Luyu Dumplings

This bare-bones operation hides in the back of a shopping center in City of Industry. The space is Spartan and deadly quiet, except for the sound of the refrigerators that hum constantly and the steady chop-chop of a chef’s knife in the nearby kitchen. If you want anything to drink, including water, you have to ask, and if you have questions about the menu, you’re better off looking at the poster of dishes on the wall. All to say, this humble restaurant is short on creature comforts but delivers admirably in the realm of excellent, handmade dumplings and bowls of chewy noodles glossed in scallion oil. From lamb with fennel to chicken with celery, dumplings come with a multitude of fillings, but the tender ground pork with lotus root win.