Desk at Third & Fairfax is a weekly eating column in 2023 the place Meals and Drink editor Patricia Kelly Yeo will eat her manner via the Authentic Farmers Market. Every column will drop on Thursday for a week-by-week recap of her journey via the basic L.A. vacationer attraction. Final week, Kelly (re)visited Michelina and Native Ice.
I actually want Noodle Artwork was opening earlier than I end this column, however this doesn’t look like the case on my forty ninth go to to the Authentic Farmers Market. With a couple of exceptions, eating places are likely to keep away from opening over the vacations; everybody, together with meals writers like me, are sometimes checked out from the standard hustle and bustle, that means a decreased probability of press protection. The stall stays vacant on my fast stroll via the West Patio. On the upside, a vacation pop-up store of some form seems to be filling the vacant market area subsequent to Singapore’s Banana Leaf, although it hasn’t opened but.
Hopes dashed, I head to China Depot (est. 1948), my subsequent best choice, the place I order a rooster chow mein entrée (roughly $20) that arrives suspiciously quick. The thick noodles are seasoned with little greater than salt and a splash of soy sauce. The broccoli chunks are large, as are the dry strips of rooster. Aside from that, the chow mein additionally comprises slightly little bit of cabbage. The one factor that provides the plate a touch of life is the miniscule portion of sambal I’ve given on the aspect.
Not too long ago, I’ve been visiting a couple of totally different Cantonese eating places within the San Gabriel Valley, the place much less Americanized variations of this dish may be discovered. For crispy chow mein, I like the model at Tam’s Noodle Home in San Gabriel; additionally they provide a filet mignon udon stir-fry that’s bouncy and pleasant. There’s additionally a complete slate of wonderful noodle dishes at Chef Tony Dim Sum, an upscale dim sum joint with places in Monterey Park and Arcadia. None of those are remotely just like China Depot’s model of rooster chow mein, which lacks that QQ texture beloved throughout East Asian delicacies, in addition to any depth of taste.
Even in comparison with China Depot’s different cafeteria-style choices, this entrée is downright disappointing. On my go to, I eat as a lot of the chow mein as I can to really feel considerably full earlier than abandoning the remaining. Within the subsequent two weeks, I’ll be recapping my favourite distributors and dishes on the market, getting a couple of final meals in and reflecting on the top of this column.
Meals from Desk at Third & Fairfax fall into three classes: Skip It, Price Attempting and Should Have.
Vendor: China Depot
Order: Hen chow mein
Verdict: Skip It. Bland and stuffed with overcooked rooster, this can be a complete miss.
