Cui Hua Lou

This is definitely a Hole-​In-​A-​Wall type of restaurant. It is a tiny restaurant located at the corner of a janky plaza. It looks a little rundown on the outside and its nothing fancy on the inside. They have about 8 tables so its nothing big. There is 1 person doing everything at the front of the restaurant (cashier, server, cleaning tables, taking orders) and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was only 1 at the back of the restaurant.
Food here is delicious. Everything we ordered (I forgot the names) were amazing. The spice was there but it wasn’t overpowering. The skewers were amazing too. Even though I didn’t get the Lamb Spine Hot Pot — all the tables got it so I definitely want to try it next time I come.
Since there is only 1 person working at the front, service could be slow but be patient! The food is worth the wait. My new go to spot if I want something Caliente!

I’ve introduced the BF to lamb skewers and he’s a big fan now. I found this place on Unilocal and we decided to try it, due to their $ 1 buy 10 get on 1 free.skewers.
It’s located in a small plaza area, tucked in the corner and quite small. After walking in, I was transported back to China. The little hole in the wall, cumin smells, the man in the corner with the Beijing accent, a floating smell of liquor…
Anyways, we mainly came for the lamb dishes so I can’t say anything about their Szechuan dishes. We ordered 11 lamb skewers, which were delicious! Super juicy and seasoned. The other dish we got was a lamb soup which was decent… I do have to say I’ve had better lamb soup (disclaimer though, the better lamb soup was a slightly different type of soup).
Another plus was the service, the lady who took our order was patient and helpful. When I asked about using credit card, the other waitress was super apologetic.
Do note: Cash only!

What is perfect for the cold weather? Of course spicy food. I found this place through Unilocal and decided to check this place out. This place is located in the corner of a plaza and it was kind of hard to find. However, it was surprisingly crowded here. Everyone seemed to have the lamb stew casserole on their table. Too bad I don’t eat lamb so we did not get this dish which I feel super bad because it looks amazingly delicious!
Food–
BBQ Skewers (Lamb, Chicken Wing, Chicken Heart, Sausage, Garlic, Mushroom, Chicken Heart) 4 Star
I like the garlic skewer a lot! It was super flavorful and the garlic was not mushy. Every skewers were honestly tasty (well I did not try lamb but other than that, I enjoyed them) The chicken skin of the chicken wing were also super crispy. The BBQ sauce were definitely on point.
Hot&Spicy Soup with Sesame Pan Cake 4 Star
I love how they put cabbage inside the soup. The broth was spicy which I really enjoyed. The whole thing is only 8 bucks but it was huge so make sure take the soup to go because it was so good! The only down side of this dish is the sesame cake, the cake was super cold, firm and hard. I had to dip the cake into the soup to make it softer but I did not see why they put sesame cake on the side.
Spicy and Sour Green Bean Jelly Noodle 4 Star
This was my favorite of the night. Super refreshing and flavorful. The cucumber added the crunchiness to the noodle. I usually do not like cucumber flavor but the flavor of the sauce covered the strong cucumber taste. I do not know what kind of sauce was that but I like how my palate was refreshed by the sourness of the sauce. Definitely will order this again.
Cash only though. During dinner hours, you might have to wait for people to leave or combine table with other people!

Service is the key for me to drive far to eat after I worked and leaned for 15 years for 99 Ranch market since almost 3 decades ago. This independent restaurant stood out and made young generations revisit for a reason.
The sweet voice of our server shared a lot personal information after the owner and herself to make personal connection. She also will let me bring uncooked fish to cook for me with a fee after I mentioned that I’ve done that in Hollywood FL.
Their spicy fish didn’t have Taiwanese melon since I didn’t tell them their competitor on las tunas is not using Napa buried under white fish.
I definitely will return for that kind of service making me feel home.

My buddy Steve’s brother in law recommended this place as a Szechwan comfort food to help me get over the holiday blues. Definitely for the 2 hours here, I didn’t think about the topic I was depressed about and enjoyed the Stewed Lamb Casserole, bbq lamb, and bbq wings. It’s a small hole in the wall place but definitely it’s worth a visit.

This place is all the way in the back of a strip mall on Garvey. We ordered the Stir-​fried Cabbage (醬爆包心菜), Scallion noodles (蔥油拌麵) and a variety of skewers. The cabbage was stir-​fried really well; it had that «wok hei» smokiness and seasoned strongly with soy, vinegar, and probably a little MSG. It tasted great when it was piping hot.
The scallion noodles were just simple noodles with charred scallions in a sauce. This also tasted good, probably because there was a little MSG in it as well. We originally wanted to order the XO pork noodles (XO沙辣麵）that we saw on another food blog but we couldn’t find it on the menu. We asked the waitress and she said they didn’t serve it.
The skewers are buy 10 get 1 free. We got 6 lamb, 2 sausage, and 2 chicken wings. When it came to the table they actually gave us 2 mushroom skewers instead of sausage, but we decided to spare them the trouble of re-​making the order. The lamb skewers were excellent. It was topped with lots of cumin and chili powder. Definitely the best thing we ordered that day.
The mushrooms were really sweet, which I thought was weird. I probably wouldn’t order it again. The chicken wings were ok, but nothing special.
I’d come back again to try the other Sichuan dishes (Hui Guo Rou, Dou Ban Yu, etc). Like the other reviews say, the service is surprisingly warm for a Chinese place in the 626. The waitress kept on asking us if we wanted to move tables, because we were seated right underneath an air conditioner.

Not too shabby… Small restaurant in a dead plaza, but best deals ever for skewers – Buy 10 get 1 free, and each skewer is only $ 1! They’re best known for their lamb dishes and really, thats about the only thing I would recommend here. In fact, just go with the main lamb dishes (ie: Lamb noodle soup, lamb casserole, etc) and the skewers… everything else is pretty questionable:
Lamb skewers: For a $ 1, you really can’t complain. It’s soft and full of cumin flavor… a little overload on cumin, but like I said… ONE DOLLAR!
Vegetarian chicken skewers: It’s really weird. Sweet, but salty with a big kick of spiciness. Texture wise, it’s kinda like tofu. The taste just doesn’t quite come together very well.
Jellyfish and cucumber: Slightly too salty, and it’s got a bit of a tang. Too oily for my taste as well, but not horrible. Doesn’t look the best presentation-​wise though (the marinate has been pickling the cucumbers for a while and makes it look old).
Shredded pork with chili-​garlic: It’s listed as a «cold dish,» but it’s definitely NOT cold. It’s actually warm pork belly with a garlic-​soy sauce. Ultra fatty, and totally not what we were expecting.
Lamb noodle soup: Om nom nom nom… looks bland, but the soup broth goes very well with the tender lamb. There’s also a very generous amount of noodles.
Lamb stir fry with green onion: Honestly, we thought this was beef. The kind of beef at Chinese restaurants that have been soaking in corn starch for a long time… and then sauced up with soy sauce and more salt so that you’ll forget it was even meat in the first place. Don’t get this dish… seriously. Oily, salty, and absolutely horrible. I think we ate more of the green onion/​scallions than the meat.
Once again, stick with the go-​to lamb dishes (NOT the stir fry) and you’ll love the place. Anything else and it’ll be your worst nightmare… choose wisely before you come!

This little hole in the wall is great if you’re looking for some good authentic Szechwan food! It’s located in the Monterey Park Plaza on Garvey between New and Orange. Look for the word Szechwan on the sign in front! It’s a small location but big things do come in small packages!
If you’ve never tried this type of cuisine, this is a great place to try it. There’s a very distinct flavor and they can really bring the heat (for all you people who like it hot).
The service here is extremely friendly. Some of them have the kindest smiles and they’re very inviting.
Definitely try the skewers (there’s plenty to pick from) and the scallion noodles. Their stewed lamb in casserole is very popular as well! Their plum juice is made fresh daily!

Oh yeah small is beautiful and love the no name in English outside sign
I got this from Keo N see his review
Excellent cabbage braised spicy
And great version of noodles Szechuan style
Skip the sausage skewer best sausage is still at Szechuan impression

This is one of my favorite places around to get good authentic Szechuan food. A little hole in the wall, but that makes it even better. The eggplant, spicy chicken, and red chili noodles with scallions are some of the best. Always fast and extremely friendly.

This place is located in an old ghetto looking plaza. Great mapo tofu but everything else, greasy greasy greasy! Enough oil to start another exxon leak! The scallion noodle was good but as the name suggested (cong yuo) it’s all oil.
The boiled spicy fish tasted a little funny and apprxm 24hrs later, I suffered the worst mud butt firestorm of my adult life. Got to visited the Porcelain Throne 12 times in 5 hours… And so on for 48 hours.
To be fair, I can’t be sure it was the fish that caused the colon cleansing as food poisoning usually indicates bacterial contamination, ergo, pain, cramps and or nausea (which were absent in my case).
Still, the marathon of scatter bombing left me with some degree of ptsd, and it’s unlikely I would go back.

Small hole-​in-​the-​wall located in the back of the mini-​mall caddy corner from Kim Tar. They used to accept credit cards but now, only cash. Service is decent but a little slow as they mainly have only one chef in the chicken cooking up the dishes.
Their Sichuan cuisine is not focused on spiciness but more so about the depths of flavor from the Ma La seasoning. And the dishes made up of dried red chiles and Sichuan peppercorns are simply divine.
One of our most favorite dish there is the Lamb Stew, which is served in an electric casserole cooker. Rather than using sternos, they prefer to use the electric casserole pot to plug in at your table so that the stew can finish cooking, and when it’s bubbling, it’s ready to eat! The lamb stew is full of chunks for lamb (bone in), mung bean vermicelli, bean sprouts, tofu and cabbage. scoop that onto a bowl of rice and you’ve got quite a hearty bowl off food. Exceptionally good for cold nights and Winter Days.
Other favorites include the variety of their skewers, whether lamb, shiitake mushrooms, or garlic… They’re all a grilled nicely and aggressively seasoned with cumin so that that spicy kick hits you as well as the bold cumin flavor. The garlic is grilled to the point where it has the texture of baked potato.
Surprisingly, their Kung Pao Shrimp is very satisfying, with good «wok hei» and mildly spicy. again, your taste the layers of flavor and the shrimp without having the spiciness masks all the flavor.
Vegetable dishes are strong here as well such as the braised eggplant and the stir fried shredded potato in vinegar. They also make a great ma po tofu dish.
Prices are very reasonable. Deciphering the menu may take a few minutes as their English translations do not necessarily match the English names of the dishes we are used to.

Eat Here.
If you love lamb this is a must try restaurant.
Northern Chinese.
Very small (6 tables small).
Cumin Lamb Skewers
Lamb Hot Pot.
Roasted Lamb Szechaun Dry Hot Pot.
What they do they do better than anyone else.
There are many other things on their menu — but lamb is what you should be eating.

This isn’t your typical Chinese restaurant, not by any stretch of the imagination. Several of the dishes have a very strong Indian influence, lots of spices and cumin. A good, unique, new experience type of spot but nothing worth driving a sizeable distance for. The lamb spine hot pot is really the highlight here — the broth is possibly the best I’ve had, and is absolutely delicious. The lamb and garlic skewers were also good. Some of the food is just a bit grimy though… the boney chicken feels like they merely fried up scraps they were going to throw away, which is fine if you’re in a remote part of the world and need the food to survive, but not so much when you’re paying for a meal in Los Angeles.
Oh, and even though there is a Visa logo on the door, this place is definitely cash only.

I think this place changed their name… Came in today in the late afternoon (just finished an exam and was super starving). We found the restaurant on Unilocal and wanted to have some spicy Chinese food — found a lot of good stuff on their menu and had a hard time to choose a few for only 2 people! We finally ordered the BBQ chicken wings and BBQ mushrooms, the Eggplant with Garlic Sauce, Lamb Spine Hot Pot and Jellyfish with Cucumber. I like ALL of them! The Lamb Spine Hot Pot is a must try (I’ll definitely come back for it!) and you won’t want to miss the eggplant either! Not oily but rich flavor! The jellyfish is much better than another place I tried before — this one is crispy and the sauce is traditional! The BBQs are only $ 1 for each; you may find it a little bit too salty and spicy if you’re not used to it, but they are just good for me.
I will give it 5 stars:-)

Come here for the skewers and beef pancakes! Skewers were flavorful with plenty of spice to them. I highly recommend the chicken heart and lamb skewers. Mushrooms were good if you are craving something on the sweeter side. There’s a deal where you get an 11^th one free after purchasing the first 10 (don’t worry they’re only $ 1 each). The beef pancake was also quite delicious, although it resembled more like a little sandwich.
This place would absolutely get 5 stars if they accepted cash and if beer was served to complement their delicious skewers.

This is one of the best Szechuan restaurants in L.A. Don’t be fooled by the lack of people eating here and the quaint décor of wide black and white stripes. I think this was previously a wanna be hip boba joint. A hidden gem; don’t waste your time and money eating at over hyped places like Chendu Taste and Chuans. This is the real deal. This is one of the few restaurants my friends rave about.
Personal recommended dishes are
1. Lamb Stew hot pot,
2. Cumin lamb skewers,
3. Shiitake skewers
4. Onion skewers (but are in fact garlic),
5. Boiled fish,
6. Garlic egg plant with Burglary sauce
7. Cumin lamb.
8. Hot silken potato
9. Beef Strips
They make the best hot silken potato dish in L.A. Ask for the warm version. I think cold potatoes don’t taste as good. I have tried other dishes but found them to be just OK.

No one wanted to cook in the 104 degree temperatures, so my friend suggested we go Sichuan. Hey, if you can’t beat the heat, let’s «eat the heat.» Some of us like our heat gringo style… and Cui Hua Lou is willing to adjust accordingly… without judgment.
Cui Hua Lou, located in a strip mall, is small and cozy. Cumin figures prominently in the flavor profile. The BBQ garlic is nice as long as everyone is sharing. The lamb stew casserole is very tasty, tender, served with some bean thread noodle and cabbage, but a little greasy. It is the signature dish, most popular. BBQ shrimp tasty, but a little overpowered by cumin. BBQ chicken wings delicious, would order more next time. Fish fillets delicate and flaky — beware of the hot chili flakes. Eggplant melts on your tongue, smooth and creamy.
Between the salt and the spice, our group of seven drank lots of cold water. A few people came in for take out orders — but we were the only ones there Sunday evening. It was kind of like having your own party without the work– fun — so my group vowed we’d go again. Soon. Service was kind and attentive.

Not sure if they use MSG but even if they do, id still eat it. This stuff is addicting! Reminds me of the street food in northern china.

Cui Hua Lou is a extremely tiny Northern Chinese restaurant in Monterey Park. They are known for their spicy Chinese dishes. Their spicy cumin skewers/​kabobs are seasoned to perfection. They have a buy 10, get 1 kabob free special. Each skewer is only $ 1!
I ordered lamb, lamb kidney, mushroom, chicken gizzard skewers. Their lamb is very good. Doesn’t taste too gamey at all! The lamb noodles and spicy stews are also delicious! If you can’t handle the heat, make sure to let the server know! They can adjust accordingly.