Category: Chinese

ArizonaAsianChineseRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Kofu Dumpling House – Mesa, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In 1993, The New York Times named Din Tai Fung one of the top ten restaurants in the world, turning a local favorite into an international destination. Since then, it’s been wildly popular around the country and globe.  Known for their upscale-casual restaurants serving up delicious Chinese food, with a particular emphasis on the Xiao Long Bao (steamed soup dumplings) it’s a global phenom. On 20 April 2026, the Taiwanese chain opened in Scottsdale’s Fashion Square Mall. The Scottsdale store occupies 10,000 square feet, features a dumpling expo viewing kitchen, 340 seats and has a full bar. According to the…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSeafood

East Ocean Chinese & Seafood – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:01 PM

In 2022, Freddie Wong posted a TikTok video that went viral on several social media platforms. In the video, Wong, purports to find the most “authentic” Chinese food by utilizing restaurant review website Yelp in a unique way.  “The easiest way to find authentic Chinese food, assuming you’re living in a major metropolitan area, is to go on Yelp and to look for restaurants with three-and-a-half stars,” declared Wong in his TikTok video, which garnered an astonishing 7.2 million views in only two days. “Exactly three and a half, not three, not four. Three-and-a-half stars is a sweet spot for…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseJapaneseKoreanNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSushi

East Asian Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Perhaps more than anyone I’ve ever met, my Singaporean friend Ming Lee (God rest his beautiful soul) regarded people by the content of their character, not by physical characteristics.  So, it surprised me to hear him joke “we all look alike.”  It was an unsolicited admission that even he couldn’t always discern the cultural genesis of Asian people he met.  He also joked “at least I can always tell where an Asian restaurant’s food comes from.”  Ming was a bona fide gastronome who introduced me to the cuisine of Singapore and Malaysia.  Like me, he disliked restaurants in which overt…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Red Chilli House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Red “Chilli” House…doesn’t “Chilli” read like a misspelled word that knocked a spelling bee contestant out of the competition?  Or like someone added one too many letter “l’s” to the already misspelled word “chili?”  Actually, that spelling (which some of us purists consider Texan) is by design.   The delightful Chinese restaurant sporting that appellation–which opened its doors in June, 2024–wouldn’t change it.  Among other things, it illustrates just how important Capsicum is in some provinces of China, particularly Sichuan and Hunan. Capsicum, as most New Mexicans know, is the genus to which all chili (chile in New Mexico) peppers…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Fei’s Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:12 AM

Some say the map of China looks like a chicken.  The province of Sichuan in Southwest China would be right in the stomach of that chicken.  That’s fitting because the cuisine of Sichuan is internationally renowned for its liberal use of spice.  What characterizes Sichuan from the other regions of China is its use of Sichuan peppercorn, chilies, and the ability to take even the most mundane of ingredients to create fabulous dishes.  There’s a term for the flavor profile associated with Sichuan cuisine.  It’s the word “mala” which translates to “numbing spice.”  The “ma” portion of that term comes…

ChineseNew MexicoRating: GoodRio Rancho

Best Lee’s – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:14 AM

When does confidence become audacity? Is there a point at which a claim becomes braggadocio? To what extent can you trust a review on a hometown magazine? These were all questions we sought to answer during our inaugural meal at a Rio Rancho Chinese restaurant with the quaint name “Best Lee’s.”Best Lee’s is ensconced in the Southern Plaza Shopping Center in the same suite that held Peking House, a Chinese restaurant so mediocre I chose not to write anything about it during our one and only visit. In truth, we thought Peking House was still happily torturing taste buds until…

AlbuquerqueChineseNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Chopstix – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:02 AM

And I find chopsticks frankly distressing. Am I alone in thinking it odd that a people ingenious enough to invent paper, gunpowder, kites and any number of other useful objects, and who have a noble history extending back 3,000 years haven’t yet worked out that a pair of knitting needles is no way to capture food? ~Bill Bryson The precise date in which chopsticks were first used has been lost in time. Archaeological evidence found in burial plots indicates they are at least 3,200 years old though some scholars believe they’ve been around even longer than that. Even the evolution…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Fan Tang – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

For “city dwellers” Chinese restaurants are ubiquitous.  There’s one in every corner   Most urbanites were weaned on Chinese food.  It’s as much a part of their diet as “American” food.  Those of us who grew up in the “sticks” during the stone age had to travel great distances to find Chinese food…and when we did find a Chinese restaurant, we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  Everything we knew about that mysterious, exotic cuisine came from television programs in the days long preceding the Food Network.  Every once in a while, mention was made on one…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseFusionNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

El Palacio Imperial – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“Tradition is everything.  It’s very important. But we need to remember that the traditions of today Were the modernity of the past. And that the things we think are very science fiction type of things Will be the traditions of tomorrow.” ~Chef Jose Andres Chef Jose Andres was the founder of the World Central Kitchen which provides large-scale relief to communities affected by natural disasters and conflicts around the world.  He’s one of Time Magazine’s  world’s 100 most influential people.  He earned a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his altruism as well as for being the Spanish-American culinary innovator who…

AlbuquerqueChineseDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Noodle Works – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:11 PM

“To witness the birth of a noodle is a glorious thing. I have listened, spellbound, as an 85-year-old noodle chef in Beijing told me why the act of making noodles helped him make sense of the world.” -~Terry Durack, Noodle In the movie Mr. Nice Guy, martial artist cum actor Jackie Chan portrays a  chef with a successful television show.  In the movie’s opening scene, Chef Jackie is presiding over a flour-dusted table, stretching, twisting, and pulling a piece of dough into fine strands of noodles, a process the TV host can only describe as “alchemy.”   For the culinary…

AlbuquerqueChineseClosed in 2025Gone But Not ForgottenRating: Outstanding

BUDAI GOURMET CHINESE – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:07 AM

“The true gourmet, like the true artist, is one of the unhappiest creatures existent. His trouble comes from so seldom finding what he constantly seeks: perfection.” –Ludwig Bemelmans By definition, gourmets are connoisseurs, taking food more seriously than most and embodying the axiom “live to eat rather than eat to live.” True gourmets, as Ludwig Bemelmans would define them, appreciate food of the highest quality, exalting only in the rarefied experiences–those which require the most discerning palates and noses to cognize subtle nuances in complex and sophisticated flavors and aromas. Bemelmans, himself an internationally known gourmet, posited that the true…