JGold Talks Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village in SGV

Right off the bat The Goldster declares that "Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village is the most ambitious Chinese restaurant to open in Los Angeles in a decade — maybe ever, if you don't count Hong Kong–style seafood palaces." The menu reads like "a September Vogue, except instead of models, there are crabs and stewed pig's trotters and fried abalone, reproduced in nearly pornographic detail." The restaurant itself "seems to mark the entry of full-blown Chinese capital into the game — a gilded, cosmopolitan restaurant that is a full-fledged fourth location of a prosperous chain in Shanghai itself." There are both hits and misses on the menu, but JG advises, "you should feel practically obligated to try the stone-pot fried rice: Loose-textured, brothy-tasting yet dry, tossed with several different kinds of Chinese greens and both smoky Chinese ham and tiny cubes of what resembles Chinese pancetta, it is the best fried rice I have ever tasted in a lifetime of fried rice. You'll probably like it, too." [LAW]

The Elsewhere: The Find discovers Chilenazo, Caroline on Crack hits Sunny Spot, e*star LA tries Sadie, Eat: LA picks Gjelina, Eating LA visits L&E Oyster Bar, Midtown Lunch considers Pioneer Chicken, and Refined Palate dishes on LudoBites 8.