City Eats

Regent Seafood Restaurant

I am occasionally thankful for L.A. traffic - if I weren't driving so slowly, I'd miss a a lot of interesting sights. Case in point: Dodger Stadium traffic had me pinned down on North Main Street right at dinner time recently, and I noticed the Regent Seafood Restaurant. The exterior wasn't impressive, but it was the one of the few places in Chinatown I hadn't visited before, so I decided to give it a try.

I was glad I did. The luxurious interior was a surprise, as was the variety of Southern Chinese delicacies on the menu. This isn't American-style Cantonese food, but the real thing- lots of fresh seafood in flavorful but mildly spiced broths and sauces. Fish and shellfish are dried to jerky to intensify the flavor, and then re hydrated to softness for easy eating. We had sauteed scallops with green vegetables that emphasized the fresh essences of land and sea, and black mushrooms with snow peas in a musky, rich brown sauce. The best dish, though, was squab in lettuce cups. Although a version of this dish made with chicken is popular in fusion restaurants and has edged into the culinary mainstream, pigeon meat is more moist and lions for extra oomph, and its the best I've had in some time. Even items from beyond its culinary tradition was good; we ordered hot and sour soup to see if the Szechuan dish would be given a Cantonese spin, and, while we didn't discern any major difference, it was as good as we'd expect to find outside a restaurant specializing in that cuisine.

Impressed by our meal, I asked if the place was open for dim sum, so I could bring the family on the weekend. Our waiter told us that, while many restaurants in Chinatown do serve dim sum, it is not a Canton tradition, so Regent doesn't. It's rare to find a place so devoted to culinary tradition; I will visit again to learn more about real Cantonese cuisine near my own neighborhood.

By Richard Foss