GROUP WOODY IN LA'S CHINATOWN

One thing Chinese do well are banquets.  If you're gonna have food woody it's better to have a lot of people to share it with.  That's why many restaurants in LA's Chinatown are quite large to handle these celebrating groups.  They tend to serve Cantonese style, which is more mild and subtle in flavors, and for that reason it's great for groups: A bottle of hot sauce lets you customize your plate.

The owners of these restaurants are all great businessmen and will never let any reasonable offer go by.  So it's up to you to use your top organizing savvy to get the best deal.

I've been to a few banquet dinners that are total food orgies with over a dozen courses that cost less than $30 per person.  Use these menus and prices as a point of reference when negotiating on your own.

Best of the Cantonese is Golden City Seafood. I came for an intimate Chinese new year's eve dinner for 60. We had 14 courses and service was amazingly fast and courteous and ran $26 per person tax and tip included. The menu was:

 Westlake Beef and Tofu Soup - Kung Pao Shrimp

Minced Squab Lettuce Wraps

Hong Kong Sticky Rice with Pork

Cod with Black Bean Sauce - Filet Mignon French Style

Singapore Chow Fun - Spicy Chicken with Green Beans

Orange Peel Chicken - Ma Po tofu

Yee Mein with Lobster - Sauteed Spinach with Garlic

 Oysters with Black Bean Sauce

Eggplant with Spicy Garlic.

The first 10 courses were met with excitement when they arrived at the table, but the last few were met with resentment that we had more to eat.  My motto is: "Don't let not-being hungry stop you from eating," but I could only get through 12 courses. I skipped the tofu course and by the time the last dish of eggplant arrived I had given up.

Westlake Beef Soup

French Style Filet Mignon

Yee Mein with Lobster

Another great option is right across the street at Master Chef. For $25 per person, a group of 30 dined on:

Mixed Seafood/Tofu Soup - Dungeness crab

Peking Duck w/steamed buns and Hoisin sauce

Stir-Fried Scallops with Asparagus and X.O. Sauce

Deep Fried Pork Chop with House Special Sauce

Stir Fried Sliced Beef with Chinese Pea Pods

XO Special Fried Rice - Glazed Honey Walnut Shrimp

Pan Fried Rock Cod Fillet with Black Bean Sauce

Crispy Deep Fried Chicken with Spicy Garlic

Black Cod with Black Bean Sauce

Shrimp with Walnuts

Crispy Peking Duck Skin with Buns

Fried Pork Chop with House Sauce

Weekends are great for entertaining and celebrating over brunch where Dim Sum is the popular choice. The only challenge is that these restaurants usually don't take reservations. My favorite "DS" feasting in Chinatown is Empress Pavillion.

I was there on a busy New Year's day with a group of 12. The place is huge and filled with large tables so the wait averages about 1/2 hour. If you know someone who knows someone on staff, or the owners, you can get seated faster. Or set the time way before noon.

At many dim sum joints, the small plates of food come around on push carts and you take what you like, they mark the price on a card, and at the end of the meal all the marks are added up for the total. The 12 of us ate like we'd never eat again and paid only $16 per person. We enjoyed:

A cart of Dim Sum moving through the restaurant

BBQ Pork - Pork Buns - Shu Mai

Shrimp Noodles - Beef Noodles - Fried Calamari

Chicken Feet - Soy Sauce Chicken - Turnip Cakes

Chinese Broccoli - Sesame Jello - Custard Tarts

and more ...

Turnip Cakes

Custard Tarts

Assorted Dim Sum

Beef Noodles

Whether you're a group of 5, 10 or 20, LA's Chinatown is a fun place to gather for delicious food at a really great price. But remember: the larger the group the greater your negotiating power when preparing the menu and price. And don't be afraid to ask for BYOB with no corkage fees.

Golden City Seafood

960 N Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 253-2660
 

Master Chef

937 N Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 687-3638

Empress Pavillion 

988 N Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-9898