Located in the city of Monrovia on 925 W Duarte Rd, Lin’s Club is a small restaurant specializing in tasty and spicy Sichuan style dishes that pack a punch. It has a large menu that covers all sorts of dishes; from sour fish soup to fatty duck, there is definitely something for everyone.  

Specific Foods & Taste:

Lin’s Club offers Sichuan cuisine dishes of all kinds, but their mapo tofu and beef braised soup truly hit any savory spot. With warm, steamy broth surrounded by tender beef and chewy noodles, every bite is a delight. The meat is tender and soft, with its fat melting into your mouth followed by the signature Sichuan numbing spice.   

Furthermore, their Spicy Pork Intestine Pot was extremely delicious. While pork intestine sounds daunting, pork intestine has actually been eaten by Chinese people since 6,000 BC. The dish was  hot, crispy, and fatty at the same time, again drizzled in spicy chili oil. It was served with a multitude of vegetables, ranging from broccoli, carrots, and thinly sliced potatoes, all covered in a generous amount of chili oil. This dish went great with a steaming bowl of rice, as the spicy food combined with the freshly steamed rice creates a delicious texture. (It also keeps your mouth from dying, but that could just be my lack of spice tolerance.)

Another dish that I thoroughly enjoyed was the Tea Smoked Duck. It was one of the few non-spicy dishes on the menu, and for someone whose spice tolerance is at the level of black pepper, it was a godsend. The duck skin was fatty and tender, while the meat wasn’t super chewy. It does, however, have a gamey taste. The restaurant didn’t skimp out on the duck either, as the whole plate was filled with it. However, if you are going to order this dish, do note it’s one of the few dishes at Lin’s Club that can only be paid with cash. 

Price/menu:

The food at Lin’s Club’s was quite affordable given the state of today’s economy. Its dishes ranged from $10 – $25, due to there only being one server in the restaurant, the owner herself. Not to mention foods such as the Tea Smoked Duck are also kept cheap by having customers paying with cash instead of credit card, further lowering the cost for the consumer. However, don’t think these methods lower the quality of the food, as the dishes all still taste spectacular. As mentioned before, the menu is quite large, from cold dishes such as pig ear with tofu, to a hot steamy mapo tofu.  While the large menu may seem overwhelming at first, I think the wide range of options make this restaurant even more entertaining. Afterall, this means that one could get something different every time they visited. 

Decor:

The interior was small, but welcoming, with several tables ranging from small to large that are located in the front of the restaurant. Meanwhile a pair of salon style doors separate the kitchen from the front of the establishment. While there was only one other group at the time of my visit, it was clear by the amount of takeout orders that the restaurant was quite popular. The front is manned by the owner, who zooms around with no problem at all. 

Conclusion: worth the inability to feel my mouth afterwards.

The food at Lin’s Club was delicious, as it creates mouthwatering dishes that taste amazing. The spice level isn’t detrimental either: it isn’t looking to be on Hot Ones, and instead the spice level  was at mouth numbing yet comforting Sichuan spice. The prices are affordable and portion sizes are quite large, just have cash on hand if you’re tempted to try some of their dishes. I would definitely go again, and recommend you to give this restaurant a try too.