Mandarin: The Next Generation : New menu spices up Beverly Hills' premier Chinese restaurant - mandarin restaurant signature dishes

Mandarin, 430 N.
Camden Avenue in Beverly Hills. (213)272-0267. Open Monday-
Saturday 11: 30m. -11 p. m. ; Sunday 5 p. m. -11 p. m. Full bar. Valet parking.
All major credit cards are accepted.
Dinner for two, food only, $30-$60.
In 1943, Jiang Baizhi walked out of occupied China wearing her underwear and gold bars.
She and her sister, disguised as farmers, left their families and walked 2,000 miles to the safe area of Zhong Jin, mostly on foot.
Some of her family will never see her again.
Recently, Jiang took a less dangerous journey: She walked out of her successful Mandarin restaurant in Beverly Hills.
But she can come back easily this time. -
She sold the restaurant to her son Philip.
The change has been going on for a while, but a fire last summer destroyed most of the restaurant and became a key event that marked the arrival of a new era.
A young, lively Mandarin, a new look and a new modern menu emerged from the fire. Ms.
Jiang opened her first Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco in 1962 and began her new era, although people said she was crazy.
The location is a small place on Polk Street, very bad.
And the North-
The food she served-
She was selected from Jiang's hometown of Beijing, Shanghai where she lived as an adult, and Sichuan province's spicy repertoire ---
Completely new to the dull pseudo-Franciscan
Cantonese dishes like eggs and chop.
When Jiang walked in to ask for mutton, he was confused by the butcher of Chinatown.
She wants to eat Mongolian lamb.
They never heard of the dish.
But Jiang's food is unusual. -
Delicious.
People soon lined up for chicken chips, kung pao shrimp and Peking duck.
Jiang set a new style for California's Chinese cuisine, and eight years later, when she moved the restaurant to Ghirardelli Square, she became one of the largest and most elegant Chinese restaurants in the state.
However, when Jiang opened a Mandarin branch in Beverly Hills, she found herself in a strange and difficult market.
Chinese food is still considered exotic in Los Angeles, and customers don't like to take risks, which is 1975.
Jiang said: "decoration and service seem to be more important to guests than food.
"So Mandarin has become a restaurant where people in Beverly Hills can count on civilized dining ---
Quiet enough to have intimate conversations, elegant enough to have conversations on special occasions.
Of course, no one is taking more risks eating today than Los Angeles ---
Now, Beverly Hills Mandarin provides us with something we can learn more about.
For Philip Chiang, his new Mandarin menu is as revolutionary in its own way as the one his mother created 25 years ago.
You will soon find that Mandarin here is not as quiet and elegant as before.
The color of the restaurant is brighter, and the main restaurant also features a new open kitchen.
You can watch Beijing roast duck here. -
The best I 've ever had in town. -
Removed from the oven, its skin is brown and crisp and delicious. (
Bake a new duck every 15 minutes;
If you want one, book it when you sit down. )
Many of the bread, dumplings and pastries listed on the menu are also steamed and served here.
This is a huge menu. -
And it's not the same in any Chinese restaurant.
First of all, there are dozens of "small flavors and appetizers" here ".
"My favorite is the shredded meat fried with seafood sauce with crispy eggs, coriander, bean sprouts, cucumbers and scallions.
The taste in the dish is played with each other;
After a minute, you taste something sweet, and next minute, your mouth is full of clear, clean flavors.
By contrast, 1,000 of cold tofuyear-
The taste of old eggs, scallions and vegetable jam is very comfortable.
Like olives, this dish will stir up your appetite for the next food.
If you don't know how to start your dinner, you might want to stick to a bed with fried spinach leaves with an egg roll.
Chicken and vegetables are here;
Even for those of us who are ashamed to be caught eating them, they are crispy and irresistible.
Fried shrimp wrapped in sesame
The inlaid batter belongs to the same category--
Tempting finger food
You will want to eat through these small appetizers.
But don't be carried away.
There are 25 options--
It doesn't include nine kinds of dumplings, all kinds of rice, delicious soup and noodles.
It's kind of like going to a snack house and not having to worry about the best dishes going slowly when you don't look.
In the dumpling class, you should not miss the light juicy pot stickers.
Lion head soup (
Two fat, small balls made of chopped pork, covered with cabbage so that each ball looks like a hairy one)is a delight--
The delicious Sichuan noodles are almost dry and spicy without oil stains.
But it's still a small part of the menu that offers some very intensive reading.
You will find the Beijing roast duck listed as the "barbecue" category.
"If your party is not big enough to give in to a whole Peking duck, order half a cup of tea --smoked one;
The taste is not the same as any other food I can think. (
The rich smoky flavor is reminiscent of a single malt Scotch whisky. )
The other title is salad.
"You will find here --of-the-
Ordinary dishes, such as warm snow pea pods in sesame oil or sliced tofu with carrots and celery added to Chilean oil.
We haven't come to the main course yet, and you may not have it unless you have a large group or have a big appetite.
That would be a shame. -
There are dishes that can't be found anywhere else.
The lamb stew with garlic on the spinach bed is strong and big
Food that even Chinese people don't seem to like.
Sliced pork is served in cucumber slices and garlic chili sauce at room temperature.
Chicken breast with spicy pepper sauce.
At the other end of the flavor spectrum is shrimp, which is quickly fried with yellow leeks to become the most exquisite dish imaginable.
The only real disappointment on the menu is (
Apart from the fact that some parts are fairly small)
It can be found under the vegetables.
In addition to regular but satisfying garlic, soy and sesame steamed eggplant, and a plate of Chinese cabbage fried with straw mushrooms, most of the vegetable dishes I have tried are disappointing.
Fans of Old Mandarin will not be disappointed.
Of all these new products, they will still find old favorites such as Mongolian lamb, orange skin beef, lemon chicken and the entire sole, which has been crispy and has their own meat and vegetables on it.
They will even see Chiang Cecilia himself from time to time;
When she is in town, you will find her wandering around the table.
It is this blend of old and new that makes new Mandarin so interesting.
This is a real Chinese food restaurant. in the past, there was no root or heart in Hong Kong.
The kitchen part of the restaurant is open and the menu is varied and looks like the Chinese version of Chianti and Cucina and there is nothing like that in town.
Philip Chiang may not have followed his mother completely. -
But like her, he began his journey.
Recommended dishes: shredded meat with pancakes, $7;
$5 pot stickers. 75;
Boiled won tons in hot sauce, $5. 75;
$35 Peking Duck
$14 kung pao chicken
Garlic braised lamb for $14.