You Kitchen — Restaurant in Alhambra

You Kitchen is a traditional Chinese eatery with little deviation from the Mandarin restaurant style. The decor is standard and it has a feeling of familiarity since I grew up with this type of restaurant. One of the biggest caveats is that they predominantly speak Mandarin. If you don't have a basic grasp on Mandarin, it would be difficult to communicate with the workers. As for food, I got a few dishes with some friends: Pork xiao long bao (XLB), Green Onion Pancake, Shrimp and Pork Dumplings, and Pork Moist Fried Dumplings.

The pork XLB was mediocre. The exterior was fine, but the inside wasn't great. The thing that surprised me was that the majority of the XLB didn't have soup. Out of the 8 XLB, there were about 2 dumplings that had soup. The other 6 XLB didn't have any soup inside at all; it was as dry as a desert. That is my main complaint since they're supposed to be known as "soup dumplings". I wouldn't recommend getting this.

The green onion pancake was doughy and chewy, but not very crispy. I didn't really like it very much. I am used to green onion pancakes that have a crispy exterior with a slightly chewy center. This was out of the norm since it was mainly chewy. I wouldn't recommend getting this either.

Both of the above dishes came out at the same time (15 minutes) which seems to be okay since the restaurant had a few other tables and it seemed like they were making our dishes from scratch. (I saw that they were rolling the XLB in a window to the kitchen).

On the other hand, the dumplings were good. They were freshly made and took longer than the prior two dishes to come out. They were juicy in the middle and had a good exterior. The pork flavor was strong and tasty as well. I would recommend grabbing these dumplings.

The fried dumplings were good as well. The bottom was crispy and the top was soft. The pork in the middle was good. As a whole, I think the dish lives up to the name. I would recommend grabbing this dish as well.

Overall, the place is decent. I paid about 40$ (including tax and tip to this cost) for all four dishes and all of us were content. Two dishes weren't that great, but the other two dishes were much better. I think I would come again with friends to share the dumplings and try out...

Came here with my family randomly because of original plans changed, and had to try some of the items on their menu. Our server who greeted us was very cheerful and inviting. We ordered their shrimp fried rice, wonton noodle soup, spicy wonton, Xio long bao, and pork with shrimp dumplings.

Everything was fresh and handmade. As a dumpling and wonton junkie, You Kitchen serves one of the best dumplings and wontons we've had in the many Chinese restaurants we've been.

Their wonton noodles soup came with a bone broth that was very savory, fresh soft noodles that had just the right texture (not over cooked and not under cooked) more of a dumpling rather than wonton, yet still a delicious filling, baby bok choi, and green onions.

Their spicy wonton were the best I've ever had, with a savory vinegar and spicy chili oil which they make themselves. Ended up eating the entire serving!

Fried shrimp fried rice was simple yet very delicious, Xia long bao, and pork shrimp dumplings were delicious when dipped in the vinegar, ginger, and chili oil that was on the table.

Everything was delicious! They even have dumplings pre made so you can buy them buy the bags to take home. The one thing they could use was a little love in some cleaning in the joint. (Minor detailing) I would give them a five star, however that was my only concern.

With the service being over the top and the food being completely amazing, I'll give them a 4 1/2 star rating.

We will definitely be back for those spicy wontons and give some of their other items on the menu a try. Well done 'You...

2/18/24: 4.5/5

Probably the best handmade dumplings and noodles I’ve had so far in LA and as good as most of the good local shops I’ve been to in China and Asia. Dumplings are hand made and kept in cold storage until cooked to order. Noodles are batched for dough and then rolled and hand cut fresh to order. The dumpling skins and wide noodles have the perfect Q bouncy chew texture. The dumplings can be either boiled, pan fried, or steamed. The shop doesn’t use MSG, which isn’t really a problem, but does mean their food is well balanced and just salty and savory enough. Their beef noodle soup is red braised and may appear lighter in color, but still packs a beefy flavor w/ perfectly cooked tender beef. Their in house sauces like spicy chili oil for wontons and hoisin sauce for beef roll are some of the best I’ve had and also well balanced. Definitely get the sesame pockets that have a nice thin crunchy shell. The pan fried buns are fluffy pillowy w/ a nice thin crispy bottom. The green onion pancake is good although just needed some salt. Think Noodle St still has the best beef roll pancake but You’s is pretty great still. And if you want a drink, try the fresh taro milk smoothie. The owner was super nice to talk to and service was great. You can order from the menu or they have a digital POS machine w/ Chinese+English...