The 23 Essential Chinese Restaurants in Los Angeles

"19 Town is a new fine-dining restaurant and bar from Sichuan Impression co-founder and chef Lynn Liu. The design is minimalist yet lavish. The name of the restaurant is a play on words in Mandarin, meaning “food” and “drink.” Although Liu is known for her Sichuan cuisine, 19 Town focuses on contemporary Chinese cuisine. There’s a fun fusion dish called gnocchi con le cozze, which blends Chinese pickled-pepper sour and spicy sauce with mussels and pasta. The mapo tofu comes covered in cheese in a fondue dip where pieces of bread are pulled through a mozzarella and tofu mixture. Their rendition of orange chicken is made their own with Sichuan touches. The flaming pork jowl is a popular dish that servers set on fire at the table with potent 151-proof rum, and cocktails are also extremely innovative." - Kristie Hang