Chin Chin?

[Darren]

Whatever happened to Chin Chin? Are they still around? I've got a friend coming into town who used to love Chin Chin when she lived here. Are they still worth the trip?

[Lauren]

They're definately still around: you can pretty much find one all over. All i have to say is: yuck!! I used to love their chinese chicken salad but every time i have gone recently is has not been up to par. Friends like to go there, i dont know why. Can't recommend anything!!

[mc michael]

P.S. Chin Chin purportedly means something pornographic in Japanese.

[WLA]

Not quite but close sounding to the word for the male appendage.

[mc michael]

Gosh, didn't mean to be a stick in the mud, or the Hoisin sauce.

[mc michael]

A lot of branches have closed. Think there were financial problems, then they got outflanked by all the Panda Expresses and P.F. Changs on the low end and Tommy Tangs on the higher end. The Sunset branch might be worth it for nostalgic purposes but you may find your taste buds have matured. Somehow that kung pao chicken doesn't quite taste as interesting as it used to.

[Cattus]

The Sunset branch is definitely still open. I have heard reports that some of the dishes have declined but am happy to say that their Dan Dan noodles (peanut noodles) are still really good and very filling. (They are nothing like the real Dan Dan mian but then most places aren't).

[Sandra W.]

I used to meet a group of girlfriends at the Chin Chin on Sunset Blvd. once a week for chicken salad. I was never a fan of their food, their idea of dim sum isn't mine, and the soups have absolutely no flavor whatsoever, but I liked the chicken salad. About a year and a half ago we ordered the chicken salad as usual, and it was dreadful. They changed the recipe. We did this two more times and all agreed there was absolutely no reason to go back to Chin Chin. Haven't been there since.

[j12baller]

I like the one in the tustin market place alot better.

[Tom P]

Actually, I believe the Sunset Branch, in that 'fancy section' of the Strip, is closed or has moved to a slightly different location. I may be wrong, but I was surprised to see it closed the other day when I drove by, given how popular Chin Chin used to be. (Someone correct me if I am wrong.) Perhaps, as some mentioned above, the food quality went down. I could not say, as it has been a few years since I went to one of the local restaurants.

Let me say a few things in defense of Chin Chin, though. When I moved to LA in '87, not only had I never tried a lighter form of Chinese cuisine, I don't think I ever even contemplated there being such a thing. I was raised eating classic Cantonese cooking every Tuesday night with my family at a wonderful little place in my home town (Sweet and Sour Pork, Beef and Snow Peas and the like...ordering Moo Shu Pork in the little 'burritos' was being daring) so I was a little thrown by Chin Chin's menu and the lighter style of cooking. But the food won me over and introduced me, albeit in a superficial manner, to Thai cuisine, which I might never have tried. It was my first meal in LA, the location on the Sunset Strip. A friend picked me up from the airport and we drove straight there. The food was very good and - this was great for a young starving artist - you received a ton of food! An order of their friend rice alone could feed a starving actor for a day or so. And I do love their Chinese chicken salad. I imagine they did not invent it, but I do think Chin Chin has a lot to do with the popularity/ubiquitousness of that dish that remains today. Anyway, it will always have a fond place in my heart, being my first meal in LA and introducing me to this type of cooking. I imagine Chin Chin was a great first introduction for many people to this style, particularly in the late 80’s, early 90’s.

[jcwla]

well said -- i agree