This book left me laughing, crying, and hungry. It was a heart-warming and heart-breaking multi-generational novel that will make you think about your relationships with your parents, your colleagues, and the employees of the restaurants you frequent. It was also a unique look into an immigrant experience not always written about. A wonderful debut for Lillian Li

Published by Henry Holt and Co. on June 19, 2018

At the age of 40, Jimmy is one of the youngest workers at the Duck House, a D.C. restaurant that he and his brother Johnny inherited from their father. Jimmy is known to his staff as “the little leader.” The restaurant manager is Nan, whose plan to spend more time with her son Pat by hiring him a dishwasher has been a disaster. Johnny is teaching a class in Hong Kong, taking a break from the restaurant business, but events force Johnny’s premature return to D.C., where he must listen to his mother’s remonstrations about what a bad son he has been.

Based on a brief internship in a fancy restaurant, Jimmy yearns to prepare gourmet fusion dishes of his own creation, not his father’s Americanized Chinese dishes that are so popular with his customers. Jimmy plans to open a new restaurant with the help of a real estate agent (and new lover) named Janine, an idea that initially had the support of Jimmy’s Uncle Pang, for whom Jimmy used to deal drugs. When Jimmy learns just what kind of shady help Pang has planned, Jimmy has second thoughts. But Pang is not so easily put off, and he soon ignites family turmoil in his scheme to undermine Jimmy.

Number One Chinese Restaurant is very much a family novel; if characters are not related by blood, they have become part of the family by virtue of working for decades at the Duck House. As is common in family novels, marriages are troubled, siblings are at odds, and children are rebellious. Family members form and dissolve alliances, plot against each other, and come together when it counts — unless they don’t.

A good bit of the novel is also a love story involving elderly Duck House waiter Ah-Jack, whose wife has found a younger man, and Nan, whose husband lives in California, and who worries that her friendship with Ah-Jack might jeopardize her friendship with Ah-Jack’s wife. The Ah-Jack love triangle offers the novel’s best insights into how married life evolves over time, how love might endure even if a marriage doesn’t. Some insights are serious and others are not. This is Ah-Jack on the secret of a long marriage: “A strong marriage came when the wedded stopped trying to plumb their partner’s depths. Life became easier when one passed the years with an amiable stranger and not a mirror that reflected back all of one’s flaws.” I put that one in the pile of serious insights, but other readers might disagree.

Finally, as the title implies, Number One Chinese Restaurant is a restaurant novel, one that spends a bit of time in the kitchen, explaining how a well-oiled restaurant prepares meals efficiently and flawlessly, how waiters serve them without crashing into each other, and how owners and managers woo important customers. I don’t spend much time in the kitchen but I like to eat, and I’m a fan of restaurants and of restaurant novels. The nuts-and-bolts of operating a restaurant is a small but essential part of the story.

The combination of geriatric love story, family drama, and restaurant novel is a tough balance, but Lillian Li mixes the elements with light and dark humor, combining sweetness with sadness, love with backbiting, honesty with evil schemes. Li’s light touch makes Number One Chinese Restaurant a fun and easy read, but the story offers serious life lessons as memorable characters make difficult choices and uneasy compromises, confronting problems that are common to every family, whether or not they operate a restaurant.

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I really wanted to love this book - the blurb sung to me and immediately piqued my interest.

The opening scene felt like the reader had a go-pro and was whirling round a busy Chinese restaurant - it was fast paced and exciting. Unfortunately, I felt like as I continued reading there were more characters introduced and not much happening in terms of plot progression. I just wasn’t compelled to keep reading, There were attempts to keep the pace up, including pseudo-mafia Uncle Pang, but to me it fell flat. I liked the author’s writing so will give her next book a go. Ultimately this was a DNF for me.

I liked this book but don't think this would be a story that I would read again. I like the cover and I like the characters but don't like how none of the characters really understand each other.and I feel there is too much going on at once. I worked at a Chinese Restaurant for years and I still felt that it was lacking something. The book was likable enough and I do feel that some will enjoy this very much so they could learn how things work in different cultures and the different communication through the characters will be humorous at times and enjoyable. This may not be the title for me but I see a lot of potential in the story line and I am interested in checking out the author's other works.

Fascinating look at the family involved with a Chinese restaurant- both the Hans who own it and Nan and Jack who work there, along with the amigos (who are mentioned but don't really figure in the story.) Although it's ostensibly set in suburban DC (with the new restaurant in Georgetown), it could be set anywhere. At first things seem frantic, as Jimmy is struggling with his plan to close the Duck House and move to the new place and the characters are introduced. One fault with this is that you don't get a real sense of the back story with Pang and the Hans (or Nan and Jack) until late in the game. While somewhat it's somewhat uneven, I still enjoyed this very much. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An interesting new voice.

Nobody understands anyone else in this novel. That may be true for some people and some families, but I didn't find it fun to read about. There is no happy beginning, no happy middle, and absolutely no happy ending. I just felt sorry for everyone involved.

"They were all friends, if one defined friendship as the natural occurrence between people who, after colliding for decades, have finally eroded enough to fit together."

"Friendship is simply what happens when there's too much debt to be repaid."

Number One Chinese Restaurant follows a host of characters, mostly first-generation Chinese immigrants that together make up the Beijing Duck House, an outwardly friendly and dated restaurant in Maryland, US. After a disaster strikes the Duck House, the characters are forced to examine their relationship with their work or more importantly their relationships with each other. Though serious and occasionally dark, I found the book to be full of endearing absurdities, heartfelt moments and a bit of humor.

Number One Chinese Restaurant was at the top of my list of most anticipated releases of 2018, it checks a lot of my boxes. Multiple perspectives, check. Troubled family relationships, check. First generation immigrant characters, check. "Darkly funny", check. Perhaps because of my absurdly high expectations this wasn't a total hit for me. While reading it was easy to keep turning pages and I found myself totally engaged but as soon as I put it down I wasn't pulled to pick it back up. For the first half I just wasn't invested enough in the characters to feel the need to see their story through.

Some people might have a hard time with the characters being unlikeable but I think that that was one of the author's greatest strengths. Lillian Li's craft of individualistic and hyper-realistic characters is what made this book for me. I found each character to be strikingly "themselves" and their decisions and relationships with each other very believable. The characters alone were able to build an immersive reading experience (when the descriptions in the writing at times left something to be desired) and gave fascinating glance into the world of restaurant workers and owners, something I knew nearly nothing about. Through such strong characters I think the Author was able to explore some of the more nuanced themes found in first generation stories beautifully without it feeling forced or as though the characters are vehicles for the themes themselves. Ultimately, I thought that the characters were a superb example of immutability of a person or a personality and in doing so was able to well highlight the growth in the characters when it was there. By the end I was grateful for the epilogue to get a glimpse in to where Johnny, Nan and Ah-Jack are now and see just a little longer how they are doing.

This story could have taken place at any restaurant. Because of how the work ebbs and flows, all restaurants become little integrated families. This one also involves heredity, feelings of familial inferiority and responsibility, and how American born children of immigrants differ from their parents in many ways. The story was enjoyable but I never felt drawn in to the individual characters. Perhaps there were too many to feel like I got to know any of them very well. I will admit, however, that I did end up needing Chinese food while reading this book!

I could not get invested in this book. I just felt like it rambled and I could not become invested in the characters. I will not post any reviews on any sites.

I received this book as a advanced copy from NetGalley. I wish I could give a positive review to my first NetGalley read but unfortunately, this was a tedious book about despicable people having problems. This book is about the owner and staff of a small Chinese restaurant in Maryland. It jumps between perspectives of different characters involved, never leaving you quite sure who's head you are in. I found very few redeeming qualities in any of these characters. The point of this book was for all of them to discover that are not very good people and most of them did not even do that. The descriptions often left me nauseous, even though I generally have a thick stomach. It was hard to tell between characters, especially with 3 mains being named John, Jimmy, and Jack. I did make it to the end, but only because I felt I owed the publisher and NetGalley that much.

Thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and Lillian Li for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is the story of the Beijing Duck House - a family-owned and operated restaurant in Maryland - and the family and employees involved. There is lots of family drama - two brothers both fighting and helping each other out, mothers who don't always know the best thing to do for their children, debts to others, love interests, loyalty in many different fashions.

Chinese restaurants in particular are such family-driven establishments and it was interesting to delve more into the dynamics. However, while I typically love quirky family dramas this one never quite kept my interest as much as I hoped.

“’I’m just family!’ Jimmy shouted at his brother’s retreating back.
“’Exactly,’ came his answer, already muffled by the growing distance.”

Lillian Li’s debut novel , a tale of intra-family rivalry, intrigue, and torn loyalties is a barn burner; it captured my attention at the beginning, made me laugh out loud in the first chapter, and it never flagged. Many thanks go to Net Galley and Henry Holt Company, from whom I received a review copy in exchange for this honest review. Don’t let yourself miss this one. It will be available to the public Tuesday, June 19, 2018.

The book opens with bitter scheming on the part of Jimmy, one of two brothers that fall heir to the family restaurant after their father passes away. Jimmy has waited for the old man to die so that he could run the restaurant his own way. The Duck House serves greasy, cheap Chinese food, and he is sure he can do better. He craves elegance, a superior menu with superior ingredients. He wants renown, and he doesn’t want his brother Johnny to have one thing to do with it.

Johnny’s in China. Johnny runs the business end of the restaurant, and he takes care of the front of the house. He’ll be back to Maryland in a heartbeat, though, when the Duck House burns down.

Li does a masterful job of introducing a large cast of characters and developing several of them; although at the outset the story appears to be primarily about the brothers, the camera pans out and we meet a host of others involved in one way or another with the restaurant. There are the Honduran workers that are referred to by the Chinese restaurant owners and their children as ‘the amigos’, and we see the way they are dismissed by those higher up, even when it is they that pull Jimmy from a burning building. There’s a bittersweet love triangle involving Nan and Ah-Jack, who work in the restaurant, and Michelle, Ah-Jack’s estranged wife, but it’s handled deftly and with such swift pacing and sterling character development that it never becomes a soap opera. Meanwhile Nan’s unhappy teenage son, Pat, pulls at her loyalties, and she is torn between him and Ah-Jack in a way that has to look familiar to almost every mother that sees it in one way or another. But the most fascinating character by far, hidden in the recesses of her home, is the sons’ widowed mother, Feng Fui, who serves as a powerful reminder not to underestimate senior citizens.

Li is one of the most exciting, entertaining new voices in fiction since the Y2K, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next. Gan bei!

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is certainly different. Like many other reviewers have commented, it is a slow burn to get into and few of the characters are likable. However you do get caught up in the web they weave, and I eventually became motivated to see it through to the end, and found it in an interesting journey. Not your typical restaurant novel

"Number One Chinese Restaurant" tells the story of several Chinese-Americans who work at a Chinese restaurant in Maryland. The novel's beginning is much like walking into a bustling restaurant during peak hours. Characters pop up and retreat. The story whirls around in different direction. I had to read the first chapter twice to grasp who was who and what was happening. After the initial chapter, the story settles into several threads. First, there is the story of Jimmy Han, the younger son of the family that owns the restaurant. Jimmy is divorced, childless, and flailing in his personal and professional life. He longs to open an upscale restaurant in Washington, D.C. but struggles with the finances, leading to unexpected consequences. The other threads center on Nan, the restaurant's middle-aged manager. One thread centers on Nan's relationship with Ah-Jack, a waiter twenty years older than Nan, who Nan has secretly loved for decades. Another thread involves Nan's 17-year-old son, Pat. Nan is struggling to raise Pat alone after her husband left them to settle on the West Coast. Pat has taken teenage anger to an extreme, getting expelled from school for setting a fire.

While I enjoyed the characters (and the novel was a quick read), ultimately, I felt that the competing stories were too disjointed and did not allow the reader to truly understand the characters' motivations. For example, the reason for Nan's devotion to Ah-Jack is unclear. I think the novel would have been better served by a focus on fewer characters and storylines. That being said, the novel is not an unpleasant read; it's just not a story that I found captivating. But I will follow this debut author's career because I suspect that she has the talent to write something exceptional in the future.

I received a free advance copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's hard to finish a book when you don't like any of the characters and you can't 100% tell what their relationship is with one another even half way though the book. Had potential but didn't make it.

Summary:

Welcome to The Beijing Duck, good comfortable food served by good comfortable people. One man’s dream and legacy, another’s trap. One woman’s job for thirty years as she pines for the unattainable, one man’s escape and stage. Each staffer and family member has a secret, desire or pain that floats through them as they race through the fast paced restaurant life.

One night will bring down disaster, break alliances and form new ones. When the dust settles, who will be strong enough to stand and will their lives ever be the same?

My thoughts:

This was exactly the type of book I adore. You have a tight community of dysfunctional and interesting souls thrown together by a common goal- keeping their jobs/ restaurant going. Some of these staffers have watched the men that are now boss grow up. It’s an odd mix of teasing and respect, loyalty and disdain. I loved Nan, the hard working mother trying to figure out how to help the son that is spiraling out of control while having been in love with the married ah-Jack since her first restaurant job. Jack was an interesting character as well, the jokester and clown that is loyal to a point to both his wife Michelle and the friend he can’t admit he also loves. When Michelle becomes increasingly sick he returns at 70 to serving dishes trying to pay the bills, but missing the moments Michelle needs him for. Pat is also interesting and multifaceted. At first glance you see a seventeen year old thug, no respect for anyone. At the same time pieces of him yearn for both his mother who he doesn’t know how to reach and for the girl that he likes way too much.

Each character was well developed and intensely interesting, easy to grow close to and care about. The premise was also really interesting. I loved the ambition of one brother, the almost cloying loyalty of the other. I loved how each one saw something different in their brother than they saw in themselves. There’s a lot of feelings here. Love, loyalty, betrayal, ambition, pain and redemption all served with the specialty duck. Fast paced, sometimes more like a train wreck than a smooth drive, this is one book you won’t be able to put down. I adored it! Five stars all the way.
On the adult content scale, there’s language, sexual content, and substance abuse. I would say this is for older teens and adults. Let’s give it a six.

I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Henry Holt & Co. in exchange for an honest review. My thanks.

Sometimes classifying a book can become difficult as is the case with Lillian Li’s Number One Chinese Restaurant – at least beyond the ethnicity!
Humor shows up immediately in the first few lines, “The waiters were singing “Happy Birthday” in Chinese. All fifteen of them had crowded around the party table, clapping their hands. Not a single one could find the tune.” The Beijing Duck House in Rockville, Maryland has become a tradition in the community.
Family dynamics come into play as younger son Jimmy aspires to open the Beijing Glory, a fancier restaurant than the down-to-earth restaurant built by his father where the staff has become like family over the years but he must maneuver around his older brother Johnny who controls the family finances. Employees and the Han family have fought, worked, and grown old together. The widowed mother Feng Fei seems powerless, likely to have her house sold out from under her while the brothers put her in a home, or is she? Then there is Nan, the duck slicer, with her own problems trying to keep her son Pat out of trouble.
Mystery comes into play with Uncle Pang, who is not a relative, with the big money. How much do control does he have and how honest is he? And who is really responsible for the arson that burns down the Duck House?
Maybe it’s doesn’t need a category except the obvious one of a Chinese family making a start with what they know best in a new world with human nature stirring the pot. After all, as Jimmy thought in the midst of problems of opening the new restaurant, “The trouble with life was that life needed trouble.”
Lillian Li captures a Chinese time and place in her book and human quirks that transcend culture.

Number One Chinese Restaurant left me craving some dim sum and greater character development. In suburban Maryland, Jimmy Han hopes to shed his father’s legacy and start his own fancier restaurant, at any cost. The restaurant is full of the usual suspects in any family-run business: hangers on, shady characters, and plenty of nepotism.

This book fell flat for me, and exactly zero of the characters were likable. By the end, I found that I was rooting against all of the characters and hoping to just finish the book, place an order for Chinese carry out and move on.

I just didn't "get" this book; the storyline didn't engage me. I did like the descriptions of food, though.

The restaurant in this novel is bursting with complicated family dynamics and secrets. Jimmy and the temporarily overseas Johnny are carrying on the somewhat esteemed Peking Duck spot that was their late father’s creation. A panoply of troublesome or bothersome relatives surround them as Jimmy tries his luck with restaurant of his own. I wasn’t so drawn in by the characters as they struggled with some sudden changes. Thanks, netgalley, for the chance to read an advance copy of this novel.