Red Chilli House, 9795 Base Line Road (at Archibald), Rancho Cucamonga
The Inland Valley has a lot of Chinese restaurants but only a handful that serve what might be called modern, authentic Chinese cuisine, a la the San Gabriel Valley. The short list is made up of Peking Deli and Good Time Cafe, both in Chino Hills, Foothill Bistro in Rancho Cucamonga and a recent addition, Red Chilli House, also in Rancho Cucamonga.
Red Chilli opened in June 2011 near the 99 Ranch Market. Other than kung pao shrimp and chicken in spicy garlic sauce, everything on the menu was unfamiliar. There’s no chow mein or orange chicken or cream cheese wontons. They don’t bring a basket of chow mein noodles to your table with a plate of ketchup and spicy mustard. Instead they have dishes like boiled pork intestines in chili sauce and stir-fried kidney with pickled chili. Yum!
Just kidding. Well, for all I know, those are delish. But don’t be put off: They also have many non-frightening dishes. (The menu has 112 items.)
A friend well-versed in Chinese cuisine ordered for us: a plate of cold appetizers (seaweed, cucumber, beef with Szechuan peppercorns; price forgotten; pictured above right), something called crispy rice crust dishes with pork ($10, middle right) and Dan Dan noodles ($6, below right).
The noodles came in a bowl with a peanut-sesame sauce. The pork dish had vegetables and crispy rice. I liked both, as well as the appetizer, although the edge goes to the noodles.
Service was low-key but helpful; they refilled our water glasses regularly and answered questions. The dining room was pleasant if utilitarian. There’s a boba shop a few doors down and an Asian market in the same center.
I meant to write this visit up weeks ago but delayed; I was considering writing a tie-in column about the place, or the whole shopping center, but that fell by the wayside. So, at last, here’s the Restaurant of the Week version. For what it’s worth, people on Yelp like the place.
If you want sweet and sour something, don’t go here. As my friend said mockingly: “Chinese food is supposed to be slivers of white meat deep-fried in a sugary glaze!” If you want something that’s not that, try Red Chilli House.
