Browsing Category

Chinese Restaurant

Chinese Restaurant

J. Zhou Oriental Cuisine

J Zhou Tustin exterior decor

J. Zhou in Tustin, Orange County, California is an upscale Chinese Cantonese restaurant in The District Mall. After a meal you can hit Whole Foods or the mall next door! The restaurant has been here since 2014.

Continue Reading

Sichuan Impression, Tustin

Great Sichuan Spicy food in the OC.

Sichuan Impression Tustin exterior decor

Sichuan Impression in Tustin, Orange County is the second outpost of the spicy restaurant, the others are in Alhambra and Los Angeles. We at in the LA one near UCLA in 2019. This location is located in a plain jane strip mall near Highway 5. It was recommended to us as probably the top Sichuan restaurant in the OC. Also checkout our review of nearby J Zhou, Tustin for dim sum.

Continue Reading

Cooking Papa Review, Foster City

Cooking Papa Foster City exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Cooking Papa is a popular Hong Kong style casual Chinese restaurant with locations in Foster City and Santa Clara. We have dined at the Foster City location several times. There is a line much of the time, a testing to the popularity of this restaurant. People typically wait at least 30 minutes during peak times. Our last visit was in the winter of 2018.

Continue Reading

Mission Chinese, San Francisco

Mission Hipster heaven. Modern Fusion Chinese.

Mission Chinese Food San Francisco exterior decor

Mission Chinese Food is a restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission District that used to be a popup in the Lung Shan restaurant. Mission Chinese Food has basically taken over the place with its success!

Continue Reading

China Live, San Francisco

China Live San Francisco exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – China Live is a $20 million Chinese food extravaganza from Chef George Chen and crew. (Shanghai 1930, Betelnut, etc) Very ambitious, this complex seeks to help put Chinatown back on the map along with Mister Jiu. Billed as an Eataly of Chinese Food, we were chomping at the bit to try it, but waited 3 weeks for things to settle down. The food was still marginal at that point. We returned about 2 months after it opened and found things a lot better. They focus on high quality ingredients: organic, local, etc…

Continue Reading

Shanghai Dumpling Shop, Millbrae

Shanghai Dumpling Shop Millbrae Exterior

Shanghai Dumpling Shop is a popular Shanghainese Chinese restaurant in Millbrae’s Broadway shopping district. While they have all the ‘standard’ Chinese restaurant dishes, they are specifically known for dishes from Shanghai, including dumplings even though the staff can be heard belting out Cantonese Chinese. Our last visit was in the Spring 2017.

Continue Reading

Chili House, San Francisco

Chili House San Francisco exterior decor

Hot Stuff! Why did we dine here? – Chili House is a Chinese restaurant in the SF Richmond district. It is special because in November 2015, Tong Gang Wang became the chef at Chili House. He has cooked for several Presidents in China. This is a sister restaurant to Z&Y Sichuan restaurant in SF’s Chinatown. With the new chef, there is more Beijing food on the menu, like hand-pulled noodles, Beijing pot stickers and lamb hot pot. This restaurant reminds us of China Village in Albany.

Continue Reading

Chef Zhao Kitchen, Palo Alto

Chef Zhao Kitchen Palo Alto exterior decor

Soup Dumplings! Why did we dine here? – Chef Zhao Kitchen is a Shanghai Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto, near 101 and Embarcadero. This is a sister restaurant to Cupertino’s Shanghai Garden.
Confusing things, Chef Zhao Bistros in Mountain View and San Mateo are unrelated both cuisine-wise and with owners. This restaurant has been getting some good local buzz, so it was time to check it out.

Continue Reading

King Hua, Alhambra

King Hua Alhambra Exterior Decor

Why did we dine here? – Per the guru: King Hua is one of the top 3 Cantonese Chinese restaurants in the SGV aka San Gabriel Valley. The other two are Sea Harbour and Elite. (Lunasia does not belong in the top 3) We have been to the other 2, so it was time to try the last one. Sea Harbour has been our favorite to date.

Continue Reading

Mister Jiu’s, San Francisco

Mister Jius San Francisco exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Mister Jiu’s (Bar Agricole) is Brandon Jew’s long awaited Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He took years to remodel the old Four Seas restaurant and assemble a cast of pros (Pastry Chef Melissa Chou – Aziza) with solid pedigrees. It was at the top of our hit list, but we somehow managed to give them two weeks to get into their groove. Not a large restaurant, but a clean modern look with a large stenciled drawing on the wall. (It too 4 1/2 years to do) Initial reports from Yelp feel into the disappointing 3 star range.

Continue Reading

Xian Famous Foods, New York City

Xian Famous Foods New York Exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Shockingly Good! Xian Famous Foods was made famous when Anthony Bourdain featured it on this TV show, No Reservations. The restaurant was recommended to us, so we had to add it to our NYC hit list. They have several locations in New York and Flushing, so we decided to eat at the Chinatown location as we were touring the city. In 2019 we ate at the West Village location.

Continue Reading

San Tung Restaurant, San Francisco

San Tung San Francisco Exterior Decor

San Tung and San Tung #2 are a popular Chinese restaurant in the inner Sunset of San Francisco. They serve northern Chinese food that has some Korean influence, as the San Tung region of China is near Korea, hence the free Kim Chee. We have eaten here many, many times, back to when it was located west of here. Our latest visit occurred at the end of Summer 2017 to San Tung #2, when we noticed prices up a bit.

Continue Reading

So Restaurant, San Francisco

So San Francisco exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – So is a sister restaurant to San Tung and San Tung #2, run by James Chu. It sued to be located at Irving at 24th avenue. We were stuck in traffic, so it way more fun stopping to eat here! We have dined here in the past and love the fact that we can get the legendary wingz across from the SOMA Trader Joe’s complex, without schlepping out to the Sunset district.

Continue Reading

Beijing Restaurant, San Francisco

Beijing Restaurant San Francisco Exterior

Beijing Restaurant San Francisco is a Beijing style Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s Excelsior district that opened in early 2009. Located a couple blocks off Highway 280 near City College, this place has gotten lots of hype on Chowhound. It is a family owned place that focuses on authentic Beijing dishes. Basketball player Yao Ming had been here 2 days earlier to one of our visits. We dined here last in 2016 when we learned they have added a location in the South Bay.

Continue Reading

Eden Silk Road Cuisine, Fremont

Eden Silk Road Cuisine Fremont Exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Eden Silk Road Cuisine is a new Chinese Uyghur Halal Style restaurant in Fremont. There are very few restaurants serving authentic Uyghur food from the Xinjiang region of China, unfortunately best known for ethnic violence. Uyghur Taamliri in San Francisco is located in a bar. This restaurant is part of a large catering firm from China. Interesting decor that is clearly from China. They promise to open more Uyghur resturants in the US soon.

Continue Reading

Hakka Restaurant, San Francisco

Hakka restaurant San Francisco exterior decor

Hakka Restaurant SF is a family run Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond District that opened in early 2010. It has garnered some foodie attention on chowhound. While they serve a wide variety of Chinese dishes including Americanized standbys, they are known for their regional Chinese specialties. We returned for to go in late 2015.

Continue Reading

Xiecheng Seafood & Hotpot, Macau

Xiecheng Seafood Hotpot Macau exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Xiecheng Seafood & Hotpot is a popular restaurant in Macau. This restaurant group owns many different restaurants through out Asia including Jinyuexuan. Our friend recommended this restaurant, and we noticed you will not find it in tour books, nor on Trip Advisor. This place is not located on a central street, so you may need a taxi to reach it.

Continue Reading

Kingdom of Dumpling, San Francisco

Kingdom of Dumpling San Francisco Exterior Decor

Why did we dine here? – Kingdom of Dumpling is a small Chinese restaurant specializing in dumplings. Being large dumpling fans, we decided to finally give this place a try. There are few restaurants with this variety of dumplings on the menu. The place has been featured on Check Please, so it has become busier over the years. Lots of to go orders. Our last visit was in July 2016.

Continue Reading

Lei Garden Guangzhou Dinner, China

Lei Garden Guangzhou

Why did we dine here? – Lei Garden is a top restaurant group with locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Macau. In late 2014 we had dinner at the Guangzhou location of Lei Garden, based on our local friends re-iteration that even this location serves up great food. Interesting to hear that the Xi Jinping’s crackdown has affected business at this restaurant too. Government officials do not want to be caught near any fancy restaurants any more. This location takes up one floor and is 50% made up of private rooms.

Continue Reading

Zi Yat Heen, Macau

Why did we dine here? – Zi Yat Heen is the Chinese restaurant at the Four Seasons Macau. We were staying in the hotel and saw that this restaurant had two Michelin stars, making it a no brainer to eat here. We knew nothing about the restaurant, so off we go on another dim sum adventure. Prior to this, we were in Taiwan, so we missed traditional high end Cantonese fare.

Zi Yat Heen Macau interior decor

Continue Reading

MGM Macau Rossio Buffet, Macau

250lb Wagyu beef roast?

MGM Macau Rossio buffet interior decor

Why did we dine here? – MGM Macau Rossio Buffet is the main buffet at this huge resort in Macau. Macau is China’s Las Vegas, and generates $44 billion in gambling revenue in 2014, compared to $6 billion in Las Vegas. Clearly Macau has become the biggest gambling area around. We stayed here for one night to see how the small country has changed.

Continue Reading

Jia Jia Tang Bao Review, Shanghai

Best xiao long bao in Shanghai?

Jia Jia Tang Bao Shanghai exterior decor

Jia Jia Tang Bao (佳家汤包) is a small but popular Shanghai steamed dumpling or Xiaolongbao shop in Shanghai. Our first visit was in 2010, our last in late 2014. In 4 years, the facade outside has improved, but we swear the interior is exactly the same.

Continue Reading

Fu Chun, Shanghai

Fu Chun Shanghai exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Fu Chun is well known as one of the most authentic Xiao long Bao restaurants in Shanghai. They have been in existence for many decades. They have many locations around the city, (10 stores, mostly in shopping centers) we chose the one that was the closest to our hotel near People’s Square. Note: this location is slated to close as a new high end shopping center is displacing it. More progress.

Continue Reading

Da Chun, Shanghai

Da Chun Shanghai exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Da Chun is an old school Sheng jian bao restaurant. We love Yang’s Dumplings (Xiao Yang) and try to eat there everytime we visit Shanghai, but made sure we visit the harbinger of this genre. This restaurant has several locations, yet we chose the Da Shi Jie outpost as it is supposed to be the best.

Continue Reading

Yang’s Dumpling, Shanghai

Dumplings worth flying across the Pacific Ocean for…

Yangs Dumpling Shanghai exterior decor

Yang’s Dumpling – Chinese name: 小杨生煎馆 or xiao yang sheng jian guan – is a small but popular fried dumpling shop serving pan fried pork bun or Sheng jian bao, a Shanghainese Chinese dish. It was formed in Shanghai in 1994 by Mrs. Yang, who still keeps her recipe secret. They have over 20 locations in Shanghai and are opening another more all the time. We dined at the closest location to our hotel near People’s Square.

Continue Reading

Shihlin Night Market, Taipei Taiwan

Shilin Night Market Taipei entrance

The Shihlin Night Market in Taipei, Taiwan is a must visit for food loving travelers. It is obviously located in the Shilin District of Taipei, just a couple blocks from the Jiantan MRT subway station. (Not Shihlin Station) This is the largest and most famous night market in the city and typically starts up around 4pm in the afternoon.

Continue Reading

Shin Yeh 101, Taipei, Taiwan

Shin Yeh Taipei 101 Taiwan view

Why did we dine here? – Shin Yeh at Taipei 101 is the flagship restaurant for this local restaurant group. This particular Shin Yeh is located on the 85th floor of the Taipei 101 Skyscraper. We were looking for a high end restaurant to celebrate Christmas and settled on this place. Of note, there really aren’t a lot of fine dining Taiwanese restaurants here. Night markets, small local places are all over the place. If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Continue Reading

Dumpling Kitchen Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Dumpling Kitchen San Francisco exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Dumpling Kitchen is a Shanghai, Chinese restaurant in the outer Sunset of San Francisco. We are big dumpling fans, and heard that they had some worthy candidates. The person who runs this restaurant is the brother of a former owner of Shanghai Dumpling King. Last visit was in March 2015. This place is busy on the weekends.

Continue Reading

Little Sichuan Restaurant, San Mateo

Little Sichuan San Mateo Exterior

Little Sichuan is a Sichuan Chinese Restaurant located in Downtown San Mateo next to legendary foodie hangout Draegar’s. It has been around for many years but changed hands in 2007. The former co-owner and chef used to run Classic Sichuan Restaurant in Millbrae. Do not confuse this place with others with similar names. Many folks stopped coming after the change in ownership including ourselves. It was time to check Little Sichuan out again in October 2010, after another year. This is a place to come for Sichuan dishes like noodles, not for generic Americanized Chinese food such as Beef Broccoli. classic Cantonese Chinese dishes that are better down the block at Champagne Seafood or HK Causeway Bay. Our last visit was in March 2014.

Continue Reading

The Kitchen Dinner Restaurant Review, Millbrae

The Kitchen Millbrae Exterior

The Kitchen is part of a restaurant group that owns highly regarded Chinese Cantonese restaurants in California including Asian Pearl Peninsula. We’ve been to most of them and find them pretty good. This review concentrates on dinner.  The food here is pretty authentic Chinese Cantonese food, so some may not like this type of more hardcore cuisine. Do not come here for General’s Chicken or Broccoli Beef. Another review covers The Kitchen dim sum lunch. Our last visit for dinner was in 2015, a meal where we found that their quality has improved. We’d consider this #2 behind Koi Palace. The Kitchen has recently remodeled the dining room, making it much more open, spacious, and modern.

Continue Reading

Cuisine Cuisine, Hong Kong

Whisk Sunday Brunch Hong Kong (9)

Why did we dine here? – Cuisine Cuisine is a One Michelin star restaurant in the posh Hotel Mira (They had 2 Michelin stars in the past), which is renowned for having Edward Snowden, the US whistleblower, stay. Executive Chef Lee Yuk Lam has a ton of experience cooking fine Chinese fare. This hotel is conveniently located in the middle of the main Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district. Other parts of our party were dining upstairs at the Whisk Sunday Brunch Buffet. This restaurant has received many accolades and also has a branch in the swanky IFC shopping center on Hong Kong Island. The IFC branch looks exquisite and is full of financial types on an given day. Cuisine Cuisine is owned and operated by the Miramar Group, which runs many fine establishments. A Beijing location opened in 2011.

Continue Reading

Bo Innovation Restaurant Review, Hong Kong

Bo Innovation Hong Kong Exterior Decor

Why did we dine here? – Bo Innovation is a molecular gastronomy Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong’s Wanchai District hidden away down an alley and upstairs. They were featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations TV show way back in 2008. Bo received two Michelin Stars in the latest edition of the Hong Kong Michelin guide, previously had one star. Chef Alvin Leung Jr, is a bit of a renegade and has attracted a lot of attention world wide. He was not in the kitchen on our visit.

Continue Reading

Hong Kong Restaurant Review, Palo Alto

Hong Kong Restaurant Palo Alto exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Hong Kong Restaurant opened in 2012 in Palo Alto, where several restaurants including a Thai one had come and gone.
Over the last couple of months, it has established itself as the go to Chinese restaurant in this area. We have eaten there for dinner as well as for a for a fixed menu meal. Our last visit was in February 2014.

Continue Reading

Fey Restaurant Restaurant Review, Menlo Park

Fey Menlo Park exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Fey Restaurant recently opened in Menlo Park. It has gotten positive buzz, so we decided to give it a try. The owner has owned many different Sichuan Chinese restaurants including Little Sichuan in San Mateo and Classic Sichuan in Millbrae. She has built up a fan base and hopefully has found a restaurant that has some staying power.
The restaurant features somewhat neo-classical lighting and decor, probably from China. They have a small parking lot in the back, so you might have to park on El Camino Real.

Continue Reading

Shanghai Dumpling King, San Francisco

Best xiao long bao in San Francisco?

Shanghai Dumpling King San Francisco Interior

Shanghai Dumpling King is a Shanghainese Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s outer Richmond district. It was recently featured on Check Please. They have a weekday lunch rice plate special menu. Our latest visit was in 2013, after 4 years. We were in search of the best Shanghai steamed dumplings in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Continue Reading

Din Tai Fung Restaurant Review, Bellevue, WA

Din Tai Fung Bellevue exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Din Tai Fung is a popular Xiao Long Bao (small bamboo steamer bun in Chinese) – Shanghai Steamed dumpling restaurant with locations in Bellevue, Los Angeles, Taipei, Japan, China, Singapore, and several other countries. We have dined at the location in Din Tai Fung’s Shanghai’s touristy Xintiandi and Din Tai Fung Hong Kong. The Los Angeles location is in Arcadia with Yelp reviews unfortunately indicating it is a step down from the ones abroad, although some say it is better than the original in Taiwan.

Continue Reading

Foodnut.com’s Beginners Introduction to an Authentic Chinese Dinner

Introduction

Welcome to Foodnut.com’s Beginners Introduction to an Authentic Chinese dinner. This article follows our Beginner Introduction to Chinese dim sum. In this guide you will find a comprehensive introduction to Chinese Food that will help guide you in your new exploration into Chinese food. Authentic Chinese food is foreign to many people, so we thought it would be useful to write up a short tutorial on what to expect, and what to order.

We would like to help people expand beyond the usual potstickers, broccoli beef, sweet-and-sour pork, General Tso’s chicken, etc. No sharks fin dishes here. Many Chinese restaurants can be a loud and intimidating place with lots of different foods, faces, and languages being spoken. We are seeking to bridge the gap and get more folks into world of Chinese dining. No more looking around at other tables and pointing their dishes.

Continue Reading

By using our site you agree to our: Privacy PolicyTerms of Use.

Subscribe to the Free Foodnut Newsletter