Christina R.
Yelp
Tea-smoked duck! Must order this! So delicious! The flavor is unlike anything I've ever eaten, yet oddly, comfortingly familiar at the same time. The meat is so tender with light crispy skin...I am at a loss for more words. Just get it. My second favorite dish was the sautéed cabbage (pics6+11). The appearance and name are dangerously deceptive- it looks plain and bland, but it has tiny buttery shreds of fatty pork with subtle seasonings and bits of scorching Thai chili that make it addictive beyond crack, meth... you get the idea. It's very similar to a Hunan style lettuce stem dish I have eaten/reviewed elsewhere in the SGV. Our second vegetable, sautéed shredded potatoes, also appear deceptively simple yet those Szechuan peppercorns were flavor bombs! Avoid these black mini-grenades if you don't enjoy the burning, lingering tingles like I do. These were more potent than any I've ever eaten before. Next, the pillowy soft, mildly seasoned, braised chicken with fresh crunch-alicious green chili peppers (pics 5+10) was a welcome counter to the powerful other flavors. Ironically, the dish that looked the spiciest (pics 3+13) turned out to be the least spicy- the boiled fish in chili oil, which is not to say it isn't delicious. The fish melts in your mouth- but I admit we had the most leftover of this. The dan dan noodles (pic7) were for the vegetarian in our group, so I didn't get to taste but the bowl was emptied thoroughly, so....
Finally, I must say, the complimentary-house-made-snack-peanuts at the beginning of our meal were as flavorful and addictive as the rest of the meal- I usually hate peanuts-but I just couldn't get enough of these! We only had 2 bowls but I could've eaten a pound- perfectly spicy, roasted, smoky, crunchy and crispy!
Service was phenomenally attentive and quick! We never ran out of water despite how fast we drank it.
And the last pic I posted wasn't even our dish but wow! It was a show stopper!- we had been wondering all meal long why there was a removable slab in the center of our table- it is to accommodate the wok for this fantastic chicken dish! A couple seated next to us ordered it, and clearly they weren't expecting it either! The entire restaurant clientele collectively gasped when it came out and they kindly allowed me to take a photo. I'm definitely getting that when I come back next time! I don't know the name but will just show the pic when ordering!