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The San Gabriel Valley’s own version of ‘Dine LA Restaurant Week’ will take place May 1-14. Chihuo, the most popular Chinese-language food site in Los Angeles, is throwing the second annual ‘Asian Restaurant Dining Week.’ For those that have wanted to try new or popular restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, Chihuo’s Restaurant Week has a roster of 30 popular restaurants in the area that will be offering special set menus that introduce new dishes and give diners a chance to sample a wider variety of food. Some of the popular San Gabriel Valley eateries on the list include restaurants like Legendary, Bistro Na’s, Hai Di Lao, Dong Po Restaurant, Chengdu Impression, Sun Nong Dan, Chang’An, among others. Prices for each restaurant vary, but the set combos generally range between $20-40 for two people depending on the chosen menu and eatery.
Here’s a look at some of the restaurants included:
Bistro Na
One of the harder-to-find regional Chinese cuisines in the U.S. is China's Imperial Court Cuisine (Gong Ting Cai). Chinese Imperial Cuisine is a cooking style reserved traditionally only for the Emperor and the royal family, but is available at Bistro Na’s in Temple City. The restaurant, which is normally pretty pricey (over $130 for four dishes) due to its specialty and intricate presentation, is doing affordable set menus for the occasion. The two-person set is $35.50 and includes a tofu skin salad, crispy shrimp, baby mustard heart vegetables, Emperor's Jar Soup (beef tendon, mushroom, fish maw, quail egg, sea cucumber), milkfish, and fresh pear juice.
Bistro Na is located at 9055 Las Tunas Dr. in Temple City. (626) 286-1999.
Sun Nong Dan
Sun Nong Dan's speciality is sullungtang, a soup made from boiling beef bones for many hours until all the flavors and nutrients permeate the broth. Their braised short ribs are served in a large smoking stone pot loaded with meat and vegetables. For Asian Restaurant Dining Week, Sun Nong Dan will have a new dish on hand: Braised Beef Back Rib.
Sun Nong Dan is located at 927 E. Las Tunas Dr. in San Gabriel. (626) 286-1234.
Chengdu Impression
Chengdu Impression will be debuting a new chef’s choice menu only available for dinner ($58 for two). The set will include two side dishes, appetizers, beef brisket stew soup, sea cucumber, their signature pork belly dish, fried soft shell crab, stewed mushroom delicacies, spicy wontons, and a panda rice ball dessert that has taken Instagram by storm.
Chengdu Impression is located at 21 E. Huntington Dr. in Arcadia. (626) 462-9999.
Legendary Restaurant
Legendary Restaurant is one of the newer Sichuan restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, and has garnered a lot of buzz. The restaurant focuses on traditional Sichuan dishes with an emphasis on presentation. Their most popular dish, the garlic hanging pork belly, will be on their Asian Restaurant Dining Week menu. The cured pork belly is sliced into thin sheets and draped over a wooden rack accompanied with a garlic chili sauce and minced garlic.
Legendary Restaurant is located at 2718 W Valley Blvd. in Alhambra. (626) 427-2236.
Here’s a list of the participating eateries by neighborhood:
Alhambra: The Legendary Restaurant (Sichuan food), Henry’s Cuisine (Cantonese food)
Arcadia: Chengdu Impression (Sichuan food), Dongpo Restaurant (Sichuan food), Hai Di Lao (hot pot)
Hacienda Heights: Shanghailander Palace (Shanghainese food)
Monterey Park: Hip Hot (Sichuan, seafood)
Pasadena: Constance Perry’s (Asian-fusion)
Rosemead: Hunan Mao (Hunan food), Cinnabar (Sichuan/Hunan food), Sweet Lab (Asian desserts)
Rowland Heights: Greedy Cat (Hunan seafood), Sun Nong Dan (Korean food), Bali Crawfish (seafood), Haige Star Boulevard (Chinese skewers and hot pot), Lobster Bay (Cantonese/Vietnamese lobster), Shakalaka (Korean-fusion), Stew House (Hunan food)
San Gabriel: Yu Tian Xia Hot Pot (hot pot), Beijing Resturant (Beijing food), Chang’an Restaurant (Asian-fusion), Dong Ting Chun (Hunan food), Sun Nong Dan (Korean short rib stew)
Temple City: Bistro Na’s (Beijing food), Réndézvous Café (Taiwanese food)
Walnut: HJH Sauce Simmer Pot (hot pot)
There are four restaurants outside the San Gabriel Valley participating: Triple 8 China Bar & Grill in Los Angeles, Tasty Zone in Irvine, Yasiknara in Koreatown, and Rui Ji Sichuan Cuisine in Torrance.
To see all the participating restaurants and their respective menus, check out Chihuo’s website here.
