We were definitely in for a treat in our visit to Los Angeles. My cousin raved about this place, and we were finally able to join for a lunch meal. They made a reservation for 4 around lunch time on Christmas eve, and it was fairly busy. For $125, you get a curated selection of omakase sushi that had a lot of interesting fishes that you would not typically have in New York City.
I’ve always felt Los Angeles has better Mexican food, and I was offered a choice of eating hot pot or going for Mexican food. The hot pot choice would’ve been a place that we have a chain of here in NYC, and since we don’t know when we’ll be back in LA, I thought the answer was pretty easy. We decided on the Mexican joint because this is a local favorite for my cousin. Xécora is a small chain of Los Angeles Mexican restaurants with Huichol cultural influences.
We’ve finally arrived in Los Angeles to kick it with family before heading up to Mammoth for a wedding. This restaurant was suggested because it has modern Taiwanese American tastes to it that is seemingly becoming a trend in the Alhambra areas. Unlike NYC, I’ve always felt LA had better Asian food in the low/mid price ranges, so let’s see how it tastes. We were able to wait list on Yelp for about 5 minutes around 10:15 AM.
Without getting too much into the history of the origins of this restaurant, the food here generally was just OK for me.
The crispy shrimp is what everyone wants to get. The shell is super crispy, crunchy, and delightfully edible. It’s comparable to the Cantonese style salted pepper shrimp with shell. However, this also has a tangy sauce on the outside of it. For me, it was a little TOO tangy, but some people at my table love it. I think I prefer more savory flavors than sweet.
Dim sum is the Cantonese Chinese breakfast staple on weekends in LA. Lots of people flock here to wait in long lines for delicious goodness. I’ve had many dim sum places throughout my life, so the question is this one any better than the other ones I’ve been to. Let’s find out.
This is restaurant #6 on my 2014 LA food expedition.
Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog.