Hui Tou Xiang

Hui Tou Xiang Restaurant Review:

This Chinese restaurant from a Shenyang-born chef resides in a San Gabriel strip mall and specializes in noodles and dumplings. The space features light pink walls with wood baseboards, tables with tan and brown murals, and a framed photo of Beijing. Each meal comes with complimentary kimchi, which isn’t very funky. From there, let the dough parade begin. Pork Hui Tou is the namesake dish, featuring rectangular pot stickers pan-fried on both sides, with fairly thick skins and juicy fillings. Pan-fried pork and leek pancakes resembled ravioli, with minced cabbage that complements the name ingredients in their filling. Boiled dumplings don’t deliver the same textural contrast, but fish fillings carry delicate flavor. Fried noodles are tossed with onions, scallions and carrots, simple but good. Looking for a noodle soup? Consider braised scallion-flecked meatballs in a chicken broth with greens and noodles. Toss in cold cucumber salad for a tangy, refreshing counterpoint to all the carbs. To drink, if you’re looking for more than tea or water, look elsewhere.