ROC

Restaurant veteran James Kim spent years dreaming of opening a dumpling shop on Sawtelle. Once the doors opened at ROC in October 2012, word of mouth quickly spread about the authentic Chinese xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and many Angelenos, including Barbra Streisand, became repeat visitors. The dumplings come in Dungeness crab, pork, shrimp, chicken, and fish versions, but save room for excellent sides like scallion pancakes and garlic string beans.