Spicy Chef

Our fourth or fifth time being here and it’s been consistently good. Parking and the main entrance is around back. We were seated immediately around 7.30pm on a Saturday night. Restaurant was about 1/3 full. You don’t come here for the ambiance, you come for the consistently good Chinese food. Really the only decent Chinese food within a 20 minute drive of South Orange. This time went with the hot and sour soup (always delicious), scallion pancakes, spicy smashed cucumbers, wontons in chili oil, Mongolian beef, and string beans in garlic sauce. About $94 (not including tip) for all of it. We ate about half and will be able to have a full second dinner with the leftovers. Can’t recommend this spot enough.

First time here and will never come back. Food is unbearable. They do offer free ice cream after meal. First of all, food took forever to come. Restaurant is only half full, but it took 30+ mins to get 3 dishes. The table next to us ordered after us. They got almost all their dishes before we had anything on our table. Spicy fish (乾鍋魚） - 7/10 decent Spicy and sour shredded potato (酸辣土豆絲) - 2/10 drenched in black and white pepper powder [see photo] can’t taste anything but the powders and also too salty Double cooked pork (回鍋肉) - 4/10 a few pork pieces are not fresh, tasted funny 🤢 Service and free ice cream saved this review from 1 star to 3 stars. That’s probably how they get such good reviews on Google.

The food was fresh, flavorful, and had just the right amount of spice without being overwhelming. The menu has a lot of variety, and everything we tried tasted like it was made with care. The staff was friendly and attentive, which made the visit even more enjoyable. There are so many other dishes on the menu that I’m looking forward to trying, and I will definitely be coming back again soon.

O M G ! This has to be the BEST Chinese restaurant I have ever been to. The menu is extensive, the choices are all delicious. Expertly prepared and served. All our selections were perfectly spiced, not too much but front present throughout the dish. PERFECT! There is a section on the menu for the American style Chinese food which is probably prepared better than what your used to. But with the wide selection of actual Chinese food, why would one order from the American version. We shared the Hunan Style Braised Whole Fish. Appetizer Dandan noodles and the Wood Mushroom app was unbelievably tasty. I live an hour fifteen from here but will be back! It is well, well worth the drive for food selections that I cannot get anywhere else. Enjoy!

Amazing food. So flavorful and spicy. No wait on a Wed evening. Great atmosphere and attentive service. We got lamb and friend fish- both amazing. Crab soup dumplings were OK. Pork buns were really good as well. Highly recommend.