hootie1fan

My sister and I are travelling to Los Angeles and are looking for a good Chinese restaurant. All we have at home is not-so-good fast food/buffet Chinese. Since our hotel is on South Beverly Dr, we would prefer to something on the Westside. Any suggestions?

easytraveler

As far as I know, Westside is not known for Chinese food.

For the closest good Chinese food, go to Chinatown.

If you are willing to go even further east, then Monterey Park is where the Chinese foodies go. Ocean Star is the "star" of a number of restaurants there. Huge place. Marvellous dim sum.

here_today_gone2Maui

There are lots of options, ranging from chi-chi fusion to traditional Hunan. I can think of a few off-hand. There are the Madarin and Mr. Chows on Camden, if you are looking for upscale. Royal Star Seafood in Santa Monica has dim sum; and I have always enjoyed the Shanghai Winter Garden on Wilshire for affordable, good food.

singlegalzzz

I don't know, do you want American Chinese or authentic Chinese Chinese food?

Authentic Chinese food can be found in Alhambra and Monterey Park area, about 30 minutes drive from S. Beverly depending on the time of day.

clarkgriswold

Chin Chin, 206 S. Beverly

HappyTraveling

Hi,
What would you recommend i.e. Ocean Star or ChinChin for real good Chinese food?
I mean authentic Chinese and not americanized chinese.

rjw_lgb_ca

Chin Chin is good for what it is, but it's not "authentic". It claims invention of the chopped Chinese Chicken Salad (well, we invented the chopped "salade composée" in California, didn't we?), and that is very yummy-- but it's quite Americanized. There's a PF Chang at the base of Beverly Center, and the food is great there too, but it's not specifically Chinese and pretty Americanized as well.

The best sit-down Chinese places in Beverly Hills are Xi'an (362 N. Cañon), Mr. Chow (344 N. Camden), and the Mandarin (430 N. Camden). Pasadena is known for having some great Chinese eateries (Yujean Kang's, Fu-shing, to name two). In West Hollywood on Fairfax, there's Genghis Cohen, a Chinese place with a kosher spin and a rock-'n'-roll attitude-- might be fun.

rjw_lgb_ca

It looks like you don't have a concept of the size of the LA metro area. When we talk about Monterey Park, we are talking east of downtown LA. Conservatively, it's a half-hour drive on the I-10 freeway (no traffic) from your hotel. I can also tell you that if it's a Friday evening, it could be as much as two hours.

tcl

For anyone looking for authentic Chinese food, please go to either Alhambra or Monterey Park (and other San Gabriel Valley cities). Chinatown is good too (if you know where to look), but it's kinda tough because restaurants there tend to cater to non-Chinese tourists (thus, the food is Americanized). Speaking as a Chinese, I can vouch for the authencity of the food in Alhambra and Monterey. Although, be forewarned that you might see certain menu items that may gross non-Chinese palates.

In response to HappyTraveling: yes, I would recommend Ocean Star Restaurant (delicious dim sum) and their dinner menu is yummy too.

One restaurant to try in Chinatown is Empress Pavilion. They're very busy on the weekends for dim sum. Their dinners are pretty good too.