Yen Ching Chinese Restaurant

Yen Ching has great food, but the best thing about it is the friendly atmosphere and great service.  The first time I went was on a Sunday, the one day a week they offer a buffet.  I remarked to my server that I did not see Crab Rangoon on the buffet. She said the chef was bringing some out soon. Within minutes, Patricia, my server, brought TO MY TABLE a plate of four crab rangoon AND a bowl of crunchy noodles.  She said to me, "I noticed you didn't have any crunchy noodles for your soup, so I brought you some." What kind of buffet has that kind of service? It is unheard of.  Patricia is also very friendly and will stop to socialize with everyone. She even brought me my coat that I had forgotten when I got up to leave.

I enjoyed the tasty food, but I will make it a point to come back for the great, friendly service!

While I love Chinese food and I do think Yen Ching does a good job with their food, it was always a "once-in-awhile" sort of meal as I do find it a bit pricier than other Chinese restaurants in Evansville.  Its on Green River, so not hard to find at all and when you walk in, it is like being transported out of Evansville.  The decor isn't tacky, like some Chinese restaurants, although some may find it a bit much, but the Chinese appreciate detail.

It family style, which I like.  It is a nice change from the individual orders and portions you get at other restaurants.  When you order, they bring out a plate/bowl of food which you could just eat yourself, but ideally you would share with the others at your table.  That being said you should watch how much you order as you can easily end up with far too much food.

Of their soups, the Hot and Sour Soup is my favourite.  I still have not found a Won Ton Soup that rivals the one I remember from my favourite Chinese place in California...  The egg rolls are nice, but nothing surprising.  The lemon chicken is very good (another one of my favourite dishes that I am highly critical about), the sauce has the right amount of sour and sweet and the chicken is nicely cooked.  The Mongolian Beef is also very good.  Sometimes you get Mongolian Beef and there is either barely any beef or the beef is so tough, but Yen Ching's is not like that.

My favourite dish they do is the Green Bean with Shredded Pork.  The green beans are nice and crisp, but tender, paired with the bite size pieces of tender pork.  No heavy, gloopy sauce, just a nice flavor of garlic.  All of the fried rice choices are nice, but I am partial to having a nice bowl of steamed rice...  1) so you can use chop sticks and 2) to let the dishes speak for themselves.

They have my favourite fortune cookies as well... they don't taste like cardboard like other fortune cookies... AND they have these almond cookies that are wonderful!  I always buy a bag on the way out for the rest of the week =).

We visited based on Yelp recommendations. It was ok. The place was hopping, and the decor is nice--plus, nice tables with cloth napkins! (Silly, I know, but my fave Chinese joint at home is just really basic, no-frills fast-food booths.) Anyway, you know that fave joint I mentioned in the StL? Well, it's food and prices blow Yen Ching out of the water. But you know what, this is a real sit-down and get-waited-on place and we had a nice dinner. I had the lo mein, my sister had almond chicken. The rice was...different. They told her it was fried rice and while it didn't SEEM fried, it didn't seem like the usual white rice/sticky rice, either. IT was good, as were both of our dishes. And the service was friendly and attentive. So, no complaints here--I'd go again!