Din Tai Fung always has a line of eager dumpling-goers snaking out its doors, so plan ahead especially during peak dining hours and on the weekends. The soup dumplings are a must, as are the spicy wontons and carefully made fried rice.

The Hainan chicken rice at Side Chick is deceptively simple — poached chicken and rice accompanied by cucumbers, cilantro, and a few dipping sauces. Take a bite to discover layers of flavor, each one more complex than the last.

Koreatown’s perpetually busy modern seafood bar brings the same energy to Santa Anita. On the menu is an eclectic selection of cooked and raw offerings. The uni pasta and the tarragon-topped lobster roll are both worth savoring.

Here at the second U.S. outlet of the Beijing-based Sichuan restaurant, diners indulge in crispy plates of fried chicken, steamy cauldrons of mapo tofu, and platters of Peking duck carved table-side. Consider this dining room the prettiest in the whole mall.

Whichever set menu one settles on here, be it seafood-focused or squarely land-based, make sure to order the hand-pulled noodles to go with it. Skilled “noodle dancers” flit to each table, whipping and pulling stretchy balls of dough and plopping the finished product into the hot broth to cook.

Here at Cindy’s Noodle House, Shaanxi- and Henan-style noodles and lamb dishes reign supreme. Start with a few cold appetizers selected from the front display, then move onto the grilled lamb skewers crusted in cumin and dried chilies. To finish, a bowl of the restaurant’s signature lamb noodle soup.

It’s all about the beef roll at the Arcadia outlet of this San Gabriel Valley institution. The hefty beef roll is comprised of a fried wheat pancake smeared with a hoisin-like bean paste and stuffed with fresh cilantro and thin cuts of beef.

Come to Sinbala for a taste of Taiwanese night market food. The sausages are a highlight, and the ones topped with fried basil and served with garlic slivers are particularly good. Round out lunch with oyster pancakes and popcorn chicken.