Tigawok Mini Bowls - Sawtelle — Restaurant in Los Angeles

A Lesson in Patience Served with a Side of Orange Peel Chicken.

If Tigawok Mini Bowl were a person, it’d be that friend who shows up late to brunch but charms you into forgiving them because their outfit is fabulous and their jokes are on point. Sure, you spent 40 minutes wondering if you’d ever eat again, but once you take a bite of that orange peel chicken, all is (mostly) forgiven. Crispy, flavorful, and delightfully sticky, it’s the Beyoncé of the menu—everyone else is just backup dancers.

The sweet tomato egg, on the other hand, was the culinary equivalent of showing up to a black-tie event in sweatpants. It wasn’t offensive, but it didn’t try very hard either. Meanwhile, the wagyu curry, which I approached with skepticism (because who trusts a Chinese style Thai curry?), turned out to be surprisingly good. Rich, savory, and comforting—it felt like a warm hug in food form.

The chow mein portion was generous, but flavor-wise, it was giving strong “high school cafeteria” vibes. Solid filler, but nothing to write home about unless your home is starving. And while the concept of mini bowls is cute in theory, it left me questioning whether the “mini” referred to the bowls or the portion. Cause the size of the bowl is a mirage, the bowl is only half filled...

Now, the service. Two staff members holding down the front of house felt like a tragic understaffing experiment. The cafeteria-style setup, while charming, was slower than trying to explain TikTok to your grandparents. By the time my food I finally ordered, I was equal parts hangry and impressed with my own restraint.

The seating situation was another adventure. Small space, limited chairs, and the occasional awkward eye contact with strangers waiting for you to finish eating so they could sit. It’s like musical chairs, but the stakes are chow mein.

In summary, Tigawok Mini Bowl is a test of patience rewarded with flashes of culinary brilliance. If you’ve got time to kill and a craving for orange peel chicken, it’s worth the wait. Just don’t come hungry, or you might end up hangry-tweeting before the...

Year Later Update: Prices have increased while quality, dish options, portions have decreased. I came to Tigawok during the soft opening and then continued to come for months after. The quality of the dishes was always high even if portions and prices increased. Unfortunately, this time around it was different. They have made changes to dishes such as the garlic broccoli, which is now made cold, skip on the garlic, and added carrots, and the hunan beef which is not as flavorful as before with more peppers and less beef. The portions have continued to decrease using different packaging to try to mask it. Unlike portions, prices continue to go up. While I didn’t expect it to hold, I did not anticipate to pay a ~45% increase in all dishes. I would still come and eat, just wouldn’t go out of my as I would have before.

Original Review: Great value for great food! Spent $23 for 6 dishes.

I came to Tigawok at night (8pm) during their soft opening so things may be different. My thoughts: Most people have considered Tigawok a “Panda Express Premium” but I see it more as a “Din Tai Fung Lite”. *Yes, I know Chinese != Taiwanese food. Great bang for your buck; very affordable ($3-$6 per dish). $23 fed 2 people for 2ish meals. Good leftovers for the next day and the favor was still as good. Braised pork belly and Hunan beef were sooooooo good, I would come for those two dishes alone. But will be coming to try the rest of the dishes we missed out on. The line was a little slow, but this was mostly staffing taking breaks and the confusion with how to do take out. Most people did takeout and having a counter on the side created a pileup. Steam soup dumpling was mid at best. During their soft opening they offered their in-house hot sauce at no cost. It was okay, won’t get it again, and probably wouldn’t pay for it. If they sold their hunan chili sauce, now that’s...

Update: I guess good things don’t last

They were closed for a renovation, and today is their first day coming back. I was very happy to see them reopen, but also sad and disappointed :(

Food doesn’t taste as good as it used to be. First, rice. They used to have really good quality short grain white rice, always cooked to perfection; but today the rice was long grain white rice (usually cheaper), and it was very mushy (too much water).

The nom nom chicken I ordered only contained 3 small pieces of chicken, literally 3 small pieces. It was 90% bread crumbs.

I can’t tell why, but most of the dishes also didn’t taste right. Feel like they changed recipes slightly or changed chef(?)

I waited 30mins for a take out order, and the parking lot has a 30min limit, otherwise you have to pay for parking. But the guy in charge was nice to explain and apologize for the wait.

Idk, maybe they had a rough 1st day reopen, so I probably will give them one more chance to see if it gets better. But for now, as a loyal customer since the very beginning, I can tell things have changed and they are not as good as they used to be.

P.S. their braised pork belly was the BEST thing ever, and they have taken that down from the menu some time ago. Im so sad, please bring it back:(

Original Post: ——————————————————— So delicious! I love this little place, it's casual, convenient, delicious and reasonably priced. I love the idea of mini bowls, because it allows me to taste multiple dishes without wasting food and money. Love it and will come back...