Bistro Na's in Los Angeles

July 26 2019

as we were celebrating a birthday within the family, my dad thought this was a great place to go as he had already been there a couple months ago to celebrate my mom’s birthday. We had booked the private room as there was quite a lot of us.

Chef Su’s Pork Feet Jelly. I was not brave enough to try this, but this is one of their speciality dishes. from the ones who did try it they said it was quite delicious.

Imperial Marinated Beef with Smoked Gouda. this was super interesting well as there isn’t much cheese in chinese cuisine and the combination with the tomatoes on top, it was almost like a salsa. i wouldn’T say it was my favorite but it was interesting to try.

Spinach with Sesame Sauce. i really do love anything with sesame and sesame paste and the combination with vegetables is delectable. but i could also just eat the paste and seeds by itself.

Crispy Shrimp. as i am allergic to shrimp i did not try this dish but everyone really liked it.

Na’s Secret Tofu. it was really good, the layer of seaweed on top added some saltiness and the sauce was a tad sweet. so it was a nice combination of flavors and textures as tofu can be quite boring if you don’t do much to it.

Okra in seasoned dressing. this must be a newer creation because well okra really wasn’t in chinese cuisine until a few years ago. this had a nice bit of spice to it and the okra still had some crunch.

Diced Black Pepper Honey Angus Beef. one of the favorites of the night. the beef was super tender and there was a nice amount of black pepper for spice.

Steamed King Crab

Steamed King Crab

another dish i didn’t try as i am allergic. but they had used the whole crab, they had served the head with steamed egg. it looked amazing.

Na’s Braised Pork Belly. i am always a sucker for braised pork belly, i did get more than one portion of this. i needed to do a taste test so i can know how to make mine better.

Braised Black Cod Fish with Eggplant. i had never had eggplant on top of fish before but it was quite good. i wish i could have eaten more but there was already so much food.

Chili Shredded Potato with Pork. this reminded me of the SHREDDED potato dish we would always get in beijing, however this wasN’t as good. the other one was much more simple, less sauce and less oily. i need to find a recipe for those potatoes and make them.

Pan Fried Chives Pockets. although we were near the end and i was so full, i needed to try at least one of these.

as this restaurant was just granted a one michelin star, it has become even more popular. you can make reservations beforehand or you can just head there and add your name to the waitlist. of course for larger groups or the usage of the private room then you do need to book in advance.

the food is quite good and at a very high standard of quality and taste. i can see why it was granted a michelin star. the service was also great but as we had the private dining room it might be slightly different than what you might encounter in the main dining room. i think that most of the food is true to traditional manchu food but some dishes have a few twists and new INGREDIENTS that definitely didn’t exist in imperial times. i will definitely be coming back to try some other dishes.

Bistro Na’s

9055 E Las Tunas Dr ste 105, Temple City, CA 91780

https://www.bistronas.com/

july 2019, los angelesJackie Wongbistro na's, manchu, imperial, chineseComment