Chinese Chef

Had a deal, so I went to check it out. Place was dead, was about 15 minutes before the Superbowl started.

Small menu. Very neat and clean - sparkled almost.  Cashier was very nice. No take out menus available. My order was totally messed up...

Menu didn't have everything w/ the same price on it in different sections. Charged a dime for fortune cookie - didn't get one, though, and I didn't see it on the receipt, I did see her ring it up.

I had:

Hot N sour soup: very, very good taste, but very thick, would have been the best I'd had around here if it was a more normal consistency. I could have set some on the spoon and flung it at the wall, and it would have stayed a glob and slid down the wall intact. Crispy noodles good. Note the price on this is a bit higher than most places.

Egg Roll: Tasty. OK.

Pot Stickers: Good, not overly greasy.

Kung Pao Chicken: Uh... cooked well, but it was almost like someone used sweet n sour sauce and added hotness, very odd - quality eats and veggies, though. Bizarre. Bleh. Rice was done well. UPDATE: I had only poured  1/3 of it onto my plate, writing this, later I find that the bottom half was sweet n sour pork! A ('retired') feral cat enjoyed the chicken very much, kept stabbing me in arm wanting more, was more than happy to oblige. Feral cat #2 refused to eat it, however..

Not very happy, even though I only paid half price via special deal, wasn't even worth that.  Probably would rather goto the HyVee Chinese down the street before I come back. The cashew chicken and sweet n sour crowd will love this place.

UPDATE: I called them, they claimed I lie about the food being half of one thing, half of another. I went by, they did at least give me some Kung Pao chicken, it was great, but still one star due to calling me  liar, etc. Customer service is zero here.

A lot of the great places that made Springfield Cashew Chicken no longer exist. And for the ones that do a lot of them seriously suck when it comes to making anything that comes close to the original Leong's Tea House version. I've had the original many times over and that's what I use as my reference point for the prentenders and contenders. Chinese Chef is the closest place I've found that meets my expectations. White Meat deep fried chicken? Check! Chinese Oyster Sauce with the right appearance and consistency? Check! Whole cashews and not the left over crap from the bottom of the can? Check! And yes, no MSG. Bonus points for that.

While many will debate and pontificate over who has the best Cashew Chicken in Springfield, this is where I buy mine, even though I have to drive 3/4 of the way through Springfield just to get to it.

Note: While I really like Chinese Chef, I will NEVER, EVER give ANY Springfield Cashew Chicken restaurant more than 4 Stars. Only Leong's would get that coveted 5th Star, and Yelp wasn't around then or else that's the review they would have received.

Edit: While I live in Vegas I have family in Missouri and Missouri is always home. And when I'm within an hour of Springfield I will make the drive down by myself just to get cashew chicken and nothing else. This review is for March 2012.

Springfield is truly a land of knick knack cashew chicken joints where the streets are littered with different Chinese options. It is easy to overlook them or write them off as the same. I have actually been on a bit of a journey trying our local Chinese concoctions and Chinese Chef has risen well above many of the forgotten places. If I have spent any time away from home this is one of the first things I lust for when I return.

I have been frequenting Chinese Chef regularly for a few years now, and have thoroughly traversed the menu. Some dishes that have been particularly memorable have been the Beef Pepper Steak, the General's Chicken, the Fried Rice, and the Moo Goo Gai Pan. The veggies that accompany these dishes are remarkably fresh and plentiful. In general the sauces on many of their items are thicker, deeper, and more complex than what I have experienced at other Chinese venues. Their fried rice has a rich flavor, is nicely dotted with egg bits, and is deep brown in color meaning it spent more time being lovingly tossed around the wok. The beef pepper steak is a sea of tender meat with many substantial slices of peppers and onions floating about. If you are a lush for peppers this is a great dish. The Moo Goo Gai Pan has really unique cuts of vegetables including cucumber, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts. I recommend adding some spice to the last two dishes for full enjoyment.

All in all this place is really solid. The staff is genuinely friendly and provides you with a seemingly more authentic experience. The food comes out fairly quickly despite the drive thru's sometimes long line of cars snaking around the building. Typically the dinning room is nearly vacant, and eating in means you get to enjoy the fresh cut green onions, hot soup, or salad from the interior bar. Like many other Chinese places in town, this one is inexpensive but it doesn't taste cheap like many of the other forgotten places.