty]

Brad,
I've got a friend who's anti-veggie. When my wife and I, both vegetarian, go out to eat with him, waiters tend to get confused. lol

[DerMann]

There's a really great Chinese restaurant in town. It's rather small, and family run (as in the children bring you the food).

Great prices and amazing food.

I don't think that I could ever see American Chinese food as cuisine worthy of the descriptor 'gourmet,' but I thoroughly enjoy most of the Chinese restaurants, and it's usually pretty hard to find one that is bad.

Big chains like PF Changs and Pei Wei are great. Local places are usually better and offer a wider choice of foods.

[Hemingway Jones]

Try "Tom Can Cook" in Waltham. I like my cooking better, but, this place is fresh.
I have an office in Waltham. I am going to have to find this place. Thanks.

[Foofoogal]

Honey has a standing order to bring me a bowl of wonton soup on my deathbed if I am still able to sip it anyway. lol

1. Italian
2. Seafood
3. Chinese

in that order my food loves. I only tolerate Mexican food as it is his favorite. I don't exactly know when Mexican food is good but I for sure know when it is bad.

[Undertow]

I must throw my two cents in here (albeit late).

When I entered the world of "Chinese" food it was at a place called The Rice Bowl in Beaverdale, Des Moines, IA, run by a Chinese family that has owned the eatery since the mid-40's (or so my grandmother claims).

The place is a "dive" by some standards; it's not very showy or bright, the presentation isn't the greatest, the furniture and decor looks as if it came straight from the early 70's. However, the food is crispy and delicate, the flavors are bold and precise, and the food's texture feels, get this...crunchy.

I've been spoiled, I guess, because the slop you get today isn't appealing whatsoever. I know people that prefer the new to the old, but I chalk that up to experiencing the new and thinking the old is "weird" and "different".

I will say one thing; Chinese food today that has become the norm can stay in the boiling vats it originated.

[Fletch]

Sounds like a potential Central Iowa meetup location...when the family had a trip planned from Ames when I was a wee sprog in the 70s, I would ask to be left off at Service Hobby to check out the rare and exotic model plane kits, then over to Reed's for some ice cream.

[kyda]

I have to admit that we are spoiled when it comes to chinese food, there is a great one just uo the road from us called The Green Ocean. It has become a bit of a luxury to have it but we enjoy it when we do.:) :) :) :)

[Mojito]

I went off Chinese food after living in Singapore. Once you've eaten the sublime food that is Singaporean (be it any of the mainland China provincial styles, or local specialties like the Peranaken dishes), the deepfried, homogenised dishes served locally just don't seem to cut it. I particularly dislike the battered, deep fried chunks of dried pork served in a sugary sauce that seems coloured with as much red food dye as it can be drenched in and served up as "sweet and sour pork". Many of the Dim Sum restaurants and some of the food outlets in suburbs like Haymarket, Castle Hill and Cabramatta (the latter also well known for its Vietnamese food and population) are excepted from this general censure. I reached rock bottom, though, with the "Singapore Noodles" often served locally - thin egg noodles with a sprinkling of curry powder. This is blasphemous when one has dined even at a basic Singapore hawker stall and been served sublime food. Cold, greasy, fried - ugh!

For a while there, I preferred Thai food, as there were an abundance of good local Thai restaurants run by recent Thai immigrants. Unfortunately some of them have taken to serving lowest-common-denominator rubbish in recent years. On the other hand, some genuine Malay and Singaporean restaurants have opened up here now. I'm no longer scared to order satay - there's a remote chance that the satay sauce may contain actual peanuts. And I've even had a passable Mee Goreng at the local noodle bar (nothing like the Singapore Mee Goreng - sigh).

In Sydney, I *highly* recommend Temasek in Parramatta. It's run by Singaporeans, and they do brilliant Malay and Singaporean dishes. The friends who introduced me to it no longer live in "Paz", but we've still made the trip over many times to dine there or take food home. They've even done a classic Chilli Crab with Australian mud crabs, something my father always fantasised about when we lived in Singapore.

[BinkieBaumont]

Swan River Colony being the closest Australian City to Asia does have a plethora of Chinese Restaurants, (and Asian) we have a chain Called Hahns that do lovely meals at great prices I love Pad Thai ( Thai noodles, with a lovely sauce and ground peanuts on top) with its own website and a mission statement maybe it should be Mc Hahns

http://www.hanscafe.com.au/

For a genuine family run Chinese I adore "The South Sea" in Fitzgerald street North Swan River Colony"

http://www.webmenu.com.au/menus/WA/south_sea_chinese_restaurant/

[Undertow]

Sounds like a potential Central Iowa meetup location...when the family had a trip planned from Ames when I was a wee sprog in the 70s, I would ask to be left off at Service Hobby to check out the rare and exotic model plane kits, then over to Reed's for some ice cream.

Oh my...weren't those the days...

Reed's used to serve some of the best ice cream of my childhood and, although still standing, has become more of a "hipster yuppie" location more interested in expensive coffee and cheap Australian wine. Ice cream? Not if they can help it.

Oh well, there's always Snookies!

[John in Covina]

One of the shifts that tends to occur is a long time established restaurant with fine dishes sells out and the new owners simply find every way to "save" money when making the same menu resulting a general downgrade of the results.

Anybody remember that some dishes that were served with a garnish of freshly toasted CASHEWS on the top. Then one day you come in and the cashews have been replaced by peanuts. Over time those peanuts get older and older and taste about as fresh as a damp mildewy basement. Yet they, the makers, never notice.

ANother thing that is scarey is the ratings by the health department. Here in California, in the LA area every restaurant is rated by the health department on their ability to handle, cook and serve in a safe manner. The restaurant receives a card with a letter grade A really good little or no important problems then B and C then on to number grades. Each step down from an "A" is the chance you take for bad handling and resultant health situations.

It is scarey how many restaurant operate with b's and less ratings, I won't go in myself.

[just_me]

I grew up eating Chinese food in NYC's Chinatown. I love all styles of chinese food, except the super sweet sauced stuff.

I don't care much for places like PF Chang's. Pricey, yuppy Chinese food.

I remember being surprised in Boston when they served bread on the table. Never saw that before, or since, in a Chinese restaurant. The other thing about Chinese food and Boston is that it seems like everyone eats Chinese food on New Year's Eve. lol

The worst Chinese food I ever had was in Price or Helper Utah. Not only were the chinese food dishes terrible, but they had southern fried chicken on the menu.

[Diamondback]

The best Asian food I've ever had in my life was a place called the "Mongolian Bar-B-Q" on upper State Street in Santa Barbara, when I was living out there in the early eighties. You pick the meat, vegetables and sauce and hand your bowl over to the chef, who stir-fries it with a long sword on a big round sizzling-hot griddle. Fresh, hot, delicious, and very inexpensive.

I've never seen anyplace like this in the East, and I dearly miss it. It was the one thing I really liked about California.
Ah yes, the "Mongolian Grill" genre. Up here in the Seattle/Portland area, we have a chain called Chang's that's pretty good, all you can eat for IIRC $10 (lunch) or $15 (dinner).

Other than that, good Chinese is really hard to find around here--I've got a little place I usually frequent, but identifying it would compromise my "cloak of secrecy". (Seattleites, if I ever make one of your events maybe I'll tell face-to-face.)

[John in Covina]

The worst Chinese food I ever had was in Price or Helper Utah. Not only were the chinese food dishes terrible, but they had southern fried chicken on the menu.
**********
Southern Chinese Fried Chicken?:p

[John in Covina]

I have had the Mongolian Grill style and it has been excellent to good. The big thing is since you select what you want in it and then they cook it you have a good idea as to the freshness and it was truly made to order.

[Brian Sheridan]

Brad,
I've got a friend who's anti-veggie. When my wife and I, both vegetarian, go out to eat with him, waiters tend to get confused. lol

I would think that would be easy....tell the waiter, that person gets all of our meat and bring us all of his vegetables.:p

[Brian Sheridan]

We went to Chinatown in Honolulu looking for lunch. I picked the place that was loaded with all Asians. The menu wasn't in English. It was dim sum so I just said yes to everything that came by the table. My wife nearly barfed after I ate the chicken feet and pastries filled with tripe.

[Diamondback]

I have had the Mongolian Grill style and it has been excellent to good. The big thing is since you select what you want in it and then they cook it you have a good idea as to the freshness and it was truly made to order.
Also lets you be more finicky about your meat--I usually prefer lean and very thin-sliced, almost shaved, which is better for both soaking up the sauce (I usually hang back from the grill-line a few minutes and allow my stuff some time to marinate before it hits the heat) and for speed of cooking.

[Lincsong]

I wonder if Mueng Cheung Lau is still open in Hilo, HI????

[green papaya]

We went to Chinatown in Honolulu looking for lunch. I picked the place that was loaded with all Asians. The menu wasn't in English. It was dim sum so I just said yes to everything that came by the table. My wife nearly barfed after I ate the chicken feet and pastries filled with tripe.

yep, thats where you go for the authentic Chinese dishes, go where the Chinese eat.

they would never go to a place like Panda Express or Mongolian BBQ thats for "LO FANS" lol

all that fried sweet and sour stuff is crap, the people that run the restaurant dont even eat that stuff, it's purely Americanized thats what most people are looking for so thats what they make.

[Undertow]

all that fried sweet and sour stuff is crap, the people that run the restaurant dont even eat that stuff, it's purely Americanized thats what most people are looking for so thats what they make.

And now that causes me to beg the question (and not directly at you papaya ;) ):

If Chinese or Chinese-American cooks are making this stuff, this sweet and sour heavily-sauced stuff, does that make it Chinese food?

What makes a food "authentic"? Is it because the food is prepared by a specific race of people? Or because it's served a specific type of restaurant? For instance, how is one taco more authentic than another?

I ask this question because so many things have become Americanized over so many years, by so many races of people, that it seems like nothing is really authentic anymore unless you're in the country of origin eating peasants' food made by 15th generation inhabitants.

Look at Sushi; there are many forms of sushi but the most widely known is a "quick" style that's only been in existence for around two hundred years. It was primary sold by food vendors on the street and was certainly nothing to shake a stick at. It gradually became popular, especially among the poor, and made its way over to the States. And you can bet I would think sushi made in a Japanese restaurant, by a Japanese chef would be authentic Japanese food. But who knows? Sushi started in China. [huh]

[Inusuit]

You don't have to search for fine dining in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

[Mojito]

And now that causes me to beg the question (and not directly at you papaya ;) ):

If Chinese or Chinese-American cooks are making this stuff, this sweet and sour heavily-sauced stuff, does that make it Chinese food?

What makes a food "authentic"? Is it because the food is prepared by a specific race of people? Or because it's served a specific type of restaurant? For instance, how is one taco more authentic than another?

I ask this question because so many things have become Americanized over so many years, by so many races of people, that it seems like nothing is really authentic anymore unless you're in the country of origin eating peasants' food made by 15th generation inhabitants.

Look at Sushi; there are many forms of sushi but the most widely known is a "quick" style that's only been in existence for around two hundred years. It was primary sold by food vendors on the street and was certainly nothing to shake a stick at. It gradually became popular, especially among the poor, and made its way over to the States. And you can bet I would think sushi made in a Japanese restaurant, by a Japanese chef would be authentic Japanese food. But who knows? Sushi started in China. [huh]
It's a fair point. Goes both ways, too - I was fascinated by the Japanese spin on some Western foods when I visited briefly (loved their Mozart Kugal Balls, complete with manga Mozart portrait on the wrapping). Much modern cuisine seems to be fusion to some degree or another - we see a lot of "authentic" Indian food touted, but most of these dishes, particularly the curries, had their origins in what was served on P&O liners! The Singaporean dishes I mentioned that I love are often sublime examples of fusion - the local Peranakan style dates to early Chinese settlers who married local Malays. Are they any less an "authentic" style because they go back only a couple of centuries rather than many hundreds? And is Chop Suey any less a respectable dish because it may have originated with people of Chinese ancestory in 19th Century America, or does it gain respectability because it may have originated in Taishan in the Guandong Province of China? Surely it should stand or fall on its own merits, unless one is preparing a menu specifically for regional authenticity.

I think the quality of the food is what counts. I am not against influences going either way - unless they turn dishes into a crude, homogenous, bland load of carbs and fat. Like the deep frying of many "Chinese" dishes in America, Australia and other parts of the world.

[Diamondback]

And then you have the pains in the butt like me that have to make arrangements to leave ingredients out--I love Pad Thai but can't eat anything with fish or shellfish in it, so I usually have to ask if it can be left out or replaced with soy-sauce as a "stand-in liquid ingredient". Being a semi-regular at the particular places I frequent and a generous tipper means I usually get my way... it also helps that I frequent a couple little "mom 'n' pop" places run by folks with strong Old Country ties (can't tell if they're 1st or 2nd generation this side of the Pond).

I know, it's Thai not Chinese and this thread has expanded to "catchall Asian food", but if you're around Seattle, you might give Saya and Savan, both located in Kent, a whack.

----------------
Now playing: John Barry - Gunbarrel/Traction Table/Gassing The Plane/Car Chase (http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/john+barry/track/gunbarrel+traction+table+gassing+the+plane+car+cha se)
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[Lincsong]

Let's move this thread to Connosieur.

[Brad Bowers]

Let's move this thread to Connosieur.

Good idea.

I'm sure folks on both coasts sneer at my choice for Chinese food, but it made the NY Times today!:)

Missouri Chinese - Two Cultures Claim This Chicken (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/dining/11cashew.html)

I love finding these regional variations that you can't get anywhere where else. Some might decry the Americanization of a culture, but I think the melding of two cultures' foods is exciting and dynamic. But then, I've never had real Chinese food, so what do I know?lol

Brad

[FStephenMasek]

A few months ago we found a wonderful Korean restaurant in a very unlikely place. The food was good enough for it to be a white tablecloth place, and many Korean people eat there. The prices are low. It is on the basement level of a highrise, next to the chiller and boiler rooms, along the way to the parking levels. The address is 3540 Wilshire Blvd.


The best Asian food I've ever had in my life was a place called the "Mongolian Bar-B-Q" on upper State Street in Santa Barbara, when I was living out there in the early eighties. You pick the meat, vegetables and sauce and hand your bowl over to the chef, who stir-fries it with a long sword on a big round sizzling-hot griddle. Fresh, hot, delicious, and very inexpensive.The best Mongolian BBQ we have found is Ghengis Khan at 23615 El Toro Rd. in Lake Forest, CA 92630 (949) 951-8296 in a "strip" shopping center in Lake Forest, CA near the Office Depot. They have the best pocket biscuits of any we have visited. There is one (Three Flames) on Manchester at Osage (near the RRR tracks) near LAX which has also been there 30 years or so and is good. We have seen some in malls which have noodles to pile high on the bowl, but don't like them.

[John in Covina]

I did have a pretty good encounter with a Dumpling specialist not too far from my house.

About a 5 minute ride south of the 10 freeway on Vincent Avenue in West Covina is a place called Hong Kong Plaza and they have about 10 different Asian restaurants. One is my closest good Vietnamese Pho place, but I did try the "1+1 Dumpling House" with friends recently and had some really good dumplings. Now I hope they don't change.

Transient Sparkling Double Happiness

[Feraud]

***********
Funny you should say that, yesterday I did a little search and the Yelp list came up with this:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/din-tai-fung-dumpling-house-arcadia

I got to swing by in the mid afternoon and had some of the pork-shrimp dumplings as a late lunch. It was excellent. The maitre'de came and made a sauce with the fresh ginger, the vinegar and chili paste/oil to which I added some soy sauce.
Yelp* has a cool Iphone app. You can search for restaurants by location, name or restaurant, or theme, and see a reviews and locations.

[Lou]

We've been pretty lucky in the Philadelphia area.
Yeah, we still have some good places in Philly. I've gotten good food from Beijing, a no-frills restaurant in the middle of Penn's campus. I haven't made it to Chinatown yet. In the burbs, I've found a couple of winners. But for every winner, it seems there are twenty glop joints. Good Japanese is even more difficult.