Chinatown: Adventure and Chinese Food at Foo Chow
fishball soup
Foo Chow in Chinatown isn’t shy about self-promotion. For years, they boasted of being the location of the Jackie Chan adventure movie Rush Hour. It was a huge sign taking up most of the wall facing the street which you couldn’t miss as you drove towards the freeway. The sign isn’t as big these days but you can’t miss it.
In continuing my quest to eat at every restaurant in Chinatown, I finally gave into Foo Chow. I vaguely recall eating there as a child. Considering the freshly painted exterior, I decided to give it a shot thinking perhaps the menu was also updated. It was late and we were the only patrons for a while. Soon though their regulars filed in and ordered the usual stuff you can get off a steam table anywhere. I was determined to study the menu for authentic dishes.
This led to ordering the fishball soup. Mind you there are several fishball soups on the menu. Find the one stuffed with meat. And when the Chinese say meat, they usually mean pork. If they mean beef or other meats, they state it.
meat stuffed fishball
At first I wasn’t into my fishballs. I’ve had better at Little Malaysia in El Monte which tend to be big and really stuffed with meat. Still, the fishballs were better the next day.
mixed seafood stir-fry
I was eating with a friend who is almost a pescatarian so most of our meals are seafood-heavy or focused. I opted for the mixed seafood stir-fry which came with fishballs, squid, fake crab, scallops, tofu, snow peas, baby corn, mushrooms and oddly, BBQ pork. It was fine but nothing spectacular.
spinach with garlic
We needed to get our veggies in and I went with spinach with garlic sauce. The portion size was outstanding.
Singapore rice noodles
I couldn’t help but get the Singapore noodles even though I am beginning to think no one does this correctly. Foo Chow’s version wasn’t bad. It wasn’t greasy but could have used a dose more curry flavor.
After the success of finding Fortune Gourmet, I was a bit let down by Foo Chow. At the same time, it’s fine. It’s open late and the food is more than edible. Still, the quest continues in Chinatown.
949 N Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 — (213) 485-1294
© The Minty 2014