Jade Wok — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Any old hand at Asian food in LA will tell you that Chinatown is not at all the place to go to eat good Chinese food. Over the decades, raising rent prices have driven the newest, most authentic Chinese restaurants east into San Gabriel, leaving Chinatown a husk of restaurants fallen from their hayday in the 80s and 90s, often feeling older, more Americanized, and less worthy of a visit. It was with this mindset that I adopted skeptiscm upon being recommended the humble Jade Wok, and I am overjoyed to report that far from being a fallen icon, Jade is a diamond in the rough, a bastion of everything great about Chinese comfort food, and a must-visit for Asian food junkies looking for a fix outside the usual stomping grounds.

Jade Wok's humble exterior betrays only the possibility of a delightful hole in the wall, with no dedicated parking but the enviable situation of being far enough off the main street that parking is usually ample (do not feel the need to park by the meters, just explore the adjacent streets a bit). The staff serve you with plastic forks instead of chopsticks (although will happily provide chopsticks on request) and a cursory glance of the menu reveals a concerning amount of americanisms in their translations of Chineseainstays. All of these could feasibly raise red flags for an inauthentic experience. And yet this is merely Jade Wok making good on the ageless mantra of 'promise little and overdeliver'.

A closer look at the menu reveals a cavalcade of comfort food superstars not served in just any generic Chinese store. chow fun with gravy, a solid Cantonese staple features prominently alongside more generic (but delicious) chow mei noodles, with options for crunchy Hong Kong styles available. Sesame chicken and salty fish fried rice hit far above their weight on the poultry and fried rice sections. But it was the hearty jooks (rice porridge) that convinced me something special was in store. The selection hit all the bases, from a basic but dependable chicken porridge to the classic pork and thousand year egg, and the texture walked the fine line of wateriness and thickness with perfect skill. The first time I came alongside my friend, I leapt at the chance to order it, discovering he had never had it before, and where Western porridges are associated with flagorlessnrds and sickness, this singlehandedly converted the whole table to the joys of Chinese jook. The service is friendly and eager to please and customize orders, and you really get the homely sense of a family restaurant, in a way that's increasingly uncommon in our modern lives. This to me is the essence of Jade Wok - the rejection of the flashy, modern and corporate for something homely and comforting. An asset one can't find just anywhere.

A discovey on my most recent visit well encapsulates what Jade Wok means to me. As a Cantonese style Chinese restaurant, I had assumed they would not serve the scrumptious Xiao long BAO soup dumplings which have slowly taken over the modern Chinese scene, and a cursory look at the menu's English text confirms this. However, go along with someone who knows Chinese and you'll realize the menu actually does have Xiao long BAO - it's just awkwardly translated as 'steamed dumplings', which may have made sense to a cautious American audience in 1990, but now deprives prospective customers of something they might desperately want. And when we ordered them, we found a soup dumpling that didn't just hold its own but stood out with slightly thicker skins and rounder shapes which avoid the terrible tendency of many soup dumplings to tear and spill, while retaining a flavorful soup filling and delectable taste.

Glance over Jade Wok and you may think it generic, but look deep into it and you'll see your attentions rewarded tenfold. Easily my favorite restaurant I'm Chinatown, don't make the mistake I did and write it off because of it's looks and locale - this diamond in the rough is more than what it seems - it's a radiant hearty...

It's good. The prices are really great, especially for Downtown Los Angeles. Went with a friend and we each got one family style plate + one side order of rice to share. I think her noodles were $15 and my half-duck was $19, and the rice was ~2 (pictured), and we took a lot to-go. If I were forced to write down a criticism, I would say the noodles were a bit bland and the duck was just a tiny bit salty, but the dishes weren't really bad.

I will say the service is lacking. When we came in there were a few parties eating and we heard someone yell "hello" at us from all the way in the back, but had to figure out to seat ourselves. The menus were brought to us and the hostess took our orders, the food was brought out after some time, but then the hostess disappeared and we couldn't ask for the check until we caught her from way off in the distance. She seems to just have a lot under her duties, so I don't think it's because she's a bad worker, but it may be good for them to consider expanding their staff numbers. She was very willing to help out, though, and offered her assistance with anything we might need, definitely deserving a tip.

The bathroom situation is a bit awkward; you walk through the kitchen all the way outside the back door of the restaurant and finally to the right side where you're met with two restrooms in a dimly lit landing of a dark and suspicious staircase. Definitely be wary of your surroundings as this bathroom is not gated off and can theoretically be accessed by anyone who enters the public parking lot.

I should also probably note that in the shop there were workers cutting ingredients and chatting with some customers pretty loudly on the dining room floor, but that didn't bother me as someone who grew up in those kinds of environments in my childhood Latino neighborhoods. I know others who are sensitive to that type of thing. To me, if anything, that made the place seem cozier...

I guess that I had to give a 🌟 in order to post this, but believe me, I didn't want to! I had the worst experience of my life, when I ate food from Jade Wok! I ordered the fish and rice plate. The fish was cut into pieces, and placed on top of the rice, with a sauce and green onions. I only eat fish, so I figured that I couldn't go wrong with that choice. The very first bite was spit out! This was definitely not fish! It was very mushy, and the texture wasn't like fish at all! I called, and asked the lady that answered the phone, what kind of fish they served? She instantly got an attitude, and rudely asked why? I told her that I had just bought a meal from there, and would like to know. She rudely replied, that she didn't have time, because they were busy, and hung up!! I called back, and asked to speak to a manager, and told him what just happened. When I asked him the same question, he rudely asked why did I want to know? I told him that I had a right to know what I was eating. He said it's from China. I said ok, but what is the name of the fish? He said it's from China, and hung up!! I honestly believe that they served some kind of rodent, cat, or dog! Why was it so hard to give me an answer, if everything was legit?? Now I totally believe the videos, stories, and stereotypes that follow these food establishments! Not saying that all of them are like this, but Jade Wok definitely showed me that they are one of those that are! I regret not contacting the local news stations at that time, such as @ABC7, @KTLA, @FOX11, @CBS, @NBC. I wanted to share my experience with others, because we have a right to know, what we are being served! Eat at your own...