If you’ve been looking for real-deal Sichuan face-melt, the long beloved Taste of Sichuan in Beaverton is the key spot, pulling spice-seeking Portlanders out to the suburb for years. With a ‘Wild Side’ menu stocked with straight-from-Sichuan dishes and tables outfitted with massive lazy susans, this is a perfect choice for big groups. Best picks: steamed pork belly with Sichuan pickles, Swimming Fire Fish, and sliced pork kidneys in tangy broth.

The hip, go-to spot for those in the Alphabet District, Kung Pow is the follow-up to the Hollywood neighborhood's Shandong. It serves Shandong's hand-cut noodles and shandong beef, as well as other chile-spiked plates, like fish balls, lamb bao bing, and wontons in Szechuan chile oil. Find a solid set of vegetarian options too.

For carefully crafted Sichuan-style dishes in a sports-bar-like atmosphere, Duck House delivers, with football on the mounted tvs and lipstick-red chile oil on the dumplings. No visit is complete without wontons in chile oil and dan dan noodles, but try to score one of the scarce Peking-style roast ducks — they sell out fast.

Even if you show up the second it opens, the tables at Hot Pot City’s bar will somehow already be filled — presumably with regulars who are allowed to come in before the rest of the population. Get there early to score a table, and even though it’s all-you-can-eat, don’t take more than you can handle: the restaurant will charge you for what you waste. Grab a bowl and go through the line cafeteria-style and simmer at your table.

This longtime neighborhood spot in John’s Landing delivers a five-plus-page menu filled with Sichuan and Cantonese dishes. The decor is more reminiscent of a French bistro, until you spot the large tanks of live seafood. Start with the dumplings in chile oil, hand-shaven noodles, cumin lamb, and dried-cooked string beans.

It’s always a delight to watch chef-owner Xuemei Simard working away on her hand-pulled noodles inside the cart she owns with her husband, Duane, but it’s far more satisfying to eat them, swirling in an invigorating Sichuan beef broth fragrant with five spice. Even better: Order a bowl alongside one of the restaurant’s massive jianbing, with an extra touch of andouille sausage, and eat them both on the cart’s attached bar.

Coming from former Aviary chef Jasper Shen, this Williams counter-service spot is named for its signature dish — xiao long bao, aka steamed dumplings. Still, all of its 11-plate menu is pure Chinese comfort food. The ambience mixes Portland industrial with playful Chinese style, with vintage lanterns and animals from the Chinese zodiac stenciled on the walls.

Inspired by the owner's late-night Beijing food crawls, Danwei Canting offers a variety of bar snacks, jiaozi (dumplings), and Beijing-style burgers, as well as vegetable and meat plates, ranging in price from $3 to $12. Be sure to try the zhajuang mian, green beans with pork, crispy potatoes, and chingqing chicken in Danwei’s industrial modern space.

Don’t be daunted by the crowds; they’re warranted. Extra-fresh hand-pulled noodles are this bungalow restaurant’s specialty, churning them out for the throngs of diners who arrive just as the restaurant opens. Get in on the action with an order of slightly chewy noodles — either stir-fried, in broth, or with black bean sauce — served with your choice of meat or vegetables.

Chin’s packs some serious old school vibes, and it makes sense: The place has been open for more than 70 years. However, its recent revamp from new owners Wendy and Cindy Li is an impressive one. All of a sudden, the restaurant is slinging bowls of homey dishes from Northeastern China — hearty stews, including a stewed beef that will put Grandma’s recipe to shame.

For a while, everyone was arguing between Wong’s King and Ocean City over who has the best dim sum, while H.K. had been quietly killing it. Unfortunately, everyone has caught on, and the previously nonexistent lines now spill out the door at peak hours. That being said, it is still entirely possible to get a table if you go early enough. Go for dim sum; especially, fresh shrimp fun (wide rice noodle), chashu bao (baked pork buns) and jan dui (sesame balls with red bean paste).

Like many of the best spots these days, So Good Taste is tucked away behind a mini-mall on 82nd, where it serves the supreme Super Bowl A, a wonton and egg noodle soup with bok choy, roast duck, roast pork, AND charsiu-style barbecue pork in chicken broth, is a bucket-list behemoth, but the ginger & green onion-steamed chicken with dry noodle, served with bowls of broth for dipping, is no slouch.

In a pink-and-maroon, retro-style diner just off SE Powell Blvd., Kenny’s specializes in Cantonese dishes that are on par with San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C. Visit for the soul-warming congee, which has up to 30 different meat and/or vegetable combos, and make sure to try the wonton soup and Chinese doughnuts. Then, wash it all down with warm tea served in plastic cups.

A few blocks east of 82nd Ave, Master Kong sits rather unremarkably on Division Street, but it remains one of the best new additions to Portland’s Chinese food scene. The house-made jianbing is a revelation, steaming hot with wontons, plum sauce, scrambled egg, and scallions for just $6.50; other hits include a soothing congee, its fragrant ginger grounded with salt pork, and an achingly pure wonton soup. Beware of the restaurant family’s children running around the dining room, and sit back with some tea while you wait for your next favorite meal.

Pure Spice’s menu is eclectic, but its Cantonese dishes are the stars of the show. Dim sum, made to-order as opposed to yanked off lumbering carts, is fresh well into the afternoon, and Peking duck with steamed bao buns, scallion-pork pancake (don’t be fooled: it’s really a crispy dumpling), and the spicy garlic-eggplant clay pot continue to stun.

Those still grieving the loss of Wei Wei will find solace in the house-made sausages of EC Kitchen, a cheery cafe in deep Southeast with made-to-order bubble waffles on the weekends and Taiwanese beef noodle soup. While the menu is diverse, EC is essential for its sausages, which are not only made in-house, but also use house-distilled rice wine.