Detailed report on Chinese restaurants in Palo Alto/Menlo Park area
Vincent Lo
food at reasonable prices, and most importantly, provides a relatively
elegant place to dine in. It's definitely not a place I'll go myself or
with good friends. Yuen Yung, that was replaced by Left Bank, used to be a
competitor, and I really think its dishes were more interesting and simply
better. But its interior was so old and worn down, and the crowds always
went to Su Hong. Maybe the location (Su Hong is on El Camino and Yuen Yung
wasn't) played a role too. And yes Su Hong in Palo Alto behind Fuki Sushi
is pretty bad, though still miles above Mr. Chau's.
Ten Fu in Menlo Park has been there for so many years. I think they had
some renovation these past couple years. A Chinese family told me they are
famous for chow fun, though I didn't find anything special in it.
Ming's is only good for dim sum. Before the opening of Hong Kong Flower
Lounge, that's the only decent dim sum place around. Dinner is bad bad bad
especially for their prices. I've given them so many chances. I remember
ordering some seafood in a nest for like $13, and my friend picked out some
bland mushroom saying for that price they could at least offer fresh instead
of canned mushroom.
Royal Palace. Boy should I start another ridiculous dining experience? My
friend who grew up in Palo Alto said they only went to Royal Palace because
they thought Ming's prices for dim sum were too high. Looks really worn
down. I went there for dim sum and ordered some porridge with fish balls.
Well the fish balls had pork in it, and the pork had already gone bad. It's
not a matter of taste but hygiene. And they even gave out free Peking duck
coupons at dinner for dim sum goers. At one time they were really desperate
for customers. I went back for dim sum a year ago and surprisingly it was
OK.
Chef Chu's isn't that great in my opinion. Seems to cater to non-Chinese.
They do offer a greater variety than most other Chinese restaurants. Hunan
Homes a little down has long been a popular place among local Chinese. They
are not upscale but they do justice to common dishes, and also offer live
seafood (at premium prices of course). Well some of the staff moved and
opened Hunan Garden on El Camino close to Page Mill. Man this is one of the
best, if not the best, Chinese restaurant in this area. No kidding. The
staff speak good English and dishes are real Chinese, unlike Mei Long which
is very good but you know it's not too "Chinese," and read this, the entrees
have detailed description on the menu. Yes you know down to what herbs they
put in their fried rice. And they have many authentic dishes that smaller
Chinese restaurants don't care to prepare. I ordered fried rice cakes,
which is a very demanding dish (just like chow fun) because I like my food
really light on oil, and too little oil means the rice cakes will stick to
the wok. And they did it perfectly. Better than most restaurants I've been
to in Hong Kong. The other night I tried their live seafood, and again it
was excellent. Can't speak more highly of them. I like the decor of the
restaurant too.
Jade Fountain. The one with the green tiles outside. Pretty authentic
Cantonese food. The food is less detail-oriented than Hunan Garden, and
sometimes certain dishes are too greasy for my taste. Peking Duck. This is
a restaurant with many wonderful as well as awful dishes.
Their best products are Dragon Phoenix (egg white among other things), duck
bone soup and the sweet glutinous rice dessert.
How about Mandarin Gourmet? I'm really not impressed, and service on
multiple trips was unsatisfactory. But it has a very nice dining room (sofa
and all that). There are a couple of Chinese restaurants in downtown Palo
Alto, and none of them are too memorable, except maybe Jing Jing 'cause
everything is so hot.
That leaves Hong Kong Flower Lounge. Wonderful but pricey live seafood.
Food is expensive. I once spent $50 a person there. I've always had
excellent service, but some have complained. Try innovative dishes not
available elsewhere. The menu is really exciting if you are into new-style
Cantonese food. Almost nothing including rice/noodles is under $10.
Try both HKFL and Hunan Garden. And if possible bring someone who's into
Chinese food with you. Then Peking Duck but don't order what everyone else
does (i.e. no Peking duck).
Vincent Lo
v...@cs.stanford.edu
P.S. I finally went to MacArthur Park for my first time. Nothing too bad
but nothing outstanding either. I asked my server to suggest a good single
malt at the end of my meal, and he said, "Well I'll simply suggest the more
expensive ones on the menu." I believe it's OK to admit you don't know much
about something.
Yip Yap
"Vincent Lo" <v...@cs.stanford.edu> wrote:
> Peking Duck. This is
> a restaurant with many wonderful as well as awful dishes.
> Their best products are Dragon Phoenix (egg white among other
things), duck
> bone soup and the sweet glutinous rice dessert.
I agree that Peking Duck is a mixed bag, but I pretty much
stay away from it. Some of the locals refer to this place
as the "Puking Duck", by the way.
-- Yip
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
dke...@best.com
[ detailed discussion of Palo Alto area Chinese deleted ]
Yes, Vincent. I agree with you about just about every
place you mention. I like Peking Duck more than you do
is about the only difference. And like Ming's for dim
sum and Hunan Home's less than you, I suppose.
Hong Kong Flower Lounge is still promising. They do do
a very nice dim sum (although I like the feel of it a
little less since they got rid of the carts, especially
since they make no effort at all to bring your dishes
at a reasonable pace) and am looking forward to trying
them for dinner.
--
Dave Eisen Sequoia Peripherals: (408) 752-1400
dke...@netcom.com FAX: (408) 752-2707
In our society, you can state your views, but they have to be correct.
--- Ernie Hai, coordinator Singapore Gov't Internet Project.
Todd Michel McComb
>Flower Lounge, that's the only decent dim sum place around.
We go to Mayflower regularly.
And Full House in downtown Mountain View for homestyle. For
efficient delivery, Tien Fu and Hangen on Castro have a few dishes
we like.
I don't believe we eat at any other Chinese restaurant with any
regularity, but of course we cook Chinese about half the time.
eis...@slacvx.slac.stanford.edu
> The reason why Su Hong is successful, is that it offers adequate Chinese
> food at reasonable prices, and most importantly, provides a relatively
> elegant place to dine in. It's definitely not a place I'll go myself or
> with good friends. Yuen Yung, that was replaced by Left Bank, used to be a
> competitor, and I really think its dishes were more interesting and simply
> better. But its interior was so old and worn down, and the crowds always
> went to Su Hong. Maybe the location (Su Hong is on El Camino and Yuen Yung
> wasn't) played a role too. And yes Su Hong in Palo Alto behind Fuki Sushi
> is pretty bad, though still miles above Mr. Chau's.
May well be right. My own reaction, however, was to go to Yuen Yung rarely,
but Su Hong not at all. [Yuen Yung, by the way, was in what used to be a
rather stately movie theater. It eventually burned down, although I think
the restaurant had already closed; Left Bank is in what amounts to a new
building (although structural components might have been preserved).]
O'Mei, which closed about ten years ago, was a good compromise -- it was more
casual than either of the others, with decidedly more interesting food than
Su Hong (although I think not quite up to Yuen Yung). For those who don't
recall it, its location is now the home of Gombei. I also don't know how
many of you recall China First, on El Camino just south of University. In the
first four or five years of its existence (it must have been the mid to late
70's, although I don't quite recall), I think it was as good a northern Chinese
place as I had encountered anywhere. It ran somewhat downhill after that, then
seemed to revive for a year or two before it closed. In my opinion, nothing
else that has appeared in the local area (as defined by Vincent) has reached
its best level. Perhaps that is beginning to change, with the latest round of
new places, such as HKFL (although a different cuisine). [My one visit to Mei
Long put it up there as well, but evidently -- given the controversy about
it in ba.food -- I need to sample it a bit more to really decide.]
> Ming's is only good for dim sum. Before the opening of Hong Kong Flower
> Lounge, that's the only decent dim sum place around. Dinner is bad bad bad
> especially for their prices. I've given them so many chances. I remember
> ordering some seafood in a nest for like $13, and my friend picked out some
> bland mushroom saying for that price they could at least offer fresh instead
> of canned mushroom.
I've found the dim sum (and associated service) at Ming's entirely inadequate,
especially given their prices. I've now tried the Palo Alto HKFL dim sum
several times. While some of the items have been excellent, I have a general
impression that on average it is not up to the level I recall from Millbrae.
Does anyone else have either a similar or opposite reaction? Still, it's
really the only viable candidate for dim sum in the Redwood City to Mountain-
view area.
Remainder snipped to save space -- but thanks for the Hunan Garden recommen-
dation. It's a place I wasn't aware of, and definitely sounds worth trying.
The Hunan Homes connection also is encouraging, since I think that's been one
of the better places in the area in recent years. I've also generally enjoyed
the food at Palo Alto's Mandarin Gourmet, although it hasn't been entirely
consistent, and the service (as you note) tends toward the inefficient and
even unpleasant. One other place I would add to the list is Mandarin Classic
in downtown Los Altos. They serve large portions of generally interesting and
well-prepared food; my only complaint is a tendency toward excessive sugar.
--
Al Eisner
San Mateo County, CA
dke...@best.com
<eis...@slacvx.slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
>
>May well be right. My own reaction, however, was to go to Yuen Yung rarely,
>but Su Hong not at all. [Yuen Yung, by the way, was in what used to be a
>rather stately movie theater.
Yuen Yung's quality had slid to completely inedible before
they closed down. They were pretty good at one point.
Peter L
where near even adequate.
Vincent Lo wrote:
>
> The reason why Su Hong is successful, is that it offers adequate Chinese
> food at reasonable prices, and most importantly, provides a relatively
> elegant place to dine in. It's definitely not a place I'll go myself or
> with good friends. Yuen Yung, that was replaced by Left Bank, used to be a
> competitor, and I really think its dishes were more interesting and simply
> better. But its interior was so old and worn down, and the crowds always
> went to Su Hong. Maybe the location (Su Hong is on El Camino and Yuen Yung
> wasn't) played a role too. And yes Su Hong in Palo Alto behind Fuki Sushi
> is pretty bad, though still miles above Mr. Chau's.
>
> Ten Fu in Menlo Park has been there for so many years. I think they had
> some renovation these past couple years. A Chinese family told me they are
> famous for chow fun, though I didn't find anything special in it.
>
> Ming's is only good for dim sum. Before the opening of Hong Kong Flower
> Lounge, that's the only decent dim sum place around. Dinner is bad bad bad
> especially for their prices. I've given them so many chances. I remember
> ordering some seafood in a nest for like $13, and my friend picked out some
> bland mushroom saying for that price they could at least offer fresh instead
> of canned mushroom.
>
> sometimes certain dishes are too greasy for my taste. Peking Duck. This is
> a restaurant with many wonderful as well as awful dishes.
> Their best products are Dragon Phoenix (egg white among other things), duck
> bone soup and the sweet glutinous rice dessert.
>
Todd Michel McComb
>Adequate? Is that all we are asking for here? Adequate?
Agreed. As I tried to relate in another thread, there are two
types of restaurants: Quick restaurants close by for when I am
lazy, and places where I actually feel motivated to go eat the
food. I'm happy enough to discuss the former, but the pool is
necessarily limited. I'm more interested in discussing the latter.
Nicole M. Bouchez
with you about the Hunan Garden. It is one of the best Chinese places I
have eaten. As you indicated, one of the best things is the unusual menu
with many "non-standard" items Luckily they are described in detail
which makes them even more interesting. When I was there we all ordered
dishes we had never had and all were excellent and very different from
one another. Another nice thing about it is that it has a delightful
garden which is certainly a surprise given its El Camino location. The
decor of the room is also very pleasant and contemporary.
As for the Royal Palace, I just had dimsum there this Sunday for the
first time and I have to say that the food was quite good. Not the best
but I did like it better than Mings. This may however be because of the
types of dishes that are my favorites. I have found that Mings tends to
have many things that taste about the same (with the same shrimp
filling) as well as too many fried offerings (and yes, I do know I don't
have to try everything but when in a crowd.... ) Royal Palace had a nice
and diverse offering (including a very good tripe soup). That said, the
place was filthy. We had to walk on the dance floor (wood) on the way
to our table and my feet stuck to the floor at every step! The carpets
were also dirty and there was quite a layer of grime on everything other
than the dining tables. Once before I had gone to eat there and decided
not to after getting to the front door with my mother and finding it
*covered* in greasy finger prints as though it had not been washed in
weeks. As far as I know the Royal Palace's days are numbered. Los
Altos has been trying to find someone to build something more
"appropriate" for that corner and last I heard there was a new hotel
planned (I think that there have been some drug and prostitution busts
at the hotel). I do not know the time frame though.
As for SuHong (the PA location), I have only ever had the Eggplant in
Garlic sauce there and it wasn't bad (especially if you get it without
the gristly meat). Not my favorite but perfectly acceptable for
take-out (if a little greasy). I have also had potstickers and suggest
people avoid them, not very good and still cold in the middle (probably
frozen).
I also have to add another favorite: Charlie's in Los Altos on State St.
(downtown) although I can not speak of the authenticity of this place it
is a favorite little restaurant because of the freshness and amount of
veggies in the dishes. This is a very small restaurant presided over by
Charlie. When you are seated you are immediately given a cup of sweet
and sour soup (made with honey from Charley's hives) and hot tea. The
menu is not extremely large but has many of the standards on it. My
favorite is the Eggplant in Garlic sauce (can you see a trend here?)
which is actually eggplant and many other veggies in garlic sauce. I
have also had a variety of other dishes there as well and have enjoyed
them.
-Nicole
Amalia Freedman
I for one appreciate a discussion of neighborhood joints. It is pretty
critical to my general happiness to have a selection of decent places to
grab food near home when I don't feel like cooking OR trekking to that
perfect place.
In my perfect neighborhood, I would have adequate-to-great Chinese,
Salvadoran, Indian, Ethiopian, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese
restaurants within walking distance, as well as a deli, a taqueria, a
panaderia, a barbq shack and an ice cream parlor. I suppose my SO would
add pizza to that list, but I'm pretty un-American in that regard.
Thankfully, neither of us care for burgers, as good burgers seem harder
to find in the Bay Area than good Thai OR Chinese restaurants.
AEF
Todd Michel McComb
Amalia Freedman <freedma...@bah.com> wrote:
>I for one appreciate a discussion of neighborhood joints.
It can be fun, but there are so many neighborhoods.... I try to
make note of where people in other places around here really like
to eat, but I know if I am ever there, I will have forgotten.
>In my perfect neighborhood, I would have adequate-to-great Chinese,
>Salvadoran, Indian, Ethiopian, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai and
>Japanese restaurants within walking distance, as well as a deli,
>a taqueria, a panaderia, a barbq shack and an ice cream parlor.
I might have to move there. But no Greek or Middle Eastern?
>Thankfully, neither of us care for burgers, as good burgers seem
>harder to find in the Bay Area than good Thai OR Chinese restaurants.
I don't know about that... I've had some pretty good burgers here.
I don't believe I've lived anywhere else with easier to find good
burgers, but I suppose such places do exist.
Amalia Freedman
>
> In article <381916E0...@bah.com>,
> Amalia Freedman <freedma...@bah.com> wrote:
> >In my perfect neighborhood, I would have adequate-to-great Chinese,
> >Salvadoran, Indian, Ethiopian, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai and
> >Japanese restaurants within walking distance, as well as a deli,
> >a taqueria, a panaderia, a barbq shack and an ice cream parlor.
>
> I might have to move there. But no Greek or Middle Eastern?
>
No, I think a general lack of exposure has saved me from yet another
impossibly regular craving. An upcoming trip to Turkey may change that,
and then I will be still further from my perfect neighborhood.
AEF
Roberta L. Millstein
next to Palo Alto Sol (a Mexican restaurant that I also like), but I
can never rememeber the name....anyone?
--
Roberta L. Millstein
rlmil...@spamaway.rlm.net
Remove "spamaway" to reply
dke...@best.com
Roberta L. Millstein <rlmil...@spamaway.rlm.net> wrote:
>There is a Chinese restaurant I like on California Ave in Palo Alto,
>next to Palo Alto Sol (a Mexican restaurant that I also like), but I
>can never rememeber the name....anyone?
Szechuan Cafe.
Vincent Lo
isn't too hot for Szechuan cuisine but that's perfect for me. :)
Absolutely beautiful garnishes on the dishes--every one is an outstanding
piece of art. Chef Sun and his crew know how to cook good Chinese food with
only a little oil. In terms of taste it's up there with Hunan Garden so
it's definitely one of the best (in terms of taste) in this area. But its
lack of variety kills it in my opinion. I really don't need more General
Chicken or you know the typical Su Hong fare. When I think of Peking Duck,
Jade Fountain, HK Flower Lounge or Hunan Garden there's always something
only that restaurant offers that pops up in my mind.
Vincent Lo
v...@cs.stanford.edu
Roberta L. Millstein <rlmil...@spamaway.rlm.net> wrote in message
news:301019992058016866%rlmil...@spamaway.rlm.net...
> There is a Chinese restaurant I like on California Ave in Palo Alto,
> next to Palo Alto Sol (a Mexican restaurant that I also like), but I
> can never rememeber the name....anyone?
>
Stuart Siu
eis...@slacvx.slac.stanford.edu wrote:
> <deleted>
>
> I've found the dim sum (and associated service) at Ming's entirely inadequate,
> especially given their prices. I've now tried the Palo Alto HKFL dim sum
> several times. While some of the items have been excellent, I have a general
> impression that on average it is not up to the level I recall from Millbrae.
> Does anyone else have either a similar or opposite reaction? Still, it's
> really the only viable candidate for dim sum in the Redwood City to Mountain-
> view area.
>
I agree. To be more specific, the original HKFL on El Camino is the better one. The huge
palace on the hill on Milbrae Ave. is not as good.
Stuart
--
================================================================
Stuart Siu
HP Labs, Hewlett Packard Co.
email:s...@dilbert.hpl.hp.com phone:650.857.6682 fax:650.236.9675
================================================================
Pete Fraser
Charlotte L. Blackmer <c...@rahul.net> wrote in message
news:7vo93a$c94$1...@samba.rahul.net...
>
> (The Thai and Que joints are close enough to walk, though, and are both
> good - Won Thai and Everett and Jones.)
>
Sounds like you're reasonably close to the hole-in-the-wall
Indian place on 9th near University. Not much to look at,
but the food's rather good.
Pete Fraser
Steve Pope <s...@visigoth.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> wrote in message
news:7vobpb$3rn$1...@agate.berkeley.edu...
> Pete Fraser <pfr...@dnai.com> wrote:
>
> > Sounds like you're reasonably close to the hole-in-the-wall
> > Indian place on 9th near University. Not much to look at,
> > but the food's rather good.
>
>
I go there on average every two weeks or so -- usually
for lunch, but occasionally for dinner. It is always good
(at least for the last couple of years).
Four or five years back when I used to work round the corner
it was just OK, but when I tried it, for old times sake, about two
years ago I got a pleasant surprise.
The food preparation, presentation, subtlety and inventiveness
at Ajanta are all great, but the food doesn't bring an involuntary
smile to my face the way that 9th and University does.
The soups at Soizic have that effect on me as well. Somehow
I can never remember how good they are, and I break out
in this inane grin on the first spoonload.
p.s. for Natarajan -- 9th and U also do a good Masala Dosa
Charlotte L. Blackmer
In article <381916E0...@bah.com>,
Amalia Freedman <freedma...@bah.com> wrote:
>Todd Michel McComb wrote:
>>
>> Agreed. As I tried to relate in another thread, there are two
>> types of restaurants: Quick restaurants close by for when I am
>> lazy, and places where I actually feel motivated to go eat the
>> food. I'm happy enough to discuss the former, but the pool is
>> necessarily limited. I'm more interested in discussing the latter.
Well, I tend to not like to travel much for my dinner, so I lean towards
the former. Of course a lot of the Destination type restaurants are in
the same general vicinity, so...;-).
I tend to skip over a lot of the "geographically incorrect" discussion. I
(heart) my threaded newsreader.
>I for one appreciate a discussion of neighborhood joints. It is pretty
>critical to my general happiness to have a selection of decent places to
>grab food near home when I don't feel like cooking OR trekking to that
>perfect place.
Yup.
>In my perfect neighborhood, I would have adequate-to-great Chinese,
>Salvadoran, Indian, Ethiopian, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese
>restaurants within walking distance, as well as a deli, a taqueria, a
>panaderia, a barbq shack and an ice cream parlor.
Woof!
I'm just happy if there is a decent breakfast joint within easy walking
distance. Although I sure wouldn't mind having a kewl pub (with good food)
within staggering, erm, walking distance again. The Albatross on San
Pablo near University (Berkeley) is nice but it's a slightly dodgy walk,
and isn't much in the food department. I miss Barclay's on College (where
I used to go a lot when I lived in Rockridge).
(The Thai and Que joints are close enough to walk, though, and are both
good - Won Thai and Everett and Jones.)
>I suppose my SO would
>add pizza to that list, but I'm pretty un-American in that regard.
>Thankfully, neither of us care for burgers, as good burgers seem harder
>to find in the Bay Area than good Thai OR Chinese restaurants.
Not around Berkeley much, I gather?
Fatapple's and Raleigh's both do very well IMO. And for the 50's style
Boiger Joint, there's always the Smokehouse.
Still haven't gotten to Val's in Hayward.
CLB, but it sounds like it is worth the drive
------------------------------------------------------
Charlotte L. Blackmer http://www.rahul.net/clb
Berkeley Farm and Pleasure Palace (under construction)
Junk (esp. commercial) email review rates: $250 US ea
Steve Pope
>Charlotte L. Blackmer <c...@rahul.net> wrote in message
>> (The Thai and Que joints are close enough to walk, though, and
>> are both good - Won Thai and Everett and Jones.)
Both good choices. An alternative for Thai is Your Place.
Oddly though, there is no really worthwhile Chinese restaurant
that I have found in the immediate vicinity.
> Sounds like you're reasonably close to the hole-in-the-wall
> Indian place on 9th near University. Not much to look at,
> but the food's rather good.
How recently have you been there? It tends to oscillate.
Steve
Amalia Freedman
>
> [edit] (The Thai and Que joints are close enough to walk, though, and are both > good - Won Thai and Everett and Jones.)
>
So the "new" expanded Won Thai is as good as the tiny place they used to
have? Good to hear it, I'll have to try it out.
> >I suppose my SO would
> >add pizza to that list, but I'm pretty un-American in that regard.
> >Thankfully, neither of us care for burgers, as good burgers seem harder
> >to find in the Bay Area than good Thai OR Chinese restaurants.
>
> Not around Berkeley much, I gather?
>
> Fatapple's and Raleigh's both do very well IMO. And for the 50's style
> Boiger Joint, there's always the Smokehouse.
>
Don't like burgers, but the shakes and pies at Fatapple's, mmmmmm. Don't
like apple pie, though, so I guess they'll be tossing me out of the
country sometime soon.
AEF