Wayne Wang is a movie director. Why is anyone here outraged by his comments, which were made in an interview and was filled with caveats? He never made himself out to be the definitive Chinese food critic in this article. He merely responded to general questions and I found his comments quite reasonable under the circumstances.

Wow, I'm Toishanese as well and my wife is HongKong Cantonese and we were both appalled by Chung King, thinking people who ate there regularly were plumb loco.

Dave's Grillin n Chillin serves the best sandwiches east of the 405; Rambo's taco truck on Eagle Rock Bld is good street food; Huaraches Azteca; and Maximiliano's in Highland Park is owned by Oinkster and is worth trying.

I felt as if the lobster was fresher at Tan Cang. We went some months ago, and while the lobster was large, it didn't taste as if it were a live lobster. Maybe they overcooked it, but it didn't have that briny, sweet taste that comes from a freshly fried lobster. Not sure if we'll be returning, as they are not cheap.

Thanks for the review. We were looking for the same thing and settled on NBC for a birthday dinner. We were quite happy with the menu, although we way overordered(several dishes were doubled for our table of 10). We will try King Hua next time.

This is stating the obvious. Your statement seems to condone that practice. I tend to believe that most restaurants pay their employees. If Urasawa did what they did, this is fair criticism and they should pay deeply for it.

If you can make the drive, try Fresh Roast in San Gabriel, a family business for +10 years. About $10 for one pound bag, freshly roasted in the see through back, still warm and terrific coffee. Better than Starbucks, not sure if that's saying much though.

Have you tasted their hamburger? I liked it in high school; taste evolves after 30 years.

Tommy's burger. But, it's doing fine without me.

It's a little further out, but a couple miles east down on Foothill in Arcadia, Zelo's Pizza makes a pizza that is quite different from others. It's not fine dining, but quite good.

Boy, you better not eat at any American coffee shops in NYC, because the American food there have been prepared by Greeks for the last 40 years. Your statement is ridiculous.

It's still a little bit of a drive, but you can go to Chinatown, next to downtown, to one of the herb grocery markets on Broadway, and find decent ones.

I haven't been in years, and I only go when an out-of-towner HAS to check it out. Bad hot dogs and I am convinced that they have their byzantine ordering madness for the sole purpose of creating a line for advertisement. There are a dozen better dog places in Los Angeles.

The roast pork here is among the best I've had--especially the suckling, which is served for dimsum and dinner. Go there early, the roast pork runs out fast and all the regulars know it.

It's fine, not the best in SG, but to its credit, it does serve dimsum all day long.

Nozawa started bastardizing omakase by his Trust Me, I give you what I want and you give me all your money, and now more and more Japanese restaurants describe their set menus as omakase to take advantage of a duped American public.

That is too bad. Elements catered our wedding at the Asia Pacific Museum some five years ago, and people still remember the food. I dropped in and chatted with Onil some months ago, and he seemed pleased to leave Old Town for this spot, so I thought all was well. Hope he resurfaces somewhere soon, though.

We just tried Petrossian's DineLA menu with its foie gras ravioli, foie gras pate, and foie gras ice cream, and they warned us of the ban in July as well.

To echo RayTam, most Chinese restaurants make the food to order. Simply request that they do not add msg to your dishes. I think twenty years ago, it may have made some chefs scratch their heads, but it is almost commonplace today.

Try Bruno's in Santa Monica. Not quite family-style, but definitely old school Italian by an old school Italian.

It's been a couple of years, but it was baked, can't recall the sauce, but the meat was definitely part of the chicken. I think it requires some advance notice and it wasn't cheap, but when done right, it was a nice dish.

At Duck House in Monterey Park, they have a dish called Buddha's Delight, which is a deboned chicken stuffed with seafood and vegetables--a wonderful dish! If you develop a relationship with them, they may be able to accomodate you with the sticky rice you want.

My wife and I went to the downtown Sugarfish as part of her birthday and had the omakase. It's not exactly omakase, as it is a set menu of sushi and handrolls, but it is served plate by plate. The restaurant has nice lighting and friendly staff. The service was very good; the green tea was filled right away when requested, as was any other requests. The food...was fine. What stood out was the albacore and the toro roll. The yellow fish, halibut, and salmon were tender and fresh, but somewhat bland. I guess one could say they were nuanced, like French wines, but as a sushi neophyte, I didn't taste much flavor other than the terrific yuzu and ponzu sauce on the sushi. Overall, it was nice, if a little underwhelming. We were hoping for taste that melted on the tongue, which we've had at some similar places, but didn't quite feel that happened here. Thanks again for the recommendations!

I think you can safely assume that there is no fishing in the contaminated area of Japan. How much all of japan's waters is radiactively affected cannot be determined right now. If you are worried and are in no hurry to sample Urasawa's delights, you can always make a reservation later.

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Urasawa Restaurant
218 N Rodeo Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

J.L, does Sugarfish serve the omakase sushi plate by plate, or are all the sushi placed on one plate for you? Thanks.

Last time I went a couple years back, I remarked at how there were pockets of cooling broth with hot. My wife noted that they may have put in cold toppings into the hot broth, and I believe she's right. Too many other places to try without having to wait with hipsters.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful sugggestions! And, my wife will thank you as well, when she finds out. It looks like we will try Sugarfish downtown on Monday. It's convenient and seems to have everything we'd like to try in their "trust me" lunch special. Will report back afterwards, although I have to admit I'm no sushi expert...

I would disagree with you regarding presentation and fancy techniques of Chinese food. HongKong and Vancouver probably has the highest standards of presentations of Chinese food, and you would be quite stunned by the visuals. Preparing Peking duck and live seafood and the seven(?) Chinese techniques of cooking can be very complex and detailed. I think you would find agreement, if you mean everyday stir-fry, homestyle Chinese food, but then that would apply to any ethnic cuisine.

Triumphal Palace, now Lunasia, was given three stars by Irene Viribilia several years ago, but the chef left shortly after and so did the restaurant. Exilekiss' review of Sea Harbour is quite enticing, http://exilekiss.blogspot.com/2010/08 , but the consistency is generally for the highest levels of live seafood.

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Triumphal Palace
500 W Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801

I see they have four locations. Have you tried the downtown branch?