Best Chinese Restaurant Ever (ingredients, hamburgers, fast food, pizza)

[Tobiashen]

What's your favorite Chinese restaurant of all time? Where was it, and what did you like about it in particular?

I recall three, and two are in the same city - San Angelo, Texas! One is Bamboo Garden, which, ironically, in the middle of barbecue and beef country, had the best Chop Suey I've ever had. I used to go there at least three times a week for lunch. The other one in that city was the Mathis Field Cafe, at the airport. They had the best Garlic Shrimp I've ever had. It was cheap, fast, and at the time, not many people knew about it, but I MISS IT!!!!

The other Chinese restaurant that really surprised me was a cool little dive in the Main Street of Durango, Colorado. We weren't expecting much because we'd been traveling and it was after dusk on some week night, plus my then-husband was a vegetarian, so it was always a chore to try to find a place where he could eat

BUT this place, and I can't recall the name or if it's even still there, had the best, freshest ingredients, and we were astounded, it was so good. We almost ordered again! I got Crab Rangoon and some kind of shredded spinach-cabbage dish that came in a huge bowl and was STEAMING. It was like a movie set; it was on the bottom floor (street level) of what looked to be a row of old buildings about four stories high. The restaurant was built shotgun-style, and there were old green vinyl booths along the side. I also think there were apartments or some kind of living quarters on top of this place.

I think the best places are very often those you just "come upon" and remember forever.

And the best pizza I ever had was in Amherst, Massachusetts, but that's another thread!

[Dirt Grinder]

Let me think... Chinese food in America... Chop Suey... you can't find it in China... Other "Chinese" dishes... lots of sugar and not very good - also not found in China.

I'm pretty sure the "Best Chinese Restaurant Ever" isn't in the US.

[mainebrokerman]

i love the chinese buffets,,,dont care if authentic chinese food or not.....i like the pupu platters

there's a place here called the great wall buffet....love the place,,,huge,,buffet style


a year ago i was in chinatown nyc, for two weeks,,,every other night i went to an "authentic" chinese restaurant..
not one friggin pupu platter on the menu,,, "thats americanized" food.....
maybe so,,,but thats all i had in maine,,and i liked it,,

i had all these authentic dishes,,,and id rather have the pupu platter, or the buffet - which i didnt see there
ive got to say,,the chinese waitresses were very easy on the eyes..

[BIGBLUE 951SUR]

Magic wok in corona california
Its a fast food joint with the best chow mien and tangerine chicken. And unlike panda express this place packs it on so much that you can barely get the lid closed on the foam plate. You get rice chow mien and two choices of meat for 5 bucks! Its so much food that a lot of couples share a plate. The only downside is the place is jammed packed every day with a very long line that extends outside and into the parking lot. You'll be standing in line under the scorching sun for at least 45 minutes until you get your food but its so worth it

[kevxu]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

Let me think... Chinese food in America... Chop Suey... you can't find it in China... Other "Chinese" dishes... lots of sugar and not very good - also not found in China.

I'm pretty sure the "Best Chinese Restaurant Ever" isn't in the US.

There sure are good ones though.

If you work with any Chinese people who are first or second generation, just ask them where their family goes out to for Chinese food. I used to live just a few blocks north of Manhattan's China town, and I found many wonderful restaurants on my own over the years, but the best ones were those recommended by Chinatown residents I worked with.

[Chava61]

The best Chinese food that I ever was in China and my favorite restaurant was one that the foreigners called "The Red Door" near the Shandong University of Science & Technology campus in Jinan.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

Let me think... Chinese food in America... Chop Suey... you can't find it in China... Other "Chinese" dishes... lots of sugar and not very good - also not found in China.

I'm pretty sure the "Best Chinese Restaurant Ever" isn't in the US.

That's not true for all of America.

For instance, the San Gabriel Valley, east of LA, is a majorly-Chinese area, and in cities like El Monte and Alhambra you'd be hard pressed to find Chop Suey or anything of the sort. You can easily find very authentic Chinese food all over California; even if they have stuff like Orange Chicken and Mongolian Beef on the menu to appeal to Westerners, they still have a menu full of other stuff that's quite authentic. Same goes for Boston, NYC, and to an extent Seattle (though only in the International District. Most Chinese restaurants outside the ID are actually pretty inauthentic).

The three best Chinese restaurants I've been to: two of them are here in Guangzhou, China (surprise!). One of them is a Halal/Muslim Chinese place, so they prepare a lot of Northeastern dishes. The sauces are much more delicate and precise than the sort of sauces you get at American Chinese places, and they make their own noodles and bread fresh in the kitchen. You can get a plate of cabbage and peppers in a hot and sour sauce over flat noodles for the equivalent of $2.

The other is a very upscale Buddhist vegetarian/vegan restaurant that's in Xiaogang Park. So, so, so delicious... small portions but everything was so flavorful and delicate and made with so much care it was unforgettable. For four of us, the bill came out to be about the equivalent of $25 USD.

The other was a Chinese place in Cambridge, MA called New Asia. Unforunately, they closed a few months ago A real shame, because their food was absolutely amazing and unforgettable. It was really funny when I'd look at the Yelp comments, and you'd get all these wannabe food snobs who think that they're cultured blab on about how it was "bland" (it wasn't) or automatically slam it because they had some American Chinese standards on the menu. They were idiots... the place was ridiculously good and they had plenty of authentic foods on the menu that were interesting even if they weren't palatable to most. Dark vinegar, agaric mushroom, carrot, and wheat noodle soup, for instance... oh my lord, so good.

Also just thought that I'd throw in that yes, you can get sweet and sour sauce, ma po tofu, hot and sour sauces and soup, hot pot, etc over here. Braised beef with broccoli is quite common. Scallion pancakes, called tson yon bin, are also very popular.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

Let me think... Chinese food in America... Chop Suey... you can't find it in China... Other "Chinese" dishes... lots of sugar and not very good - also not found in China.

I'm pretty sure the "Best Chinese Restaurant Ever" isn't in the US.

My thoughts exactly: the same is true with man Mexican restaurants, etc. but still, as a child and a teen I did have a favorite Chinese restaurant. It was in China Town, near downtown Los Angeles. I think it was a favorite because the first time a date took me to dinner we ate there. I had eating there before and several times after, but that date was special. It was the night of our last day in our JR year of high school. We were celebrating being seniors. After dinner we went to a movie and then out for hamburgers. He had to call my parents to let them know how late we would be getting home. I don't remember the movie but I do remember the name of the restaurant: It was the Golden Pagoda. And if anyone cares, you probably don't it was 59 years ago.

[ukiyo-e]

When I lived in San Francisco I went to several authentic Chinese restaurants that were amazing. But they didn't serve "American" Chinese food like chop suey, stir fries with celery or carrots, etc. Nothing wrong with those foods if you like them, but they aren't real Chinese food.

[weltschmerz]

I used to have a favourite Chinese restaurant here in Chinatown, but I stopped going because they served shark fin soup.