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Little Taipei Cafe is fittingly located in the Little Taipei Plaza at the busy intersection of Warms Springs and Mission. This restaurant offers a smorgasbord of Northern Chinese, Taiwanese, and Cantonese dishes. On 02/02/2019, my family and I did an unintended day-night doubleheader here. After doing some grocery shopping at the 99 Ranch, we came here for a quick lunch at around 1:45 pm. The place was about half full and we were seated quickly. The following was what we had: – Spicy Chao Ma Mian ($7.25): It was decent. Broth was spicy and the noodles were commercially made. They put a lot of ingredients in this noodle soup (beef, pork, shrimp, fish, squid, and all kinds of veggies). All tasted fine. – Combo Gravy Chow Fun ($7.50): A-OK. The gravy was made with chicken, beef, shrimp, and Shanghai bok choy. It tasted decent. The flat rice noodles were a bit clumped together though. – Seafood Pan-Fried Noodles ($8): They should have used a thicker egg noodles for this. The ones they used were ultra thin which lacked chewiness. The gravy, made with large pieces of fish, squid, and shrimp, was light and tasty. – Fuqi Feipian ($7.50): A generous amount of sliced beef shank and tendon. Very spicy. Not super authentic but nonetheless delicious. – Sticky Rice Roll ($2.55 each): Looked like a sushi burrito. It was filled with pork floss, chopped pickled Chinese mustard greens, and cut up youtiao (Chinese doughnut). The combination may sound strange but it was really good! Full of interesting tastes and textural contrasts. After lunch, we went to my cousin’s place nearby. Unbeknownst to us, he had reserved a table here for dinner. So we came back at around 6:30 pm. The following dishes were from the $138 banquet we had: – Crab Meat Fish Maw Soup: The taste was quite good. The fish maw was spongy and a good amount was used. Didn’t see a lot of crab meat though. Loved the yellow chives. – Steamed Whole Chicken with Ginger and Scallion Oil: Terrible. It was dry and tough. – Braised Pork Shank: Solid. A little different than what I thought it would be. It was served sliced and rearranged around the bone and at room temperature. The sauce was served on the side. The flavor was pretty intense. – Sauteed Shrimp and Scallops with Snap Peas: It was decent. All the ingredients were fresh. Wish the portion was a bit bigger though. – Clams in Black Bean Sauce: Not good. I didn’t think the clams were too fresh. For some reason, they put fat choy (black moss) in the dish. Chinese New Year perhaps? – Braised Shiitake Mushrooms and Sea Cucumbers: The mushrooms were thick and meaty but the sea cucumber pieces were too soft to my liking. The sauce was nice and light. A-OK. – Braised Whole Fish: They put a lot of garlic cloves in the dish, which I loved. I only had a small piece since I don’t like tilapia. I’d have liked it more had they used a different type fish. – Pea Shoots in Dried Scallop Sauce: Excellent. Pea shoots were fresh and not fibrous. The sauce was loaded with shredded dried scallops and had an intense scallop flavor. – Egg White Dried Scallop Fried Rice: MEH! Not worth writing about. – Pan-Fried Daikon Cake and Red Bean Cake – Both were delicious. The daikon cake held together well and the red bean one was sweet and chewy. I ended up buying one of each afterwards. Service was good in both outings since my mom and cousin frequent here and the staff knows them. The ladies are actually very nice people once you get to know them (speaking Mandarin helps). Cleanliness here is very marginal. I have been here a handful of times and their food is average in my opinion. If you stick with the basic items, you will be fine. Pricing is very reasonable. BONUS MATERIAL: – CASH ONLY!

Boiled Skewer – Menu with Prices – 2180 Pleasant Hill Rd B3, Duluth

I really like Boiled Skewer. This is a Chinese hot pot restaurant that offers a plethora of skewers (various meats, animal parts, vegetables, noodles, and more) for only 50 cents a skewer. The ingredients are fresh and of decent to good quality for what you pay, making this place an excellent value, not to mention a fun experience (assuming you’re a fan of cook-it-yourself hot pot). The restaurant opened September 2016 and is one of three hot pot restaurants at GW Marketplace (Sweet Hut Duluth shopping center); the other two hot pot restaurants being 89 Hot Pot (traditional Chinese) and Pop Pot (Taiwanese). At the time of writing this review, there are about five other hot pot restaurants, mostly Korean, within an approximate half-mile radius. I think this makes 2180 Pleasant Hill Rd in Duluth the de facto hot pot center of metro Atlanta. Boiled Skewer differentiates itself from the competition by offering a self-serve smorgasbord of kabobs or skewered items which you cook yourself inside a hot pot at your table. Electric flattop stoves are installed at every table. Each table seats four. One table shares a large communal hot pot as opposed to there being an individual hot pot for each customer. Split hot pots are available if a table wants to order two soup broths instead of one. Soup options include classic spicy, double flavor, original bone, mushroom flavor, and seafood flavor. Soups cost about $4-6 each, but are free at lunchtime (12-3pm, daily) and free at dinnertime if you spend at least $25. Extra spicy soup costs a dollar extra. I’ve tried the classic spicy and double flavor and like both, though I prefer classic spicy. Both are seasoned well with the double flavor having a milky white broth and the classic spicy having a red oily broth. Unlike other hot pot places like J’s Mini Hot Pot or 89 Hot Pot, Boiled Skewer premixes sauces for you. Sauce options include classic peanut sauce, sesame paste sauce, sesame oil sauce, oyster peanut sauce, and original sesame paste. Sauces are included with your meal and you can ask for as many as you want. I’ve tried them all and think they’re all pretty good. My favorite is the sesame oil sauce. By default, all sauces come with chopped cilantro. Plates of sliced raw meat are ordered off the menu for about $5-6 a plate. They have beef, lamb, pork, and chicken. I recommend ordering at least one plate of meat for every two people. Other menu items include Chinese bread, dumplings, fried pumpkin pancake (tasty and suggested), and fried chicken nuggets. These are mostly $2-5 an order. Boiled Skewer’s claim to fame are its three double-door refrigerators featuring a wide assortment of self-serve skewered items as well as bowls and plates of food, all meant to be cooked in your hot pot. Put on a pair of restaurant-supplied food prep gloves and go to town. Below I’ve compiled a comprehensive, but not exhaustive, list of things you can expect to find: Fridge #1 – Fish tofu – Chinese sausage – Imitation crab leg – Octopus – Pork intestines – Chicken hearts – Fish sausage – Quail eggs – Pork luncheon meat (Spam) – Sweet sausage – Fish balls – Beef tendon balls – Shrimp balls – Clam meat – Squid – Fresh shrimp – Pork – Chicken – Prepared pork intestines – Beef omasum tripe – Beef tripe – Fried tempura Fridge #2 – Broccoli – Lettuce – Bean seedling – Watercress – Napa cabbage – Vietnamese chrysanthemum – Taro – Chinese yam – Shanghai bok choy tips – A choy – Spinach – Mushrooms – Enoki mushrooms – Cilantro – Tomato – Cauliflower – Pumpkin – White radish Fridge #3 – Bean thread – Pork bone noodle (ramen) – Fresh corn (mini, on the cob) – Rice cake (tteokbokki) – Sour cabbage – Bamboo shoots – Frozen tofu – Dried soy bean knots – Dried bean curds – Lotus – Seaweed – Fungus (wood ear variety) – Udon noodles – Shanghai noodles – Flower petal pasta – Eggs – Vietnamese rice noodles – Green bean noodles – Sweet potato noodles – Fresh tofu – Konjac silk – Fried tofu – Fried round gluten – Chinese twisted cruller – Chinese egg noodle

Szechwan Noodle – Menu with Prices – 3330 S Price Rd, Tempe

DAMNNNNNN this is the best Szechwan food I’ve had in the area. It’s a small establishment, but they pack a punch with their food. Boiled fish & beef in hot sauce (45) – this is the best boiled fish in hot sauce I’ve had. HUGE portion and the spice was on point. Adequately ranked 3 peppers on their menu because they use sichuan pepper (mala) which is numbing, so you get the spicy spice then numbing spice (the 5th spice girl). Fish is super fresh, and the thinly sliced beef was very tender – these sat on a bed of napa cabbage. It was pretty oily, but I heard another customer order it with less oil, so I’ll for sure do that next time. Mapo tofu (55) was delicious. It wasn’t swimming in sauce like most I’ve tried, and that was totally fine because the sauce was so tasty. It had these amazing pieces of ground pork – there was just a touch of sweetness which gave it a different dimension of flavor. Tofu was super fresh, and overall had a good balance of spice. This was also hit with a bit of mala spice. Dried noodle w/ braised pork belly (37) was fantastic as well. Noodles were perfectly cooked. The little cubes of pork belly were delectable, but there definitely could have been more. The sauce underneath was a little fiery and numbing, but tasty. The sauce would slide off the noodles so if you feel like you overmixed to make it too spicy, have no fear. Came with some bok choy, and an ample amount of sesame oil. I took leftovers home, but the noodles had absorbed lingering moisture, so the texture was much softer the next day. This place is SO good. I want to try their dan dan noodles next, and will def get the boiled fish/beef in hot sauce again. Spice level is tricky because every restaurant is different, so it might be safer to ask for less spicy and test the waters rather risk eating your meal in pain.

Five Spices House – Menu with Prices – 546 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge

Super solid authentic Chinese food in the heart of Central Square! Service was ok but could be improved and is the main reason I took off one star. The first time I went here I got take out of Sichuan braised beef noodle soup. It tasted delicious! Meat was tender, noodles had good texture, and there was plenty of bok choy as well. The food was ready within 15 minutes of when I ordered. I came here again for dinner with my boyfriend. There was no wait, although the restaurant stayed busy during our time there. Most of our food came out pretty fast, but the waiters were sometimes a little confused about who ordered what. One dish took a little longer, and just as we were about to ask about it, a waiter told us it’s not done but will be out soon. Overall I didn’t mind the inconsistent service too much as we didn’t have to wait too long and it was easy to say that we did or didn’t order a dish, but service could definitely be improved for customers to have more peace of mind. The delicious food really makes up for the service! Water spinach with garlic was very flavorful; the garlic somehow added a subtle sweetness that really made the vegetable enjoyable. I’m not usually a huge fan of water spinach but I devoured the water spinach here. Minced pork with black bean sauce over noodles passed my noodle test. Noodles have good texture and sauce is just right — not too sweet, not too salty, and good ratio of sauce to noodle. Sauce came with plenty of pork and bean curd. I also really enjoyed the Sichuan diced chicken with chili peppers. It’s actually not very spicy so if you like spicy you probably need to ask them to make it more spicy. One thing to note: rice doesn’t come with any dishes and costs $2 a bowl. Most Chinese restaurants my boyfriend and I have been to have complimentary rice so this was unexpected for us. I personally don’t mind since I’m not a huge fan of rice but my boyfriend likes rice and thought the price is a bit steep. Other than that, prices and portion sizes for the dishes were pretty reasonable. I plan to come back to try some other dishes next time I’m craving authentic Chinese food!

Little India (Bombay Street Food) Menu with Prices 2236 Highland Ave, Birmingham

On the recommendation of the Owner/Chef, we tried the Chili Chicken with Fried Rice. The dish came out steaming hot in a reusable to-go container. The chicken was battered and fried before being covered in “gravy”, a mildly sweet and spicy sauce. The gravy dishes are by default served with generous helpings of gravy, although they can also be ordered “dry” or “without gravy”. This dish was delicious and far superior to any Chinese takeout near the area, especially for a menial $7. We also ordered the Chicken Hakka Noodles, a dish similar to Chow Mein, although more complex. Hakka noodles are a type of boiled noodles that are tossed and mixed with vegetables, chicken and sauces. Both Hakka Noodles and chow mein are made using noodles and similar kinds of vegetables are added to it. However, there is a slight difference between the two. While Hakka noodles have their roots in Hakka Han or Han Chinese, chow mein comes from Taishan. Hakka noodles have dominant Bengali flavours but chow mein has flavours that can be closely associated with Chinese flavours. Whatever the differences in chow mein and Hakka noodles, they were certainly tasty!  This dish was served tossed with chicken and green onions and a savory sauce with a latent heat. Another win, and again, for only $7.  Perhaps inaptly titled, “Little India,” offers more Chinese-Indian fusion than they do Indian food. New names for the establishment are being tossed around. Most of the menu items sounded like Chinese dishes, however, many dishes of modern Indian Chinese cuisine bear little resemblance to traditional Chinese cuisine. Staple base options for an Indian Chinese meal include chicken, shrimp or vegetable variants of “Hakka” or “Schezwan” noodles popularly referred to as chow mein; and regular or”Schezwan” fried rice. Though the names sound similar to familiar dishes, this food stands alone.

Ijji Noodle House – Menu with Prices – 199 Damonte Ranch Pkwy #8M, Reno

What was once a sushi restaurant connected to a chicken wing shop is now Ijji Noodle House and Poke Don. Though the poke side has few seats and is geared more toward take-out, you can order it from the much larger dining room. With a sizeable menu of Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese items, my family settled in for our latest outing. My son ordered fresh coconut water ($3.95), a whole coconut with the top cracked open by our server. Pop a straw in and you’re all set. The 4 year-old enjoyed it, but seemed puzzled by the presentation. Orders of veggie-filled rice paper spring and summer rolls ($5.95 ea) were shared, shrimp for spring, flame broil pork for summer. Both were good and included plenty of meat. The peanut sauce had a lot of fragrant flavor, and a surprising amount of kick. Karaage ($6.95) bites were drizzled in spicy mayo, topped with fish flake and nori slivers, and ponzu sauce for dipping. The coating on the moist, dark meat chicken bites was nicely crispy and seasoned. Though takoyaki ($5.95, 6 pieces) octopus balls were served in a similar manner and plenty warm, the ratio of seafood-to-tempura in the filling could have been better. A good bowl of pho starts with a rich beef bone broth, long-simmered with veggies, spices, and fish sauce. My daughter’s vegetarian pho with tofu ($9.95) was full of noodles and perfectly cooked veggies–with big slabs of lightly grilled tofu on top–but the broth was incredibly bland. She added shoyu, hoisin, and sriracha just so it would taste like … something. Ramen is served with cubed daikon on the side. The bowls include fish cake, bean sprouts, fresh baby spinach, ajitama, and nori. Pork bone broth formed the base of black tonkotsu ramen ($11.95), topped with sliced pork belly and a few slivers of roasted black garlic; shredded wood ear mushroom added for an extra buck. While the broth did have decent flavor, my daughter-in-law added a bit of shoyu to taste. The noodles were springy enough and seemed fresh. The soft-boiled egg wasn’t a perfect example of marinated ajitama, but close enough. My son’s bowl of miso spicy ramen with pork belly ($11.95) included corn and crumbled pork sausage. The nori was replaced by considerably more spinach, which he enjoyed. The spicy heat overwhelmed the miso a bit, but he didn’t seem to mind. A friend’s bowl of spicy chicken ramen ($11.95) featured chicken broth with five-spice soy sauce, crumbled braised chicken, and wood ear mushroom. The broth was great, and he practically cleaned the bowl. My cold noodle bowl ($12.95) included a nest of vermicelli topped with daikon, carrot, cucumber, lettuce, tons of delicious flame broiled pork, and a couple meaty egg rolls sectioned into bite-sized pieces. My only complaint was some difficulty in pulling apart the noodle ball. My grandson’s three scoop poke bowl ($11.95) had brown rice, salmon, scallop, octopus, pineapple ponzu, kewpie mayo, tobiko, krab, seaweed salad, pineapple, edamame, lemon, salmon skin, garlic chip, seaweed flake, and tempura crunch. He pretty much wants everything. The scallop and octopus were good, though the salmon texture seemed thawed and refrozen. Regardless, the young poke aficionado was very pleased with his meal.

Hunting Island Fish Market Menu with Prices 2664 Barton Chapel Rd, Augusta

This restaurant seems to be a local favorite in the area. The cuisine is a mixture of Asian/Chinese food with southern fried seafood. Apparently this is a major concept in the Augusta area for fish markets and Chinese/Korean restaurants. Nonetheless, the food is good. I have dined here several times. You can call in and place an order or place one in person. It also offers fish, uncooked seafood for sale as well. The fried rice is good and a fan favorite. The egg rolls I ordered was made fresh with nice crisp cabbage. The fried fish is ok. The steamed shrimp is great to order especially the spicy steamed shrimp. The fried shrimp is good. Preferably I prefer the steamed seafood than the fried because of the seasoning. I really cannot rate the customer service because I normally try to get my order and get out. Good decent takeout food to grab.

Uncle Zhu Spicy Hotpot – Menu with Prices – 3875 Venture Dr, Duluth

Uncle Zhu is a food court stall located inside Jusgo Supermarket that serves authentic, spicy, and delicious Chongqing-style (Sichuan) Chinese hot pot. This is the first restaurant you see if you enter the food court from the entrance outside (not the interior entrance from the supermarket side). It’s got a corner stall in the mini-mall’s large rectangular wraparound hub. I really enjoyed the two hot pots I tried from this place. The restaurant offers over a dozen kinds of hot pot and noodle soups along with other dishes like “hot woks” (Sichuan-style stir-fries, kind of like a brothless hot pot), Sichuan cold noodles, spicy shrimp, dried shrimp cauliflower, and three different kinds of “fried cabbage” (bok choy and other leafy green veggies). Expect to spend about $9-10 each for most hot pots. You can also create your own hot pot. The kitchen’s ingredients are on display in multiple bins behind glass at the counter. Pricing for custom hot pots is $6.95 per bowl, $11.50 per pound. I tried the spicy boiled fish hot pot ($12.95) and the beef malatang hot pot ($8.99). Both were excellent. If you like spicy food, especially spicy Sichuan food, then you’ll like both of these dishes. The spicy boiled fish hot pot is a dish you can get at other Sichuan restaurants around metro Atlanta. I really like Uncle Zhu’s version. It comes with plenty of boneless, meaty fish fillets. I’m pretty sure the fish used is tilapia. The fish is served in a large bowl containing a customary deep red, spicy, oily broth with red chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, bean sprouts, cabbage, cilantro. and green onion. Thanks to the Sichuan peppercorns, this dish brings the “mala” which is Chinese for numbing and spicy. It’s a unique mouth-numbing, tingling sensation that only Sichuan peppercorns can bring and I love it. Out of all the Sichuan spicy boiled fish hot pots I’ve tried in metro Atlanta, I think I might like Uncle Zhu’s version the best. The ingredients were fresh and in the ideal proportions and everything about this dish seemed to hit all the right notes. If you like spicy food, you should give it a try. The beef malatang is a unique hot pot dish. Malatang is a popular street food in North China. “Malatang” literally translates as “numbing spicy hot.” At malatang shops, you pick and choose the ingredients you want to be boiled in a spicy broth which is then seasoned. Uncle Zhu offers the same experience. If you don’t want to pick your own ingredients, there are five kinds of malatang on the menu: the aforementioned beef malatang (which is what I got), seafood malatang, shrimp malatang, beef stomach malatang, and ball malatang (either meatballs or fish balls, I’m not sure). The beef malatang was terrific. It was chock-full of all sorts of yummy ingredients including slices of beef, sweet potato noodles, lotus root, Chinese jelly fungus (cloud ear, I believe), tofu skin (or bean curd skin), bok choy, cabbage, bean sprouts, cilantro, red chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorns. There was another ingredient in the broth which I think was green seaweed (the long, relatively thicker kind), but I’m not certain. I think I covered most of the ingredients. This dish was quite flavorful and sufficiently spicy, though it didn’t have the same numbing effect as the spicy boiled fish which I would’ve liked. I’m sure I could have asked to have the malatang prepared with even more Sichuan peppercorns and they would have obliged. I question the quality of the beef in the beef malatang because it was a bit too tough and chewy. Perhaps it was overcooked. That’s my only real gripe about the food here and I wouldn’t hesitate to order the beef malatang again. Uncle Zhu’s hot pots are cooked in the back and are served in these nice-looking, large, yellow and red bowls that are decorated with Chinese text and Chinese masks. The restaurant ha

Gourmet House – Menu with Prices – 46875 Warm Springs Blvd, Fremont

I came here for my mom’s birthday and we ordered a tooooon of food. Most of the goodies we ordered were fairly decent–a tad too oily for my liking, but I’m rather sensitive. Things that stood out: Fish soup: My mom looooooved this. I thought it was decent, but I’m going to assume it was fairly yum if my mom raved about it so much. Truffle abalone fried rice: This was delicious fried rice, though the truffles were extremely subtle. Not sure I’d order this again, as the truffles are a bit too subtle, especially after it came out as the last dish and we’ve eaten all these other flavorful foods. The abalone was delicious though and the rice was done well. Filet beef: This was a huge miss. Not sure why, but while the beef was incredibly soft, it was also incredibly chewy. No one could bite in the beef; I ended up spitting it out :X Sauteed pea sprouts: This was really yummy, and easily one of my favorite dishes–but I found a caterpillar in it. Being the asian I am and used to dirty ol’ Chinese joints, I stuck it to the side and kept on eating, but looking back, it was pretty gross. Extra protein, anyone? Birthday cake: They gave my mom a giant rice cake peach (you take it home, cut it up and cook stuff with it) and it also came with little lotus seed paste buns. Super sweet of them and my relatives enjoyed the buns very much–it wasn’t too overly sweet or sugar laden. Complimentary sweet tapioca dessert: Another miss for me, but hey, it’s free! I felt like it tasted more like sugar water than anything else. Scallop with glass noodles: This was pretty good, but a very hefty bite per scallop. You might want to share to avoid getting too stuffed off the noodles. Cold chicken: This was super tasty! Done perfectly so that the chicken was moist and seasoned to perfection. One of my favorite dishes of the night! Overall, I enjoyed this place quite a bit, caterpillar and all. However, I really can’t justify giving this place more than 3 stars if I’m eating protein I didn’t deliberately order as it makes me question the washing and prepping of ingredients. I want to try their dimsum, but then I’ve also noticed that the dim sum reviews are very lukewarm. Hm, should I give this place another go?

Liuyishou Hotpot Flushing – Menu with Prices – 136-76 39th Ave, Flushing

Hot pot at Liuyishou was definitely an experience. My friend and I came here on a busy Saturday night and were seated after about a 20 minute wait. We were pretty hungry so ended up ordering way too much. We started the meal with panfried beef rolls which are essentially Chinese pancakes wrapped with thin slices of beef and sauce. They charge an extra $3 or so for the unlimited sauce and fruit/side-dishes bar which I think is worth it. The broths we picked were the original spicy beef soup base and non-spicy pork rib soup base. The beef broth was too spicy for me but the pork broth was really rich and flavorful. The hot pot ingredients we ordered included the beef/lamb platter, fresh tofu, king oyster mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, a-choy, and fish balls. Everything was really fresh, and the meat platter was more than enough for the two of us. Lastly, our waiters were attentive and terrific. This was the best hot pot experience I’ve ever had, and I hope one opens in Chicago soon!

P & Y Cafe Asian Bistro Menu with Prices 2769 S Parker Rd, Aurora

I’ve had jjajangmyun (black bean noodles) my entire life so I’d say I have a pretty good idea of good v. bad noodles. My parents have been eating this dish for a majority of their lives, so a thumbs-up from us means NOM. I think that the jjajangmyun is one of the best I’ve had and would go so far as to say that it’s better than any of the ones I’ve had in Koreatown in LA, in Berkeley, and in Seattle. I don’t know what it is, but it’s delicious without being too salty and too sweet. My mom says that this place is her favorite so I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. I also love P&Y’s fried rice. I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS, FOLKS! I eat fried rice all the time, being the Asian that I am, but it is so dang good here. I’m convinced it’s the pork grease, the pork (so tender and juicy!), and the crack. (In my head, I refer to this dish as “crack rice.”) I’m sure someone will eat this and be like, Alice, ‘what’s she smoking?’ And the answer is – nothing! Just high on life… and this rice. But seriously, so good. Sidenote: the fried rice comes with a small bowl of jjajangmyun sauce and a small bowl of jjamppong soup which is the best deal one could hope for. I have also liked their tangsooyook (fried sweet and sour pork (?)) and their Sichuan pork, which is similar to tangsooyook but is spicier. 10/10 recommend.

Long Life Vegi House Menu with Prices 1725 University Ave, Berkeley

So, my friend became vegan, and invited me to this Chinese restaurant that is VEGAN. I couldn’t believe it. Chinese food being vegan? Being half Chinese, and growing up with Chinese food, I couldn’t believe it. LOL **NO MSG!! :):):):) Anyway, we ordered sweet-and-sour pork, with a side of fried rice, and eggroll. Also, we ordered beef with mushrooms braised. I couldn’t believe the “beef” & “pork” actually tasted like beef and pork. I was amazed, and I still am. I am not a huge fan of sweet and sour soup, but their’s was pretty good, especially since it was vegan. Yes, they specialize in vegan food, but they also have a regular menu. I really think that is a great/smart move. More business, more money. Not only that, but a variety is good. I have yet to come back and try more dishes. Maybe it will inspire me to finally try to become vegan, and try to make different dishes, because it is really DIFFICULT to do so. My husband loves meat too, and has no intention in becoming vegan, BUT I can’t wait to have him come to this place! He will be amazed also.

Chongqing Dumpling Menu with Prices 14603 NE 20th St #4B, Bellevue

We came here today for lunch and was very excited to try it. We got here a little after they opened and there was only one other group in there. Service was average, they’re more comfortable talking to you if you speak Mandarin. We ordered the deep fry pork belly, Chinese donuts, chicken rice noodle soup, pork corn dumplings, and the pork shrimp dumplings. Ithe food came out very staggered. The Chinese donuts came out first. The chinese donuts were more like you tiao (only know how to say it in Cantonese) where you soak them in soy bean milk (or my favorite is to eat with congee). We did not order soy bean milk, but kind of wish we had at that point. I was not a fan of the donuts as they were very fried with little of the spongy bread body to go with it. It was like eating a long chip. The deep fried pork belly was okay. Kind of plain? The spices that came on the side helped. The dumplings were good, but very average. Something you could make at home. The pork and corn was interesting, I liked them more then the pork shrimp ones which had a slightly odd flavor to me. The chicken rice noodle soup came out way later then everything else, to the point where we were kind of full. I really enjoyed the chicken noodle soup. It honestly tasted like a more gourmet Campell’s chicken noodle soup. Even the noodles almost had the same time but obviously a little better. I enjoyed it although the chicken was super dry. Food prices were average, but I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way for this place. The food was just okay. It didn’t impress me as much as I was hoping it would. Service was fine, the lady (who I believe might also be the manager/owner) very kindly gave us some coupons to return. When we left, the tables started filling up and getting very busy.