After seeing this come up on Yelp as highest rated in our area, we had to try it. Â Ordered delivery from this place tonight. Â Delivery came in a decent time (30 min) and it was delicious! Â We ordered sweet and sour chicken (great, the chicken was all white meat and breaded, tasted fresh, not too greasy), chicken in garlic brown sauce (seriously I could drink this chicken and sauce combination), and beef chow fun (my boyfriend said the best chow fun noodles he's ever had, and the beef was tender and tasty). Â Everything was hot and fresh. Â You can tell its made with love. Â BEST Chinese food we've found so far since moving to Skokie (which they will deliver to!) Â Another plus: the cutest old Chinese man delivering it to me and thanking me a million times. Â Love it. Â Will definitely be ordering from them again.
Review Source:For most of my life i loved China Chef. Â Too oily but great flavors. Â Free Tea was a great move. But i stopped coming here because despite making lots of money here and sitting on a goldmine, Art's son hasn't dumped a dime in this spot in ages. Â Too greedy to re-invest in the very profitable business your customers have made it.
Review Source:I ordered the Szechuan Beef with Green Beans. Â It was heavenly! Â The green beans were crunchy and had the perfect wok burn marks. Â The overall flavor was smokey sweet with a hint of sesame oil. Â The beef was tender and juicy and packed with flavor. Â The rice had the perfect wok taste as well. Â Thank you, I have become a regular lunchtime customer!
Review Source:I am mad at myself for just finding out about this place. Like many Filipino Americans, we like Chinese places for family dinners, not sure why we always end up doing Chinese, but we just do. it was my brother's birthday dinner outing and I was running late. I had a little bit of a background earlier that week from my mother. she tells me that they make some Filipino dishes and all their food is great. Apparently her and my pops have eaten there several times that month. I knew it was going to be good if the critical Chinese food connoisseur parents approved.
like I stated earlier, I was running late. I was delighted to find out that the food was already ordered and brought to the table. Crispy chicken with prawn chips was juicy and tender. Friend shrimp and meat egg rolls were out of this world! Mongolian beef-you had me at hello. It was probably the best I have ever had (that's a bold statement). Pancit canton (Filipino dish) was cooked to my standard and was spectacular. Fried rice was good. usually Chinese places over salt the food and I am glad to know that they didn't do that. Â The decor is a bit dated but the food quality makes up for that.
There is a lot of seating for all sized groups because they have two different rooms. The service was exceptional and lots of parking. Pricing is reasonable. So the parents and I now share the same love for this place. China Chef, you just made me a life long customer!
Best Mongolian Beef hands down. Â I rate Chinese restaurants based off their Mongolian Beef. Â This was the first place I've ever tried Mongolian Beef at. Â I have tried other places and keep coming back to China Chef. Â The meat is not chewy and its flavored perfectly. Â It is spicy but not too spicy. Â There are white fluffy crunch noodles on top. Â It has the right amount of scallions/ green onions in it. Â The best Mongolian Beef.
All their other dishes for me personally are average with everyone else's. Â Their shrimp is also not the cleanest or the freshest. Â I've had some better tasting Honey Walnut Shrimp from The Pine Yard in Evanston- but nobody can beat the Chef's Mongolian Beef. Â
I just feel like their chicken and shrimp could come from better stocks of meat but still on par with most places. Â
They have good deal on lunch specials too.
Our area doesn't exactly boast some quality Chinese places. So yes, the 20 minute drive to China chef is worth the drive for some Walnut shrimp, shrimp fried rice and some mango bubble tea. Â
Walnut shrimp were plump juicy shrimp, encased in the mystery sauce that's just as good as the mystery sauce In and Out does on their burgers. Â How do they create these concotions? (LIGHTBULB ABOVE). Well, as I just learned, there is an actual chef position called a Saucier, one who creates sauces. Â
Shaking my head , waking myself up from being sidetracked...So the walnut shrimp. Â Plump, thickly breaded, sauce just right. Â Shrimp fried rice was good, mango bubble tea decent. Â
We only ordered out, so I can't comment on the service there. However, it was nice that they placed our order in a take out box. Â Prevents card spillage. Â Nice touch.
Although, I already reviewed China Chef, I just HAD to tell everyone what happened tonight. As we were served, a new father hijacked the booth directly across from us and changed his baby's diaper directly on the seat. Staff acted oblivious and later an unsuspecting family was seated there. Should I call the health department? Why didn't the dad take the child to the restroom? Will NOT be returning ~ health code violation!
Review Source:Man, I was not even prepared for this. Â I just randomly happened to be in this area and hungry. Â The trusty old mobile informed me that there was a chinese place not far from where I was so I ventured a try. Â Really I was already wincing just hoping it wasn't some greasy soggy mess/buffet kind of thing.
Food: The menu is pretty diverse and has a huge Filipino section (Filipino owned?). Â Next time I'll try some of the items on that list. Â Anyway, avoiding the tedium of scrutinizing every single item I had, suffice it to say that the food comes out fresh, well seasoned, and not oily. Â The pot stickers also come with vinegar instead of garlic soy sauce, and I dig the variety. Â The only flaw was that the egg drop soup was luke warm and a little too yolky. Â
Service: Chinese Realism is the best word to describe it: nonchalant directness without any effusiveness. Â They substituted an item in one of the dishes with little hassle so they're fine by me.
Ambiance: standard Chinese food decor - slightly on the cold side, big booths and vinyl everywhere. Â No complaints.
I would definitely make a trip come back.
This was what my husband and I would call Gringo food- more geared to the American palate than authentic. Â Egg rolls tasted of peanut butter, the lumpia were sad, the egg drop soup had noodles in it and so much cornstarch the spoon would stand up in it. Â The Kung Pao shrimp was pretty tasty but not spicy at all and was half peanuts, the Egg Foo Yong was terribly overcooked and bland. And the fried rice was soaked with oil and soy sauce, no vegetables at all. Â It made me want to open a Chinese restaurant in Morton Grove.
Review Source:China Chef was the very first restaurant I've dined in when I was literally, in it's truest sense...a FOB...like 3hours off the plane...so I guess FOP..:) That was some 20+/- years ago. Â As I recall my FOB taste buds were just so confused and not yet honed to welcoming new tastes in my palate, as overwhelmed and confused to what this new world I've set my feet in is about to bring into my life, so everything was new and China Chef did not really create excitement for me also the fact that I've got nothing to compare it with at that time. China Chef became a regular go-to place for me...it was near home and became so familiar so I guess that's the reason why I never raved about China Chef then. Until I moved to Cali, it's when each time I visit Chicago that I developed this craving coming back to China Chef. Today was one of those glorious days that I'm back here, fitting in my hectic schedule trying to meet everyone I needed to see...FAMILY DINNER! I was secretly wishing it would be at China Chef, until I got my prayers answered when my aunt told me it is in fact China Chef...the place to be!! I was so happy!! We got in and I see the same staff serving...felt like old times.
China Chef already have a set-up menu for family meal and this is what we ordered:
Special No.1 for 8 to 10
Ho Do Tai Soup- served in a huge bowl but served by your server in your individual cups...service deluxe!! This is the most delicious Ho Do Tai i've tasted!
Fried crispy chicken(whole)- was juicy and I always pair it with their special sweet and sour sauce in their very own dispenser...sweet and tangy, not spicy!! My fave!!
Fried chicken skin-- hmm did I miss this one from our table?
Fried calamari ring- not salty...subtle flavor
Pancit guisado-- Â is the noodle where you can lose the noodle from all the trimmings-veggies, sauce and meat...delicious!
Crab w/ Lobster Sauce...superb!!
Steamed whole fish...yummy!!
Mongolian beef-- has subtle taste of salt, sweet, sour and spicy nestled in it's crunchy ricesticks
I'm not a fan of the food below, so I won't be able to tell you how these tasted not until tomorrow from my to-go box..:)
Sweet & sour pork..
Chinese Broccoli w/ oyster sauce
Triple sea
Crispy whole shrimp
Combo fried rice
was $134.95 Now $119.95
China Chef's taste never fail me, then and now for twenty years!!
What can I say...food I love with the people I love...perfection!!
Within walking distance from work, this is a hard place not to love. They're always really friendly and I've never had to wait for a table.
I'm a huge fan of Chinese food and have been looking for a place that has Szechuan String Beans that I actually love- and this place has it! I will admit that the Szechuan chicken & string beans is really the only thing I get there but when you find something you love it's hard to venture away. The meal deals are pretty nice, you get soup, rice and an entree generally under $8, if you add $1 you can get egg rolls or Crab Rangoon with your meal. Most of the time I'll just do without, because I generally end up taking half of my food back to work with me.
This is a good spot for fast, tasty and nicely priced take out. AND they have bubble tea, nothing better than ending a good meal with an Avocado smoothing & tapioca!
I thought I'd finally found a Chinese Restaurant that doesn't use MSG...they don't put any additional in, but they do have it in the soy sauce.
For clarifications, I asked if it's just in the packets that we take home, or in the stuff they use when cooking the food? Â
She said the MSG is in the soy sauce that they use in making the food.
ugh...almost.
Still looking for an MSG-free Chinese Restaurant outside of Chicago (I know a few in Chicago, but too far to drive when hungry).
A couple weeks back I was craving egg rolls. I wanted the fat kind with the full on cabbage and pork and shrimp and I remembered that these egg rolls are similar to Kow Kow's in Lincolnwood. Â So we stopped in for the first time in years, and I see they made some improvements to the inside (new coat of paint?). Â
We ordered the house special fried rice and the Peking Pork. The entrees came out really quickly, while we were still eating our egg roll. The fried rice was really dark (lots of soy sauce) and really greasy. Â (When we packed the food, the rice slid off the plate right into the box, without any assistance from me whatsoever.) The Peking Pork was breaded pork in a red sauce with sauteed onions. That was also super greasy. Â I will not be getting either of those dishes again.
Next time I think we'll stick with the favorites, i.e. the mongolian beef and the pansit guisado. Â The lunch specials here from what I can remember are generous portioned and reasonably priced. Â I'll probably come back, but not very often. It'll do the job if you are in the mood for Chinese or Filipino food.
We decided to swing by the china chef after driving by it for years heading to the train station. Â I figured why not, might find a hidden gem in this place.
Wellllll, no. Â While the food is certainly serviceable, and even on the good side of average, it's pretty dang uninspired for Chinese food. Â
The real problem I have with their food is the spice, or more specifically the lack OF spice. Â Since I had never been to china chef before, I decided to order their mongolian beef since it was a) marked as the house specialty (so THEY think it's good) and b) was also marked HOT. Â The wife decided to order the sesame chicken, which was also marked hot.
I will grant that there is a lot of leeway in the hot moniker; as what's hot to me may not be hot to you. Â I'm not the type of person who can scarf down multiple jalepaenos and not think twice, but I do *enjoy* hot foods (as long as I know beforehand!). Â For reference, with hot chicken wings, at three wings my tongue is uncomfortable, at six I'm really hurting, and at nine I'm going to physically run and/or jump over somebody to get to a glass of water. Â As a minimum baseline, I'd better at least THINK about taking a drink of water after I eat a reasonable portion of whatever food to qualify as hot.
With that frame of reference, China Chef food IS NOT HOT. Â It's not even luke warm! Â I ate half a large order of mongolian beef (I was *hungry*), and not once did my tongue signal even a moment of heat-related discomfort. Â Their mongolian beef has approximately as much spice heat as eating a ham sandwich!
I then tried the wife's sesame chicken (also a supposedly hot dish) and had exactly the same reaction -- there simply was NO (spice) heat in the dish.
Keep in mind that I did enjoy the actual flavor of both dishes; the mongolian beef did taste good and so did the sesame chicken, so it wasn't a complete flame out. Â But if you're going to stick a hot warning on a dish, you have to have *some* heat in there, not zero!
Additionally, there were no vegetables whatsoever served with the dishes. Â Mongolian beef? Â Lots of cow (which is good) but zero veggies. Â Nearly the same thing with the sesame chicken; all white meat (which is good) accompanied by one lone small stalk of broccoli. Â If you want veggies I guess you have to order two entrees and mix-and-match.
So would I eat here again? Â I guess if I'm running late coming home on the train and need to grab something it'd work. Â But it certainly isn't good enough to bother coming here intentionally.
My family & I have been ordering Chinese food from China Chef since I first knew what Chinese food was (I'm 26, if it matters).
I totally agree that China Chef might not be as esteemed if there were more Chinese restaurants in the area, but it's one of those places that I am in love with because I feel like the restaurant has seen me grow up. I'm a city gal now, and I still love coming home to the parentals and ordering China Chef. All in all, it IS good food. Morton Grove might suck, but this place is pretty good
Best. Egg rolls. Ever. And don't sleep on the sesame chicken appetizer- it's like sesame chicken fingers, with alllll the grease you didn't want to ask for but secretly love. You're welcome.
[Sunday afternoon convo]
Me: Dad, I'm starving! Â Where are we eating after this?
Dad: I dunno.....Do you want Chinese food?
Me: (shrugs) I guess.....Where do you want to go?
Dad: (pauses) China Chef?
OMG! Â As soon as my Dad suggested going to China Chef, my face definitely lit up. It has been, literally, 4 years since I've been here last, so the prospect of indulging in that Ho Do Tai soup was so very exciting.
The place has gotten a face life, with newer looking tables, decorations and a paint job. Â The walls are a warmer, more inviting color, so that was refreshing to see. Â The restaurant also got new menus, so they weren't the run down pieces of paper that I was used to. Â The menu items, however, didn't change. Â I saw the list of favorites that basically graced my childhood - Camaron Rebasdo (fried shrimp), Lumpia (Filipino style eggrolls), Pancit Bihon (different than my mom's, but good) and, of course, the Ho Do Tai soup.
There is something in the soup that makes it so addictive. Â It's pretty simple - bok choy, mushrooms, pork, but it's the flavorful broth that really sets this soup apart from anything I've ever had. Â Yum! Â As for the other items (pancit, camaron rebasado and fried chicken), they were as delish as I remember them...and brought back all these hilarious memories of childhood.
(Hint: Use the sweet and sour sauce on the table with the Camaron Rebasado. Â Oh, and their hot sauce/oil is reallllly good with the fried chicken.)
Competition is a good thing. China Chef is a perfect example. It's the only game in town and it shows. I had heard good things about this place and decided to try it out on a Friday night. When I came in, I noticed that their menu catered heavily to Filipino/Canto cuisine. I was excited of course because I'm fan of both cuisines. I ordered a Won Ton BBQ pork soup, pancit guisado and a Mongolian beef.
The soup came out after 10 minutes and the won tons were over cooked and fell apart as soon as you tried to pick them up. There weren't too many pieces of BBQ pork or won tons in the entire soup either.
The main dishes took another 20 minutes to come out. Now I've been to many different Chinese places and I never had to wait that long for main dishes. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and hoped the food would make up for it. A side note: the napkins on our table straight up smelled like gasoline. I wish I was making this up but we had to ask for new ones. The pancit and the Mongolian beef were nothing to rave about. The pancit was very greasy (even for a Chinese restaurant catering to Americans) and the Mongolian beef was not much better.
All in all these were relatively basic dishes that took a very long time to come out. The service was close to being sub-par with our waiter taking an extra 15 minutes after we finished eating to come to our table to wrap up our food. Not impressed at all. So what does competition have to do with China Chef? China Chef would not survive even one day in Chinatown. There's too many restaurants offering better food at even better prices. But Chinatown is not even close to Morton Grove, you might say. Exactly why China Chef is still open and relatively packed throughout the week.
If you're willing to drive, you should know, there are other options.
IMHO China Chef has one of THE best Mongolian Beef in the city. Its kind of expensive, so I suggest going during lunch and trying their lunch special.
Egg rolls are delicious too and I think they have their own home made sweet n sour sauce. Not the typical sauce in a packet.
I used to LOVE their fried rice. Â It would be the best tasting and most flavorful fried rice I've ever tasted.. until I ordered a party platter about a month ago for a birthday party. Â
I'm not sure if it was a new cook, or just a one time offense. but the amount of oil in the rice was unbearable. Â Everyone in the party thought so and was kind of put off by how much oil there was. Â
I will still go and buy their lunch specials since they're fairly cheap (compared to main dishes) I just hope to never encounter that oily fried rice again.
If I come back and the fried rice is back to normal, you can expect my ratings to go up!
PS
Credit Card for take outs must be $10 or above.
favorites: chicken with a side of vinegar, mongolian beef, pancit guisado. ADDICTED. we always go to the place for catering events at our school, and went here once with a large group for a banquet. They handle large groups pretty well, you're in a separate room, and they bring out the food pretty fast =]
man, now i'm craving it.
Really, 3 1/2 stars, but we come here so often I would have to call us fans. We LOVE the potstickers. They are unique and tasty and you get 10 in an order. I also like their hot and sour soup (like, not love).
Other items we have tried are hit or miss. I have had the mongolian beef and chicken. Once again, I have to say like, not love. Christopher has had a few items like the pork chow mein, which he declared ok. We mainly keep coming back for the potstickers.
In the future I want to try the pancit guisado. I have loved it other places, will see how theirs compare.
One thing to note, there are no free refills of their fountain drinks. When the waiter asked us if we wanted more soda we both said yes. We assumed it was free refills. When the bills came we were charged for them. Oh well, live and learn.
I really love the fish tanks, but then again, I am easily amused.
I've been eating here ever since I was a youngin, as many family meals were had here growing up. Â My dad was good friends with the late owner Art, who was the nicest and friendliest guy. Â The friendliness definitely continues on with the current staff.
This is my favorite place for monogolian beef and pancit guisado. Â Yes, not only do they serve great Cantonese dishes, but they also have a Filipino menu. Â I've had my fair share of pancit guisado, but China Chef still makes my favorite. Â Thin and soft rice noodles (ramen like noodes) are combined with pork, shrimp, veggies, and light sauce... a bit different but really good. Â A delicious dish and I could eat it as part of a meal or on its own. Â You see that squeeze bottle full of orange sauce on the table? Â Their homemade sweet & sour sauce is thick and flavorful... probably my favorite sweet & sour sauce anywhere.
I actually haven't been here for many years, but after having dinner here a few days ago, my favorites are still good. Â Service was great, with ice water and hot tea flowing. Â Plus the menu items aren't pricey at all. Â A great value for some good Cantonese/fFilipino dishes.
Everyone has a particular place that they order their chinese food from, in my case it would be China Chef. China Chef has been around for years. I remember my entire family would go here to eat on Sunday nights, not this location but the location before they moved to this space. I'm not big on chinese food and it's quite rare that I crave it, however, whenever that time comes along China Chef has always had mine and my family's back.
Pancit Guisado, combination fried rice, shrimp w/lobster sauce, lumpia shanghaI!?!?!?
What's up lumpia shanghai???!! Come here often???
China Chef...you is delishuz girl.
I personally LOVE China Chef, but this may be because I've been going here with my family since I was a baby, which leaves me a little biased. But 23 years later, I keep coming back. This may sound extreme, but if someone asked me to pick one restaurant in the Chicagoland area to have my last meal. It would be here. Part of it is the nostalgia and tradition, but part of it is really the quality of the food. All you need is some Lumpia Shanghai (always crispy and tasty). Pancit Guisado (yummy). Ho do Tai Soup (hits the spot). Combination Fried Rice (classic), and a kiddie cocktail (can't go wrong here, even if you are over 21), and you will find yourself eating a DELICIOUS Filipino-Cantonese meal. I've come here for birthdays and other celebrations, and I've never been disappointed. Keep in mind you have to come here hungry. I always go home with a food coma.
Review Source:This is my favorite all time Chinese Resto....They have the best food- Â Mongolian Beef is the best!!! Â I also like there Prito Galina (Whole Fried Chicken) which is not breaded. Â They have the best Sweet & Sour Sauce i have ever tasted.
Also excellent is the Pancit Guisado- not your typical Pancit noodle recipe but still works.
5 STARS all the way!!!
My family has been going here for as long as I can remember. As a child, we came here Sundays after church so very many times. Mr. Fong (the original owner) used to walk around table to table greeting everyone and asking everyone how their meals were. Thinking back to those days, I would have given it a 5/5. Always busy, always courteous, and the best Filipino-Cantonese menu in the area.
These days, it just isn't the same, but it's still a good meal and for me, is full of nostalgia. The decor is still the same, so the place's starting to show its age a bit. There's plenty of room to sit, I remember there often being a long wait because it was so busy, but the last time I visited there were many empty tables.
I feel the food is not as excellent as I remember it being. It can sometimes be hit-or-miss, but usually it is very good. We had a large party, so we ordered the "Dinner-for-seven" meal which was plenty of food and included won-ton soup and 5 or 6 different filipino-cantonese dishes. Love their fried rice, mongolian beef, pancit guisado, shrimp with lobster sauce, and pretty much most everything is very good. I noticed that they were also advertising new bubble tea drinks -- do not get one here. My mom got one and it was very bland and watery. And, as always, at the end of every meal comes the check with some almond and fortune cookies. Yum.
Service was good, but often our waiter would not be in our area or he seemed a little tired/annoyed to be serving us all. I remember them being very nice and talkative before, now it just feels like everyone resents their job.
Overall, I think I might be a little jaded about this place, but I still enjoy it immensely. Get the pancit guisado!
Been to China Chef several times, and overall it's hit-or-miss as to how the food will come out. Â A couple times the food came out good, tasty, chicken was crispy, and overall enjoyable. Â Then a couple other times the food came out sloppy, soggy, slopped together, and not enjoyable. Â I've tried their mongolian beef, fried chicken, fired smelt, fried rice, etc...overall, okay...on the good days. Â Hopefully one day they'll be consistent and serve good food 365 days of the year.
Overall, okay food, okay service, reasonable prices. Â Probably 2.5 Stars, but I'll round it up to 3.
P.S. - This place is good for parties or groups, as they can accommodate a large get together.
Real deal Filipino-Cantonese place (which I like way more than Mandarin or Szechwan eats).
The family that owns it has been around forever.
Two words: orange chicken.... Seriously, I won't eat it elsewhere. It is addictive, the portion is huge, the breading is thin, it's all white meat, the sauce is sheer joy. Give it a shot, you will be glad. I've seen people here rave about Panda Express orange chicken... well, imagine something about 10 times better.
Our other favorites are Mongolian beef (tender and not too salty), tender beef chow/mushrooms and Pancit Guisado (a wonderful blend of crispy noodles, pork, mushroom, and peapods. I've also had a variety of Moo-Shus there, some soups, all very good, and some common shrimp dishes. Yummy.
Separate mentioning goes to their eggrolls - crispy, golden, giant and full of pork/shrimp/vegetable goodness. My second favorite, the said orange chicken being first. Good PuPu platter; great shrimp toast.
Menu is vast, and has numerous things I have never heard of, but would probably make for a great conversation if I ever get the nerve. Reasonably priced alcoholic drinks, can't go wrong with a Tsing Tao or a Mai Tai with your meal.
China Chef is a  plain brown brick suburban building with a simple décor, but it is clean and it is large. If you're doing a sit-down, never a wait, even lunch-time. Moderately busy, many get take outs.   Â
What is remarkable, is that over the last 8 years at least, the prices remain unchanged. Dinner portions are a bit more, but the amount is gargantuan, especially amounts of meat in every dish. We're still puzzled as to how it's done... I can't make this for the same amount of money.
  Â
Service, non-nonsense and friendly. Â If you're nice, you may get some free almond cookies instead of the fortune ones. Â
Speaking of fortune cookies... Every time I open mine from China Chef, it's more of an insult, or a wise crack. Everyone else's would be like: "You will amount to greatness in career", and mine will be crap like "Wisdom is rarely found in youth" or "He who see faults in others, knows no own". Uhmm... Really?? It's all good though, I'm getting used to it.
Go try the Orange Chicken.
Im pretty picky about my chinese. But this place is pretty great. I came in w/ a coupon for spend 25$ and get 2 egg rolls free. Well apparently this was only good for take out. BUT the waiter was nice enough to take care of it just this time, which was very nice of him. The staff was very attentive, and i always had a full glass of water, a BIG plus in my book.
egg rolls: AMAZING! LOTS of cabbage and LOTS of meat...mmmmmmmm.
pot stickers: awesome and you get 10 of them for like 5$!
Beef chop suey: Great!
And you get a fortune cookie AND an almond cookie...I LOVE ALMOND COOKIES!
I'll DEF. be back soon.
China Chef is a nice lunch place. The restaurant is fairly large and the parking lot is average in size.
There is a large lunch menu with prices ranging from about $4.50 to $6.00. Lunch usually includes soup, entree, rice and a cookie for dessert. A pot of Chinese tea is offered to every table. I've never had a bad meal and service is good.
Amazing lunch deal. Â Was delivered a pot of tea, cup of soup, shrimp lo mein and pork fried rice for $5.45, and that's after tax. Â the shrimp were surprisingly good; not tough or over-cooked which happens all too often. Â the meal was delivered hot and quickly. Â The tea was quite tasty and piping hot, exactly what you need coming from an office.
Overall, this place is a great deal for lunch. Â They get you in and out, but with no rush from the staff. Â I'd love to go back and spend some more time for dinner, which I bet is even better.
Word to the wise: Â Minimum $8.00 on a credit card. Â Lunch specials fall under that by a few bucks.
This is my new weakness! Â I'm working in Morton Grove for the next six months and this place scares me! Â Last week I carried out twice. Â The food is so affordable and fresh. Â Their egg rolls might be the best I've ever had, watch out Chins and Far East! Â I've also had the Pad Seguiado and it was different, but delicious. Â I'm meeting my grandparents for dinner after work :-) Â I hope they like it!
Review Source:When you first walk in to China Chef, you see enormous fish in their aquariums. Â These are decorative, and not for eating. Â I only bring this up because when I first started coming to China Chef, these were regular sized gold fish. Â They're now leviathans of massive bulk. Â
Essentially, what I'm trying to say is that I've been coming here a long time.
I admit, it's not as good as food my Lola used to make me when I was but a lass. Â But it is very good. Â The eggrolls are considerably better than most Chinese places I've eaten. Â The entrees are of a very large size (my sister got what was approximately a boatload [no, really, it was shaped like a boat] of food last time) and are quite tasty. Â
And what I like best about the food is that it tastes pretty authentic. Â It's not the Friendship Chinese blandmobile rolling through your table. Â It's not pseudo-Asian fusion meets Southwest concept in a crazy new way. Â It's Chinese and Filipino food, and it tastes like Chinese and Filipino food. Â Which is what it's supposed to taste like.
The building itself is unassuming. Â A little brick building with a parking lot. Â But the inside has a number of real pieces of Chinese history. Â Not Ming Dynasty vases or anything, but the kind of thing you'd have seen growing up in America in an Asian household. Â
I like the staff, a lot. Â They're very patient and understanding. Â They're willing to accommodate substitutions and special requests. Â They're very good with large groups of people, not getting frustrated with the slow ordering process and questions and problems that usually come with it.
In all honesty, I want to give this place five stars, but I don't know if I can. Â It's a great place to go for a good, solid meal. Â But I'm never going to rave about it the way I do about Kuma's. Â I'm never going to drive the hour+ to get there through rush hour traffic. Â
But I will be going back, and I will enjoy it, and wonder why I don't eat there more often.
I've been eating here since I was lie 5 or 6. Â Mongolian beef (and Mongolian Chicken) are standards. Â The Sesamae chicken, Moo shu anything, orange chicken, lemon chicken, and so forth are all great.
General Tsao's chicken needs to be spicier, so remember to ask and they'll do it up for you like that.
Based on another person's review I tried the Ho do tai soup. Â Its damn good
Art and Joy's love and recipes have been feeding my family for decades. and whenever my parents have a special moment to celebrate and just don't have the time or energy to cook themselves, China Chef has always been the place to supply the tasty goodness we like to share with special friends and family.
Its never been upscale or fine dining, but it is like going to grandma's kitchen and finding the same love and tasty treats to remind you of good family moments.
I have eaten food from China Chef once. I will update my review next time I order. Husband and I ordered Sesame chicken to go.
The place we usually order from seemed to have closed. I ordered the food after I got to the restaurant. They brought out the food in less than 10 minutes. The chicken wasn't very good. There was absolutely no extra sauce. When we took all the chicken out, there was water at the bottom of the box. Not a little bit a water, a lot of it. I'm guessing it's from the broccoli that was on the bottom. The chicken was absolutely nothing special and I would never order it again. However, I will give it one more try and update my review.
I miss my Mandarin Village (in Skokie).
We came on a night wehn there was a communion party and it was jam packed and a bit sloppy...dare I say dirty? Â But the food was still just as I remember it. Â I never had a problem with it being too greasy, I thought it was better than most. Â We usually have mongolian beef and hot & sour soup, chicken almond ding, boring stuff. Â But tasty! Â The egg rolls are pretty good, and they put chopped ginger in the sweet and sour sauce. If I'm in Skokie visiting the mom, we go here for dinner. I've never tried the pancit guisado, though I have been yearning for it for nearly 25 years, when someone's aunt made it for a potluck in the art dept at Niles West. Â I think I'll have to try it.
We love the giant carp in the fish tank, fun to watch...I keep thinking "gefilte fish" every time we see them.
(Once, we went here with my mom and I not only had to heimlich my kid twice, but an old lady threw up in her plate...talk about entertainment!!!)
I used to come here every Sunday with the family. Â They bend over backwards for one dish my dad would always get. Â It was the dungeness crab. Â The chef would actually drive to a nearby place to buy a live crab. Â Who knows if they were making this up, but as a kid, I was awed by their customer service. Â The owner was this friendly guy, Art Fong, that would come by the table, crack a joke or two, and walk away.
Art passed away, but his wife still runs the business. Â When I grew up and worked around the area, I would stop in for lunch. Â Some of their Chinese dishes held up a bit to the ones in Chinatown. Â The one I ordered the most was Beef Chow Fun (order it extra crispy).
Nowadays, I don't live by the area, but I do drop in for their Pancit Guisado. Â Good stuff! Â I've never had Pancit Guisado at a famiy party or anywhere else, but I love it here. Â Shrimp, mushrooms, and ramen noodles... hehe. Â Damn good.
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