Wish I had read the reviews before eating here. The host that met me for my take out order was very nice and the food was ready quickly as promised but it was very bland and a little strange. My wife ordered the Garlic Chicken, while it appeared to be cooked it was very odd in appearance, like a unnatural white so she ended up not eating it. I ordered the Wok Fried Chicken which was tough and far heavier on fried then chicken but in this case that was probably a good thing. Thinking the fried rice would be the safe option we ended up having to remove all the chicken from the rice before we were comfortable eating it. Unfortunately it won't be on my list for a return it. I would give it one star but will give it two for friendly staff and quick service but for no other reason.
Review Source:Let's start with the good - good service and good egg rolls.
Short list, the good one.... now for the not so good. Â
We ordered two of the specials on the menu board.
The Walnut Shrimp was made from heavily breaded ( like corn dog breading) shrimp. Â It was barely sauced, or maybe all that breading absorbed the sauce? Â Very disappointing, it tasted like it came right out of a box.
The Seafood delight was no better. Â Miniscule watery scallops, some shrimp and fake sliced crabmeat were the basis for this dish. Â Canned mushrooms barely heated along with celery,carrots and squash were the vegetables. Â The sauce was a clear white one, tasted just like unseasoned corn starch!
No mention was made of the choice of rice, white or brown. Â We asked for hot tea - most Chinese places offer it. Â It was charged for.
If you are looking for fresh ingredients, go elsewhere. Â If you are looking for cafeteria Chinese fare in a clean place, there you go!
Chens was a disappointment, especially if you are used to Eastern US Chinese restaurants!
Chen's is 'aight.
If you're looking for basic Americanized Chinese food this far south of the Valley, then Chen's won't steer you wrong. Â The lunch specials are the way to go at roughly $5 bucks a pop.
They give you soup but no choice, just egg drop. Â They also give you a salad which I'm not very fond of. Â The ranch they use tastes funny to me, maybe like it needs less mayonnaise and more spices. Â Everyone seems to enjoy the salad though, so it could just be me.
I'll usually have Sesame Chicken or Orange Chicken or General Chicken. Â Basic stuff as the menu doesn't offer much beyond this fare. Â Another thing I've found peculiar is that they seem to use the same vegetables in most every dish. Â It's almost like they just switch up the sauces and meats.
But all in all, I keep coming back here because of the proximity to my workplace and the limited options of other Asian places around. Â Between Chen's and Asian Grill in Sun Lakes, I'd go with Asian Grill. Â But Asian Grill is like a hideout for me and all of my other co-workers crowd Chen's up on a daily basis.
It's still pretty decent, though.
I had forgetten about Chen's and happened to be driving by today, so I stopped in for lunch. Â Decided to dine in...the atmosphere is very clean and it was fairly quiet. Â I was surprised to see that the lunch combos are still only $4.95, it's really a bargain for the quality of food. Â
As I've mentioned in previous reviews, I eat a lot of asian food and, therefore, am always comparing quality, value, portion size etc. Â The lunch started off with egg drop soup which was nice and light and an iceberg salad with an asian type of ranch dressing . Â The entree (as pictured) included fried rice, a spring roll and and a crab puff, delicious. Â There was enough food left over for another meal and the service was extremely prompt and friendly.
This is a really good choice for a neighborhod chinese place in the far SE valley, either dine in or take out. Â I've never been disappointed.
My youngest daughter chose Chen's for our "date night" restaurant. Â Every couple weeks I go out one-on-one with one of the kids, my wife with the other and we switch off. Â Make sure we get some one on time with each of them. Â They pick the restaurant (within reason).
So we ordered fried wonton's by mistake (our mistake, we meant to order crab rangoon, didn't see that and ordered the first thing that sounded similar without reading thoroughly) and it was OK. Â Fried wonton filled with pork and scallion.
We also ordered the chicken fried rice. Â Again, OK. Â Nothing special, basic Chinese fried rice. Â Safe.
When it came to an entree' I said "Why don't we try something more interesting." Â My daughter said "OK", and ordered sweet and sour chicken. Â It was then it occurred to me that my kids have possibly never had sweet and sour chicken because we (and they for the most part) shy away from the standard fare at Chinese restaurants.
Anyway, the sweet and sour chicken was also OK. Â Oddly, a few of the peppers were cold as if thrown into the chicken at the last second. Â
Portions were good, there were plenty of leftovers. Â The food was such that the leftovers have only a 50/50 chance of actually being eaten...Basically 2.5 star fare.