Ng described the restaurant’s mission on the Jade Rabbit website as an effort to honor Chinese American immigrants’ “creativity, perseverance, and entrepreneurship”
Chef Bryant Ng, formerly of the acclaimed but now-closed Cassia, has opened Jade Rabbit, a fast-casual Chinese American restaurant created with his wife and partner, Kim Luu-Ng, as a tribute to their family’s Los Angeles dining legacy.
According to LA Eater, the restaurant — located near a major hospital — serves a menu inspired by Ng’s parents’ and grandparents’ restaurants from decades past, blending nostalgic comfort food with fresh, modern flavors. The concept loosely models itself after chains like Panda Express but elevates the approach with higher-quality ingredients and thoughtful recipes.
The counter-service restaurant allows diners to build their own bowls starting at $12.90, choosing two bases, two vegetables, and one main dish. Options include white or brown rice, chow mein, cold noodles, and a variety of vegetables such as chopped kale salad, pickled Chinese cabbage, and spicy Chinese broccoli.
Jade Rabbit’s standout entrees include Orange Mango Chicken — a tropical twist on the classic orange chicken inspired by Ng’s grandparents’ 1950s Culver City restaurant, Bali Hai — and the Spicy Sichuan Chicken, coated in Chongqing-style dry chili seasoning. Other mains range from Garlic Chili Shrimp and Beef & Broccoli (Ng’s homage to Peruvian-Chinese lomo saltado) to a Chickpea Curry, adapted from a popular Cassia recipe.
For dessert, diners can opt for an Almond Roca Chocolate Chip Cookie, a nostalgic nod to the candies Ng’s grandparents always kept at home.
Ng described the restaurant’s mission on the Jade Rabbit website as an effort to honor Chinese American immigrants’ “creativity, perseverance, and entrepreneurship” while evolving the cuisine “to be healthy, quick, delicious, and thoughtfully prepared.”
LA Eater praised Jade Rabbit as a “reasonably priced gem” offering “wholesome, flavorful, and frankly more interesting” fare than larger fast-casual chains.
Jade Rabbit also offers family-style meals for groups, along with house-made drinks such as Hong Kong milk tea and Canto lemon iced tea.
