Food Around LA’s Chinatown

I moved into my new place this past weekend.  Still unpacking and discovering the neighborhood.  Unfortunately, I got sick right after the move, but that hasn’t stopped me from trying out the restaurants and asian supermarkets in Chinatown.

One of my primary motives for moving here was to be closer to good food, so I hit up a chinese friend who used to live in downtown LA.  Here’s his take on eating in Chinatown.

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Here are some good eats around your neighborhood.

I had a foodie coworker who loved this sandwich place (I thought it was just ok):

http://www.yelp.com/biz/mendocino-farms-los-angeles

The grand central market is a good place to pick up cheap food and fresh groceries.  There is this Korean grocer towards the front of the market who has the freshest fruits at low prices:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/grand-central-market-los-angeles

My foodie coworker gave rave reviews for their Pupusas:

http://laist.com/2009/03/19/recession_obsession_the_pupusa.php

There’s a Farmer’s Market at the Bank of America building (one block north of McCormick’s).  It has some good food.  My favorites are the Hawaiian Chicken (sooo salty and spicy) and the bacon-wrapped hot dogs.  The market comes to BOA on Fridays.  The same market also sets up shop in front of the Central Library, but I forget what day it is:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/downtown-la-farmers-market-los-angeles

The best sushi IMHO is R23 (though I’m no expert, YMMV):

http://www.yelp.com/biz/r23-los-angeles

Thousand Cranes has a cool roof garden restaurant.  A nice place to take the parents to for brunch:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/a-thousand-cranes-los-angeles

All the white folks love this Yang Chow place.  It is ok.  It is slightly better than Hop Li.  A good place to take white people who aren’t ready for Sam Woo:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/yang-chow-los-angeles

My favorite thing at Sam Woo is the BBQ crispy fried noodles.  Mmmmm soo good.

People will tell you to try Water Grill or the Patina inside the Disney Concert Hall.  They’re overhyped, don’t waste your money.

After a while, I just ended up driving to Monterey Park for food.  Chinatown chinese food is kind of substandard.

Tagged as: chinatown