Shufeng Kitchen

Also known as Shu Feng Xiao Chu, Shufeng Kitchen opened in March 2025 at the opposite side of the Tustin plaza known for Habuya Okinawan Dining, replacing Uzbek restaurant Samarkand Grill between Stater Bros. and India Kitchen. Shufeng Kitchen’s theme is Sichuan cuisine, and its single-page menu includes a value-priced collection of familiar and unfamiliar dishes that immediately grabbed our attention. Roughly 30 of them are small plates priced from $4 to $10 – the former a steal for five small but perfectly fried egg rolls or sesame balls, the latter similarly aggressive for a plate of tasty dry-tossed beef in Sichuan spices. As an alternative to Cantonese and Hong Kong-style dim sum, Shufeng is the rare Tustin restaurant where you can order duck heads, necks, and wings, each either braised or spicy fried, while also choosing from vegetarian options ranging from edamame to sliced potatoes, lotus root, and bamboo shoots.

Aggregating many of those vegetarian ingredients with an uncommon protein, the most deluxe item by a wide margin is hot pot-style bullfrog (shown above) – a very large and quite nice gold and silver pan loaded with tender, bony frog meat, bean sprouts, lotus root, potato slices, tofu, and cloud ear mushrooms, heated over a Sterno-like can at your table. At $45, it’s three to four times as expensive as most of the other entrees ($11 to $15), mildly spicy by default, and includes enough food to sate two people on its own. Standard one-person entrees include rice or fried rice with braised pork, beef, or chicken, minced pork, kung pao shrimp or chicken, or beef with Sichuan pepper or five-spice seasoning.