China Bee Restaurant Review, San Mateo

Reviewer: Foodnut.com China Bee 31 South B Street (Near 1st Avenue) San Mateo, CA 94401 650-348-1889

China Bee is a Chinese Restaurant in Downtown San Mateo, near the Caltrain station. This restaurant has been here for at least 10 years and focuses on Taiwanese Chinese Cuisine. They have $6.50 – $6.95 lunch rice plate specials during the weekday. They have additional special menu items on the weekends. China Bee specializes in dishes like Stinky Tofu and Spicy Beef Noodle soup.

Decor, Vibe – Typical low key family owned Chinese restaurant decor, clean but not at all fancy. Families, couples, friends were eating dinner when we went. A good mix of Asians and Non Asians. Lots of to go orders. Our last visit was at the end of 2010 and we could smell stinky tofu in the air!

Menu Pictures (Click to zoom into any picture)

Full China Bee Menu Set – The Chinese specials menu has additional items not on the English one.

Picks:

Pork Chop Noodle Soup ($6.50) is a classic that had some freshly deep fried pork chop along with a heaping of hot and thick yellowy egg noodle soup. Lite batter on the pork chop, no egg batter sloppiness. Nice portion size and tasty beef broth.

Rice Cake with Nappa Cabbage ($6.95) was a solid version of the dish with lots of shredded pork and tender rice cakes.

Green Onion Pancake ($3.95) was a stack of hot fried goodness. Crispy, though onion flavors were a bit restrained and the thickness of the pancake was on the high side, but this was a solid version.

Fried chicken wings ($7.50) was a stack of freshly fried excellent chicken wings. No sauce but a slightly zesty flavor.

Blanched Vegetables ($7.50) were fresh “A-Choy” that were cooked quickly so they remained crunchy and not soggy. A touch of garlic and oil for flavor. They were a bit out of season in late 2010 and tasted bitter, so don’t order it in Winter.

OK:

Xiao Long Bao or steamed dumplings ($6.95) were eight freshly steamed pork dumplings filled with soup. A solid version but the wrapper was too thick. The filling and soup were of good quality and tasted pretty good. Inconsistent output as the last ones lacked soup in some dumplings.

Fried Tofu ($7.95) with shredded pork, onions, black beans was a pretty average dish. A little greasy and mushy.

Three Cup Chicken ($7.95) was slightly spicy, dry and did not have enough sauce. 5 Joy’s in Foster City’s version is the nearby reference.

Pans:
None

China Bee had friendly and competent service. The food was good, quantities healthy, and priced reasonably making it a good place to visit if you are looking for this style of Chinese food nearby. Foster City’s 5 Joy offers you a step up in terms of food and decor.

Restaurant Map: