365 Places to Eat

If I haven’t been to Mao’s Kitchen for a while, I crave it. Luckily, it’s so cheap that my addiction is easy to feed. I hesitate to call Chinese food healthy, but Mao’s does give the option to order most dishes vegan, vegetarian, or carnivore (shrimp/chicken/beef). I have been to Mao’s enough that I have sampled the entire menu and there are only one or two dishes that I wouldn’t rave about.

If two of you are dining start with a bowl of soup. I prefer the Hot and Sour Soup which varies in spiciness depending on the day. My partner in Mao’s dependency prefers the Peace Not War Wonton Soup which comes absolutely packed with goodies, including mushrooms, shrimp, chicken, zucchini, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, carrots & chicken wonton dumplings in a chicken or vegan broth. For the main dishes, especially the first time you go to Mao’s, sample the Orange Ginger Chicken (or beef), “lightly batter-fried slices of beef or chicken served in our renowned sauce of fresh oranges, fresh ginger, dried tangerine peel, green onions & Sichuan peppers, garnished with blanched broccoli” and order a side of Long Life Beans, which are succulent green beans braised with a black bean sauce.

If you are dining with three people, certainly add an appetizer and another entree. The Bamboo Steamer Dumplings are great for sharing and come with a delightfully tangy dipping sauce. If steamed dumplings aren’t your thing, the People’s Potstickers are a great alternative. Odds are that one of the three of you is into noodles. My favorite dish is the Bok Choy Over Chow Fun: “Wide rice-flour noodles, bok choy, bean sprouts, onion, tomato, green onion, shredded carrot & choice of protein - most popular street food in Canton Province.”

Don’t limit yourself to a party of three at Mao’s though, there are tables long enough to accommodate 10 or more (although your wait will increase, obviously). My absolute favorite dish at Mao’s is the Sichuan Eggplant, and while not everyone enjoys eggplant, most people I have introduced this dish to say the same thing. “I don’t normally like eggplant, but that is really good”.

As if the food wasn’t enough of a reason to go to Mao’s their drink policy is unbeatable. Basically, the rules are that there are no rules. You can bring in whatever you want; wine, beer, a group of Russians were sipping vodka next to me one time. There is no corkage fee and the servers have wine openers on hand.

Speaking of service, there was a time when we went to Mao’s specifically to be ignored. It was comical how long it took to get a server’s attention and dishes would come out at random times, rarely within five minutes of each other. That seems to have changed though. The last year or so has seen a marked improvement, so much so that I even commented to the owner as we were leaving that we had some great service.

Other reviews of Mao’s Kitchen:

• Eco-Vegan Gal
• Yo Venice
• Ann Merry’s Blog

Mao’s Kitchen
1512 PACIFIC AV
VENICE, CA 90291
310.581.8305
(Open until 3am)