Chinois Recommendations?

[wienermobile]

I have my Blackboard Eats code for this week and I haven't been to Chinois for a while. Any thing I should try?

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Chinois
2709 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405

[wienermobile]

Just got back from our dinner at Chinois and the Blackboard Eats special and it was a great meal. Included with the special was your choice of martini and Chinois chicken salad for all. We ordered the whole sizzling catfish with ponzu sauce, the roasted Cantonese duck with plum sauce and steamed bao (the duck had a wonderfully crisp skin) and tonight's special short ribs in an Asian sauce (incredibly tender and delicious and a very generous portion) also the duck fried rice. Included for desert was a trio of creme brulee (chocolate, almond and carmel). The service was wonderful and the bill came to only $130 for the three of us. Even without a special deal like this I would recommend a trip to Chinois soon for all. Thanks for the recommendations.

[OC Mutt]

Shanghai lobster - it's world class.

[westsidegal]

third the deep-fried catfish

[kevin]

is the deep fried catfish here anything like the one served up with ponzu sauce at Shiro in south pasadena?

is their a lobster in curry sauce here that's justly famous too?

and is sitting at the counter really better than a table?

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Shiro Restaurant
1505 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030

[New Trial]

I have been a big fan of the shanghai lobster with curry sauce or years.

[mc michael]

me too

[Bruce Kerr]

At least once, you should try making reservations to sit at the counter and watch the cooks in action - it is worth the price of the meal if you are into cooking.

[RicRios]

From blackboardeats.com offer:

"free trio of Chinois classics:
trio includes one martini of your choice, one signature Chinois chicken salad (or vegetarian option) and one crème brûlée dessert per person with the purchase of one entrée per person; available during lunch or dinner; max party: 6; dine-in only"

So certainly you should ( must? ) have the martini, the chicken salad and the crème brûlée.

[mnosyne]

Warm curried oysters are great! Duck fried rice is very ducky. I love the whole fried catfish. I like Chinois because the quality never wavers.

[lizziee]

The Chinois experience is greatly enhanced if instead of family style service, you let your waiter plate each dish. Regulars do this all the time and the staff is more than willing to oblige. One other trick at Chinois is to order one dish at a time – don’t treat this as a Chinese restaurant and have 3 dishes at once. It is fine dining in a casual atmosphere.

Deep-fried Oysters with Cucumber Sauce and Salmon Pearls

Tempura Ahi Tuna with Uni sauce

Yellowtail sashimi with a yuzu, sesame and soy sauce

Barbecued Pork Ribs with sweet and sour Teriyaki Sauce and hot mustard sauce in a Chinese spoon

Roasted Cantonese Duck with Plum Sauce served with a Steamed Bao filled with stir fried Vegetables.

Duck Fried Rice

Pics here: (The pics from Halloween are really fun as the staff dresses to the hilt)

http://lizziee.wordpress.com/category...

[maudies5]

All great suggestions.

[bulavinaka]

It's been a while for me, but the fried whole catfish in ponzu was pretty amazing and I usually don't care for catfish. The black cod was good as was the pork shoulder in hot pot.

[rednyellow]

It's been a long time for me too, but I loved the catfish with ponzu.