Best Restaurants 2019: Q House

Of all the food I tasted during 600-some restaurant meals in 2019, chef Christopher Lin’s “lu rou fan”–inspired braised pork rice at year-old Q House was possibly the most craveable and comforting. The Momofuku alum is a whiz with rice (and carbs in general), transforming each grain into a perfectly tender—never mushy—morsel. Studded with pork belly and tangy pickled mustard greens, that dish draws me back to Q House again and again. With it sitting at the center of the table, here’s how I’d round out meal 601:

• Shrimp-and-chicken wontons in lip-numbing Szechuan chile oil
• Sticky barbecue ribs
• Pork belly buns sprinkled with chopped peanuts and cilantro
• Duck lo mein, with its perfectly chewy noodles and tender bits of meat
• Crackly, juicy salt-and-pepper shrimp

$$$, 3421 E. Colfax Ave., 720-729-8887

(MORE: Read our 2019 restaurant review of Q House)