Xiang La Hui
Sichuan restaurant · Alhambra
621 W Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801
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Highlights
Authentic Sichuan bistro with flavorful, spicy dishes
Authentic Sichuan bistro with flavorful, spicy dishes
"Xiang La Hui is the sleeper Sichuan hit of the SGV—the place where you take the friend who’s already explored the menu at Chengdu Taste. The food here is more about fragrance than setting your mouth on fire, with top-notch Chongqing fried chicken and some of the most flavorful, charred-and-chewy toothpick lamb around. XLH is usually lively but not too busy, so you’ll rarely have to wait, but make sure you take a look around when you enter. You’ll see their signature Happy Chicken—fried to a mala-scented crisp and dangling from toothpicks like roast duck in a Chinese barbecue shop—on almost every table. Take the hint and get one too." - cathy park, sylvio martins, brant cox, andrew ryce
"It can be a tough gig opening up a Sichuan restaurant in the same neighborhood as Chengdu Taste and Sichuan Impression, but Xiang La Hui has proven it’s possible. While the menu has plenty of overlap with its famous brethren, XLH stands out for its high-quality ingredients and balanced use of spice. Take the Chongqing-style fried chicken, which arrives as a mountain of thick boneless chicken chunks cooked in fragrant spices and doused in red chiles, or the boiled fish soup, which comes with juicy, hand-sized filets of tilapia floating in a briney, pickled vegetable broth. The dining room is also fairly upscale, making it a good option to take your parents when they visit." - brant cox, sylvio martins
"It can be a tough gig opening up a Sichuan restaurant in the same neighborhood as Chengdu Taste and Sichuan Impression, but Xiang La Hui has proven it’s possible. While the menu has plenty of overlap with its famous brethren, XLH stands out for its high quality ingredients and balanced use of spice. Take the Chongqing-style fried chicken, which arrives as a mountain of thick boneless chicken chunks cooked in fragrant spices and doused in red chiles, or the boiled fish soup, which comes with juicy, hand-sized filets of tilapia floating in a briney, pickled vegetable broth. The dining room is also fairly upscale, making it a good option to take your parents when they come visit." - Brant Cox
"A place in the Alhambra area known for a Chongqing-style fried chicken that features small, thigh-based bites marinated with Shaoxing wine and intensely seasoned with garlic, green onion, whole dried chiles, Sichuan peppercorns, and ginger; the result is crisp, wok-fried morsels with numbing 'ma' heat and bold umami punch." - Matthew Kang
"Xiang La Hui has an extensive menu of authentic and refined Sichuan dishes. There are a handful of dishes that every Sichuan restaurant should be able to do well, and laziji is one of them. Also known as Chongqing chicken, it’s a famous Sichuan fried chicken stir-fry dish that is covered entirely in chile peppers, spicy bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, and garlic. Xiang La Hui’s renditions of popular dishes, like mapo tofu, toothpick lamb, kung fu boiled fish, serrano pepper beef, and frog with chile and serrano, are also highly coveted." - Kristie Hang
