One of the last places Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold reviewed before he passed this summer. Apparently, one of Best Noodle House’s chefs left to open up his own place, and with good reason too. The food here is really good, with healthy portions and reasonable prices. If you’re looking for spicy and mouth-numbing dishes, then this is the place to go.
Gold wrote about their Gele Mountain Fried Chicken, and it is an addictive and delicious dish. The smokiness, spiciness and mouth-numbing you get from the dish will make you want to eat more and more. When you’re done with the chicken, take the dried chili mixture home with you and make other stir fries with them.
Their take on Kung Pao has good flavor, but the tinge of sweetness makes me reach for it again and again. I think it also works better with shrimp, which is cooked perfectly to allow you to get that little crunch when you bite into that shrimp.
Though they are known for their bowls of noodle soups and dry noodles, they make a good handmade wide noodle that is used in a stir fry with cumin lamb, as well as their version of the popular Uyghur dish known as Big Plate Chicken. However, it takes time to make those noodles, so you’ll have to be patient waiting for them to prepare those two dishes.
The chef is also gifted with putting in that wok essence into his dishes, a smokiness you get from stir frying at such high temperatures, and that was evident in the simple Sauteed Cabbage dish.
It wasn’t a surprise that their weakest dish was their Pork Soup Dumplings. It’s not what they specialize in.
Chong Qing Special Noodles, 708 East Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel, California 91776, Telephone: (626) 374-1849.