Dear Diary

A week in the life of food

A A A Comments (0) By Jonathan Gold Wednesday, Dec 9 1998

SATURDAY: If you are like most of my friends, you are sick of hearing me talk about Empress Pavilion. It’s true; there are other Cantonese restaurants, and some of them are even in Chinatown, most of them serve jellyfish salad and roast quail, and many of them even make decent fish-bladder soup. But Empress Pavilion’s small menu of seasonal specialties — you often have to make a point of asking for a copy — always lists a few dozen things that you have probably never eaten before. And a dish called something like "pan-fried mashed bean curd," which I was expecting would resemble a stew, turned out to be the most delicious mixture of tofu and shrimp, patted into thick ovals and gently sautéed until they were golden and crisp, yet delicate inside as lightly scrambled eggs. It was the best single thing I had to eat all week.

Bar César, 1515 Shat tuck Ave., Berkeley; (510) 883-0222.

Location Info

Map

Empress Pavilion

Bamboo Plaza, 988 N. Hill St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Category: Restaurant > Chinese

Region: Chinatown/ Elysian Park

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Happy Family Restaurant

140 W Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776-3760

Category: Restaurant > Asian

Region: Monterey Park/ Alhambra/ S. Gabriel

Pie 'N Burger

913 E. California Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91106

Category: Restaurant > American

Region: Pasadena and vicinity

Versailles Cuban Restaurant

10319 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Category: Restaurant > Cuban

Region: West L.A.

More About

Bistro Jeanty, 6510 Washington St., Yountville; (707) 944-0103.

Conrad’s Family Restaurant, 861 E. Walnut, Pasadena; (626) 577-7603.

Empress Pavilion, 988 N. Hill St.; (213) 617-9898.

Happy Family, 140 W. Valley Blvd., No. 213, San Gabriel; (626) 280-8589.

Pie ’N Burger, 913 E. California Blvd., Pasadena; (626) 795-1123.

Versailles, 10319 Venice Blvd.; (310) 558-3168. Also at 1415 La Cienega Blvd., (310) 289-3168; 17410 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 906-0756; and 1000 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Manhattan Beach, (310) 937-6829.

Yongsusan, 950 S. Vermont Ave.; (213) 388-3042.