Dining with specialists [Restaurant review]
Taishi Hainan Chicken’s effervescent Gail Shio with her signature Hainan style chicken with rice. Photos
Some of the most successful restaurants in the world serve only one thing. I haven’t visited Ma Yu Ching’s Bucket Chicken House, which has been serving chicken and noodles in the Chinese city of Kaifeng since 1153, but I fondly remember the Regensburg Sausage Kitchen, which has been serving grilled bratwurst and sauerkraut since 1806 in a small medieval building by the Danube. I sat in the spring sun eating delicious sausages and watching the river roll, feeling a part of history while having a good lunch.
One-item restaurants are more common in Europe and Asia than here, though two have opened in the South Bay this year. I sampled both their wares on successive days.
Taishi Hainan Chicken is tucked in a corner of a mini mall at Prospect Avenue and Torrance Boulevard. Their food menu has four items. There are egg rolls, fried dumplings, and regular or fried Hainan style chicken with rice. Hainan chicken is prepared by poaching a whole chicken in with ginger and scallions and then serving it with rice cooked in the chicken broth. The dish originated on an island off the coast of China, but is popular all over South Asia and the version served here is actually Thai.
The chicken is served deboned, along with a ball of rice, some cucumber slices, and a pair of dipping sauces, one spicy and the other mild and creamy. The regular Hainan chicken is moist and tender, the ginger and onion so muted that it was barely perceptible. I am partial to the more robust flavor and slight oiliness of the Singaporean version of Hainan chicken, but many people will prefer this more nuanced version. The fried Hainan chicken is prepared the same way and then dipped in a light batter and quick-fried. Which version you prefer will probably have more to do with whether you like crunchy textures. The fried chicken is served with two different sauces, sesame and ginger-garlic. Both are a lot of food for a modest price, a mere twelve bucks for a full meal. Thai iced tea and Taiwanese milk tea are both available with or without boba, but even if you splurge on the most expensive beverage you’ll still have change left over from a twenty. There are some premade Japanese-style pastries in the case that can run the tab higher, but it’s a rare person who will have room for them after a meal here.
The Empanada Shop chef Marisela Rangel with a selection from her five savory and two sweet empanadas
There’s more variety of flavors available at The Empanada Shop, the busiest North Redondo restaurant you have never seen. Their tiny space on Artesia at Flagler is in the middle of a block and heralded only by a very small sign. It seems like a disastrous business decision to put an eatery here, and it would be if serving walk-in customers was their main business. That is a sideline, because this is actually an empanada factory that sells most of their products through stores but will serve those who stroll in. People usually get them to go, but there are a few stools at the counter for those who just can’t wait.
Empanadas vary. In some places a mix of corn and wheat flour is used. In some regions they are fried, in others baked. Here they are baked, and the dough uses butter rather than the more traditional lard.
The Empanada Shop sells five savory and two sweet versions. The savory varieties are chicken with ancho chile, beef picadillo, sweet potato and roasted corn, spinach and cheese, and bean and cheese. The sweet are apple and chocolate with cinnamon though for the season they have added a pumpkin version with churro spicing.
Though these empanadas are based on Mexican recipes the flavors are generally very mild. The ancho chile chicken is the only one with any detectable chili heat, but barely rates a three on a scale of 10. Instead the spotlight is on the flavors of the organic vegetables and other ingredients. This is perfectly fine, but I found the picadillo disappointing. The beef with potatoes and carrots wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t picadillo. This mix of ground beef with vegetables usually gets some zip from onion, garlic, cumin, and sometimes olives, but I didn’t taste any of those seasonings here.
I was also not thrilled by their version of guacamole, which was mashed avocado with only the most minimal seasoning. You can add some of their salsa and zip it up considerably, because both the red and green versions have ample heat. The green is very good with a nice balance of chile and cilantro, but be forewarned – a little bit goes a long way.
They were out of the chocolate empanadas on the day I was there, which seems to happen often – I have visited three times and have yet to taste one. I consoled myself with the pumpkin churro version, which was delicious. They should consider keeping this on the menu after the Thanksgiving season, because I’d buy these all year. I say that as someone who is not a customer for pumpkin spiced latte, popcorn, smoothies, or anything else.
Be aware that the counter service at The Empanada Shop is often slow – it’s an afterthought to their wholesale operation, and one person is doing everything. The best strategy is to call ahead or order online, and you still may have to wait a few minutes. It’s worth it to enjoy a good meal on a thin budget. They sometimes run midweek specials that bring the price of a six-pack down to about 15 bucks, which is cheaper than trashy fast food for two and a lot healthier.
Taishi Hainan Chicken and The Empanada Shop are both quirky operations that you might not visit every day or even every week, but that will hit the spot when you have a sudden craving for that thing they do. These newcomers are reviving the long tradition of specialists here in the South Bay, and they’re doing a very good job of it.
Taishi Hainan Chicken is at 1000 Torrance Blvd. Suite B in Redondo. Open daily 11 a.m – 10 p.m. Parking lot, no alcohol. Menu at taishihainanchicken.com. (310)-792-5185.
The Empanada Shop is at 1908 ½ Artesia Blvd. in Redondo, just west of the public library. Open daily 11 a.m – 8 p.m. Street parking, no alcohol. Menu at the-empanadashop.com, phone 424-247-9157. ER