dan modern chinese

Whenever I visit Sawtelle, I usually stick to Japanese food, so it was a nice change of pace to try Dan Modern Chinese today.Everything we ordered was delicious, but the standout for me was the Short Rib Dan Mein. A friend ordered it, and I got to sneak a bite--definitely getting my own next time!The restaurant was clean, the staff was incredibly kind and attentive, and it was very kid-friendly, which we really appreciated. There were plenty of families with young kids when we came at noon on a Saturday.I'll definitely be back and will update this review with photos next time--I was too busy catching up with friends from the East Coast while feeding my baby...

If you're looking for good eats with fast service, fair price especially lunch specials during the week until 4 pm. Dan Modern Chinese is a great spot to check out on Sawtelle. The chili dumplings were definitely a highlight--fresh, flavorful, and perfectly cooked. I also really enjoyed the beef oxtail roll, which was tender with cucumber though too much green onions for me liked it with Hoisin sauce The Beef short rib noodles were thick and had a firmer, chewier texture, which wasn't exactly my favorite, but they might be a hit if you prefer that style. Overall, it's a solid choice for a quick, satisfying meal with consistently good food and efficient service!

After performing a "surgical strike" pre-Christmas shopping trip at the Westfield Century City Shopping Mall, our stomachs growled for bowls of steaming hot Asian noodle soup and dumplings, AKA street food. I hesitated to suggest Din Tai Fung in the mall because we ate at that Taiwan-based restaurant in Las Vegas last week. However, as I pulled out my handy Yelp app to search for the nearest restaurant serving Taiwanese food outside the shopping mall, "dan modern Chinese" popped up as one of my bookmarks which appeared in Eater LA's November 2024 list of Best Chinese Restaurants in Los Angeles. Although dan modern Chinese is a local chain restaurant with several locations in Los Angeles, its Little Osaka location was the closest to us. In unison, we exclaimed, "Let's Go!"My brother-in-law jokingly asked me to turn on my "Parking 'Aumakua" as we drove down busy Sawtelle Boulevard when I serendipitously spotted an open metered parking space on Mississippi Avenue and guided my brother-in-law to make a quick left turn to the open space. We walked a few hundred feet around the corner restaurant on Sawtelle Boulevard, Tsujita LA, which was bustling and had a line out the door. We quickly found the dan modern Chinese eatery next door. After peeking into their glass-enclosed kitchen, we watched several cooks roll out house-made dumpling wrappers and cut fresh noodles before entering their bright woods and modern, furnished dining room. A cheery server escorted us to a table set with eating utensils and menus and brought us glasses of water before giving menu item descriptions. After noticing that dan modern Chinese features housemade dumpling wrappers and noodles, we understood the menu did not feature traditional Sichuan spicy dan dan mian 擔擔麪 with minced pork. However, this restaurant offers both noodle soups and dry-style soups. We entered the restaurant after peering into the glass-enclosed kitchen, where we watched the cooks rolling our housemade dumpling wrappers and cutting noodles. I watched one cook stir-frying food in a wok before entering the modern furnished dining room and bright wood. At the time, we were the only Asians in the restaurant for at least 15 minutes before the restaurant began filling with other hungry customers.I spotted my husband's favorite appetizer menu item, Popcorn Chicken ($11.25), which is extra crispy, marinated, and juicy boneless golden fried bite-sized chicken pieces. We usually see this popular Taiwanese street food served with fried basil leaves and seasoned with spicy chili. However, dan modern serves its menu item with a spicy aioli and garnishes of toasted garlic, scallions, and cilantro. Then, our eyes were averted to their Shanghainese soup dumplings or xiaolongbao 小籠包 and handmade dumplings or jiaozi 餃子 with preparation choices of steamed (zhēngjiǎo), pan-fried (jiānjiǎo), or boiled (shuǐjiǎo and served in pool of chili oil). We ordered the pork and shrimp filled dumplings prepared by pan-frying, also known as pot stickers, and boiled served with chili oil.Of course, because we also came here for noodles, we ordered the short rib dan mein made with Shanghainese thick housemade wheat flour noodles or cumian 粗麵 which are similar to Japanese udon. The thick garlicky sweet soy sauce-based sauce coated the noodles and there were plentiful amounts of shiitake mushrooms, snow pea leaves. The beef short rib meat was fork-tender and also generously portioned in this noodle dish.We completed our meal with a bowl of beef oxtail noodle soup. The beef was melt-in-your mouth tender and its dark thin broth had essences of star anise or five-spice powder. The soup noodles were thinner and almost spaghetti-like. The bowl size was deceiving because we thought we wouldn't have enough to share among the three of us but we were wrong! We also enjoyed the tender-cooked vegetable garnishes and slightly spicy chopped preserved vegetable that was served on the side. Our only knock against this dish was we felt the soup could have been served more heat hot. $17.25We'd gladly return to dan modern Chinese for their chewy noodles and medium textured dumpling wrappers. The Shanghainese, Taiwanese, and Cantonese flavors and textures were authentic but we did detect slight Westernized and other Asian twists

Came here for date night. It's definitely a great ambiance for a date or an intimate catch up with friends. The dishes are very similar to DTF but marginally cheaper and so delicious. They took our order and the food was served very quickly. Where the restaurant fell off was they really really really lagged on getting us the bill (15+ min) where our table and the one next to us were just waiting to pay. At the same time, there was only one server to 10 tables so patience is key however management might consider stepping in to support staff to take care of checks if necessary.

I saw a movie at 3rd St. Promenade with some friends, and afterwards, we decided to get some Chinese food. We ended up choosing this spot to see what all the fuss was about. From the get-go, we noticed the menu is heavily skewed towards vegetarian options, with only a few meat dishes scattered about. I decided to try the chicken dan mein, which is their version of chicken chow mein, albeit with noodles that looked like they might be auditioning for a role in a thick pasta commercial.When the food arrived, it was the culinary equivalent of a 'meh' emoji. The chicken dan mein was fine--if by "fine" you mean it was as memorable as a random Tuesday. The noodles were indeed thicker, which I suppose could be a plus if you're into that sort of thing, but the flavor was about as exciting as a conference call.The service was also on the 'blah' side of average. Our server was around, and they did the job, but it felt like their heart wasn't entirely in it. Not that I blame them; it's tough to be enthusiastic about food that doesn't quite hit the mark.The ambiance? It was what you'd expect from a standard LA eatery--polished but lacking any real personality. It was as though someone took all the typical LA restaurant clichés, rolled them into one, and called it a day. Nothing about it made me think, "Wow, I want to come back here just to soak up this atmosphere."Now, let's talk parking. Or rather, let's talk about the elusive quest for parking. Since the restaurant is on a street with zero available parking spots, finding a place to leave your car felt like competing in an Olympic sport. We had to circle around and settle for a spot several blocks away, keeping a hawk-like eye on the street signs to avoid the dreaded parking ticket.All things considered, this place didn't offer anything remarkable enough to make me want to return. It was like a forgettable first date--fine in theory but lacking the spark to make it memorable.

The food was delicious! Service was very quick and ambiance was nice. We ordered the 3 cup chicken, crab fried rice, soup dumpling, and chicken and shishito peppers. The food came out within 10 minutes! Our family was visiting LA and was craving Chinese food and it really hit the spot. The only thing I noticed was that the portion sizes are small for the price however I think the overall quality of the food was great.

If you just want a spot for a quick get together bite or if you like pricey small portioned American Chinese fusion in a nice clean restaurant then this spot's for you! If you're a foodie looking for food that "hits the spot" this isn't it. Most of the food was very average and small portioned. I'm shocked they even butchered/Americanized beef rolls. Dont get me wrong they're still tasty but it doesn't hit the spot and doesn't taste as similar as real beef rolls or even northern cafe's beef rolls.Here's what we liked and would order again from best to least:* short rib Dan mien large - yummy * fried rice - yummy addicting to eat but at the end of the day it's just fried rice * beef roll - alright wouldn't really get again unless there's nothing else on the menu to get * spicy ox tail soup - bad would not get again. The soup was tasty the noodles were bad and the soup didn't stick on the noodles * fried tofu - so bad would not get again* dumpling - so bad would not get again* 3 cup chicken - SO SO bad would not try again

First stop right when I landed in LA. Was craving some xiao long bao and I wanted to try something besides Din Tai Fung. In a little corner, located at an outdoor shopping center, this restaurant is very cute with lots of windows, you can't miss it.Ordered the short rib noodles which were so yummy but a little too greasy for my liking. One order of the 3 pieces chicken xiao long bao and 3 pieces of the pork and shrimp xiao long bao. Both were delicious and soupy but I liked the pork and shrimp a little more since it was more flavorful. Service was great. The server was very attentive and explained what's popular and how big/small the portions are.

Food was great and our server Zander was so attentive and kind. He made our experience so much fun :)

We've been coming here for the past three years and have never been serviced so well. Our server, Zander, instantly approached us with a smile on his face, making us feel so welcome. The food was exceptional, as always, and we will be happily coming back next week, hoping to see him again.