Master Chef
937 N Hill St
Los Angeles
213-687-3638
Master Chef recently opened up on Hill St. in Chinatown. They offer a lunch and late night menu for great prices, nothing over $7.95. So with a group of friends we went and tried Master Chef.
With every meal you get soup, which is a corn soup. Lots of corn starch mixed with chicken stock and some corn. Nothing great but it does come with the meal.
Sliced chicken with spicy garlic sauce, $7.25. This was a very good dish, though it was listed as spicy and it wasn't spicy at all. Filled with slices of chicken, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and bamboo shoots in a garlic flavored sauce. All these flavors worked well.
Rock cod fish fillet with black bean sauce, $7.25. This was also a good dish. Lots of black bean sauce, onions, and bell peppers. Nice flavor and tender good tasting cod.
XO combination fried rice, $7.25. This fried rice had all the meats, beef, pork, and shrimp with some peas and eggs. I thought it was nice sized portion.
Pan fried scallops with asparagus, $7.95. Scallops, asparagus, and carrots in a light sauce. Fresh, sweet, and tender scallops make this dish. The asparagus could have been cooked a little longer, too crunchy for me. But otherwise a good dish.
French style beef, $7.95. Interesting item for a Chinese restaurant. The chef must have been trained in Vietnam or by Vietnamese people. Tender pieces of beef with lots of onions, in a light gravy.
Honey walnut shrimp, $7.95. A sweet dish, with a crunchy outside and a tender shrimp inside. I liked this dish but they could have put a bit more shrimp in there.
Service was OK. We did wait a long time for them to take our order and for them to give us our check.
I would go back to Master Chef again. I liked all the dishes we ordered and would order any of them again. They have a huge menu so next time I go, I will order something else. Their late night menu is the same as their daily lunch menu. I can picture myself going here after seeing the Dodgers lose or for lunch on the weekend.
Update July 14, 2009.
I went back to Master Chef for their late night special.
Soup-Not sure the exact name but this soup had pork and tofu. This was hot and tasty. The ground pork had a lot of flavor and the tofu was firm, not mussy. I wouldn't order this soup as my first couse, the corn soup is a better choice.
Deep Fried Sole with spicy brown sauce, $7.95. I saw this dish the last time I was at Master Chef and wanted to try it. A huge whole sole, covering a spicy brown sauce. But the sole was way too dry, as if it had been deep fried a long time ago and sitting around. The fish was tough, chewy and not good at all. The sauce was wonderful, not that spicy but lots of flavors including soy sauce, garlic, peppers, and green onions. If the sole was freshly fried, this would have been a great dish.
Kung Pao Chicken, $7.25. This was an amazing dish. Perfectly cooked piece of mostly white meat chicken, mixed with a light sauce. Maybe the best King Pao chicken I have ever had. And the portion was huge!!!
Service was again pretty good.
Even though the deep fried sole not living up to expectations, I did enjoy Master Chef again. A great restaurant and if you go during their late night special, a great deal.
Update: July 19, 2009
I love Master Chef so much, I went there three times in a week.
First I want to review a dish I order awhile back but forgot to mention, pan fried beef ribs with house special sauce, $7.95. The ribs were pretty tender but what a flavor. The house special sauce had a hint of orange and was fairly spicy. A good dish.
Now I got the shrimp with eggplant and spicy sauce, $7.25. This is a great dish, even if you don't eat eggplant, like me. There were a ton, I mean a ton of shrimp and the sauce isn't that spicy at all. It is a mixture of corn starch, chicken broth, and some spices. Order if, even if you don't eat eggplant. The hottie I had dinner with told me the eggplant was great.
Pan fried scallops with vegetables, $7.95. This is listed on the menu being with asparagus but there was no asparagus in the dish. What was in the dish was huge pieces of scallops that were pretty fresh and tasty.
Service was a little slow this time. It took awhile to get refills on water and rice.
