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Chung King
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
1000 S San Gabriel BlvdSan Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 286-0298
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 9 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
About This Business:
All you can eat hot pot ,lunch and dinner Five different modern style soup bases special healthy broth spicy (mild , medium and HOT) Mongolian style… read more »
147 reviews for Chung King
Review Highlights
"Best Plates: Pigs Ear, Fried Chicken Cubes."
(in 14 reviews)
"Water boiled fish (and/or beef."
(in 11 reviews)
"...very aromatic that you forget that your eating spicy food."
(in 29 reviews)
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147 reviews in English
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Review from Alex S.
2/2/2012 1 Check-in Here
Came with some friends, hell-bent on eating the 99 things Jonathan Gold says you should have before you die - so the fried chicken cubes was on the list. It was very good but very spicy, just full of those little red peppers. No part of it was ever TOO spicy but the spiciness just lingered and wouldn't let go.
Maybe that's why the Pork with bamboo shoots was one of my favorite dishes. It wasn't wrought in spicy flavors and was a little bit of a relief compared to the onslaught of burning tastebuds that we had put up with in every other dish.
This isn't to say the spicy dishes were bad, some were good, others great, including the fried shrimp that was similar to the chicken cubes in that it was fried but it had a little more going on in the plate as far as veggies go.
We also got mapo tofu, my first time, and won't be my last. It was delicious and meaty (thanks to the ground pork on the dishes) and was great over a small bowl of rice.
We also got eggplant, again spicy, but very good and meaty, green beans, good but nothing to write home about and we started with some seaweed/pig ears/peanuts. The pig ears (my first time having them) weren't as odd tasting as I thought, just like pickled slivers of meat. There were some definitely more disgusting sounding things on the menu (to this white boy, here) including duck heads, which apparently were just in a serving tray in the kitchen area - a bucket of duck heads. Lovely.
The food came fast, probably as it was mostly, if not all, pre-prepared and the serving station where the chefs prepared the food looked like an ice cream bar more than a chinese food kitchen. We had some friends in tow that spoke Chinese, not sure how we'd been able to survive without them but there was a healthy handful of caucasians in the restaurant so don't be too nervous about trying this chinese joint.
Oh ya, and for 7 ppl ordering 7 dishes it was only about $14/person. And we were all fulllllllllllll. -
Review from Sean H.
Los Angeles, CA
2/2/2012 1 Check-in Here
Went last night with a big group of people. Some of the better Chinese food I've had around LA. Really reminded me of some of the dishes I've had when I've been abroad. Not overly spicy, which was surprising. But it was great.
We got:
- Appetizer plate w/ Pig's Ear, seaweed, peanuts + anchovies. A great start to the meal. Identical to plates I've had in shanghai
- Fried chicken cubes in peppers. Delicious. Numbing peppers so so good. This is spicy but not in a habenero I-want-to-die sort of way, more in a lengthy whats-going-on-in-my-mouth sort of way.
- Fried shrimp. Similar to the chicken but on a bed of bean sprouts. Very delicious but very salty.
- Shredded pork with bamboo shoots. The blandest of them all, but it was nice to go back to this every once-in-awhile after having our mouth attacked by all the other food.
- Mapo Tofu. A classic standby. Their version has a little kick to it.
- Spicy Eggplant. Really tasty, not overly spicy. Great for the vegetarians at the table.
- Green beans. Also a nice vegetable, on the mild side.
I need to go back soon with another group of people, as there were dozens more entrees on the menu that I'd love to try! -
Review from Yervant B.
Pasadena, CA
1/30/2012
Nice little treasure I happened to come across a year ago on my way down to the giant supermarket down the street from here.
I am a regular(once a month). You are always served a pot of hot oolong tea and steamed rice.
note: I don't particularly eat spicey, but I am accustomed to eating spicey, so my mild may be another persons medium etc etc.
Favorites:
-Sweet and Sour fish(not spicey).. first time today..soft, tender fried fish in sauce.
-Sliced Szechuan pork(mild).. Slightly sweet, succulent, I always get this, my favorite.
-Tomato and Fish soup.(not spicey).. A rich tomato flavor with soft chunks of fish.
-Kung Pao chicken(mild).. delicious crunchy fried chicken and peanuts.
-Szechuan eggplant(mild).. eggplant fans... chunks of juicy Szechuan style eggplants.keywords: CHUNKS OF EGGPLANTS.. a must for me. Can be a little sweet for some.
Service is usually prompt. Ladies are nice, some can't communicate as well in English, so they might come across a little timid or reserved, but they will take care of you nonetheless.
4 people costs between $40-$60 depending how many pigs are on the table. -
Review from Mary T.
Los Angeles, CA
12/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
I came here along with my friends because they suggested to try this place out. I never heard of this place until a couple of nights ago. But I was prepared to try their spicy food after looking at all the yelp pictures!!!
I was surprised that the food wasn't spicier. I thought some of the dishes were too pungent and too salty instead of having that extra kick I was looking for.
I don't know the exact names on the menu but we tried the Chinese bacon with cabbage, fried chicken cubes, sweet and sour fish, water boiled fish, string beans, fried pork chop and bean curd stir fry.
My favorites were the fried chicken cubes and sweet and sour fish. I recommend this place for people who like foods with strong flavors. This place serves really authentic Szechuan dishes! I will definitely come back again and try their other dishes. -
Review from duke c.
12/30/2011
I absolutely love this place. In fact, I credit my dad for taking us here for the first time before it went all berserk with the media attention. However there are a few things that I am beginning to worry about now!
First, the good! This place serves up Szechuan style Chinese cuisine and it's pretty damn legit and authentic. Spicy peppers, numbing spices, and scorching chili oil is present in almost every dish. Really, everything here is really good, especially if you are a fan of spicy food. Our usual is fish in boiled hot sauce, fried intestine, and stir fry Chinese sausages. The fish in hot sauce is probably the best I've had in the States and definitely rivals ones I've had in China. Fish is tilapia and sometimes it is a bit fishy (from it not being so fresh) but the star here is really the hot sauce/oil. The cabbage in it just soaks it up so the cabbage is actually much more spicier than the fish! Get a little bit of your rice and you can eat 3-4 bowls of rice easily! Actually, all of dishes will make you sweat and sweat and sweat.
Oh also, if you can't eat spicy food or just want to experience some heat, you can ask for milder versions, but a warning... it is still spicy as hell and it just lingers in your mouth!
Over time, our family has noticed that the quality may have gone down a little from the beginning. Portion has also slightly decreased. Before, the fam can probably order the same dishes and even have some fish or intestine leftover, but that is no longer the case. At how it is now, we still think it is worth going, with the raised prices and the smaller portions, just because it is just too addicting and still one of the best Chinese restaurants in LA.
Small, crappy looking restaurant on San Gabriel Blvd that delivers scorching Chinese food for those that love to torture their taste buds and stomach! -
Review from Cathy H.
If you love spicy Chinese, aka Szechuan, food, look no further. I have always wanted to have an authentic Szechuan dish with 10,000 dried chilies and tongue-numbing peppercorns. And, well, I was granted my wish here.
My dining companion and I ordered their spicy fish stew and fried shrimp in firepot. Both were equally good and, well, spicy! The fish stew is semi-thick due to the cornstarch and has very tender pieces of fish (I'm assuming basa). The fried shrimp is accompanied by celery, peanuts, bean sprouts, scallions, dried chilies, and those tongue-numbing peppercorns. Very unique sensation as you're eating!
The decor here is very typical of the hole-in-the-wall joints in LA. Disgusting walls and worn-out booths, but you know what? Who cares? Food is to die for. 5 stars. -
Review from Simon Y.
Beverly Hills, CA
12/15/2011
Chinese food for Chinese people, ie no sweet & sour or General Tso's chicken.
In other words, it's legit.
Great food, and pretty consistent in the last 5 years.
I'm drawn by the cold dishes(pick some before you sit down and read the menu), beef and fish in water, whole spicy fish, as well as the spicy fried chicken pieces; but I've never been disappointed by items.
Pluses: Menu has pictures, current wait staff speaks English, food comes out fast, and it's cheap.
Bring cash. -
Review from Christopher L.
Los Angeles, CA
11/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
The fish soup is delightfully stunning.
Sichuan peppers, so wily and cunning,
Warm up all their dishes,
The effect is pernicious:
An hour later my nose is still running. -
Review from hannah g.
Santa Monica, CA
11/20/2011
If you love spicy, and adore Szechuan, this is the place for you. It's a drive unless you live in the SG valley, but well worth it. Nothing else in the city compares.
My favorite dish are the cold Szechuan noodles. My mouth burns but I can't stop eating them. Everything is good, and it can get quite adventurous if you are inclined.
Cash only...be forewarned. No ATM in the immediate vicinity. However, for two people you can eat like royalty for under $30. -
Review from Ampersand E.
Los Angeles, CA
1/12/2012 1 photo
Simply awesome! Went with 10 people, staff helped to get a good cross selection of items to share with everyone. On the spicy side, without being too hot. Not a huge place, but well worth the drive. Parking is behind the building. Cash only.
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Review from Andrew W.
Arcadia, CA
10/18/2011
Half my family is from Sichuan, so take my word for it - this place serves the best Sichuan food in southern California
Start off with a cold dish from the front - the Fu Qi Fei Pian is my favorite.
Best dishes:
Fried Chicken Cubes
Water boiled fish (and/or beef)
PoLa fish
Twice-cooked pork (absolutely amazing) -
Review from Matthew C.
Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, CA
9/30/2011
LEGEND. Consistency defined. I have been coming here for over five years and never once have I left disappointed. This place is the benchmark for Sichuan in LA and Southern California (Yea, Ba Ren, you are still the understudy even if you are the best in SD). Even despite the proliferation of great Sichuan in the SGV, Chung King is the alpha and omega - start here, go everywhere else and you'll still end up back here with your mouth salivating and sweat percolating. I'm getting misty as I write this just thinking of pulling up and seeing the old guy cleaning the chilis in the back near the parking lot.
Classics: boiled fish slices in hot sauce, which beats all pretenders in the area (don't miss out on the cabbage stewing next to that fish - it is glorious); diced fried chicken with hot peppers, an explosive peppercorn infused bomb of chili heat and residual numbing effect; twice cooked pork, with off the charts fatty porkulence; and basically any of the house special hot pots and fish dishes.
This is not a place you come for service or atmosphere, both of which are meh. This is a place you come for addiction: not the methadone clinic but that sketch dude with the wry smile who knows hes got you and doesn't need to entreat you with a pitch.
Come here. There is no hype. This is IT.Listed in: Sunday Soup Day!
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Review from Jess W.
Los Angeles, CA
11/17/2011
I've been to the location in Monterey Park several times, didn't know about the San Gabriel one. Checked it out last night. Just impeccable from beginning to end. Did all the classics recommended here, water-boiled fish, won tons in chili oil, mapo tofu, chicken cubes, also some garlic green beans and the lamb with leek/garlic. All superb.
Also love that this location has beer on-site.
And finally, the service was perfect. Our waitress was friendly, helpful, got our orders just right, kept us topped off with water and beer, and helped me find the nearest ATM quickly when we were a little short on cash. -
Review from Storm C.
Alhambra, CA
When my husband and I crave for spicy food, this place is one of our top 5 places we go to.What we like a bout this place, their dishes are flavorful even if it is spicy.
Fried Intestine with lots of chili is good. Boiled fish with white "soupy" sauce with bean sprouts , really good.Chicken cubes, fried with chili is good too. -
Review from Mushu C.
Los Angeles, CA
12/29/2011
LOVE their hot pot!
their pig ear, cucumber, and beef jerky is awesome!
the waitresses there are really nice, but they sometimes forget that you're there, so it takes a while for them to bring you your water or the cold dishes. -
Review from Regina H.
Temple City, CA
9/8/2011
Best Szechuan PLACE in town.
If you like some really really really spicy authentic Chinese food, then you must try this place. Its great for the Super SPICY food lovers.
Its a family style place so its best for large groups of 4+ people. -
Review from Ratika N.
Get ready for some HOTTTTT and tasty food! Service is usually good, not over friendly but nice overall. The 2 servers are normally busy and at times have forgotten to refill the tea pot. Also, its cash only and is pretty reasonable (about $12-15 per person). Always gone here for lunch and the wait is never longer than 10-15 min. Overall, its a 3.5 stars.
My favorite dishes are the ziran pepper lamb (it's super spicy), mapo tofu (it was exactly like I had in China). The spice is different than anything I've eaten before in LA.
I love spicy food but this was craziness...I needed to eat some plain rice just to feel sane again! Don't go here expecting a fancy restaurant with mind blowing service. Just go here for some tasty and spicy food with decent service and you won't be disappointed. -
Review from EC F.
West Covina, CA
9/12/2011
If you enjoy Szechuan food, this restaurant deserves your business. It is delicious and the prices are very reasonable. It has the best Szechuan food around and its ability to remain in the area for so long is a testament to how good this place is.
Even if you cannot stomach spicy food, by default the dishes come out slightly above average in terms of heat. The average person should be able to eat many of the popular dishes at this restaurant without having to go to the ER. For those unfamiliar with this type of food, expect very strong flavors and (of course) heat. Many of the dishes are probably a notch too salty for the average palette. This translates into: order just a few dishes and eat it with lots of white rice.
If you only order one thing here, make sure it is the water-boiled fish (I believe on the menu, it is called "boiled fish slices in hot sauce"). The fish itself has a very soft and almost-gelatinous texture. The presentation is a bit daunting since it is basically fish fillets drowning in a sea of water, chili flakes, and oil (and a hidden bed of cabbage on the bottom). It is definitely not as spicy as it looks so be sure to try a couple bites! The flavors (and fish) melt in your mouth. Amazing. When your mouth starts to go numb, don't panic. Those are just the Szechuan peppercorns working their magic (if you've ever taken echinacea for anything, it's a similar sensation).
All the other dishes I have tried were delicious. Of note are the spicy chili oil wontons. For about $6, you get a fairly large bowl full of them, an amazing value for anyone that has purchased these at other restaurants. It's enough to feed one person for an entire meal. Also tried an assortment of vegetable dishes (eggplant, greenbeans, potatoes) and they were also really good. Just from the samplings during the times I've occasioned this establishment, I can safely say you can probably order anything and not go wrong. I will definitely be back with some friends with strong stomachs.
For people wondering about service, it's somewhat typical for a Chinese restaurant. The wait-staff is always extremely busy and the venue is tiny. The ladies do an excellent job of clearing out your table and packing up your food. They do their best to take your orders quickly and bring the food out. Once that is done, it might be a lot trickier to get refills on your water and rice. Water is for pansies anyway. My rating is based on the quality of food and not on the service. If you want service, go to Chick-Fil-A.
-C -
Review from Pamela W.
Los Angeles, CA
8/14/2011
YES, you have to self advocate for water, tea, rice, and attention.
YES, you may receive a bewildered look from a fellow patron based on your pasty whiteness (One older gentleman actually said, "Wow, you like Chinese Food?...ten minutes later, he was totally surprised when what looked like a Yelp group/hipster social club soon walked in. )
YES, it is completely worth the drive from the westside for the following dishes:
- The oft written about fried chicken. Delicious tiny fried nuggety pieces of dark chicken studded with (pickled?) garlic and a smattering of insanely delicious chilis (Def eat at least a few..they have amazing flavor as well as heat)
- The hot and sour wonton soup- pure funky flavorful savory gravy style broth with slippery little wontons
- The shredded pork. Not insanely rare, yes, but tender, flavorful, and delicious.
YES, our dinner cost under 30 for 3 massive plates of food. Delish. -
Review from David a.
Los Angeles, CA
Life is great with so many world class Chinese places within a stone's throw of my house. The San Gabriel Valley lures some of the best Chinese chefs in the world to it's smoggy basin, and since all of our ingredients come from China anyway, the Yunnan, Hunan and Sichuan restaurants here are top tier. Chung King (both locations) serve some of the finest Sichuan dishes, and Chinese food in general, that I have ever tasted. My favorite dish here is the MaPo Tofu, a rich, chili oil infused ragu of pork, garlic, and green onions tossed with soft, creamy tofu cubes. It is the shining star of this ancient cuisine and I often think of kind of like a Chinese Bolognese sauce. The other things that I would recommend without reservation are the cumin lamb or beef, the cold plates, and the chicken cubes with chili. I am working my way through the menu slowly but surely.
This last Saturday, I got the huge portion of fish in hot sauce. It was tilapia boiled in a scalding hot sauce with preserved Chinese cabbage, onions, dried Sichuan peppers, fresh green chili, garlic, and a ton of chili oil. Fresh water fish really is not my bag of tricks, but these mild tasting fillets soaked up the multitude of flavors that were in this dish. It was not really all that hot, but had the two chili designation on the menu.
Additionally, I ordered the twice cooked pork. This was a huge mound of twice cooked pork belly, which was not the slightest bit greasy or grizzly at all, wok fried with green onions and some black beans and garlic. Bravo! Bravo! I ate this dish for the first time with my dad at Hunan Restaurant on North Broadway in Chinatown which was without a doubt the best Chinese place in LA from 78 to 88. The Chung King version brought me back to that specific time and place in my life and was so good, I almost finished the dish. This was not spicy to me at all, but what a great pork dish!
The service here is like many Chinese places in the SGV which means that you just have to speak up if you want something. It is going to run you about $20 bucks to get 2 dishes and a cold plate. It is enough for 3 people or you can take it home. The one on SG blvd has a liquor store with Belgian beers that you can brown bag in there.Listed in: Lunch time in the SGV
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Review from Jadore J.
Los Angeles, CA
12/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
One of my friends who just moved to LA from Boston was craving Szechuanese food so we decided to check this place out. Mind you, he drove 2 hours in traffic to eat here! Crazy! Chung King looks like a hole in the wall restaurant that you would find in Chinatown. It looks old, dirty & beat, but once you step inside, all you see is table after table being occupied. It was packed on a Wednesday night. Once you open the menu, you'll notice that all the pictures are RED because almost everything on the menu is spicy as hell. I really enjoy eating spicy food (minus the watery eyes and runny nose) so I was excited to try all the dishes. We ordered the kung pao chicken, spicy fried chicken, spicy fish, bean curd with leeks, cold noodles, ma po tofu, cold cucumber, and smoked duck. If you've never tried "Taiwan Beer" (yes, the label reads Taiwan Beer) you can try it here. It has a really sweet, refreshing taste. It reminded me a little of New Castle. The food came out fast.. The Spicy Fried Chicken was the spiciest dish. My mouth was on fire and after awhile, everything tasted the same to me. I don't know if my face was red due to the fact that I was drinking beer or because I ate so much spicy food. Either way, it was not a flattering view. Don't expect to choose your own level of spiciness. My favorite dish was the cold noodles. My only complaint is that all the dishes were extremely greasy. The price is really reasonable. Service is ok, and this place is cash only,
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Review from Joseph S.
7/11/2011
OK the fried chicken isn't THAT spicy. After reading several reviews, we came in with prepped stomachs but after each person took a bite, we all thought that it was spicy, but it was all hype. The chicken itself is good and will make you break a sweat.
We dared someone to eat a spoonful of the leftover chilis on the plate and he couldn't drink water for 5 mins. $40 was on the table, in which he foolishly took the dare. I felt sorry for his stomach and his toilet. -
Review from Kelvin C.
7/11/2011 3 Check-ins Here
Ahhh chun king, your food is so delicious. Even though I need to take a famotidine to protect myself from heartburn before eating your mouth-watering, sweat-inducing food, it's well worth it to prevent myself from camping out in the restroom at night.
The fried chicken cubes are so delicious, perfectly spicy, and will explode in your mouth with flavor. It's not overly spicy, but if you opt to eat all the chilies on the plate, good luck! The bean curd tofu strands are equally as flavorful, and to my surprise, a LOT less oily than many other chinese places. We also ordered the Garlic porkchops, which were decent, but nothing that blew me away. I'll probably opt not to order the pork chops next time and try something else. Service is like your standard chinese restaurant as well as the environment (hole-in-the-wall).
4 stars for the food! -
Review from Pancho V.
Los Angeles, CA
12/30/2011
This place is great!!! Super authentic like I was in Shang Hi. Staff don't speak lick of engleis, which I love, just point to what you want and they understand. The side dish bar in display case is crazy good!! Peanut thing and like beef jerkey is yum, little anchovy or sardine dish is good too. But you gotta get their fame...Beer Duck Pot! Dam! Eat the chinese peppercorns in it or you'll pass out!! Take some home for midnight snack. And bring a jacket cause AC is cranked up cause you'll sweat crazy once you start eating!!
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Review from Hurf D.
Redondo Beach, CA
5/14/2011
The food is amazing. Arguably better than much of what I ate in China. Damn. Good. Food. Like China, the service sucks and it's cash only. Cry me a river. Most of the people whining in the reviews are white dudes, whining about the kung pao chicken not being like what they order from panda express.
Good. Go away; don't add to the line and make me wait even longer, to eat this godly, godly food.
Get the Beijing Pork, Double Cooked Pork, A-Tsai (A-"Choy"), etc. Glorious. -
Review from Brian S.
Sierra Madre, CA
7/2/2011
Good, solid, spicy food for not too much $$. Go with friends that speak mandarin. It helps.
Helpful note: they will let you bring in a bottle of wine. They even opened it for us. No corkage fee. -
Review from Forrest D.
South Pasadena, CA
2/22/2011
If you eat in any amount of Chinese restaurants you will be widely familiar with the stereotypical Chinese waitstaff. Rude, unhelpful, uncommunicative. Most of the time it's inaccurate. It seems that all of them however, work at Chung King. I can honestly say that I've never come across more disinterested and downright rude waitresses anywhere. not even in the hippest clubs in Hollywood is the level of ambivilence at the level it is here.
Despite the service, some of the dishes were quite good. They have a really good version of Pig's Ear. The spicy kick lifts the plate to a different level but it's not so overwhelming as to ruin the dish. Fried Chicken Cubes were hot and spicy, the plate was pretty good, and though I've had better other places I would order again if I ever found myself here again.
Kung Pao Chicken was rather disappointing. I love it hot, but hot doesn't necessarily equal quality. In this case the entire plate was drowning in Chili oil, which made the entire plate soggy. Boiled fish in hot sauce had similar difficulties. Drowning in the chili, it lost all semblance of actual flavor and was just left with heat. Some people may find that a winning result but I prefer there to be tact under the cover of fire.
While Yelp reviews are oddly glowing here, upon deeper review it's easy to see that reputations have declined steeply over the years. I'm sure once upon a time this was a special destination, it's barely more than average at this point. Add in the awful service and once is one more than enough. There are too many great Sichuan options to put up with disgruntled waitstaffs and soggy food.
Best Plates: Pigs Ear, Fried Chicken Cubes
Food - B
Ambience - C
Service - D
Value - A-Listed in: Chinese Food, Jonathan Gold's 99 Essential…
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Review from Maggie C.
2/4/2011 2 photos
I remember getting one of the best kung pao chicken here years ago then my tongue became numb. The kung pao was so tasty that I couldn't even stop eating it. The numbness got worse with every bite but I didn't care. It took a while for the numbness to go away.
Everytime I passed by Chung King I craved for the taste. So I went back recently..
Ordered 3 items appetizer and fried chicken cube. I yelped this place and saw so many reviews mentioning delicious fried chicken cube.
3 items appetizer: Very good value because you can choose from many varieties and the portions were not too small. Got anchovy with peanut (not bad), Sour bean (that's what the waitress called it; kinda yum) and some kind of beef (kinda numbing but yuck). 3.5 stars.
Fried Chicken Cube with Pepper: Not as good as kung pao chicken. Numb at first bite. My baby lengua was disappointed. 3 stars.
Funny how the waitresses waited for the food from this little window that's connected to the kitchen. One of my waitresses was kinda rude because I told her I wasn't ready. She got upset and walked away cranky. Bad service!!
3.5 stars.
Chung King's kung pao chicken is yummylicious!! -
Review from Melinda L.
Los Angeles, CA
3/22/2011
Chung King spells spiciness. If you want heat, this is the place to be.
With a recommendation from a friend to try this place out, I was in for an amazing surprise. I was surprise of the many varities of spicy dishes there are. We ordered the Mapo Tofu (with extra peppercorn-tongue-numbing flavor), Spicy Fried Chicken, Spicy Eggplant and Spicy Bambooshoots with Pork. Deeelicious!
Service: spotty. If you want refill on water or tea, don't expect to get any until the end of your meal.
Plastic: nope, they only take cash here. -
Review from Sunny D.
2/27/2011 3 photos
Chung King in San Gabriel has the tastiest, unique Sichuan dishes that is worth the drive to the San Gabriel Valley to check out.
My first good impression at Chung King were the cold dishes. I have no idea what the Chinese names are for the dishes, but I definitely devoured the Chinese style beef jerky. It's a dried beef with lots of Chinese spices. It's a great appetizer to start with along with the cold veggies.
The cold Tea Smoked Chicken is also quite good too. The smoky tea flavor is pretty heavy and surprisingly the chicken has the texture of a ham.
Oh, and I liked Chung King's cold dish version of Chicken Feet much better than the dim sum version that I find at other restaurants. There isn't much to say how it's prepared other than it's not spiced or marinated.
The typical comfort food, Mapo tofu, is spicy. However, I didn't feel the heat at the tip my tongue.
The Spicy Kidney dish was very good and a dish worth ordering. The slices of kidney were very tender and the spicy pepper sauce masked it's gamey taste.
The Spicy Eggplant is a wonderful combination of spicy and sweet. I also recommend ordering this dish too.
I also enjoyed the Chinese Bacon dish. For some reason I expected crisp pork belly, instead, the pork belly was stir fried with lots of veggies.
I especially adored the Spicy Fish in a Hot Pot. This dish can fool you. The slices of fish looks innocent floating in a sea of pepper sauce. The punch hits you after 5 minutes of eating, because that's when the heat creeps up on you.
Being fans of Jonathan Gold's Favorite 99 Things to eat, we ordered the Fried Chicken Cubes. It's good, but just okay. I think J. Gold should have tried the Fried Pork Chop, which is now one of my favorite things to eat. The Fried Pork Chop has a crunchy, maple syrup flavor that is soooo outrageously great! It's an absolutely a strange combination of flavors not commonly found in Chinese cuisine.
I will agree with J. Gold that the Beef in a Small Pot is worth ordering too. It's very aromatic that you forget that your eating spicy food. The slivers of beef is so thinly sliced that it melts in your mouth.
My dining experience a few weeks ago was with a group of 8 people. It was a little cramped, but it's what I expected from a hole in the wall establishment. Although they had a table to fit 10 people, I would recommend dining with no more than 6 people for the sake of having a comfortable dining experience. Generally, the service is pretty basic. English is limited so it's a lot of pointing to tell the server what you want. Service in general is friendly and a little slow when it gets busy. At your table, you order from the menu for the hot dishes. Then, you go to the counter to pick from a variety of cold dishes to have delivered to your table. Last, but not least, BRING CASH. It's a cash only establishment. -
Review from Denysia Y.
Cerritos, CA
5/1/2011
Came here with a couple friends. There is one that is really similar in Artesia. Not sure if they are a chain or not. Can someone verify for me? Haha.
Anyway, we ordered a bunch of food, majority of which I cannot seem to remember, but let's see if I can.
1. Cold Chicken in Sauce - Soooo freaking good! And it wasn't spicy which is great!
2. Tomato and Eggs - Ehhh... could have been better. It was slightly more sweet than I normally liked it.
3. Cold Chicken small dish - I didn't try this... Not sure how good it was.:-/
4. Fish in hot sauce - Was pretty good, was spicy, but not burn your mouth spicy.
5. Chinese Bacon with Leek - This was pretty good, because hello, any vegetable I can love instantly!
6. Stir Fry beef with onions - This one was pretty good too!
So overall, I would give this place 4 out of 5. And we came here because one of my friends is from the part of China that actually makes this type of food. Not bad, and we all paid $13 each for dinner. So it was fairly decently priced. -
Review from Gerry K.
Los Angeles, CA
1/5/2011
A bit of a let down- but overall a good restaurant.
I had the cabbage, sesame noodles, and fried chicken cubes and based on other reviews, I was expecting them to be extraordinary.
The cabbage that one reviewer called "stunning" is cabbage sautéed in oil with hot peppers and a bit of slightly sweet liquid in the bottom of the dish. Stunning? Not to me.
[I did get the peanut appetizer which is comprised of peanuts, drizzled in a bit of sweet syrup, with tiny flash-fried crunchy sardines on top and while I don't personally love sardines (or this dish) I found it interesting and would definitely order it if I was with a friend who dug sardines/fish things like that.]
The sesame noodles were decent, but not mythic like Grand Sichuan in New York http://www.yelp.com/bi...
And the most disappointing was the fried chicken. Small pieces of chicken, fried relatively well in a decently crunchy/appealing (but not amazing) batter- replete with pieces of chili.
What IS cool about this restaurant is experiencing the cumulative effects of the chili. You start off cautious, avoiding the bigger chili flakes, but as your hunger and passion increases, you become less and less cautious- taking in more and more of the chili flakes with each bite. You start sweating, your lips start tingling, and you find that your mouth has contracted Stockholm syndrome and has started loving its tormentor.
My favorite part of the meal is what I call the miraculin effect. Miraculin is a fruit that makes spicy food taste sweet. I find that after enough szechuan pepper, cold water will actually start to taste sweet! It's a trick of the brain and taste buds and makes the experience of eating at Chung King even more fun and interesting. But if we're looking for the best Szechuan food in L.A. this is not it. -
Review from Jackie B.
4/14/2011 13 Check-ins Here
Spicy. If you crave spicy Sichuan dishes, you have to try this place out.
I like the bean thread noodles (mild, since everything else I order is going to burn the heck out of my mouth), the eggplant, the boiled fish slices in spicy (what else?) sauce. I liked the white bean curd dish with Chinese leeks, too, but it's not a regular dish on my rotation.
I recommend this place. I know other posters have commented on the rude wait staff, but I haven't had any run-ins with them.
It gets busy around dinnertime, not just on the weekends! -
Review from sara l.
12/24/2010 5 photos
I have never, and I mean NEVER EVER, had real sichuan food in Los Angeles. Or the U.S. for that matter. I didn't even understand what it was until going to China. Actually, I was in Nepal, in a teensy little village in the Solokumbu district. I asked what it was, and the joke was on me when my friend said I should try it. My mouth became unhappy and numb, and I knew I'd been had. I even have a picture capturing my frowning mug, with my Nepali friends giggling in the background. It's not just hot peppers that make sichuan food taste the way it does. Nope. It's sichuan peppercorns (ghorka in Nepali, I don't know how to say it in Mandarin), these wonderful little husks that numb the mouth, rather than giving you the heat we're used to from chiles in the U.S.
In any case, the food at Chung King was AMAZING. I asked for it to be cooked without msg, and they happily complied, seeming really thrilled to know I was celebrating my birthday there, even while the place was almost totally full, buzzing on a Wednesday night before Christmas. Go figure, 'cause I know we were the only Jews willing to drive to San Gabriel on a Wednesday.
We had the cold noodles, cabbage with hot peppers, lamb with leeks, sichuan beef, cold smoked chicken, and sichuan fried chicken. Absolutely everything was diving, save the chicken, which was a little too oversmoked for my taste (my brother loved it, and took home the leftovers). The noodles, served appropriately first after the chicken, were a little sweet, a little bit spicy.
The lamb with leeks was delicious, plentiful, black peppery, garlicky, really nice. The sichuan fried chicken and the beef were lip-numbingly wonderful, EXACTLY as I'd eaten in China, except it was the perfect amount of hot, numbing my kips and making my nose drip without making me break out in a sweat. The cabbage was stunning. We still can't figure out what they did to make it so tasty, but I'll be back for it.
Best of all, we left full but not feeling greasy. As another reviewer said, the oil in sichuan food is for flavor--you don't have to eat it--but truthfully, although there was some at the bottom of our serving platters, there wasn't THAT much. Everyone in our party (mom, dad, brother, and girl, and I) was absolutely in love with the place, and totally floored with how it was. We all vowed to come back soon, and I can't wait. 5 VERY enthusiastic stars. -
Review from Allen L.
San Gabriel, CA
1/10/2011
I tried Chung King with my friends and there was only one us that could hang. Chung King is a hole in the wall type restaurant on San Gabriel Blvd. If you drive by and have never noticed it before, you aren't the only one. Chung King from afar doesn't look like a restaurant. Their food is super spicy.
The rest of us had our stomachs burn out from the extreme spicy. Their spicy level is different from other cuisines. It is a different kind of kick. We all felt the lingering effects the next day. Their food was good but would've been more enjoyable if it wasn't doused in chili oil. We ordered a soup noodle dish and you could see the chili oil engulfing the rest of the dish. We also had their cold noodle dish, and that had the right amount of kick to it. Again, if you can't handle spicy and I mean extreme spicy, then this place will not be for you. You should however, try Chung King at least once.
Their dining area is small so if you have a big group, it's going to get packed. Also there seems to be only one waitress (when we went) so your order might take a while.
Chung King is also not open late so if you're going to go, make sure you go before 8:30pm. We drove here a couple of times but they were closed. Their parking lot is like 6 spaces in the back but you can park along the side street or you can park on San Gabriel Blvd.
I would've given this place 4 stars but they close way too early compared to the other places that are open. -
Review from Tiffany C.
Long Beach, CA
11/11/2010
We were in the area looking for good Chinese food to eat. I looked up the restaurant on my droid and had high expectations of the food here. However to our disappointment, we were treated with bad service. We also asked if we could pay by card, but they only accept cash. The woman spoke to us roughly, "Cash only!" and noted that the nearest ATM machine was the gas station across the block. At that point, I knew we should have left, but we were hungry so we obliged.
We ordered chow mein, kung pao chicken and this beef and tofu spicy dish which I thought was stir-fry... I was wrong! It was meat and tofu drowning in a tub of oil and msg! Gross. The dish wasn't even spicy and had no actual flavor at all. I was very disappointed since they listed it as one of their special dishes.
In the end, we were only satisfied having food in our stomach. We ate it all despite the taste since we wanted our money's worth. Never coming here again. -
Review from SK T.
Monterey Park, CA
2/20/2011 9 photos
I was here with a group of friend last Saturday evening and enjoyed a wonderful meal. We were the first diners in the restaurant at 6pm, so our dishes were cooked very quickly and served within minutes of us ordering. That was the good and bad about it. First, we got the cold appetizer place to munch, but then the hot & sour soup that we ordered did not appear until after our 5th dish had arrived. Very unusual, especially when you expect it to be the very first hot dish to consume. Some of my friends almost mistook the large soup bowl of boiled fish slices in hot sauce to be the hot & sour soup!
That was the first hot course we received and it was delicious. The fish had enough spiciness that it did numb the lips a little without causing one to reach for a glass of ice water in order to cool off the heat. In fact, once you've survived this dish, the rest were a snap to eat. The other dishes we had eel in chili & Szechwan peppercorns, kung pao chicken, lamb in zi ran chilis, ma po tofu were all spicy and flavorful with great wok stir fry essence but were all not as spicy as the boiled fish dish. That made for very manageable and fun eating. It was a great experience to have authentic kung pao here. It was a dry dish with a bite from not only the chilis but from the vinegar as well. A much different flavor than the kung pao flavor you may be used to from pseudo Chinese places such as Panda Express and PF Chang's.
To balance the spicy dishes, we had 2 non-spicy dishes, stir fried green beans and beef with scallions (aka Mongolian beef), which had a nice little sweetness to the sauce.
All 7 of us thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Adding drinks, beer, tax and 20% gratuity, it came out to only about $20 per person.
Now, remember, you're here for the food. Do not expect great or attentive service. They were actually polite and have been very helpful to our party, but when ordering, you had to flag a waitress down, especially every time you needed something. If you can get buy with basic service and focus on the food, then you will surely enjoy your meal.
By the way, if you are part of a large party (we were originally 10 but ended up 7), they would be willing to take reservations -- mainly because they only have 1 table that would be big enough to seat a party of 7 to 10.
Ample parking is found in their lot behind the restaurant or on the streets surrounding the restaurant. It is recommended that you pay in cash. I did not see signs nor stickers that indicate they accept credit cards, and I forgot to ask.
Now, to try their counterpart in Monterey Park and see how it compares (especially since my sister said that location cooked their food a bit spicier). -
Review from Michael L.
Alhambra, CA
8/24/2010 1 Check-in Here
After seeing this restaurant on The Huffington Post Top 10 spiciest food in Los Angeles, I decided to try it. The Ma Po Tofu was very spicy but also very salty. I don't know if it was the 4-5 chilies that was messing with my tastes buds and giving me a numbing sensation or if it was just plain SALTY. I also ordered the pork with tips of bamboo shoots. I've had much better at other places.
The spiciness lived up to its reputation but the taste and service was below average. -
Review from M W.
Montebello, CA
1/10/2011
A hole in the wall place that serves reallllly good chung king style food. Mainly dishes with this numbing type of spiciness. I don't eat spicy, but I would come here in a heartbeat. could ask for less spicy...
What I like most is how they prepare the food. You can tell by the taste that they use a realllly goooood steaming wok to cook their food. Portion isn't the most generous.. but enough to make you crave and come back for more. -
Review from Dijon Y.
San Francisco, CA
10/28/2011
The sichuan food here is alright. But they didn't have my 2 favorite dishes, the couple's delight and cold bean jello. They have cold items, you can pick 3 for about $6, which is pretty good. The chicken cubes tasted alright but the chicken pieces were very very small, smaller than the photo on the menu, and it was mostly chopped green onions and red pepper pieces, and deep fried batter. The bamboo shoots and pork was too saucy and salty. The soup with tofu and vegetable was alright but also too salty. This is alright for sichuan food. But I'd try someplace else before coming back here too soon.
