Modern Chinese Cuisine Steeped in Tradition, but Accessible to a Wider Audience and New Generation – Succulent Roasted Pork Shoulder Char Siu, Supple Hainan Chicken Rice, Outrageous Pork Chop Buns and More! – Needle and Pearl River Deli [Thoughts + Pics]

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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Needle? All Day Baby? Porridge + Puffs? Antico?

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I have a silly question why are there two threads about PRD?

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Good point. PRD has been so great that I might start a third one.

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Needle!

Have you had Porridge and Puffs though? It’s one of my favorites

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Lol fair enough :man_shrugging:

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@JLee a suggestion for you.

Do a PRD version of the Stephen Chow classic film God Of Cookery’s “Sorrowful Rice” 黯然銷魂飯 (it’s more like sorrowful/ecstasy, hard to put it).

It’s basically char siu rice with a fried sunny egg. You can do crazy variants with it like premium rice, free range organic / jidori egg. Find a killer soy sauce to dress over the top and offer it as a variation to your char siu rice plate/box. You can even drizzle some lard further over the whole thing for more aromas… (lots of ideas if you just put in 黯然銷魂飯 on youtube). A pork neck version would be even more decadent, or pork neck/char siu combo. Could even make it a limited offering, and this will be a huge hit guaranteed from all the layers/nuance/explosive profiles, if this doesn’t add further burden to the operations.

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Yeah it’s pretty annoying. People seem to like to start their own threads about the same restaurants that are covered elsewhere. I wish people wouldn’t do this but I don’t make the rules around here.

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I have once and loved it. Haven’t been to Needle (and the pics look so good).

I know there’s a thread on here (which I’ll get around to)… This is the place w/ good biscuits, right? We do love biscuits…

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The biscuits are SO good! Also they currently have a bacon, onion, cheese scone that you and I would both appreciate. And I was told that you can FREEZE the biscuits if you decide to buy extra :exploding_head:

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Hi Chef @JLee,

Thank you for making some great food! :blush: Forgive me if any of my comments were too harsh; just wanted to provide honest reflections about each of the dishes we had. That sounds amazing that you’re thinking of remodeling to clear the way to make more roasted meats! (@J_L @PorkyBelly @beefnoguy @JeetKuneBao @attran99 @Ns1 @Dommy and others.)

I think I can say many on FTC and beyond are looking forward to seeing your versions of Roast Pork Belly, Roast Duck, maybe Roast Goose (my friends from Hong Kong were telling me how amazing the Charcoal Roasted Goose in HK was) and more. :blush:

Know that you’re doing great work! I hope you can get to a point to regularly offer your amazing Hainan Chicken and Soy Sauce Chicken daily, along with Char Siu, the Macau Pork Chop Bun (and Beef & Tendon Stew!, Chinese Curry over Rice, and new classics). :wink:

Keep up the great work!

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Hi @paranoidgarliclover,

Get your Pearl River Deli order and then bang x bang with:

Howlin’ Ray’s
Superfine Pizza - Pepperoni Slice! :slight_smile:
Guerrilla Tacos
Holbox
Porridge & Puffs
Needle (but they open early evening and on, only)
Langer’s Deli
Sari Sari Store (Buko Pie!)

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I’d like to give a shoutout to Ord and Broadway, too. It’s walking distance from PRD and have excellent Filipino food but doesn’t get a ton of love for some reason. They probably get lost in the proliferation of updated Filipino rice bowl type places happening right now but they deserve more recognition

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Hi @beefnoguy,

That looks so good! :blush: That Char Siu in that video you linked looks amazing! So luscious. Have you had that restaurant’s Char Siu before? How is it?

Are there any restaurants near you that serve this “Sorrowful Rice”? Thanks. :slight_smile:

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I really wanted to like this place (gave it at least 4 tries), but didn’t…

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Loved the scene right after the judge tries this bowl for the first time. Classic Stephen Chow.

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This movie looks ridiculous and wacky. Is it worth seeking out and watching? :slight_smile: Thanks.

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Hello?! Is Margarita’s Manzke’s mango passionfruit pie good?!

Overwhelming YES!!! “God of Cookery” is funny, engaging, and even if you don’t get the humor at every turn, at the very least the film will prove to be immensely helpful in understanding the food psyche in HK.

Your street cred is one level down with me, Chowseeker, until you report back to me saying that this cinematic delight is under your belt. It’s THAT essential. :smiley:

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It’s not my favorite Filipino rice bowl place but their lumpia shanghai and few others dishes are pretty enjoyable. I actually preferred it to HiFi Kitchen and Ricebar (although they’re all pretty good, we’re just spoiled for choice right now)

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Hi @J_L,

OK OK! :smile: I’ll make sure to watch this movie and understand HK food more. Thanks for the recommendation. :slight_smile:

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Yes, as I recalled from my lunch report there from 2019, the Shanghai lumpia was indeed pretty good!

Never got a chance to try HiFi, and RiceBar was kinda solid I suppose.

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