Chinese Food Finder: Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley

Rating:
Summary: Nice sample of LA's Chinese food offerings
Review: I was very excited to get this book, since San Gabriel Valley is littered with way more Chinese restaurants than I could ever try personally. I imagine it was a tough job, especially in the fast-paced Chinese restuarant scene where stores pop up and die overnight. (And a few listings have already gone out of business.) The book succeeds at providing a good overview of the various regional cuisines, and I did enjoy reading about unfamiliar foods and their history.

However, a little more detailed information about the specific restaurants and more write-ups would make this book even better. For example, there are tons of dim sum places in the Valley, but only a handful are written up and Carl was lukewarm toward all of them. Where is a great dim sum place? Maybe descriptions of how the dim sum offerings might differ from say Mission 261 and Ocean Star (both are mega banquet room sized, but Ocean Star offers far more food variety than Mission 261). The Hong Kong style coffee shop listings also felt thin, leaving out alot of the tasty and popular spots that dot Valley Blvd. like OK Cafe and U2. And how about writing up the best place for roast suckling pig or squab?

Despite these shortcomings, I would still recommend this book as a solid introduction to LA Chinese cuisine.