The tastiest tofu dishes in Los Angeles

If you love tofu, you have to try these 7 restaurants.

Drive 30 minutes east of downtown Los Angeles and you’ve entered the San Gabriel Valley. The “626” is home to hundreds of thousands of first, second, and third-gen Chinese immigrants, whose restaurants serve the finest tofu in greater LA.

I often take friends here on tofu tours so thought I’d write up a guide. (If you’re interested in a tour, let me know!) Here are my 6 favorite spots:

---

Spicy pot from Tasty Dining.

Tasty Dining (and Qiwei Kitchen) 

This restaurant is aptly named. Tasty Dining is one of the cheapest and tastiest ways to try multiple Chinese tofus at once. They serve Sichuan-style spicy pot 麻辣香锅 malaxiangguo (aka 干锅 ganguo). Pick your favorite ingredients and spice level, and enjoy them stir fried in a hyper fragrant chili oil. They offer six or so varieties of tofu. Tasty Dining and Qiwei are two branches of the same restaurant, the former in San Gabriel (the city), the latter in Rowland Heights.

Tips for ordering:

• While you can choose your “flavor,” I would recommend sticking to their signature, mala 麻辣, translated on the menu as “spice & hot”. If you can’t handle any spice, their “garlic” 蒜香 is tasty too.

• For add ins, try their “thousand layer tofu” 千页豆腐 qianyedoufu (spongy), “dried bean curd sheets” 腐竹 fuzhu (dried tofu sticks), “fried bean curd” 油豆皮 youdoupi (fried yuba), “dry tofu” 干豆腐 gandoufu (sheets), and maybe “frozen tofu” 冻豆腐 dongdoufu.

Tasty Dining: 301 W Valley Blvd Ste 101 San Gabriel, CA 91776
Qiwei Kitchen: 1741 Fullerton Rd Rowland Heights, CA 91748

---

Clockwise from upper left: vegetarian duck, malantou greens with pressed tofu, fermented mustard greens with edamame and tofu sheets, and marinated wheat gluten with peanuts and black fungus.

Shanghai No. 1 上海一号

Shanghai cuisine is one of the best for tofu cooking, and Shanghai No. 1 is LA’s best Shanghai restaurant. They offer several varieties of tofu and wheat gluten (seitan).

Dishes to order:

• “Vegetarian duck with sauce” 五香素鸭 wuxiang suya – yuba rolls, marinated in sweet soy sauce, steamed, and fried.

• Malantou greens with pressed tofu 马兰头香干 malantou xianggan - a cold salad of peppery malantou (a Chinese leafy green) with minced pressed tofu, salt, msg, and sesame oil. It sometimes comes with caviar (鱼子酱) on top, so specify if you don’t want it.

• Water spinach with fermented tofu 腐乳空心菜 furu kongxincai - greens with a cheesy fermented tofu sauce and mild chilies.

• Fermented mustard greens with edamame and tofu sheets 雪菜毛豆百叶 xuecai maodou baiye - a light dish that is exactly as it sounds. The tofu sheets are silky and luscious in the lightly thickened sauce.

• “Marinated wheat gluten with peanuts and black fungus” 四喜烤麸 sixi kaofu- bready kaofu seitan braised in a sweet soy sauce with star anise, daylily flowers, peanuts, and shiitake.

250 W Valley Blvd Ste M San Gabriel, CA 91776

---

Doufunao, Chinese seaweed salad, and sweet fried bread tangyoubing.

Fortune No. 1 金海

This is one of the only restaurants in the US that serves Tianjin breakfast food. It’s a hole-in-the-wall. Servers are friendly but don’t speak much English. Everything’s homemade, crafted by an army of cooks in the semi-open kitchen.

Tofu to order:

• “Tofu Soup” 豆腐脑 doufunao – Tianjin tofu pudding with a star anise gravy.

• (Bonus not tofu: “Rice Crust Dishes” 锅巴菜 guobacai - strips of mung bean, millet, and rice flour crepes, soaking in a fragrant five-spiced gravy.)

• (Bonus not tofu: “Pancake” 煎饼果子 jianbingguozi - Chinese mung bean crepe, filled with fried bread and brushed with fermented bean sauces. NOTE: ask for no egg if vegan.)

138 A E Garvey Ave Monterey Park, CA 91755

---

Crispy goose and bean curd bamboo shoots.

House of Fortune 福缘

Buddhist Chinese food is challenging. Subtract out the meat, and you lose 90% of your signature dishes. Subtract out the alliums (Chinese Buddhists don’t eat garlic, onion, etc.), and you lose another 9%. It’s absolutely possible to make ecstasy out of the remainder. After all, 1% of thousands of dishes is still a lot of food!! But most Buddhist restaurants are run by chefs from Taiwan, Fujian, and Guangdong, regions with especially light, minimalist cooking styles. I’m rarely satisfied, nor are Chinese and American friends.

House of Fortune far surpasses these limitations. Their chef is from Beijing, and he has learned quite a few lessons from meat-based cooking. Their menu is vast. Most dishes are good. Many are great.

Tofu to order: 

• Crispy Goose 脆皮鹅 cuipi’e- rolls of marinated and fried yuba, with a crackly skin and fresh, sweet-ish sauce.

• Bean Curd Bamboo Shoots 香干小笋 xianggan xiaosun - pressed tofu stir fried with young bamboo shoots. Light but flavorful.

Rowland Heights location: 18425 Colima Rd Rowland Heights CA 91748
Chino Hills location: 13788 Roswell Ave Ste 101 Chino, CA 91710

---

Fried tofu with seasoned chili powder, custardy and creamy insides, and fried basil.

Zero Gravitea

This Taiwanese food truck serves boba, fried skewers, and a mix of other snacks.

Tofu to order:

• Fried tofu 炸豆腐 zhadoufu - dusted with seasoned chili powder, custardy and creamy inside, garnished with fried basil, incredible

1635 S San Gabriel Blvd San Gabriel, CA 91776

---

Yi Kebab 艺小串

I’m hesitant to recommend this shop. Portions are small, service isn’t great (even if you speak Chinese), and the food crawls out of the kitchen at its own pace. They literally don’t use any vegetable oil in the shop. (Anything cooked in oil is chicken fat). BUT (and this is a big but), the tofu is so so so good. Better than any other Chinese BBQ places I’ve tried in LA. And I’ve tried quite a lot of them.

Tofu to order:

• “Tofu” 豆腐 doufu - squares of firm tofu, charcoal grilled, dense and juicy and smoky. I don’t know what they do it but it’s perfect. If vegan ask for no oil.

610 E Garvey Ave Monterey Park, CA 91755

---

There are so many other great restaurants that didn’t make this list!

Are there any you would add?