| Author | Message | ||
     Case Citizen Username: Case Post Number: 1427 Registered: 2-2005 |
Another experiment, another grave disappointment. Is there ANYWHERE in this area that knows how to make good Chinese food? Is Manhattan truly the last bastion of Chinese-Food-Eatery? | ||
| Glock 17 Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 726 Registered: 7-2005  |
um HELLLLOO great wall south orange...i have both numbers speed dialed | ||
| upondaroof Citizen Username: Upondaroof Post Number: 654 Registered: 4-2003 |
Tastes vary. What places have you tried that you deem not to your liking? | ||
| Morrisa da Silva Citizen Username: Mod Post Number: 440 Registered: 12-2003 |
Hunan Spring on Morris Ave in Springfield is good. There are also 2 in West Orange that I'm blanking on the name - maybe someone could chime in. | ||
| Hoops Citizen Username: Hoops Post Number: 1188 Registered: 10-2004  |
I guess you dont care for Bill and Harry's? | ||
| Glock 17 Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 728 Registered: 7-2005 |
Bill and harrys...worst generals chicken ever... actually not that great overall | ||
| oots Citizen Username: Oots Post Number: 386 Registered: 6-2001 |
i had the "worst" hot & sour soup ever from great wall-never again. oots | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1230 Registered: 7-2004  |
great wall, not so great. Bill and Harry's good stuff. Manhatten is just another place that is not China. The last bastion of good chinese food is China. | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 9296 Registered: 4-1997  |
Flushing is way more bastion than Manhattan. If you want to try a unique dish not on most menus, go to Joy Luck in West Orange and request the Lion's Head meatballs (don't worry, it's pork). Goes well with Tsing Tao. I also like their salt and pepper shrimp and iron plate beef. Also, General Tso's chicken is unknown in China and I never once saw a fortune cookie there. | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1233 Registered: 7-2004 |
Dave, what do you know of China! The only Chinese you know is the famous finger trap. | ||
| Zet Citizen Username: Zet Post Number: 28 Registered: 12-2005 |
I'm not sure what type of Chinese food you're looking for but here are some places in the area that you'll find the Chinese eating at: - China Chalet in Florham Park (great Sichuan food, if you want better, you need to go to New York to Wu Liang Ye at 388 Lexington Ave) - Chinatown in Harrison - Dynasty on Rt. 22 If you want to travel further, Edison area has a few good ones. Yes Mayor, nothing compares with the original. | ||
| Glock 17 Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 730 Registered: 7-2005 |
I'm talking good american chinese food not real chinese food...if i wanted to eat rats and jellyfish skins and drink grass juice..id move right on overseas Great Wall is by far better than bill and harrys Didnt someone find a human tooth in bill and harrys or somethin glike that ? | ||
| Zet Citizen Username: Zet Post Number: 29 Registered: 12-2005 |
Dave: Fortune cookies were invented in ... California  http://www.chcp.org/fortune.html | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 9297 Registered: 4-1997 |
Invented in CA with Egg Foo Young no doubt. I agree with "5 Grain" in NY. Mayor, pull my finger... | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1236 Registered: 7-2004 |
"Didnt someone find a human tooth in bill and harrys or somethin glike that ?" Why say something about a business that is a flat out lie? I am glad someone invented the fortune cookie. What a great invention. It tastes OK, it gives you something to snack on after the meal, and it gives you a fortune to look forward to. It leaves a good impression. Dave, you wish... | ||
| Glock 17 Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 731 Registered: 7-2005 |
That's what a bunch of people have been saying at CHS for a while McCheese. Whether or not you believe it is up to you | ||
| John James Leuchs Jr Citizen Username: Clairvoyant Post Number: 84 Registered: 8-2005 |
It is definitely not fancy but it is authentic Chinese food as far as the way it is prepared - the two "Panda Kitchens" in Maplewood. I love both American and authentic Chinese food. In China they also do not serve chow mein which is so ground up you cannot tell what you are eating. In Morristown a restaurant closed that served it because it had cats in it. In China they don't serve cats, dogs, or snakes to tourists. They serve them to Chinese and that meat is more expensive than chicken and the usual fare. Only in America do they try to pawn off cat or dog as other meat. I like the fact that you watch them prepare and cook your food in the Pandas. You see what you are being served. But it is take out and definitely not fancy. The Wok in Madison is also good. | ||
| John James Leuchs Jr Citizen Username: Clairvoyant Post Number: 85 Registered: 8-2005 |
Correction, they do serve General Tao (pronounced dao) in the region of China near Beijing. I have eaten it there. Each region has its own cooking - Cantonese, Hunan, etc. | ||
| John James Leuchs Jr Citizen Username: Clairvoyant Post Number: 86 Registered: 8-2005 |
Dave, there are so many different dishes that a tourist cannot possibly find all of them. On another subject, I have been to Italy at least five times, traveling all over and I have been unable to find veal cardinale. Has anyone ever found this dish in Italy? | ||
| Wendy Supporter Username: Wendy Post Number: 2399 Registered: 5-2001 |
The Panda Kitchen that we frequent is not affiliated with the other one and their menu and signs indicate as such. We go to the one on the corner of Springfield and Park Ave. Not only decent take-out, imo, but the nicest people as well. | ||
| Glock 17 Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 732 Registered: 7-2005 |
The food in Chinatown is pretty good if you know where to look | ||
| Case Citizen Username: Case Post Number: 1430 Registered: 2-2005 |
Thanks for the results, guys. My basic problem is with dishes like sesame chicken or orange beef... for the former, the sauce usually has a strong whiff of bar-b-que sauce to it, and for the latter - well, let's just say that the name of the dish should be "fried batter with orange sauce and some occasional pieces of meat". I will review your suggestions - wish me luck! PS - the place on route 22 IS good! | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 9298 Registered: 4-1997 |
Those aren't common in China either. Very few deep fried breaded dishes over there because that's believed to be padding a dish with worthless crap. The dish John had in Beijing was probaby called Zuo Gong Ji and was probably served at a restaurant inside a hotel. Real Chinese food is extremely subtle in flavor and focuses on the ingredients. Here, people (and those catering to them) focus on the sauce. | ||
| LilLB Citizen Username: Lillb Post Number: 1605 Registered: 10-2002  |
This is why I like Ginger Taste -- their sauces are not overly thickened, salted or sweetened, so you don't end up with a layer of goop surrounding your food. The sauces are more subtle. Even their dumplings are less doughy. I love dumplings, but most places I find served dumplings that are basically a wad of dough with a hint of meat in the middle. Ginger Taste's are much lighter, I find. | ||
| Ima Perplecks Citizen Username: Victor Post Number: 3 Registered: 6-2005 |
Anyone try Veggie Heaven in Parsippany? It is vegetarian and great tasting chinese. | ||
| gibbsgirl Citizen Username: Gibbsgirl Post Number: 68 Registered: 11-2001 |
Once again, I have to recommend Chen's in New Providence (also their location on Rt. 22 in Mountainside). | ||
| Camnol Citizen Username: Camnol Post Number: 317 Registered: 3-2005 |
Chen's is good. It was my local Chinese restaurant for 13 years, but I wouldn't make the drive now that we moved to Maplewood. I don't care for their Rt. 22 location, btw. So far we eat at Ginger Taste (LOVE their won ton soup) or Hunan Spring (very good, in our opinion)--we don't miss Chen's at all. I keep meaning to try Peking House. We had Bill and Harry's once and I have to say it was the worst Chinese food I've ever had. I'm always puzzled by the glowing recommendations. Maybe we'll have to give it another try. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 13897 Registered: 1-2003  |
Yeah, Chen's. If you go there with someone knowledgeable, they will make stuff not on the menu. I worked at Bell Labs in Murray Hill right near there. For a while, we went there almost every time we went out because no one else had good food, good service, and good prices in the same place. We went there so much we got sick of it, but not because it's bad. Glock, sorry, but I disagree on your ranking of Great Wall over Bill and Harry. At least you should try Bill and Harry's Shrimp with Spicy Tea Sauce. It's all I ever order there for myself. It's breaded and fried, so I guess it's not authentic, but I like it. Panda on Springfield Ave is very unspecial. Hunan Wok on Springfield Ave is a tiny notch better, but still nothing extraordinary. Zet, where in Edison? I lived there for years and found nothing good. Some of the places seemed to use canned vegetables! | ||
| Zet Citizen Username: Zet Post Number: 32 Registered: 12-2005 |
Tom: There is a very decent Sichuan restaurant called Dragon Palace on Oak Tree Road in Edison. I also like Grand Shanghai on Rt. 1. The last time I was there was probably a year ago so can’t guarantee it’s still the same ownership. If you don’t mind the décor, there is a Cantonese place on Rt. 27 by the Asian Food Center called China Bowl. I found their menu online: http://www.gochineserestaurant.com/chinabowl/menu.htm . They remind me of places in Chinatown, always busy, with people coming in for a bowl of noodle soup (often students from Rutgers in New Brunswick sharing a dish) or for more fancy seafood dish. They have big selection of noodles, fish (steamed or sweet and sour) is great, you can also order roasted pork or duck that are prepared and displayed by the front window. | ||
| Joe R. Citizen Username: Ragnatela Post Number: 403 Registered: 6-2004 |
You NY guys are just waxing nostalgic about the Chinese food in the City. Honestly, was it really all that good? Last month it was about take out...."Aren't there any good take out places in NJ?" Come on, you probably lived in the City for 30 years. You've been in Maplewood 3 months. Experiment, live and learn. Hey, how's the town pool in NYC? Do they have a cool snack bar? How about the 4th of July Parade? Did thay have a parade of cute little kids on Bikes with red, white and blue streamers and a hokie little circus in the park? These are small towns. They're a little quaint. That's the charm. That's why you came here. Every community offers it's uniques charms. Haute Chinese cuisine is not one of ours. Maybe you can teach us how to do it. Maybe we can teach you how to relax. | ||
| GSP142 Citizen Username: Gsp142 Post Number: 115 Registered: 5-2003 |
Case, have you tried Peking House in West Orange? It's definitely for takeout, but the food is excellent for the price, in my opinion. And they will customize dishes if you ask. | ||
| oots Citizen Username: Oots Post Number: 389 Registered: 6-2001 |
is peking house at the cvs shopping center on ridgewood? oots | ||
| Glock 17 Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 742 Registered: 7-2005 |
Next to "gimme jimmy's cookies" nyuk nyuk  | ||
| Dogbert Citizen Username: Dogbert Post Number: 89 Registered: 1-2006  |
Why is nobody mentioning Ling Ling on Main street in Millburn? It's very good and a nice restaurant besides. I recommend the house special salmon. | ||
| Suzanne Ng Citizen Username: Suzanneng Post Number: 735 Registered: 3-2002 |
Glock -- FYI, Gimme Jimmy's has relocated to Church St in Montclair, and is no longer at the West Orange location. | ||
| ess Citizen Username: Ess Post Number: 1845 Registered: 11-2001  |
Last time I was at Ling Ling, the food was so awful none of us could eat it. The dumplings (and the meat in general) emitted a strong stench. Maybe that's why no one is recommending it. I know I wouldn't. There is a place in Springfield, on Mountain, that is delicious (forget the name!). | ||
| Factvsfiction Citizen Username: Factvsfiction Post Number: 71 Registered: 4-2006 |
Ginger Taste in Millburn- Malaysian style Chinese, never had a bad meal there or as take-out. | ||
| GSP142 Citizen Username: Gsp142 Post Number: 116 Registered: 5-2003 |
oots, yes, Peking House is in the shopping center anchored by CVS on what becomes South Valley Road in West Orange. | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 9306 Registered: 4-1997 |
Quite good take-out, too. | ||
| maplescorp Citizen Username: Maplescorp Post Number: 151 Registered: 12-2005  |
I actually like Ling Ling. They say their satuff is healthier too but who knows? The WORST PLACE EVER was the one that closed in Maplewood a few months ago -- Water Lilly. I'll have to check out GREAT ALL. On a related note, we LOVE MORRIS THAI on Morris Ave in Springfiled (Union?) If you know the back way via Stuyvesant it's not that far. |
