Peking Tavern’s menu lacks variety, depth
Located within Downtown Los Angeles’ historic corridor in the basement of an old bank, Peking Tavern, labeled a Chinese fusion gastropub, offers more pub than gastronomy. With a whole side of the bar dedicated to quality cold craft brews — totaling 18 taps — Peking Tavern also boasts a large selection of cocktails, including its in-house beverage, the BaiJu Cocktail. In terms of fare, Peking is not a chef-driven restaurant but has a menu with nine kinds of Chinese comfort food and Beijing street food.
Think of Peking as a Chinese tapas bar — a restaurant that serves an assortment of small dishes meant for sharing at a table with drinks and friends — without as many food options.
Gastropubs typically serve both high-end beer and high quality food. In that regard, Peking Tavern isn’t quite a gastropub. Peking can check the alcohol off of their list but needs some help in the food department. Appealing to an artsy crowd in its late 20s and mid-30s, Peking offers appetizer-sized dishes at a reasonable price, making its menu options equal or lesser to those of Chinese takeout, so it’s edible, just not incredibly delicious. Though Peking’s kitchen might be filled with Chinese cooks and pastry makers, the plates Peking has to offer lack traditional Chinese flavoring and presentation.
Original options such as their pumpkin shrimp dumplings might catch the eye of customers looking for something seasonal, but there is not anything special about a warm pumpkin and shrimp filling if there is not any sort of spice included.
Additionally on its menu, Peking offers a beef roll. The dish, which looked like a Chinese version of a burrito with a crispy wrapper of fried dough and tender beef inside, comes with a side rack of multiple Asian dipping sauces, such as hoisin and Sriracha. Despite the presence of these sauces, the overall flavor of the dish comes off as generic and bland.
The beef potstickers provide a gluten-free option and the three-salad combo concludes the vegetarian options for the menu.
According to an article by online food blog Eater LA, Peking has run out of food before 9 p.m. on a few occasions. Because of a $5 special that they had offered upon opening, and because of their wild hours, they are sure to gain publicity and thirsty customers into the wee hours of the night.
Aesthetically speaking, Peking is making the right decisions. Though the entrance consists of a nondescript door with the restaurant name on regular-sized office paper, Peking captures their patrons’ attention with bright red Chinese lanterns that decorate the glass stairwell leading down to the basement, where the Tavern is located. Upon entering through the archway that leads to the industrial and modern gastropub, a grand chalkboard covers the wall listing the beverages and fare available — recently, its special was hand-pulled noodles, but because there are not any explanations for the menu items, customers that might be new to Chinese food will have a hard time knowing what to expect.
On top of that, Peking lacks a solid clientele. Sure, its sole purpose for being in its location is to spice up the nightlife Downtown and offer a classy alternative to the usual bars in the surrounding areas. A nondescript door and a poor website that seems to have more warnings than menu options is not something that people will recognize and feel willing to check out, so in order to bring attention to themselves, some serious changes must be made. Granted, Peking Tavern has only been open for a week and a half, so they might have a little bit of time to fix their mistakes.
Peking Tavern is not an eatery meant for families or people under the legal drinking age, but under the circumstances, Peking is a great place to meet friends and colleagues for an after-work drink and a snack.
Peking has everything it needs to become a high-quality Chinese sports bar. Co-owners Andrew Chiu and Andrew Wong not only created a comfortable, inviting space in order for people to enjoy, but together they share a passion for their cultures and bring a taste of their home in China to Los Angeles. In order to get more diners in the door, however, they must up the ante on portion sizes and create a larger menu assortment.
Peking Tavern will most likely be a popular addition to Downtown nightlife, but it will not be because of the food. Its variety of brews and cocktails will captivate any alcohol connoisseur, and Peking’s dining environment is fun and equipped with widescreen TVs to catch sporting events, including USC football. Taking the football team’s recent performance into consideration, Peking Tavern fits the bill: some snacks and lots of TVs for watching the game and plenty of beverage options to help Trojan fans kick back and reminisce about better times.
Follow Alegra on Twitter @LegsLeggyLegger
This article saddens me because Peking Tavern, which serves up fantastic food and drinks in a terrific space in DTLA, is getting the short end of the stick in the form of unpolished journalism.
The naive writer should have considered revising the statement that read that the beef roll “looked like a Chinese version of a burrito.”
The writer also stated that, “because of their wild hours, they are sure to gain publicity and thirsty customers into the wee hours of the night.” Really? I’m pretty sure they are closed and not serving by 2am…
Also, my friends and I, in addition to many other members of the local downtown community make up a significant part of Peking Tavern’s clientele. We love the food, ambience, and service there. To say that Peking Tavern “lacks a solid clientele” is an insult, as we are one hell of a solid bunch.
I live near dtown LA and I’ve been to Peking Tavern quite a few times in the last two weeks. I’ve been sharing with friends and family this great local find. So far, each week they have been rolling out new drinks on their cocktail menu and new dishes on their menu. I’m not sure exactly what the author of this article has tried on their drink or food menu to give a seemingly unformed opinion. I had a great experience each time. I think Peking Tavern has provided a very authentic Bejing street food experience with a modern twist.
They service at Peking Tavern was thoughtful and very good. I brought a girl friend on one of my visits who has soy allergies. I inquired and was quickly assured that there wasn’t anything on the menu that night that used any soy products. Many of my guests whom I brought aren’t familiar with Bejing street food but many of the menu items are very self explanatory and if any customer have questions, I’m sure the staff will find the answer.
So far I have tried most of all their menu items and can’t wait to go back for more, also to see what’s new. If anyone is curious, try the gluten-free dumplings are amazing!! Can’t get enough. I really like the fact that last week Peking Tavern had a new item on their menu, the Pumpkin & Shrimp Dumpling bringing a fall vegetable onto their menu.
I hope the author of the article does go back after their soft opening to get more of a full experience and talk to the guys of Peking Tavern to have a more complete view of their concept.
If what “Peking Tavern” says is true, it’s quite alarming that the writer would make no effort to fact-check or reach out to the owners of this (or any) establishment.
I had the pleasure of dining at Peking Tavern recently. They are still a “work in progress” when it comes to decor (they are still in their soft-opening period, after all) –they are NOT a “work in progress” when it comes to creating tantalizing dishes to please your tastebuds. Their dumplings put all others to shame and their innovative cocktails (complete with tongue-in-cheek names) are tasty and strong. Love the friendly service and their attentive manner! Their menu screams innovation and attention to quality ingredients.
I could go on, but I’ve got a reservation to make. At Peking Tavern.
I live in San Francisco and often visit Downtown LA. A couple of weeks ago, I sampled the menu at Peking Tavern and I thought the food was fantastic! It’s true the menu doesn’t have a long list of options like sweet and sour pork, orange chicken, and six kinds of fried rice. But I don’t think that is their intent. It seems the author went to a different Peking Tavern, or maybe merely bench marking PT against Chinatown Express or Panda Express. I’d encourage you to try PT for yourself and I’d bet you a dumpling that you’ll like this place.
Thank you for checking out Peking Tavern! While we kindly respect your opinions, it disappoints us that no one from the Daily Trojan staff attempted to interview or fact-check with either of the owners of Peking Tavern (who are both USC alumni active in the USC Alumni Association) before writing this review. We are not a fusion restaurant nor a Chinese sports bar, and we would encourage any readers to come visit Peking Tavern to learn more about our commitment to high-quality, authentic Beijing street food as we are still in our our soft opening and rolling out new dishes on our menu each week. Thank you.
Is this author even 21 to give a valid review of a gastropub? This review surprises me because my friends and I really like the food at Peking Tavern.