Lunch at La Chinesca today, a Mexican-Chinese fusion restaurant north of the convention center. Lunch veers more towards the Mexican side; all of us ordered some variation on birria tacos and everyone went away very happy. Not a place to get huge gobs of food for cheap, but it's good. Ambiance is extremely unique; try to reserve a spot on the patio. Great place to hang out with old friends for a couple of hours.

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The Loews breakfast buffet is $32 but if you ask for a takeout box, you can get enough for every meal of the day. I recommend the avocado toast.

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Bottom line:

If you order from DanDan, get the DanDan Noodles or Dry Pepper (Chongqing Chicken).

If you order from Emei, the family-style tofu and the kung pao chicken are both good. (the Dan Dan noodles, interestingly, are not)

If you order from Yi Pin, do *not* order the Kung Pao Chicken. Chongqing Chicken / Dry Pepper Chicken is a better idea. Dan Dan Noodle is also good.

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Ordered takeout from Yi Pin tonight. Dan Dan noodle was very good, but Kung Pao was unacceptable. I kind of want to give this restaurant an incomplete; I should known it was a gloppy Americanized mess from the description. If I had ordered the Chongqing Spicy Chicken I probably would have liked this more.

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Ordered takeout from Emei in Chinatown tonight with @john_zinda.

I got the kung pao chicken, John got the family-style tofu. They were very good. We saw Yong Cai while we were there; he said his food was also excellent. Spice level is much closer to what I expected from Sichuan food; what I got was a "1", moderate-to-high heat and numbs the mouth a bit. A "3" is only for the brave. Definitely recommend.

One more sichuan restaurant left to try here...

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@jonathanhorowi1 My #ASA2023 restaurant recommendation is Charlie is a Sinner. Inventive vegan, excellent cocktails/mocktails. Much cooler vibe than many would expect from a vegan place (or a place you’d usually find me). #ASARestaurantReviews

I ordered Dan Dan Noodles from the restaurant called "DanDan" near the convention center in Philly.

Just from googling around, I am pretty sure they are nothing like "actual" DanDan noodles since it has peanut butter in it, but they're still very good. They have a good kick to them, not too much. Won't be spicy enough if you like ordering authentic sichuan cuisine and exploding your brain, but it's the right level of hot for me.

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