Chinese Club (CLOSED)

Long gone are the days when the disparate regions of Chinese cuisine were all lumped into one monolithic category. Hyperfocused regional cooking is now at the forefront, from the fiery flavors of northern Xi’an to the coastal seafood of Zhejiang and now lesser-known Hakkanese and Kolkata-Chinese fare, offering a glimpse into the Chinese diaspora as far as Darjeeling, India. A collaboration between husband-wife team Salil Mehta (Laut) and Stacey Lo, who grew up in a mixed Hakka-Indian household, this 60-seat restaurant reboots the space formerly home to the couple’s Malaysian critical darling Pasar Malam. Rejiggered with glowing red-glass lanterns, a golden lucky piggy bank and posters of cheeky Chinese puns, the eatery takes its name from the Darjeeling Chinese Club, a cultural refuge for Chinese immigrants living in India of which Lo’s grandfather was a founder. Dishes aptly draw from both cultures, such as tandoori chicken tossed kung pao style, egg noodles slicked with Calcutta chili garlic, and Indian-style fritters nestling Manchurian vegetables in a soy-based sauce.