The food is not the most authentic I have ever eaten but it is truly good for people who not so adventurous in their Chinese food tastes. Â Those who want authentic food should not eat here, because they will be disappointed. Â
I have been going here for years. Â My children were not very adventurous and would only eat Broccoli Beef, Sweet and Sour Pork Chicken or Shrimp, Honey walnut Shrimp, and Mongolian Beef. Â These dishes were just fine. Â I have guests who are very Midwestern in their food tastes. Â This place is perfect for them.
I do not recommend the BBQ with mixed vegetables (too American and sweet for my taste) and the crispy duck. Â Lots of meat but the sauce in the BBQ pork dish was too sweet. Â The crispy duck was good until we got to all the bony parts on the back. Â Nothing but bone. Half of the plate was bone. Â They would be better off just serving the breast and legs and lower the price a dollar. Â We did like the potstickers. Â Nicely browned and the filling was flavorful. Â I have had the hot and sour soup and it is good too. Â
The service was very nice and the location is really great. Â We wanted a place we could park and not have our bikes stolen. Â So for us, this restaurant fit the bill. Â Plus, the decor is very nice and suitable for bringing guests. Â I felt guilty showing up in our cycling togs. Â But the gaggle of high school kids and one mom next to us were in sweats and shorts, and no one looked at us funny, so we felt OK. Â The high-schoolers were tucking in with great gusto, so this place is good for families and there is enough quantity in the dishes to satisfy even them.
For those bad reviews on the takeout. Â I wouldn't recommend takeout. Â The food from this restaurant is not going to do well reheated except for maybe the hot and sour soup and the potstickers.
This is my wife's favorite Chinese restaurant. Just about every time we're in the area we come in for some good food. My wife loves the curry chicken, which is very good. Â I really enjoy their Kung Pao special, spicy and delicious. Â I am sure that we will be going back many more times, and I look forward to trying their other dishes.
Review Source:I now remember why I stopped going to this restaurant. Â My hubby and I decided to have dinner there yesterday and it was absolutely awful. Â The frozen Chinese food that you get in the freezer at Safeway tastes much better than the food here. Â I will go to Uncle Yu's in Lafayette the next time I want Chinese food.
Review Source:I hate being picky about Asian restaurants. Normally, I would give a place as inauthentic as this no more than 3 stars.
However, I'm going to award it 4. My reasoning is that I have no reasoning. Walking in here took me back to my Midwestern roots, and let me tell you something: I miss Midwestern Chinese food.
Mild, not too sweet, and just... pleasant.
Get the hot and sour soup. I had an entire takeout portion by myself in one day.
I have been going to Szechwan for 7 years. Most of the time their food is fine. Tonight I ordered Honey Walnut Prawns to go. I picked up the food and it was the worst Honey Walnut Prawns I've ever eaten. I called them to complain, thinking they would want to know about it and instead of saying to me, "Let me check and find out what happened," they immediately said that is how we serve it and they refused to discuss it with me. I asked them if it was supposed to have congealed mayonnaise  clumping on shrimp that had no flavor. All he kept saying was, that is how we make it. If I didn't know I ordered prawns, I would not have known what the food was. It was tasteless, bordering on inedible.
I've owned a small business for 26 years and not only do I think their stance exhibits horrendous  customer service, but  I also believe it is so short sighted due to the fact I will never return and will tell all my friends in Lamorinda to avoid going there.
I was so upset because he didn't even consider that perhaps I got a bad meal, I got in my car and took the leftover portion back. The owner's response was to look in the box and tell me that I had to return the whole meal before they would do anything. Seriously? It's astonishing to me that they would lose a customer for life and risk their reputation for $13.00.
Best Asian food that I've had (besides home-cooked meals of course :P). Felt like I was at Szechwan, even if I have never been there before! The waiter that took our orders was extremely polite and friendly.
Don't come here if you don't like spicy food ! Everything on the menu is spicy! Some are spicier than others.
We got the fried green beans .. yumm !! & The ChongQing fried chicken ... my goodness, they came out and all we saw were chili peppers, but the chicken was bomb!! I couldn't stop eating it !! The chili peppers were flavorful, just don't bite too much of the seeds, or your mouth will be on fire. My favorite dish would probably be the Tea Smoked Duck. You could taste the smokeyness in it, not so much of the tea, but it was definitely something I could keep eating. We also got the seafood clay pot, I'm not a big fan of seafood, but the tofu in it was pretty good! :P Â
Do come ! It looks like a dark Asian structure from the outside, but inside, it's beautiful, and the food is amazing!
Come for the lunch specials! It's well worth it, and you get 10% off if you do take out, aka no sales tax! Yippie!
First things first, HOT & SOUR SOUP! Possibly the best hot and sour soup I've had in ages. Spicy, tangy, and sour to perfection. You have to order it as a separate order--not inclusive with the lunch specials. The lunch specials come with green onion pancake, soup of the day, salad, and and an entree of your choice, $7-9 depending on what you order.
Service is superb. Everyone speaks both English and Chinese very well. They're more than happy to accommodate your order. For instance, we ordered hot & sour soup in addition to our lunch specials so the lady working at the time doubled checked to make sure that hot & sour wasnt the soup of the day (which it wasnt), and as we waited for our order, she served us our soup of the day, wonton soup--which was also pretty flavorful--and a glass of water and tea without being asked. yay!
She also recommended the double mushroom chicken and Sichuan beef. I would pass on the double mushroom chicken, but def. go for the Sichuan beef! Tender and juicy!
Parking can be tricky at times since it's only street parking, but you're bound to find a spot a block or two away. Happy Eating!
I waffled between 2 and 3 stars....but landed on three because the place is okay although I have experienced better (Willow in Concord)
The people are nice but a bit slow (even at 8 PM on a week night when the place was only a third full)
Food was okay - no MSG. We had the hot and sour soup - which was pretty bland - I added more vinegar to pep it up. The chinese chicken salad was okay - again kinda bland. The mongolian lamb which was supposed to be hot and spicey - wasn't so much... though it was tasty.... just not what we expected it to be.
All in all would I go back? Eh...maybe as it is convenient and the food is okay. And now I know they don't have MSG so I can eat it with confidence and comfort...(really important to know if you are MSG sensitive)
It is crazy to me that my favorite Chinese place, China Wok, in Vallejo should serve food that I consider far superior to anything I've tried within 15 miles of my house - including in downtown Orinda. Â
Their pot stickers and chow mein were fine.  Lemon chicken was disgusting  - served with canned or frozen peas? The chicken itself was small, rubbery and not composed of the prize portions of the chicken.  I was so disappointed.
We also ordered a Chicken Salad to-go but received no dressing for the salad, which is what makes the whole thing different than a bag of ice berg that you could throw some chicken and rice noodles on top of. Â
I had high hopes for this place but sadly, dashed.
I've been to this place about a dozen times over the past several years. Everything I've had is good. But I'm giving the four stars really because of their sweet and sour chicken. It's the best I've ever had. It's a unique sauce and chicken preparation. Granted, I'm not Chinese, but I grew up in San Francisco's Richmond District and we ate chinese food all the time. So I've been eating this dish for many years. While it is not my favorite chinese food dish, this restaurants version is like no other I've had. So good that when I hear "Orinda" I often immediatly think of Szechwan's sweet and sour chicken.
And as I said before, everything else I've had there is good too. (pot stickers are nicely crisped on one side. ummm good.....)
This is one of my go-to Chinese restaurants here in Lamorinda. We love this place. We always get the same dishes: their hot and sour soup (or won ton if we feel like it), egg rolls, green bean chicken, lemon chicken, honey walnut chicken, and sweet and sour chicken. Honestly the best sweet and sour dishes around here. Their lemon and orange chicken are also very delicious! Their "honey walnut chicken", which isn't actually on the menu last time I checked, is very good. It's not the mayonnaise sauce type of "honey walnut prawn" thing, but instead it's regular, non-deep-fried chicken in a brown house sauce with bell peppers, onions, and lots of walnuts on the top. It's got an addictive flavor and I've already turned my entire family on to them. A must try, in my opinion.
Their dishes are inexpensive and from what I understand they do lunch specials for cheaper. The service is always decent as well, but not as wonderful as you'd really like to see. Instead, I'd get take-out!
Although this restaurant is named Szechwan, which implies hot and spicy, the food runs more toward the bland side. Â The sizzling rice soup was okay. Â We ordered the spicy chicken wings, which were flavorful, but not spicy. Â Even though it was served with peppers, there was no real heat to the sauce. Â The pork chow mein had good flavor, but was a little on the greasy side. Â However, the brown rice had a nice, nutty flavor and I enjoyed eating it by itself. Â The tea was lukewarm and we had to ask the waitress for a fresh pot, which she brought to the table promptly.
This restaurant does a great take-out business, since it's conveniently located for commuters, right off the freeway. Â Flavorwise, it caters to people with a less adventurous palate.
Wow, what a shame... Â The Szechwan Prawns, always my favorite, were tragic when we ate here yesterday at lunchtime. Â The place, as always, was pretty empty. Â Service was prompt and friendly, but clearly the quality of food has gone down.
In all fairness the soup was, as always, very good. Â The eggrolls, though, were just meh... and the Szechwan Prawns, as previously stated, were terrible. Â They were far too overcooked and fairly rubbery. Â I think I ate 3 and left the other 12. Â I'm being generous with my 3 stars but these guys never disappointed before, so I'll pretend this was a one-off.
My in laws took us here for Friday night dinner. We were able to get a table for 5 with out reservations. The decor is delicate , light colors. I asked for chienese broccoli with chicken and the waitress looked at me as if i were crazy. vegitables were smothered in a clear sweet sauce and the eggrolls were greasy. At the end of my meal I asked for water 3 times before i actually got it. Glad I was not stuck with the bill.
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