Good Chinese restaurant recs for a novice

paydawg

paydawg

Active member
I'm looking for a good Chinese restaurant in Irvine that is authentic (no PF Changs) but not TOO authentic (only meat we eat is chicken and shrimp -- and less spicy).  Seems like all the good restaurants around here are too authentic for me and my family.  Any suggestions?
 
I know not what you mean by authentic.  Everything in Irvine is pretty safe.  Some places in Monterey park serve frog legs but nothing like overseas authentic. 
That being said, I like aj's, china garden on Jeffrey, all the Sam woo's, Asian tapas in Woodbury
Not in Irvine, but I really like DTF in south coast
 
I also think that Capital Seafood is a good recommendation. It's a modern take on chinese cuisine.
 
Ren in Orchard Hills is decent.  The menu'ed items are geared for the general public, while the stuff on the white board menu is for the more adventurous.  Mongolian beef is decent as well as the saut?ed prawns.  Garlic noodles with chicken is great for takeout, we actually pan fry it again the next day to crisp the noodles for extra flavor.  Believe there is a 20% off coupon now on shopirvinecompany.  It's for 1 item, but depending on which wait staff, they might apply the discount to the entire order :)
 
What he is saying is he wants something more authentic than Chin Chin's, but not authentic to the point where you stand out like an albino deer.

Try Capital Noodle Bar in Irvine or Costa Mesa:http://noodle-irvine.capital-seafood.com/download/noodle_20150804.pdf

They have a small selection of dishes with chicken, seafood, and duck (if you eat duck).  For dishes that are beef or pork, you can ask the manager if they can prep it with chicken for you.  Possible with some dishes but not others.

Be warned that the noodle soup base could be made from pork or beef bone, so double check with the kitchen.


For a special treat, you can contact the chef/owner at Kappo Hana (Japanese) in Laguna Hills and see if he can put together a kaiseki meal for you based on your dietary needs.
http://www.kappohana.com/
 
IHS convinced me a while back:

China Garden is disgusting.  How's the bathroom?  Still nasty?  Just think they LET you see the bathroom, makes you shudder what conditions the kitchen operates at.  Good old Sam Woo on Culver is still my go to canto place.
 
Been there maybe over 100 times and over 10 years.  I've never used the restroom aside from washing hands. 
Most public restrooms are disgusting.  Maybe except for Bloomingdales and certain nordstroms.
 
How about Tasty Garden? Since it's a Hong Kong Cafe there are western influences, milk tea in a glass boot anyone? Also their other items like wonton noodle soup, salt and pepper pork chops, and steamed chicken with ginger sauce are legit. My fave there is the baked porkchop: rice, porkchops, smothered in tomato sauce and you can have it with pasta so it's basically HK style spaghetti and tomato sauce.
 
ps9 said:
IHS convinced me a while back:

China Garden is disgusting.  How's the bathroom?  Still nasty?  Just think they LET you see the bathroom, makes you shudder what conditions the kitchen operates at.  Good old Sam Woo on Culver is still my go to canto place.
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Doesn't a disgusting bathroom make it more authentic?

When I would go to Puente Hills or Monterrey Park, all the highly rated authentic places had disgusting bathrooms and sometimes mice.
 
Whatever hk has, there are worse ones in mainland. 
Hole in the floor anyone?
 
This thread isn't heading in a good direction  :p

I agree with all the posters above. The bathrooms here in the US are glorious compared to those overseas. Don't make me post pictures...
 
B2FiNiTY said:
The bathrooms here in the US are glorious compared to those overseas. Don't make me post pictures...
Click to expand...

Only until people from hole-in-the-floor countries climb up onto the toilet seat and squat on it. At my old job this happened. all. the. time. Seats would break. People would slip and fall in. Splatter everywhere. We had to call the fire department a few times to free a person whose foot/leg was stuck really badly inside the toilet. Usually at least 1-2 stalls would be closed per day for maintenance and repair due to improper usage. Sometimes they would fall in but get out and leave a little flood of tainted water all over the bathroom floor or put used t.p. in the trash can instead of the toilet. I would imagine it might be like this at the restaurants, too, no??
 
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