beijing islamic in torrance--good bad indifferent?
We are looking for a location for a gathering of our group of Moms. We are all partial to Chinese restaurants but at this point, the gathering needs to be more towards the South Bay area or Westside.
Beijing Islamic in Torrance came up as a possible location. Alas, I don't have time to do independant tasting research before our next tentative meeting. I know they are mentioned positively in the Carl Chu book but I couldn't find any recent postings about them on this list. Has anyone been there and do you have any thoughts--would you go again? Is there something that shouldn't be missed, something that shouldn't be ordered?
Oh and can they handle a group of say 20 people? All information will be appreciated. Thank you!
jenn
Aug 04, 2003 09:02PM
I've been there, and have to say that it's a *distant* third as compared to China Islamic and Tung Lai Shun (1st and 2nd, respectively, imho).
However, Beijing Islamic does have quite a bit of space, and they do appear to be "dead" most of the time. So it might actually be a place to consider...
Have you thought about Seafood Port in Torrance? They have a private room in back, and better food (not Islamic, though).
Seafood Port Chinese Restaurant
21180 Hawthorne Blvd.
Torrance, CA
(310) 370-8478
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Went to Seafood Port for Chinese New Year this year. It ROCKED. We had a party of 30 - 10 people per table. Great, attentive service. I think we may have ordered seven (or 9? I always forget how many courses its supposed to be) courses, and almost everything was excellent. It sounds perfect for your needs.
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They do have lots of room for a large group. They were very cordial and helpful to us. I have a thing for fresh house made noodles with brown sauce and their's was very enjoyable. Sad to say I do not remember if or what else we ordered. Really good noodles, of the flat variety.
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You may want to consider Regal Palace Seafood, which is on PCH, two or three miles south of Beijing Islamic. It's excellent. Great live seafood, dim sum carts rolling at lunch during the week, extensive menu and a layout big enough to accomodate your group. They have several rooms in back if you want some privacy. My wife and I had our rehearsal dinner there prior to our wedding and they did a great job. My mother-in-law, who is Taiwanese and a pretty tough grader when it comes to Chinese restaurants, raves about it.
Regal Palace Seafood
2166 PCH, Lomita
310/326-3228
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Actually, Regal Palace is only about a mile east of Beijing Islamic and I would recommend it highly. Pacific Coast Highway between Crenshaw and Western has a number of other San Gabriel Valley quality Chinese places including Harbor Palace (1949), PCH (1841) and Szechwan Seafood (2107). Beijing Islamic is OK if you want that style of food and don't want to drive up to San Gabriel.
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I went there a few years ago and thought it was pretty good. I haven't been to the other two Chinese Islamic places mentioned, although I've frequented the one in Hacienda Heights (now closed) and the one in Tustin. Our standbys are usually the da bing (crusty scallion bread), a lamb dish and the three flavor noodles.
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Beijing Islamic is good for its specialties - "big bread", handmade noodles, and lamb dishes. Otherwise, if you just want standard Chinese fair you're better off going to one of the other Chinese restaurants further down PCH.
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Beijing Islamic Chinese reopened on Oct 13th 2009. They are on 1223 W Pacific Coast Highway in Harbor City. The entire Restaurant is around 8000 square foot witha a huge Banquet hall. Sitting capicity is around 350.
The Glass enterence doors are etched and illuminated in green color. The new phone number is (310)5391755
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Thanks for the info. That sounds like the space occupied by the King Palace buffet, which means one less Chinese buffet in Los Angeles, which probably already has the fewest Chinese buffets per capita than any city in the U.S.
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Just stopped there, asked for "the most authentic" dish on the menu, the guy said knowledgeably "lamb curry" and then proceeded to give me a gloopy, brown-curry with green peppers in the worst tradition of americanized "chinese" garbage. not recommended.
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Finally made it for an in person visit. Beijing Islamic has gone the way that Tung Lai Shun went when they moved to Anaheim, and indeed has gone way past that point in dumbing down the menu for the local audience. Indeed I had trouble spotting items on the menu that weren't Halal versions of tourist food. That having been said, their sesame bread is the best I've eaten, both with a crispy crust and bread that has some flavor to it. The dough sliced noodles were nice and chewy, and the dumplings, made of chicken, were also quite good. However, unless I felt in the mood for the sesame bread I don't think I'd go back.
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