Chung King

This long-standing Monterey Park restaurant specializes in the lip-tingling cuisine from China’s Sichuan province. The dining room is spare, with white-clothed tables, high-backed, aqua chairs, and point-and-pick bins of cold appetizers. Popular options include fried chicken chunks bombarded with bird’s eye chilies and scallions, a fire-red hot pot loaded with creamy cubes of tofu, and fried fish seasoned with cumin and more dried chilies. However, it is possible to find a relatively mild dish, such as cold noodles (it resembles spaghetti) tossed with sesame sauce and crushed peanuts.