One of the main reasons I was really excited about our road trip to the SGV, was our reservations at Bistro Na's. I'd read about the opening of Bistro Na's; supposedly serving "Imperial Court Cuisine", in places like Food Talk Central and various blog posts over the last two years. I'd had a taste of this style of cuisine during a our final meal in Beijing. And since this restaurant was an extension of Beijing's Najia Xiaoguan (那家小馆), I was quite excited.
And overall, even though the menu wasn't exactly totally Chinese Imperial Cuisine; at least in the way I've read about it, there was an interesting balance of flavors and textures with mostly excellent cooking technique. Also, one of the key elements of Jing Cuisine was the ability to blend the techniques of the Han, Manchu, Hui, and other ethnic groups as well characteristics of all other various schools, including the "Four Major Cuisines", the "Eight Great Cuisines", and all things in between.
Service was the best I've had in a Chinese eating establishment in years. It was gracious and efficient, and our main Server was amazingly warm and friendly, while being a total professional. Man, Ed from Yuma would have loved this place.
The location; right off Rosemead Boulevard was an area I hadn't been to in maybe 20 years! Man, has it changed. The last time we were in the area, at Xiang Yuan Gourmet, we came up Temple City Boulevard instead.
The parking lot for this strip mall is terrible, we ended up parking on the street across the way.
The interior is quite a sight to see….with warrens of rooms and booths. The décor is quite what I'd call traditional in concept. The menu; with every dish photographed is thick as a college textbook.
And of course, dishes are "social media" ready….though I'd never seen anyone take 12 photos of a single black cod dish until this day…..
The first dish up was the signature "Crispy Shrimp".
Man, this really set the stage for the meal. The texture of the shells, delicately thin and crisp, in contrast to the perfectly cooked flesh, plump and tender, was amazing. The sauce had some sweetness, but there was just the lightest touch of spice to move things along. The Missus preferred eating Hers separate, meat from shells, while I preferred mine together. If you have these, please eat those shells. Don't be like the "Black Cod Girls" and leave those behind. Excellent dish.
My favorite dish of the night would seem to be the most humble; the Chili Tofu Skin; yep bean curd skin.
The cilantro in this was really amazing…I know, that sounds weird, but it had a nice slight anise, that went along with almost a minty-celery flavor. The bean curd skin was so very crisp, yet light, the dressing, which had both a touch of cumin and what seemed to be a bit of Sichuan peppercorn, along with just the lightest touch of sesame oil just brought things together so well. It was so refreshing.
The one clunker for the meal was the Jellied Pig's Feet.
The texture was excellent, but the flavors seemed a bit off. It just didn't have enough porkiness for us. This was rather mundane.
What wasn't mundane was the "Secret Tofu". This was basically an steamed egg-tofu, laid on a bok choy leaf that's sliced, dusted, and fried.
Crisp and light, with a nice, pleasant egg flavor. The bok choy layer added a nice contrast in texture and a mild bitterness to the dish. The sauce added a mild sweetness and savory tones to the dish.
The Dry Braised Sea Bass was cooked perfectly; it was buttery and moist in texture. Our really nice Server kept warning us about how spicy it was….but it wasn't very spicy at all.
The sauce was fairly mild and straight forward, the topping which included mushrooms, bamboo shoots, scallions, and pork was nice as it added some contrast. The Missus enjoyed it, but I guess I wanted something with a bit more oomph? Though I've got to say, this tasted better then next day.
For dessert; there's a combination snack platter that has all those treats the Missus loved when going to school in Beijing. And even though it was a ton of stuff and $36, I told Her to order it. However, She decided just to go with this…..
It's "Milky Cheese"; basically milk pudding with cheese in it in the shape of a fish. The Missus enjoyed it; I'm not a big fan of milk pudding and the cheese aftertaste wasn't my favorite thing in the world….this coming from a cheese lover. 
The Missus really loved this meal. I expected it to be much more expensive than it was….we regularly spend more at El Jardin. Of course we didn't order any of the really meat heavy items on the menu.
We'll definitely be back. Muslim style dishes are quite common in Jing Cai; and we saw several on the menu we'd like to try.
If you do decide to check out Bistro Na's; at least on the weekend, make reservations. There was a huge line of waitlisted folks outside when we left.
Bistro Na's
9055 Las Tunas Drive
Temple City, CA 91780
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 230pn, 5pm – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 230pm, 5pm – 930pm
