Chung King Restaurant, San Gabriel, CA

Hi, food bloggers/readers, I'm new to the foodblogging world, so I'll introduce myself as Squidopus. Because of my Chinese and Thai heritage, Chinese and Thai food are one of my passions in life. My first post for "Got Pad Kee Mao" will be a review for a Sichuan restaurant called "Chung King Restaurant". I first heard about it through reading Wandering Chopsticks' blog post about it, and that post really made me want to try Sichuan peppercorns, which I've never had before. When I first arrived at the restaurant, I wasn't sure if I went to the same Chung King's that Wandering Chopsticks had gone to. The restaurant is very small on the outside and the overall look of it made you think that this, like many other Chinese restautants, isn't going to be the cleanest restaurant you've been to.



The restaurant got a "B" rating, which isn't surprising because after finishing my meal, I passed by one of the chefs in the back of the restaurant. He was sorting dried chilies in a container, and accidentally spilled about 15 chillies on the sidewalk. Instead of throwing them away, he PICKED THEM BACK UP and put them in the container! GROSS! Seeing this made me think they probably do worse in the back kitchen...

Aside from that, here's what I ate!



I ordered the 3-item cold appetizer combo for $5.95, which came with smoked chicken, spicy dried beef, and spicy sliced beef. They were all very delicious, my favorite was the spicy dried beef, which had a kick to it, but was not mouth-numbingly spicy (The spiciness was perfect!) I thought it was a little too salty to be eaten by itself, so it would be perfect with some plain congee. The sliced beef was also perfectly spicy, but again, I'd like it with rice or congee than by itself. The smoked chicken had a smoky flavor and was not too dry, but I lost my appetite when I found a dead ant on it...



A few minutes later came the Kung Pao Chicken for $7.99. It's definitely not your typical Panda Express Kung Pao (which I must admit, is pretty good). The chicken was battered and fried, then stirred around in a wok with dried chillies (FRESH from the sidewalk), green onions, Sichuan peppercorns, and peanuts. The Sichuan peppercorns give the dish an acquired taste, which I'm not sure I like. Also, the peanuts weren't cooked fully, it was like they just put in a few raw ones right before they served it, which I did not enjoy. I like my peanuts in my Kung Pao crispy and almost charred, like the Kung Pao at P.E. After eating this I was surprised, because I thought the Kung Pao was going to be as great as Wandering Chopsticks proclaimed it to be, but maybe they changed the recipe or the chef.



The spiciest dish of my whole meal was the "Spicy Fish Slices in Tai-An" under the "Featured Specials" category of the menu. IT WAS SPICY! I usually think of myself as a spicy-food lover (I eat anything with Sriracha and I love Pad Kra Prao with extra chilies), but this was intense! It was chock full of Sichuan peppercorns and all sorts of pickled chili peppers, which gave the gravy of the dish such a red color. Not only were fish slices in it, but there were slices of something gray with black dots all over it. At first I thought it was sea cucumber, but I found out later that it was sliced rice cakes. Like most, Sichuan Chinese dishes, the fish was really oily, so several pots of tea were needed to flush the oil out of the body. Overall, it was too spicy for me, so spicy that when I drank water, I could feel my tongue was numb!



To cool us down, I had the pan-fried green beans which were about $6. There were little pieces of preserved veggies mixed in and some salted ground pork. This was a little too salty and oily for me as well, but it's good to eat if 50% of your mouth is numb from Sichuan peppercorns.



After the spicy fish, we asked the waitress for a recommendation of something not spicy; to cool us down. She recommended the stir-fried bean curd and pork for $7.99. It was a great accompaniment to rice; the tofu was firm and star-anisey, the pork flavored with oyster sauce, and there were sliced red peppers and green onions. Man, would I love to have this dish with Sriracha and rice! This was one of my favorites for the meal.


(finished plate with several pickled peppers left)
In the end, I had an okay meal at Chung King, I would order some dishes again, and I wouldn't for others. If you're the type that cares more about food and less about how sanitary the restaurant is, then definitely give Chung King a try. There are some dishes for non-spicy eaters, some for average-spicy eaters, and some for those that have tongues (and stomaches) of steel.

-Squidopus


Chung King Restaurant
1000 South San Gabriel Boulevard
San Gabriel, CA 91776
626-286-0298