We used to go to Victoria Station for lunch when I worked in Hollywood. I always got full by taking too much salad, no matter how hard I tried to cut the portion down!! I loved taking the little tram up the hill.

Does anyone remember the chinese place on the hill going up to Universal City? They had a great Sunday brunch with champagne, dim sum and lots of AYCE goodies!! Great view too. I was sad to see that place go. I planned one of our holiday lunches in one of their private rooms, that was really good!!!

We went there for lunch yesterday and I can confirm that the people are very nice. The owner, Lyn remembered us from the Sesame Inn in Newburry Park and was genuinely happy to see us.

Since we only had lunch, we only ordered two dishes, Mixed Steamed Vegetebles and Kung Pao Chicken. First, let me tell you the portions were huge. My wife didn't eat 1/2 of her vegetibles, and I'm having leftover Kung Pao today. There easily was enough for three porions per dish.

The vegetables were very fresh and my wife enjoyed them. I liked the KPC too. Not the best I ever had but for $10 and enough for 3 portions, who's complaing. The two dishes, two cokes and some extra brown rice came to $26 (before tip).

They've applied for a liquor permit so hopefully soon they'll have wine. Lyn said until then we could bring our owe wine (YEA!!!).

We will try it again but for dinner when we usually have 3 dishes, and we'll try different ones, so I can give a more detailed report.

But for now, it looks like our driving days to Newburry Park may be over!!!

As with all recipies, there are variations and I'm sure someone somewhere will add garlic to just about any dish. All I know is that I ALWAYS order Thai Flood without garlic and have never had a problem. Some places use chili paste which has garlic in it as an ingredient in many Thai dishes, however it is so minute that it doesn't present any problem for me. Appaently this guy wants to serve his dishes the way they prepare them, no exceptions. Not a good business model if you ask me. Isn't the customer always (well, almost always) right?

Cheers!

Back about 10 years ago when I was working in Warner Center I went here frequently for lunch.

It’s a simple enough of a place, nothing fancy at all. It’s certainly not a destination place or even a dinner place, way too casual. I used to get the Beef Ribs and/or Chicken, fries or slaw. They have a small room in front, a nice patio on the side (where I always ate) and a big room in the back. I liked the patio because the place was never busy and I could enjoy my lunch in peace.

The food is okay, sometimes almost good. If you’re nearby and are jonesing for some Q, it will suffice. It won’t break the bank and you won’t feel ripped off. But, like I said, I haven’t been there for 10 years so my review might be a little dated.

I never return a dish for not being as hot as I like it. I understand that most American taste buds can't handle the level of heat I like and retaurants are being carefull not to over spice thier dises.

In Asian restaurants I always request Chili Oil (as I did today) to kick up the spice level. In Mexican restaurants I always order fresh chilis (usually Jalapeno). In BBQ places I brink my little bottle of Blairs hot sauce to add to thieir BBQ Sauce. In Italian I ask for the crushed red peppers, which other places also have (BJ's, Claim Jumper, Cheescake Factory and so on).

It seems Indian is the only place I never have to add any spice to, they usually comply with my requested heat level.

I thought this address sounded familiar. When I started working here (by Costco) it was a Mexican (Taqueria style) that was okay for what it was. tTen it was a Thai place (fair food; poor service), then it was a Hot Dog place (terrible!!). I haven't been by in ages so I don't know what it's been lately.

Thanks to Liu, we've become regulars at Mandarin Bistro. But it is a drive and while we've been going there almost every Sunday night, we still longed for something closer. So, following Chandavki's adivse, I tried it today for lunch. Unfortunately since I ate solo, I could only order one dish, so not a very thourough review.

The one dish I had was very good. I ordered the Spicy Basil Beef from the Special Chinese Menu. I asked for extra spicy. It came pretty fast, it was a large portion, and it was moderately spicy. I can say if the other dishes are like this one it'll be great!! The service was friendly and efficient (3 ladies working the front).

I'm going to plan a lunch with some of my fellow workers, the Asian ones, and we'll give it a full workout.

Thanks Chandavki!!

I guess we just had a poor experience the one time we went. We've been going to Mandarin Bistro regularly now (thanks Liu) (we just went last Sat. night) and even though it's much farther, we have really enjoyed every meal there, and found the staff also very friendly and willing to customize thier dishes for us (we're pretty picky). As I've said before, we're into atmosphere and Szechuan Place is at zero while we give MB a high 8 (out of 10). I agree that the staff was friendly at SP but If we try it again, it will most likely be for take out.

Liu,

We tried a very small Chinese place that sounds like the one you're asking about. I did a review of it but can't find it now. It was just okay, nothing I'd go out of my way for. Also, the place was super small, which we don't like. It was called Szechuan Palace, I didn't notice the missing "a". It was on Kanan Rd., in the So/West corner of the mall, below Vons.

While most of the reviews on Yelp were favorible, I can't say I found anything outstanding about it. Certainly not even close to Sesame Inn or Mandarin Bistro. To each his own, I guess.

Thanks, liu. I'll be sure to check out the wallpaper next time. I don't remember any booths though.

If you're talking about Nancy, she is no longer the owner, it is now owed by the nice young man who seated us, his name is Andy. I think he might be Nancy's son. We had a nice chat with our waitress about this.

Also, about Sesame Inn, no they don't basically take reservations; I guess they made an exception for you. I don't think they'd do it for 2 people. Since it's so small, we have to get there by around 5:30pm or have a wait. We actually went to SI first, but there were 4 party's ahead of us so we tried MB, and glad we did.

I agree with you about not too many ingredients in a dish, but both my wife and I love water chestnuts, so maybe next time we'll ask them to add them in.