RESTAURANTS IN the San Gabriel Valley are far from monolithic, but Sichuan cuisine has plainly dominated the region’s culinary narrative in the last decade. In the years since Chengdu Taste taught us that the cooking traditions of the Sichuan province are about far more than Scoville meltdowns and tingling ma la, we can debate the nuances of spicy cumin lamb and dan dan noodles from various menus. We can name our favorite hot pot chain. (My hand is raised for Xiao Long Kan.) When the question arises of where to start, or which menu most eloquently conveys the range in heat and flavor of the cuisine, my answer is Sichuan Impression.

Lynn Liu and Kelly Xiao, both natives of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, opened their first restaurant in Alhambra in 2014. Start with a round of cold dishes — including pickled cucumbers, bamboo shoots and the famous fuqi feipian, or “couple’s dish,” with sliced beef shank and tripe in a broth prominently scented with ginger and star anise — followed by the boiled fish with rattan pepper, which is at once subtle and potent, and the wobbling hill of pork steamed with rice flour and pumpkin.

• 1900 W. Valley Blvd., Alhambra, (626) 283-4622; 11057 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 444-7171; 13816 Red Hill Ave., Tustin, (714) 505-9070; sichuanimpressions.com