Nice local Chinese restaurant. Pot Stickers were very good as well as the Hot and Sour Soup. One of my buddies ordered pork fried rice and it looked excellent. Service was excellent as well. What really stood out about this place was the exceptional decor and ambiance. It was like walking into a Chinese movie set. I was waiting for Jackie Chan or IP Man to jump out and start a KungFu battle. The only thing I would change about this place is the dingy and soiled carpet but otherwise this place is perfect for my bi monthly lunch. Maybe even weekly. They also have an abundant private parking lot with large spaces and a a fancy Chinese fountain out front and a fancy Asian fish pond out back = Found It! = Happy! read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House - Potstickers excellent. - Chinese Near Me - Monterey, California

My favorite restaurant for take out. I always order their Mongolian beef, chow mein and my favorite-sizzling rice soup! They are friendly and kind over the phone, super fast too! Love it. read more

Chef Lee's! What happened to your chow mein noodles?! Got take out today, chicken chow mein, the noodles were chopped up into small pieces! And barely any "veggies", an occasional overcooked sliver of carrot and/or cabbage. Been my favorite for many years. Today was not worth it. read more

Can someone please recommend a place that has good Chinese food. I wanted Chinese food so bad that I ignored my first thought that reminded me Chef Lee's food was not good, I was quickly reminded after trying it. This food is not good is there a good Chinese restaurant in Monterey seaside, or Marina? read more

Chef Lee's has been a mainstay since I was a child and I have many fond memories over the years of going there with my family. The food is wonderful and the owners are really nice. I highly recommend it to anyone in Monterey! read more

PLEASE READ!! This place seemed very nice. Menu, sitting area etc. Except, when my friend and I were ordering, I've never had such bad customer service. Sure, you could consider cultural aspects, being understaffed etc. But we did. (Especially for those who live in California; we're from the east coast.) There's no excuse to speak to your customers so rude, with a harsh-toned voice. Consider literally ever other restaurant except this. read more

This place serves excellent dishes, both straight from the menu and as specials, and they're generally inexpensive. The nicest part is the fast service; if you order hot and sour soup in addition to an entree, the soup tends to arrive at your table in the first 2 minutes! The restaurant itself is very culturally decorated, emphasizing the restaurant's theme. There are plenty of food items to choose from, too. I like their orange prawns and peking chicken, in addition to just about everything else! I found its location to be particularly nice because it neighbors a 76 station. While my girlfriend's car got an oil change performed, we ate lunch here, and walked back just in time. Sweet! read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House - Chef Lee's - Chinese Near Me - Monterey, California

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Wow! Out of 5 reviews, 2 5s, a 4 and 2 1s!? Talk about extremes! This is a 3 star place. It isn't to the standards of SF, but it is ok. It's been at this location forever...at least 20 years. The decor is decent, with nice tables and chairs, a separate banquet room, and a decorative large lighting mural. The service is friendly from the Filipina waitress. The food is so-so at best. Mostly Mandarin food, and nothing to write home about, neither a 5 star or 1 star. 3 is about right. The food approximates familier dishes, but they do not shine with delicate flavors or preparation. Its passable for most tourists. There aren't many really good Chinese restaurants on the Monterey Peninsula, unfortunately. Same goes for Japanese and Korean. So this place has a convenient location near the Fair Grounds (where the music festivals are) and not far from MPC, (the junior college) and is on the main drag that connects Seaside and Monterey. read more

Every time we go on vacation, my husband starts missing his almost-daily rice by the 4th or 5th day. We passed by Chef Lee's on our way to our motel and I saw the fun outside decor and told the husband that this was going to be his fix. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/chef-lees-mandarin-house-monterey?select=tW9UE2uQx8sNra5VM41gNg#tW9UE2uQx8sNra5VM41gNg As fun (old school in a good way) as the outside was, inside was even better! Reminded me of some of the colorful places my parents took us to when we were kids. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/chef-lees-mandarin-house-monterey?select=tW9UE2uQx8sNra5VM41gNg#kEu85_6FPh0MVajAWvTqfA I couldn't stop looking up at the ceiling! http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/chef-lees-mandarin-house-monterey?select=tW9UE2uQx8sNra5VM41gNg#rfsssoGDn7NHwBzjr1p7cA Food-wise, my husband was satisfied. His fried rice and Chef Lee's chowmein were Americanized which he prefers. The servings were so big that he made the leftovers his late night snack later that night. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/chef-lees-mandarin-house-monterey?select=tW9UE2uQx8sNra5VM41gNg#l_MEarhTt8eijvnjCf-lCQ I shared my bowl of Wor Wonton soup with him and it was pretty good. Got the small serving and it's enough for two or three people. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/chef-lees-mandarin-house-monterey?select=tW9UE2uQx8sNra5VM41gNg#wyq2Ytc6UcsHYZc32jGsTw At another table, I saw that their large size is served in a big tureen which is good for 8-10 people. A-OK for the food, 4 stars for the decor and attentive service. read more

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Disgusting, I ordered a fish dish that smelled like fish bait. It was obvious that it was old. The cook knew it was old because they masked it with lots of ginger & green onions. Buyer beware. read more

Was in the mood for Chinese tonight, so we ordered delivery to our hotel. The chicken chow mein was amazing. Highly recommend!! The garlic chicken was flavorful and delicious. Loved the water chestnuts, onions, and peppers. Loved the side of broccoli too. Wish we would've gotten the side of hot sauce I asked for in the Comments section, but overall very happy. Brian, who delivered the order, was super fast, friendly, and communicative. read more

We came to check out the sizzle rice soup which is amazing. But everything else is basically trash. Have you ever had orange chicken that doesn't take anything close to orange chicken. My BF and I aren't sure how to explain the taste. The taste was almost not existent. Really disappointed but now I understand why there HUGE restaurant had no one inside eating. read more

Chef Lee's is a great place. Very much what a Chinese restaurant should look like, in my opinion, which is cool. And the food is the bomb. The soups and apps are incredible and we go there all the time. This is one of only 2 Chinese restaurants we will go to on the Peninsula read more

This restaurant has by far the worst service I have ever experienced in all of my years. I have never written a bad review for a restaurant. I was screamed at by the older women for kindly letting her know she got my order incorrect in front of the whole restaurant. It was an extremely embarrassing moment and she ended up refusing to change my order. Her staff also looked terrified by her and I feel extremely bad for those who work there. I will never go back to this establishment and I highly recommend you never go to eat here. On top of all of this the food is absolutely mediocre and you can certainly find a significantly better place to eat for a lot less as well. I only ended going here because my go to restaurant was closed and this was the closest alternative. read more

Our first time here will not not be our last. My husband and I were there at lunch time 9/10/21 so selected from an extensive lunch menu. The lunch entre included Egg Flower Soup. Our selected entre could substitute Chow Fun or Chow Mein (for a nominal fee) instead of steamed rice. The portion were quite generous providing a left-over take home box. Our server was excellent, unfortunately we do not have his name to share at the time of this review. The building outside and inside décor is Chinese adding to lovely overall ambiance. We will be returning again and again. Helen M. read more

Ordered take out of orange chicken and Kung pow beef with fried rice and egg rolls. First it was $45 which is nuts... also, we got Kung pow chicken... not beef. The orange chicken was really bad... too sticky sweet and actual flavor was almost plastic-like. Also the egg rolls were basically just cabbage. Once we got home, I called and told them that they sent us home with the wrong order. She told me to bring it back so they can make sure I got the wrong food. We'd had a long day and I wasn't going to come back in. She said there's nothing they could do unless I brought the food back. Ok, I get it... some people may try to rip them off. But you saw me, I paid with a credit card, I'm not a criminal. Just give me back my $15 because you messed up. It was 3 pm in the afternoon and they were super slow... she could have walked back to ask the chef what he made 15 minutes ago. read more

Either my body cant process Chinese food.... Or this is just terrible... Came here a while a go and same result from years a go. Middle of the night in the bathroom(you can imagine). The service was terrific. The lady was so nice to my baby cousin when he got fussy. She knew how to make him smile. And putting up with my family she gets 5 stars. But I don't think I'll return unless I want a good excuse to call in sick to work the next day. read more

DO NOT DO GROUP LUNCHEONS HERE. My company chose to have Christmas lunch here. We called days in advance to let them know and even called the day before to get menu so we could pre order and make sure they had space for us, they were rude on the phone and said you can order when you get here or look online. we called to order and they tried to tell us that instead of ordering individually we need to order large amounts and share but due to covid our company doesn't allow that so they let us order individually. then we get there and they didn't even great us they just started serving the food all to one table (we had 3 tables) and we had to distribute the food to the other tables ourselves and once everyone got their food we didn't get offered any refills on drinks or get checked if we need anything else. then when time to pay we all wanted to pay individually and they said we could not then they said we could all just pay $25 each but we all did lunch special which was priced any where from $12.95-$14.95 each. we complained because $25 each was way too much so then each person had to re tell them what we got to pay individually. one college got charged $42 for 1 lunch special (13.95) and ragon app (8.95) because the tip was automatically included in each charge which she ended up having to tip $15 alone and when she questioned why she has to pay so much the cashier said "ugh, you people" and waved her hand up in a rude manor. Everyone paid any where from 20-45 each we had 14 people there then they said we still owe $100 and wouldn't let 2 of my colleges to leave and threatened to call the cops then they said oh we figured it wrong you owe $10 so they paid the extra $10 on top of all the other extra just so they could leave. They did not know how to handle a large group and because of this horrible and rude experience they lost all of our service. read more

I am writing this review as a counterpoint to the odd, negative ones I read on here when I clicked to check the hours. We had a delicious lunch today with great service. Tastes in Chinese food vary I know, but we have always loved the hot and sour soup here and today was no exception. Their egg rolls and wontons are crispy and delicious. The General Tso's chicken was perfectly savory, sweet and spicy with a nice lot of bell peppers. The portions were huge and we have food for two more meals! The service was great as always, friendly and charming. I can't understand the people on here saying the waitstaff are rude, unless they misunderstand the slightly formal manners of the servers as rudeness? If you came on here to decided whether or not to try Chef Lee, ignore the hates and give it a try! read more

We have been going here for the last 15 years or so. I find the food consistently really good and always fresh. The food is always ready fast as well. While the prices are not "cheap" (not crazy either) the portions are worth it.We almost always get take out and it's at least 2-3 meals plus for us and we are not shy eaters! read more

Not what it used to be. Ive been going here for 30 years and was very disappointed the last time we ordered take out from them. The Chow Mein was full of red chili flakes and there for inedible fur me. The beef and broccoli was good as always, as was their Chef Lees Fried Rice. I heard that they recently changed ownership?? Maybe this explains the changes in preparation.. I may give it another try but looking around for a new Chinese place. read more

Friend recommended this place and we actually ended up trying it out tonight because there was an hour wait at Monterey fish house. We arrived and saw that the parking lot was full. That's a good sign. We walked in and were surprised to see how big this place was. Looks like they probably host a lot of weddings at this location. Nicely decorated Chinese restaurant. We were seated after a few minutes at the corner booth. No one came to take our order so we had to flag down a waitress. We orders the: *sizzling soup:5/5 great flavor, totally hit the spot. The medium size could easily feed a party of four. Tons of chicken, sizzling rice, water chestnuts. Yummy! *chicken mushy since they ran out of HK styled fried noodle:3/5 average, a tad on the sweet side *tomato beef chow mien: 2/5 way too sweet. And the noodles were flat noodles ( kinda like pad see ew noodles). Service: better than most Chinese joints, our waitress came to check on us once. This place has tons of regulars who order take out. Good place if you are hungry and want some yummy soup. read more

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Worse service ever, please do not waste your time and money coming here. Food is OK but when it come to paying your bill please watch out they will sneak in an 18% charge for the tip without letting you know a lunch special can turn out pretty pricey. The worse part is when the cashier cannot even explain to you why is she overcharging you. I rather go to PANDA EXPRESS..... read more

Stopped in on Christmas and ordered the chicken chow menu and rice sides. Food is so yummy and the owner and staff are so sweet! My only complaint is that I ordered extra bean sprouts and there weren't any bean sprouts in my chow menu. A minor thing but I love bean sprouts I. My chow menu. Great place for Chinese. Wouldn't go anywhere else. read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House - Chinese Near Me - Monterey, California

This is not easy to write, hopefully it will be an eye opener for whomever is cooking and overseeing such matters. This time I will take the time out and write (report) this.. Once was a stable on the Peninsula with those who know of authentic flavors of Chinese Food..it appears that whoever is cooking the food doesn't have an feel and roots in the experience of flavors that comes from a combination of seasoning and the food itself. The food we got again was greasy and salty. We spent a lot of money and time on food that I can get better in the frozen sections at Costco's The Chef Lee in Salinas the times we did frequent that location, the food is a hit and miss also. The staff serving the food and greeting you once you enter the doors of the restaurant ( Chef Lee's) are courteous, cheerful and very welcoming.. Most of on the Peninsula grow up knowing of Chef Lee from the beginning and the family..the hard work, sacrifices and dedication it took to make it work.. Chef Lee has one of the largest seating area for dining that is located conveniently for easy access from any location of the Peninsula using the highway & Fremont Street...it is known for that and also for gravitating there because of historical gatherings. We ( I) want the old style Chef Lee, will not give up on them yet, but will not be my (our) first choice... read more

This is probably the best Chinese food you can find in Monterey. The won ton soup and chow fun are both very good. I recommend asking to get the chow fun with barbequed pork. This is also a nice place to go with a group as it has a great atmosphere. The chinese decoration is a little over the top but it's good. This place gets three stars instead of four because the service is terrible. The waitress never came to check on us, and we waited for a while. We ended up having to go to the front desk to get our bill and pay for it. read more

Been going there for 20 years. Went there last Friday it was the worst horrible us greasy meal I ever had. Never like the chef lees that I knew before. I was devastated out the poor quality won't be going back one star . read more

Very good , quick and generous portions. We ordered Mongolian beef and snow pea shrimp. We ate it at the beach as their dining area is closed and no outside seating. If you do ask for plastic ware and napkins as was not automatically put in the box read more

For the ambience five stars. The food four stars. The food was a little bland for my taste buds, could have used more spices. The restaurant was very clean. Yet the woman's bathroom gets ZERO stars very disgusting. read more

Feel bad giving them 3 stars only because they had the BEST handmade chicken potstickers with dipping sauce the hubs and I have ever had. The service...ugh, they never want to refill your drinks. It could be cleaner inside and has a lot of potential. Noodles were greasy, chicken fried rice was good & my father-in-law seemed satisfied with the beef. We will see if I return for those damn potstickers again... read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House - Chinese Near Me - Monterey, California

This was the third time that we ordered our food and it wasn't what we ordered. This last time was just awful. They wanted us to bring back the order they gave us and said they found our order. We asked that it be redone because it would be cold by the time we go back again. Well they just gave us cold food-- there were 3 families eating together and chef Lee's just lost three long time customers. Never offered to make things right-they just wanted there money. POOR food and VERY POOR customer service. We are done....... read more

This place is a great spot for group dining. They have a nice ambience. The usual Chinese restaurant theme, including an outdoor Koi pond. The place is spacious. We had a group of 10 and sat in the back. There is a full bar so someone can come in and grab an appetizer and drink while traffic dies down. I came early and the server kept checking on me. The friendly, unobtrusive service continued throughout the evening. They were willing to do separate checks because not everyone was sharing but the group decided to pay on one bill. The food is quite good. To me Chinese is Chinese and I don't eat it often unless I have a hankering for it or someone with me wants it. But they do a good job here. Started with an appetizer sampler of different items. They came wrapped in tin foil and everything was fresh and moist. I only tried the prawn because it was a group of ten with only 6 items. The sizzling rice soup came next and instead of plopping a large bowl on the table, they served it in small soup cups and put it in the middle of the "lazy Susan" style table. It was delicious and I grabbed a second serving. I could eat Chinese soup often, even though I don't care for the entrees more than once or twice a year. The group did a good job of ordering a wide variety of items. The lazy Susan is awesome and I would recommend requesting it if you dine in a group. They have more than one table with it. I've never seen them in other restaurants and it's worth it to come here just for that! No handing heavy plates back and forth and worrying about dripping sauce. But I digress, back to the food. All meat and seafood entrees were full of protein-no skimpy little diced up chicken or itty bitty shrimps. We had a beef and broccoli with giant pieces of broccoli and big strips of beef. (I skipped cause it's red meat but it looks good. Many Chinese spots go the wimpy meat route). The shrimp was the best-looking dish of the evening with puffy battered prawns. I don't recall the name of every dish but the person who ordered it asked the server what her favorite dish was. The server prepared the mushu pork at the table next to us and rolled them fresh and passed them out. That's partly why I say the service is great. She held the pork for the vegetarians and vegans in the group. I tried a vegan version and it was delicious! I love group dining where you can share and try a little bit of everything. This was my first time trying the dish. Our group ordered quite a few veggie dishes, including Y-shing eggplant, Mushu Vegetables and Kim Chee Spicy Vegetables. They were all delicious. I wouldn't mind coming back here and sharing more vegetarian dishes. This is a good spot for Chinese food with a little something extra special in food quality and service. read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House - Full bar in rear - Chinese Near Me - Monterey, California

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I usually never write reviews but tonight I can't hold back. Probably one of the worst places I have been to! We were rushed to order when we got there at 9 pm (it says they close at 10pm online). We weren't greeted or welcomed. He completely forgot about my sprite which I ordered and then stopped caring about. In the middle of us eating they passed us the bill and cut the music off. Through out the whole time they were walking back and forth around our table and starred at our plates making us feel super rushed! On top of that the food wasn't good and instantly served which means it was everything else but freshly cooked! Don't go there people it's a waste! read more

This place has been a staple in Monterey for as long as I've been alive. I've been coming to chef lees with my family since I was a kid! I love the decorations, and the dining space. I haven't come here since my prom night in 2006, and it hasn't changed one bit :) the food portions are always plentiful, and you always get your food quickly. I love the hot green tea that is served when you first sit down. My only complaints I have are 2 things. 1 I think it lacks in the cleanliness of the dining area, they should definitely be vacuuming more frequently, and the bathroom needs some attention more frequently as well. The waitress we had was very courteous, and quick when it came to taking our order, and she even packed up our left overs for us. Thank you chef lees for never letting me down! read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House - What a spread! - Chinese Near Me - Monterey, California

This place is a staple for the community. I've been going here since I was a kid and hope that I can take mine! For food, everything is good. The most common Chinese dishes are an easy win but everything is cooked with love, potstickers fried to perfection and the service is very friendly. I have so many memories from so many family celebrations.This place has always taken care of us. Thanks!! read more

So sad, the meals have become so bad. Once upon a time, the food was pretty good. Avoid the Egg Foo Yung, really weird style. Yuck! read more

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I'm stuffed. Can't move. I rarely overeat but the Mongolian beef. Cashew nut chicken, chicken chow mien, and sweet & sour soup (a la carte) I haven't been to restaurants or take-out in MONTHS because of this pandemic nightmare. The food is So Good. How I miss restaurants and not cooking. Well, I couldn't eat the whole thing. Happily, hubby and I will have 2 more meals out of this haul. I called the order in, hopped in the car, the order was hot and ready. 10 minutes? Smiling eyed staff behind the masks and gloved hands. We always enjoyed this place pre-covid real dining. I'm planning on regular hot and sour soup runs for sure. Huge menu, btw. Next time I'll get the mushu pork. Their plum sauce is perfect read more

We've been coming here for a while now. I gave to say when we first where here, they had a beautiful pond filled with koi fish. Now it's dried out and unpleasant to look at. The staff is usually friendly and fun. But on our last visit, the hostess sat us at a table that had dirty dishes when there were more available tables. The server just put the plates on top of our forks. The chairs are all wobbly. If you lean back you feel like you're going to fall. The portions and cooking are not what they used to be. They give you less. Way less. They don't even higher trying to spread it on the plate to make it look like it is full. We had the broccoli beef and the broccoli wasn't even cooked. This was disappointing knowing we use to come here often. read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House - The broccoli wasn't cooked and the portions are way SMALLER. - Chinese Near Me - Monterey, California

I love the restaurant for chinese food. The food is very tasty. The service is always very good. It is one of my favorite chinese places to eat in Monterey. read more

My husband and I took our grandsons to have dinner here in remembrance of my mother who has passed away. Let me start off by saying the food was delicious! However the waitress made it awkward from the start but I didn't let that bother me. It was when I asked for a refill of lemonade for my grandson and she said it was $3.50 and she said oh you don't want it now right? I thought wow that was rude and unnecessary! So at that point I decided I would not give a tip. When I got to the cashier and paid with my debit card another lady stepped in and asked why I didn't give a tip and asked was the service bad!? I honestly didn't feel like explaining but she kept on asking and asked me to change it on my receipt! I told her why, and explained about the refill. She did say it was their policy so I said oh I didn't know that but now I do so next time I will give a tip. This was so unprofessional and disrespectful. I hope they change the way they do business and how they treat their customers. read more