Where to get Chinese food in Irvine?

momopi_IHB

momopi_IHB

New member
1. Chef Chen - good dinner place, gets packed easily however.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/chef-chen-irvine-2



2. Tri Village - order the northern Chinese dishes like steamed buns, large-sized pot stickers, soup noodle, etc. here. Avoid ordering other entr?es except lunch specials and rice/noodle dishes. If you're really hungry, come here for dinner and order the fried pork chop on rice.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tri-village-northern-chinese-cuisine-irvine



3. Phoenix - good for lunch or deserts, but not necessarily dinners. Quality wise, a little better than Cafe Chin Chin, LoL.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/phoenix-restaurant-irvine





For dim sum, usually people run to China Garden on Jeffery, Sam Woo on Culver, or the "fake" Sam Woo by Jeffery & Walnut. You could also try Crystal Jade in Quail Hill, their Dim Sum isn't as authentic but the place is rarely packed. The restaurant looks very nice and is a great "date" place, I just wish their food quality was higher:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/crystal-jade-irvine





For traditional Chinese breakfast on weekends, I tend to visit A&J;on Jeffery. Their quality has actually improved a little recently:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/a-and-j-restaurant-irvine





I used to eat at Nice Time Deli and Ay-Chung, but their quality has declined much in recent years. The pork chop rice at Nice Time Deli used to be really good, but is now kinda... thin.
 
for all the chinese people in town, there's sadly only second rate chinese food. i agree chef chen is the best of the bunch. try their taiwanese roast beef rolls -- think of a beef-version of peking duck.
 
I haven't tried Tri Village. But are they the same as Chef Chen?? I gathered a bunch of to-go menus from various places after I moved to Irvine. Their menus seem to be exactly the same to me.
 
[quote author="acpme" date=1215844496]for all the chinese people in town, there's sadly only second rate chinese food. .</blockquote>


I know, you would think there would be more taiwan cafes, or other hot spots. Too bad there arent any Hong Kong style Cafes with free refills on their drinks similiar to Baccali in Alhambra



Anyone know where to get some good shanghainese food around here?
 
Irvine as a whole does have a number of Chinese restaurants, not much less than Cerritos IMO. But compared to Monterey Park, Alhambra, Rowland Heights, etc., it's hard to compete.



At the very least, we have a section of various ethnic cuisines. In my parent's generation, it wasn't that easy. Back in 1957, a British TV show pulled an April Fool's day joke about Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees. Anyone today would think that's nuts, but back then spaghetti was an exotic import in the UK:

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Swiss_Spaghetti_Harvest/



Look around today. At the shopping plaza by my house, there's a Greek, Mexican, Italian, Japanese, and couple other restaurants. Our choices today are far better than our predecessors.



<img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoaxipedia/spaghetti1.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoaxipedia/spaghetti2.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoaxipedia/spaghetti3.jpg" alt="" />
 
[quote author="irvine123" date=1215844687]I haven't tried Tri Village. But are they the same as Chef Chen?? I gathered a bunch of to-go menus from various places after I moved to Irvine. Their menus seem to be exactly the same to me.</blockquote>


i don't believe so... the chef-owners at tri village are from china. peking duck carved tableside is their specialty and i see most tables order it. chef chen is taiwanese and there are some taiwanese comfort foods on their menu.
 
China Garden's dim sum is a disgrace to the culinary art. A week ago the Har Gow was disgusting and I was sorely tempted to return the food . Unbelievable that the place was packed and there was a 30 minute wait for a table. All those Irvine Chinese must be out of their collective minds. I'd prefer the drive to the Peninsula in Rowland Heights anytime. Even Denver has better dim sum than Irvine...incredible!!!
 
The places I usually eat in Cerritos are Sam Woo, Shanghai Style Restaurant (by Diho on Pioneer and 183rd) Guppy Tea House, Dolphin Bay, and Tien Tien.



I have never been to China Garden but have heard mixed reviews about it. We just went to J&J;bakery cafe and I thought the taiwanese sausage was pretty good. After eating at Sinbala in Arcadia, I've yet to find a place close in terms of sausage, but then J&J;was not that bad, just did not have a lot of meat.
 
i had dim sum at crystal jade this morning. they have the basics there. nothing too exotic and no push cart experience but for being right in town, its acceptable. there place was jam packed with chinese families waiting for a table which is always a good sign. the service and quality is 10x better than china garden. that place is downright scary.
 
Formosa in Lake Forest. It's in the Best Western on Rockfield and Boeing by McDonalds. Don't let the location fool you. It is a major SLEEPER. Authentic Taiwanese food. I was blown away. Really really good.
 
I'm sorry but there is no good Chinese food in Irvine. Need to go to San Gabriel Valley for anything decent.



The Seafood Sam Woo is okay but way too expensive.
 
[quote author="IrvineCommuter" date=1216203955]I'm sorry but there is no good Chinese food in Irvine. Need to go to San Gabriel Valley for anything decent.



The Seafood Sam Woo is okay but way too expensive.</blockquote>


I concur. I was just reading this thread and thinking about the same thing too. (sorry fellow IHBers.) I generally do not eat Chinese food in Irvine. Not a fan of driving up North just for a meal too. So, I usually wait until my travel to Asia (or Vancouver, Canada). Much better there.
 
[quote author="Boston2theBay" date=1216078072]Formosa in Lake Forest. It's in the Best Western on Rockfield and Boeing by McDonalds. Don't let the location fool you. It is a major SLEEPER. Authentic Taiwanese food. I was blown away. Really really good.</blockquote>


Here's the yelp entry for the restaurant:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/formosa-chinese-restaurant-lake-forest





The restaurant is a little hard to find. Basically you look for the McDonalds, and pull into the parking lot just before McDonalds.



Note that some dishes have different pricing for lunch and dinner, and this is probably not a "MSG free" restaurant. ;)
 
The dirty secrets of Sam Woo and 99 Ranch.



At various locations of upscale communities Sam Woo and 99 Ranch are often at the same strip mall. Sam Woo has an account with the market for meat and produce so the monetary transaction mutually benefits each other but the government.



Sam Woo often operates 2 restaurants under one license. The Seafood restaurant (nicer ambiance, expensive food, accepts credit cards) and BBQ cafe/ take out (bad ambiance, bad service, cheaper price, offers authentic dishes, CASH ONLY). The cafe side made a lot of money due to the quick "eat and go" and the frequency of patrons per table out performed the Seafood restaurant side at any time. The cash is all hidden from Uncle Sam and the expenditure and operating cost are coming out from the Seafood restaurant.
 
there's no guarantee that service and quality will be better at the seafood side either. the last time i was there we ordered satay beef. normally this dish is prepared with sliced beef, satay sauce, and onions. very simple. the waiter brought out the wrong dish which turned out to be sweet and sour beef. a few minutes later he returned with satay beef. except it was strange satay beef -- lightly-fried, mixed with green and red peppers... and <em>pineapple</em>??

in other words, it was <strong>sweet and sour beef with satay sauce</strong> thrown on top.



we told that little bald-headed mgr those are the things you pull on the gwai lo but if they want to try that nonsense with a chinese family they should change the sign to PF Changs. we have not been back.
 
[quote author="acpme" date=1216258373]there's no guarantee that service and quality will be better at the seafood side either. the last time i was there we ordered satay beef. normally this dish is prepared with sliced beef, satay sauce, and onions. very simple. the waiter brought out the wrong dish which turned out to be sweet and sour beef. a few minutes later he returned with satay beef. except it was strange satay beef -- lightly-fried, mixed with green and red peppers... and <em>pineapple</em>??

in other words, it was <strong>sweet and sour beef with satay sauce</strong> thrown on top.



we told that little bald-headed mgr those are the things you pull on the gwai lo but if they want to try that nonsense with a chinese family they should change the sign to PF Changs. we have not been back.</blockquote>


Sam Woo is definitely catering to the Caucasian patrons. They should indicate on the order slip with 3 check boxes: Caucasian, Chinese or Ipo so the chef is alert in preparing the right dish and garnishes.
 
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