The San Gabriel Valley has become a hotbed for Sichuan cuisine, and now offerings have diversified to the point that menus can feel pretty far from similar. Legendary Restaurant is a Sichuan restaurant located next to Ambassador Inn in Alhambra, a stone’s throw from where my wife was born. The space features stone and mirror walls, a bamboo mural, and system of elaborate red and yellow lanterns. The kitchen’s probably most famous for garlicky pork hanging on a clothesline with thin-shaved cucumber, but I gravitated towards boiled fish instead.

Boiled Fish With Pickled Cabbage and Chile costs $29.95 for a whole bass butchered into bony chunks, or $15.95 for longley fillets. If you don’t know longley, the fish also goes by shortjaw lizardfish. My choice involved juicy chunks of bass swimming in a cloudy yellow broth with minimal ma la, tangy cabbage leaves, dried chilies, pungent sliced garlic, and cilantro. $29.95 qualifies as a big ticket dish at Legendary, but the sheer volume of fish and flavor was worthwhile.