For my next Dine LA spot, I tried Sichuan Impression in Alhambra. This restaurant is located below an apartment building, has a small parking structure, but plenty of street parking! The price was $72/set, and it serves 3-4 people! I joined the Yelp waitlist before arriving, and even though I got there on time, I still ended up having to wait 45 minutes! There were so many people it was a bit crazy. When we were finally seated, the food came out pretty quickly. I was glad they had ice water and with lemon in it too! It was so hot waiting outside the restaurant.
Street Snacks
Impressive Dumplings 錦城里水餃 – These dumplings were simple, but pretty good if you mix it with the sauce! I liked the filling inside.
Sichuan Classics
Steamed Chicken in Chili Sauce 口水雞 – When this dish first arrived, I thought, wow, this is such a small portion. It did end up having quite a few pieces, but I still wish there was more! I really liked the bamboo shoots and onions in there though. This dish was also an extra $3.
Wok-Fried Favorites
Stir-Fried Angus Ribeye with Scallions 蔥爆安格斯肋眼 – I was expecting the ribeye to be in cubes instead of slices. The flavor was good, but there wasn’t anything too special about it. This dish was good with rice.
Signature Specialties
Tea Smoked Pork Ribs 七里香酥骨 – I was definitely able to taste the smokey flavor in the pork ribs. I think I would have liked this more if this dish had sauce instead of as a dry dish. The meat was really good though – it fell right off the bone!
Rice & Noodles
Mushroom Chicken Soup and Rice 口蘑雞湯飯 – This dish did not look great, but I actually enjoyed it! The chicken was not overcooked and I liked the mushrooms. The soup was very clear too. This dish was a nice surprise.
Add-Ons
Marinated Sweet Shrimp 生醃甜蝦 – This was an add-on that our whole table was really excited for – we had seen videos of this online and it looked so good! When the plate arrived at our table, we were shocked at how small the shrimp was. No wonder it came with these small tweezers! There was a good number of shrimp on there though, and it was so delicious – definitely my favorite of this meal!
Overall, this Dine LA combo was pretty good, but I don’t think it was quite worth the wait. The portion was a bit small, and it was interesting that they had the extra charge on classic items like the Steamed Chicken in Chili Sauce. We were able to finish all the food (plus the sweet shrimp add-on) with just three people! I am a bit curious how their regular menu is though.
Food Ranking: 3/5