Introduction: Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant is a great place to bring a group of friends together for lunch or dinner like in Chinese culture (at many Chinese restaurants, there is that big lazy Susan looking device so you can rotate the plates easier). Chiang's should be the place you go when you're transitioning to Faux-Chinese food to authentic Chinese food. Customer Service: The wait staff are usually English speaking including Mandarin and/or Cantonese. It's all business as to what you want to order and a refill of the tea or water. It won't be the visit of "how's everything tasting?" But do feel free to ask questions along the lines of "What's this?" and "What's in this, is it beef?" Don't ask if the chicken's free range or if they have fair-trade green tea because they probably won't know what you're talking about like the last customer who asked that when I was dining at Chiang's a few weeks ago. Food: I don't know what the Americanized "Chinese" food tastes like as I never order anything from that menu. The authentic Chinese menu has several dishes I've randomly tried and ended up liking. The authentic Chinese food here is delicious as four mainland Chinese and my girlfriend's family of Hong Kong Chinese agree. Price to Value: You can get away treating two or three friends spending $50-75 easy altogether. By yourself or one to two friends is an easy $30. But in either scenario, somebody is likely to be carrying out a take out bag with left overs. Ancient Chinese Secret? In general, if you're looking for authentic and really good Chinese food (and Taiwanese to some degree), listen to actual culturally Chinese people. They'll 99% steer you in the right direction! And if the ratio of Chinese to non-Chinese is higher, more likely it is more authentic. That's a better indicator than a pregnancy test! Facility: The facility is completely not austere or horribly dirty BUT I do highly recommend not sitting in the far back (when you enter, look straight ahead, it's that area) because you will get the slight hint of the restroom scent followed by it being sort of cold. If that's the last seating arrangement, just play it off and have other people sit there and wait for a table at another section of the dining area. My recommendation to you: Don't go here thinking that what you get at P.F. Chang's is what you'll find here. This place serves very authentic Chinese food. How do I know? When there is a ratio of more Chinese people to non-Chinese Americans, that's almost a confirmation. And for those who think Panda Express, P.F. Chang's, a fortune cookie and General Tso's chicken are real deal Chinese, challenge yourself, open your mind and try out the actual Chinese menu. You'll find there is more to Chinese food than Egg Foo Yung, chop suey and all those other "Chinese" dishes. Also, I highly recommend not going to Chiang's using the I-5 off ramp to Lake City Way because you may be waiting for a long time just to take a left turn into the parking lot since that street is always busy. read more

Wow. Brian M. and I must have either been really unlucky in our menu choices, or people have gone mad. 4 star average? Have these people ever been to China Town? The only 4 star aspect of this place was the fact they were open today on a Monday. Wish they hadn't been... This added to the compiling bad experiences of my day, which were meant to be alleviated with an early dinner out. It seems as though the fates were against us, however, because every place we dreamed up were off for Monday. Except Chiang's, which supposedly has a more exotic menu. Well, the online menu i had previously drooled over did not match the available dishes, because (as the woman working told us) most of the cheaper, quirky items were for dim-sum-only. Gee, thanks for making it obvious on the site! No congee, boo. Brian and i were sat immediately since we arrived before the rush, giving us room to explore our options. The woman/server/owner( ?) did her best to answer questions, and did so pleasantly without seeming intruded upon. She confirmed our interest in a few things, one of which were "steamed corn bread buns" for only $.75 each. We ordered two. Curious about the infamous "Fried Tofu Of Strong Odor" (aka, stinky tofu), we signed up for them at $8. I wanted some stank! Then we ordered the "Crispy Pig's Instestine In Garlic & Hot Pepper" after being assured it was a good sharable dish, followed by the woman's very confident recommendation of " Enoki & Black Mushroom Wrapped w/Bean Curd Sheet In Brown Sauce" ($12). Verdict: GUILTY OF AGGRAVATED TASTEBUD ASSAULT, CALORIC HARASSMENT, AND TRESPASSING STOMACH-SPACE. First to arrive were the 2 corn cakes and the bean curd sheets with mushrooms. I'll get the positive part over with by saying that apart from having to limp-wrist-it with the salt to compensate for their lack of seasoning, the bean curd-wrapped mushroom things were the best result. Soy beans and Chinese broccoli surrounded the dumpling-like wraps that sat in a (too) mild (too) thin gravy. This was yummy, but it was so "almost there" in its dynamics that i felt like i never quite reached my peak, so to speak. The corn cakes? Or rather, the rock-hard cones of fossilized cornbread...good lord! We couldn't even CHEW these, let alone salvage them in the other dish's gravy (they don't have the ability to absorb). We promptly dumped them back into the basket they came in. The pork intestines, despite their agreeable similarity to pork rinds , would have been better enjoyed sans the ball-pit of hot dried peppers that buried them. I ate some of the peppers so that 7/8's of the item wouldn't be wasted, but those things are not food. Seriously. Try eating 10-15 like i did. Wow...for $8 anywhere else, i could have bought a whole tub of intestines and not have had to chew through Satan's potpourri to get to them! FINALLY, the stinky tofu arrived (to be fair, we were told prep time would be long). But where was the smell? Either i am one ripe lady or these things were the tamest stinky tofu around. This was NOT the culinary crop-dusting we had anticipated. They were akin to dried-out toasted marshmallows, accompanied by a pathetic kimchi side we hardly touched. The dipping sauce was only useful to moisten an ordered side of rice...the only way i could manage to fill up at this point. The place got busy right as our food came, and service was reduced to a fond memory, replaced by a young man who had too many larger parties to worry about to have concern for our displeasure of our barely-touched plates. When asked more than once if we were enjoying our food, and even after we admitted to the contrary, they made it clear the question was redundant. Regarding the inedible nature of the corn cakes, the male server was nice enough to educate us: that that's how they were "supposed to taste...bland". Why the hell would we have ordered them if we knew THAT, we asked (in nicer words). "Next time you should ask," he mentioned before zipping off. WE DID! "Bland" wasn't in the menu's or the waitress' descriptions! Frankly, it should have been in every one of these dish's descriptions. I was pretty pissed that they didn't have the courtesy to remove those mounds of horror from our table and our check (it wouldn't have set either them nor us back financially...but it's a principle, you know?). I can't remember the last time i was this honest to a restaurant about not being happy my orders, but i never thought the day i had the stones to mention it that the restaurant wouldn't care. Why ask in the first place? I stewed and poked at my plate until, long after we requested it, our check for almost $40. And what the hell did we eat, exactly? Probably 1/4th of the food, considering the useless garnishes they came in. Bye-bye, money. Bye-bye, Chiang's...for good! Chiang's Gourmet? I'd rather have Budget Gourmet. My mouth and wallet are filing a restraining order ASAP! *joy read more

See all

As much as I love the food here, the service - even for Chinese restaurant standards - leaves a little to be desired. Okay, a lot to be desired. To wit: 6pm - Seated 6:30pm - No food arrives. 6:45pm Fried dumplings arrive. Unfortunately, we ordered them steamed. Hapa Boy: I'm sorry, we ordered steamed dumplings. Waiter: No, you order fried. Me: We definitely ordered steamed. We said it, and then we said it again. Waiter: You want steamed now? Twenty minute wait. Hapa Boy: What about the noodle soup? Waiter: [shrug] 7:10pm - Yeah. He was right. So to sum up: Food = tasty Wait = long Waiter = not so much read more

Please please please check your food price and total when you dine here! If I could give 0 or minus star I definitely would! The food here is good don't get me wrong, but the owner is unethical! We have been here more than 10x and she kept trying to charge us more than we ordered. For the first few times, she tried to give us just a small piece of paper with just the total number, and when we asked she said "oh I calculated it already and already included tips in this". So we thought ok, she was just being nice and did all the work for us. We saw the total being more than we thought but we assumed it was tax and tips, which isn't apparently..... So then a few times more we came and the total was always more than what we thought we ordered and we became suspicious that she's doing it on purpose. So this last time, we calculated ourselves what we ordered with the prices on the menu and surely enough she charged us 10$ more! And when we mentioned it to her she was like, "oh I am just so confused too many people here". Then she proceeded to take our credit card and then she charged us 15$ more again!! Her excuse this time is, "your fault cause you wanted to split to so many cards" (???) So we told her this is not the first time you did this and then she became so defensive and started yelling and calling us rude! Oh my! Apparently also our friends have been charged more several times, so definitely not an honest business here! Do enjoy the food but PLEASE don't let her charge you more! read more

Some of the best Chinese food outside of the ID. While many come here for the solid Chinese American dishes, the hand made noodles are what sets this place apart from most. My favorite version is with ground pork, dried tofu, and bean paste sauce. While it isn't as refined as the version at Din Tai Fung, it's a lot heartier. The Bean Curd Sheets Rolled w/Chicken, Pork, Shrimp was also very good as a starter. In fact, their Chinese menu is full of items you might expect to find. Definitely a more authentic alternative than most of the other Chinese places around the Green Lake/Roosevelt area. read more

Ok so I have heard pretty good things about Chiangs and so finally for my boyfriends birthday, we decide to check it out and see for ourselves. Food = pretty good. Service? are you serious ? You just ran out into the parking lot and stopped me at my car and made me look stupid like I had shorted you, when in reality you realized you didn't charge me for an effing 7-up ($1.65!!) and wanted me to pay you for it out in the parking lot?!?!?!When I had already tipped you $7 + on a $22 meal? No, I'm sorry you can take that out of your tip. Wow, you have some nerve. Next time I will absolutely go further down Lake City Way and dine @ the Seven Seas. read more

We love this place! We order of the "other" menu and have found some real favorites like the shrimp fried rice and pork chop ! Oh and Mabel is the best! She always remembers you and what you like! read more

Make reservations if you have a big group. Even if you don't, call ahead. We went this evening at 6:45pm and had a 30 mins wait for two - but we expected it, so no biggie. They are certainly under-staffed for such a successful restaurant. No more than five people - that includes the owner who stands at the door, rings up bills, runs to the kitchen to pick up the take out orders and once in awhile runs (yes runs) to clear tables... so if you're impatient but still want some good food, go see your shrink before you head over; if not you're gonna' need serious help after a meal here :) We got seated after the estimated 30 mins - oddly enough, the owner didn't tell me the wait would be 10 - 20 mins like EVERY bloody restaurant in the world :) We sat there, browsed the Chinese menu (that would be the bilingual one with Chinese words next to the English translation - which aren't bad translations actually). Nobody came to give us tea or water... 10 mins went by... I'm looking at the English version of the menu... yeah very typical... stuff you can get at any other Americanized-Chinese restaurant but I won't be surprised they can make it better here... 15 mins... The husband suggested I took off my top to get some attention. I doubted his suggested. I mean, I might get some of the customer's attention... but that's about it. These people were seriously beeee-zeeeee! Eventually, I waved my hands like a mad woman and got one of the girl's attention and she seemed surprised that we hadn't even been served tea. Ok, at least she noticed that. She ran to get us tea and came back immediately to get our order. We got our food... YUM! My favorite dish tonight was the dou hua xia - WOW. Spicy, garlicky, a ton of shrimps and soft silky tofu... SO bloody good. This is under the Szechuan dishes so if you don't like to see a lot of oil in your dish, you might not want to order this. If not, it's awesomely delicious!! We brought our little leftovers of this dish home 'coz if I add another block of soft tofu, it's another meal altogether! Soooo good with rice! The people working there are nice... and when I spoke to them in Mandarin, they actually acknowledged me. The owner even apologized for the wait. What?! At a Chinese place?! Yup, he really did! Even told me about their weekend dim sum that runs from 10:30am through 3pm and showed me the menu. He even smiled!! I'm totally serious!! He smiled! I might need to go get some therapy after this rather unusual experience lol! Needless to say, I will return. I want to try so many more of their dishes. Oh, the gan chao niu heh (fried rice-noodles with beef) is also very good... we also had the fillet of fish with pickled chilli - it's good but i felt that this dish was such a huge an order for two - good for 8 - they should be cautioned us when we ordered it! Really good for 8 if they had other dishes also of course!! Yes, we have a ton of leftover and couldn't even accept the dessert (hong dou bing) red bean soup (yes it's sweet) when they offered us some. What a waste... but I shall try it when I return... Oh, one star off for not-so-dry bathrooms and no ventilation in the packed restaurant. They also ran out of diet coke... yes it's petty but it all adds up to having myself a perfect meal :) read more

I have eaten here probably 30 or 40 times over the past couple years and have never been disappointed with the food. It's great to see all the positive reviews about this place with so many different favorite dishes listed. These are my tried and true: * Potstickers - steamed then pan fried, served with dipping sauce * Triple Pepper Short Ribs - spicy, slightly sweet, and meaty * Home Made Noodles - chewy noodles, ground pork, bean curd, zucchini, bean paste sauce (tastes better than it sounds) * Five Star Spicy Hot Chicken - spicy, fried, bite-size chicken * Fish Fillet on Romaine Lettuce - spicy and delicious (again, much better than it sounds) Just thinking about the food makes me hungry... Service is good unless they're really busy- everyone seems to work together, so you can ask any of the servers for anything. The ambiance is not terribly impressive, and some of the booths are not in great shape, but the food makes up for it. They accept cash, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover. Parking is not a problem with a lot on two sides of the restaurant. Parking lot entrances are on NE 80th St as well as Lake City Way NE. I am definitely addicted to this place- excellent Chinese food! read more

My girlfriend lived close to Chiang's during her time in Seattle, so we picked up food from there a few times. They are fast, convenient and have large portion sizes. Our favorite dish to order was the Hot and Sour Soup. It is consistently good and very satisfying. I would definitely recommend ordering it. The other dishes that we have tried have been less impressive. The beef and broccoli is bland and the beef is overly chewy. We also tried the pan-fried noodles in a spicy hot sauce with chicken. Although the homemade noodles were excellent, the sauce was certainly not spicy and was very one-dimensional. Every single bite of the noodles tasted exactly the same. They need to add some different elements to the noodles to provide some contrast in the flavors and definitely need to work on kicking up their spice game. I do wonder if they toned down the spices because we are not Chinese. If so, they really should ask the customers what level of spice they want instead of making assumptions about them. While it definitely served its purpose as a quick, cheap takeout place, we won't miss it. read more

This places rocks, gonna have to shift everyone else down for this find. This is one of those Chinese joint in which you just rank solely based on food. With all the new mix of old and new age Chinese restaurants, designation of 5 star needs to defined helping ppl know where to put their expectations. Service = Always attentive, maybe it's my fluent Mandarin, hehe Ambiance = if you have trouble in ID, then take it to go Food = 1. pork intestine, pork blood, in hot pot. is possibly my favorite Chinese dish here in Seattle, hmm yum yum 2. JiaJiang Noodle, may be even better then Taiwan 3. Green Onion pancake is alright, 4. Cold Sesame Noodle, Great 5. Smoked duck, smoking meat isn't my cup but tea, but interesting 6. Beef Noodle Soup, Still top three in Seattle Crowd = mostly local Chinese, but heard the chef of Poppy, (former chef of Herbfarm) is a huge fan here Price = $, huge portions as well Favorite = In terms of Chinese food, some dishes are unmatched! stick to your guns! Worst = hmm, sticky tables Final Say = absolutely orgasmic! read more

This is the spot for not only tasty Chinese food, but also tasty Vegetarian Chinese food! Ask for the separate Vegetarian menu and you won't be disappointed. There are appetizers, entrees for $8-$12, noodles around $8, and soups to choose from. While all the dishes were ordered before I arrived, I don't know specific dish names for everything. Among the many dishes were pumpkin appetizer, lotus root, and tofus. Then pumpkin soup. Then for entrees we had among many: abalone, 3 spice chicken, pork ribs, soy beans with seaweed over wintermelon, mountain yam with veggies. Wait, did you just read abalone or chicken or pork?? Wait, wasn't she having vegetarian? Yes it all was. Vegetarian and all delish!! I've had vegetarian chinese food at a couple other places around town, but Chiang's does it best. read more

We came to this place for some authentic Chinese foods. Then we realized why we haven't been here for such a long time: Food quality: so-so Price: Very high for the kind of food and their location Service: (IS THERE SERVICE?????) We sat for at least 10 minutes waiting for giving our orders. We had to finally go grab someone so that we can place the order. It took a long time for our food to come. Then there is no one to give us the bill. It seemed like we are invisible there. We will NOT return to this place. read more

Delicious and authentic Chinese food on the north end of Seattle. I have my favorites (tea smoked duck and green onion pancakes I'm looking at you!) but the menu is enormous and we love to try something new each visit. Never disappoints! read more

Seriously a legit lunch spot if you're in the area!! Not sure how much it was, but I remember thinking that it was pretty cheap! you get so much food!!! I get the chow mein every time I come to chiang's and it is super delish!!! the noodles taste hand made, and the flavors are pretty good. A cross between authentic and americanized, but hey it is ok with me!!! it is consistent and tasty! I haven't dined for dinner, but my chinese friends have mentioned that they will make you anything you want if you speak chinese!!!! They have their own menu! jelly!! so bring a chinese speaking friend, and get things on the menu that will knock your socks off. I can't wait to try this place out for dinner!! it's hard because I live on capitol hill and china town is so close :( One day Chiangs, one day... read more

I've just tossed the leftovers. And I want to go back for more! We shared cold smoked fish, homemade noodles and tea-smoked duck. Wow - it was all soooo good. I love the texture of the noodles between my teeth. The duck - it was juicy, smoky delicious. The owner came by to watch me take my first bite, it must be rewarding to see the look of wonder on people's faces when they eat your food! I'm eager to try the more adventurous items from the menu. Starve yourself - grab a group and get to Chiangs. read more

If you are eating here, I am jealous! Tips for success: 1. wear stretchy pants you don't want jeans holding you back. 2. Ask for recommendations or suggestions to navigate the huge menu. 3. Don't plan anything crazy after, you will be full like it is Thanksgiving. 4. Bring friends so you can try more dishes and they can enjoy it too! I suggest everything by a few of my favorites are: - hot and sour soup - salt and pepper pork or chicken - szechuan chicken or shrimp - spicy shredded beef - homemade noodles ...homemade chilli sauce is good on everything! Enjoy! read more

Why didn't somebody tell us?! We lived in Phinney for over a year, all the time, unawares of this magic just across the lake. Now, we move to Madrona, and boom, we discover Chiang's Gourmet. This unassuming gem has no pretense, no special glitter, nothing to let you know the goodies within. Only steamy windows and tables filled with tons of people even on Christmas day... We came with a huge group of folks, being treated by my wife's nai-nai. So, much, food. 9 entres later I can't even take more than a bit of the braised pork shoulder. I cried that night. Cried tears of shame. The list of magic included: * Cold jellyfish Actually the worst dish of the night. a bit watery. But still refreshing. The most tentacle-y jellyfish I've had... which is weird to say. * Spicy shredded beef HOT (way more than Seattle hot) and DELICIOUS with dried and fresh peppers. * Green onion pancakes Best I've ever had. Crispy and flaky, light and fried... My knees are getting a bit weak just thinking about it. * Spicy Sichuan-style boiled fish (Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant, you must bow before your new MASTER. So spicy, so numbing, so good. * Greens with garlic Cooked with pork fat, 'nuf said. * Tea smoked duck So fatty and smoky... almost too smoky... almost. * Another kind of duck With doughy, delicious buns... Unfold them, taste them, nestle the duck in them. * Mustardy bean triangle noodles with cucumber Never had this before, but was cooling and zingy with Chinese-style mustard. * Braised pork shank with greens Tender braised pork over spinach-like greens in brown braised sauce. Very tender, but not as flavorful as I would have expected given the AWESOMENESS of everything else. I'm sure there was more food, but I can't remember... even thinking about it makes me full. The ubiquitous tea was good and service seemed excellent, especially since we had so many people. I will return to this now faraway delicious kingdom and to try their (in English!!) tasty menu (the one with tendon, stinky tofu (of "strong odour") and pork blood clay pot. Oh, yes, I will return. read more

I've been to better Chinese restaurants, I think, but they were in Hong Kong, Beijing, or Vancouver. For Seattle, this is currently the top of the heap. I'm a vegetarian, although I have a bit of a sense of humor about soup stock and random bits of fish flakes because I travel enough that it's too much hassle to be completely dogmatic. But this place has a menu that treats vegetarians at least as extravagantly as the carnivorous folks. The yuba (soymilk skin) with edamame an pickled greens is one of my favorite dishes, although I'm even fonder of a dish that involves parcels of stuffed yuba that's served similarly. The eggplant with basil is really nice. And most of the greens are cooked flawlessly; I liked the one with enoki and gai lan that we had tonight. The meat and seafood-eating friends of mine that have come here usually dig the crab, a few other seafood dishes, and sometimes the duck (it's had good days and bad days). I've probably only been here a half dozen times over the last few years, but it's the first place that comes to mind when I want to eat a moderately extravagant Chinese meal in the Seattle area. For more lowbrow homestyle fare, I'm partial to Szechuan Noodle Bowl, but when I want harder-to-find dishes, this is it. read more

Horrible service and food that is so salty you'll need a gallon of water afterwards. We told the waitress and she responded with, "oh you're just not used to it." Yeah... that's right, I'm not used to 1000%DV of sodium in a single meal. No soup at all in their xiao long baos, and their $15 pea vine portion is mayyyybe enough for one person. Noodles in beef noodle soup were good, but the soup was too salty and had too much star anise. They get one star for the texture of their Shanghai style chow mein. Summary... save your money and go to Chinatown. read more

Wide variety of menu options. Weekend lunch was acceptable and without culinary flavors and aroma that one would expect. We ordered breakfast and lunch dishes considered to be outstanding. Soy milk with doughnuts, beef noodle soup and potstickers. During a previous visit I had ordered a Hunan dish. The Hunan sauce was not up to my understanding of Hunan food. It was interesting to observe that the three staff members sat down to eat their meals in our sight and will occasionally get up to serve food to customers. Of course without washing hands or finish chewing. The dining hall is full of clutter with spare tables, chairs and kid's seats. I was successful in making a loud noise when I hit a mosquito with my paper napkin on the glass window, getting a strange look from a staff member. Do I need to say more?! read more

Just awful. Sweet and sour chicken is literally deep fat fried, sliced chicken with a small container of cheap, flavorless sauce. The wonton soup has pieces of spongy egg that taste like soap. The inside of the wonton is tough and taste terrible. I was really excited for decent takeout and could barely take 2 bites. read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - "Sweet and sour chicken" - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Don't let the exterior fool you (or interior for that matter) - this place has some good eats. New to Taiwanese cuisine, we didn't know what to order, and some of the menu items do not translate into English quite as well as they must sound in Chinese. We went for brunch, which has a special menu. Our server came over to take our order, and instantly sensed we were lost. So instead of us ordering, she brought out what she thought we'd like - and did we ever! I feel sad every time I'm full here, because it means there is no more room to keep trying more. Having gone back many times and sampled most of the menu now, we've found what we like the best and feel confident ordering on our own. But when we are presented with suggestions, we never turn them down - it is all SO GOOD. One favorite is the cucumber tofu noodles. I generally don't like cucumber OR tofu, but whatever they do to it makes it one of my top 5 dishes anywhere. And the seaweed roll with purple rice and mashed up doughnut sticks inside? Bizarrely delicious - ocean salty, crispy, sweet. And the homemade chili paste? I would buy it in bulk to have at home if only they'd sell it to me. read more

You know, I really wanted to like this place. The reviews tout it as authentic Szechuan. Authentic Taiwanese. Can't comment on the Szechuan part, but let's just say that if you've a hankering for Taiwanese breakfast, this ain't gonna hit the spot. Well, let me rephrase that. If you've a hankering just to be at a place that has items on the menu that you could find at street stalls in Taiwan, you might be happy here. If you're looking for amazing recreations of said items, look elsewhere. We had sweet soy milk, daikon pastries, shao bing, yio tiao, fan tuan, all of which were, at best, a 2-2.5 star experience. Tthe service was relatively attentive, which added the 0.5 stars... read more

One of Seattle's finest restaurants is . . . on Lake City Way, right next to the freeway, in a spot that previously housed short-lived bad Teriyaki, good Thai, and mediocre Chinese/American restaurants. At Chiang's, an award-winning chef serves up all of your new favorites, including Szechuan chili garlic spicy fish filet, which is served on top of a bed of delicious home-made noodles, and SCALLION PANCAKES, which are the cat's pajamas. And your new friends at Chiang's are friendly too! Bring your appetite, and your eating pants! We're having Chiang's tonight! read more

First sign of a good Chinese restaurant is finding actual Asian people in it. This place is always packed with entire extended families; and for good reason! Some people are put off with the curtness of the waiters but try to understand-they are running around dealing with hungry assholes all day who come to restaurants like this for the sole purpose of belittling their "servants". I wouldn't last a day in that job! And if you go during slow times during the day they are super nice, especially if you bring adorable toddlers with you. You MUST order the panfried noodles! Also, read The Stranger's review for a more proper rundown, which happens to be written by Lindy West who is my favorite writer ever. http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/special-menu/Content?oid=2472325 Oh and order the tendon! Your friends will think you are so cool and adventurous! Or else just do it to gross out your mom. Also, there are 3 menus; the real deal chinese one, the 'merican one, and a veggie one. read more

I never make it here very often, which is sad, because it makes me really happy when I do. Good food, done well, decent prices. Okay, so the couldn't-care-less service isn't the best. The stereotyping by giving us the safe "American" menu, a bit annoying. And the signs in the bathroom warning patrons not to flush down paper, really pretty scary. But once the dumplings come out and the homemade noodles arrive, it's all forgotten in a haze of slurping and contented sighs. I would say, though, that this isn't a place to order off the typical Chinese-American greatest hit list. For one, there are other restaurants in the area that do that sort of thing quite well and at a better price. Two, they do more traditional fare so well that you might as well get outside your comfort zone and try something new - you might just like it. read more

Forever I'd wanted to try this place (mostly based on Yelp reviews), but my girlfriend kept vetoing it on account of it looking kind of sketchy from the outside. Well, I finally got some friends to back me up, and we ended up checking things out. Everything we tried was very tasty: the won ton soup, which is bland in a lot of places, was nice and flavorful; the general tso's chicken (authentic, I know) was crispy and spicy; the homemade noodles were delicious, and whatever sauce they put on the eggplant made me want to eat it (and I don't normally like eggplant so much). My only complaint is that everything was a little greasy, but I guess that's to be expected when you eat Chinese food. I much prefer this place to Snappy Dragon. read more

Awesome Chinese food. My family eats here at least twice per month. Favorite dishes: Tea smoked duck, wu shu pork ribs, three cup chicken, and fish fillet with spicy red bean sause. Order off the Chinese menu for the best food. We don't even bother with going to Chinatown for dinner anymore. Just eat here!!!! They even put up with our energetic baby girl and the owners know us by name. read more

Ditch the big menu with the familiar items and order something off the smaller menu. You can feel safe ordering something new because what comes out of the kitchen is generally always high quality. They even had me break my rule of not ordering anything named after a "General" (The General Chiangs beef brisket dish is really tasty). If you must the standard Chinese dishes found everywhere are high quality, but experimentation will get you your best results. Get here on the weekends for a Taiwanese-style (I think) dim sum experience with dishes you wont find anywhere else. read more

We stopped here late Saturday night and had a great dinner. They have a traditional Chinese menu and an American-Chinese menu. We ordered from the traditional one and the food was fantastic - fresh and full of flavor. The waitress was very helpful and offered suggestions. Plenty of parking too - which is so rare around here. I'm looking forward to going back and getting more homemade noodles! read more

So unassuming. You were just gonna blow right past it on Lake City Way, weren't you? Then you'd miss delicious dumplings, out of this world Chicken Moo Shoo, and tasty Mongolian Beef that is making my stomach growl just in memory. Most of our dinner was spent exclaiming how the food was even better than we remembered it. This is an old school Chinese restaurant, run with pride and with some of the best Chinese food I've had in years. Pull in and thank me later. read more

I used to come here every weekend with my family for good reason. Bear in mind I'm going to be listing some extremely Chinese dishes some of which may be difficult to pronounce for those who are not familiar with the language. When my family eats lunch, we just eat whatever is on the table, and we'll enjoy it well enough. We always start off with their xian dou jiang. and likewise tian dou jiang. (salty/sweet soy milk) Chinese food originates mostly from the farms so there's generally nothing special of note, except huge helpings of flavor. The tea will often serve as a way to clear the palette, which is why it is usually so dull/bitter. Following the soy milk is a dish, shao bing you tiao which is like those chinese donuts wrapped in a flat sesame bread. This is commonly dipped in the soy milk as a way to loosen up all the fibers, and make it much more palatable. The two go absolutely great together. Next up is the hong you chao shou. Which is essentially wontons (no soup) soaked in a spicy sauce, garnished with scallions. Typically we also order this to go with the cong you bing (scallion pancake) Another thing that we usually add is the rou mi fan tuan (sweet meats wrapped in a sticky rice bun) which makes a nice appetizer or lead in to the main meal. And if we're feeling extra hungry we do sometimes order the cou dou fu (stinky tofu) I can't comment very well on how they do it well, it's just done right. You can often tell the difference between bad and good chinese food just by tasting it. However, as it is with most dishes, simplicity and core technique are all that matters, everything else is just fluff that makes it look good. However Chiang's gourmet does it all very well. A word on the soymilk, They have a tendency to burn, so you'll get an extra burned taste to it. It just happens, however when it's good, it's good. read more

One of my top 10 for Seattle. My favorite experience here was when I went with my friend Ed and he started looking at the menu. I told him not to bother. Every time I've gone, they've told me what to order. She came out and looked at Ed and said, "Does he eat?" I smiled and said he did. And she proceeded to pick out the best things in the kitchen today. When Ed said he wanted one other thing she said, "No no, you have enough food now." I've been to Chiang's at least 50 times over the last 2 years. Their tea smoked duck is a must try. Not a "it's good". It's a must try. Like this: YOU MUST TRY THE SMOKED DUCK TODAY It is unbelievable. Fantastic. Andrea's review is kinda scary. I'm not contesting it at all. I've seen them get stressed and it wasn't pretty. But I can say it's atypical and we all have bad days. It's a drag, though, that it impacts people like Andrea who are your biggest cheerleaders. Oh, and, you must try the smoked duck. read more

Food is bearable... only stop here when I'm starving and haven't eaten all day.. its on my route...

If I rated this one star, nobody would read it, so I'll make it a 2 star just for the sake of saving someone from going here. Tried this place twice, once for dinner and once for the breakfast. I'll just review the breakfast as you get the idea. We had the soy milk(which was not filtered well), then the rice ball(I ate this 4 dollar thing in 2 bites...), lots of different dumping or bun type of stuff all without success. The fillings on all the bun related stuff just tasted bland and you can tell it was hastily made from the ugly outside bun. The rice ball was a rip off as you could have guess as for 4 bucks is half a big entree dish for a mere few bites and it wasn't even all that good. Maybe I'm expecting too much for Seattle but this place is all hype.... kind of life Brian Bosworth(yeah, I just went Seattle Retro). I'm still looking for a good Taiwanese breakfast in Seattle.... :( Maybe I've been spoiled by Taiwan.... and Vancouver BC... nah. read more

Chiang's offers a wide variety of both authentic and Americanized Chinese food. You are given two menus to select from, one american and one Chinese. The place looks much better on the inside and is very spacious. We thought there was ample parking in the associated lot, but I can see on a busier day this may be troublesome. The decor was typical for your standard family owned asian restaurant, but a bit more run down. There is duct tape on the chairs and tables and everything appeared to be very worn. The service was definitely the biggest con of the night. We were seated and no one returned to take our orders or offer drinks for at least 15 minutes, and there were only several other tables in the restaurant. All of the seated tables were side by side, which was also a bit awkward considering that there was plenty of room to spread us out to every other table without having to open a different section. Once we received the food we were not checked on until almost 20 minutes after we had obliterated our plates. Then we had another 10 minute wait to receive the bill. We were not in a big time crunch, so this didn't bother us too much but I am warning anyone who comes to be prepared for some long waits. I couldn't even imagine how bad this would be if the place was busy.... Anyways, we ordered the Pan Fried Noodles, the Shredded Beef w/Szechuan Garlic Sauce, Basil chicken and veggies and a side of rice. We LOVED the shredded beef with Szechuan garlic sauce eaten over rice. The dish was definitely not "authentic," and was found on the American menu but I have never seen it offered at other Americanized Chinese places and was so happy with it. It's much much complex in flavor than your typical general chicken or broccoli beef. Other reviews mention how salty and greasy their meats were, but I did not find that true with this dish at all. I expected this dish to come with some heat, but there was absolutely no spice involved. I'm wondering if this may be because both my partner and I were white so our food was automatically toned down. The noodles themselves were homemade and had great texture, but the "sauce" included was essentially grease with some soy sauce. They also came with only a few pieces of meat/ bok choy and no onion or other vegetables, which I found disappointing. This dish is also offered at Din Tai Fung, and in my opinion Din Tai Fung's version is world's above Chiang's. Din Tai Fung's noodles actually come nicely coated in a sauce and include ample veggies and meat. I would not order this again. The Basil chicken was tasy and very plentiful. It came with a selection of veggies including baby corn, carrots, broccoli, mushroom, snap peas and onion. Nothing super unique or exciting, but was not overly greasy or too heavy. Overall I will be returning to Chiang's when in the area. The food is a bit more pricey than I would prefer, but the unique and large selection is a huge draw for me. We thought the food was good and I'm excited to try some other dishes (though I'm sure the dishes will be hit/miss like our previous experience, but that's ok with me). Don't expect good or fast service. I'd recommend trying take out or to-go orders personally if you're not inclined to wait. read more

This place is ahh-mazing. It is definitely not fancy but don't let that deter you. Super authentic, from what I can tell -- this is the kind of place where I am a minority, being Caucasian -- and that's usually a good sign. They have two menus, a Chinese menu (the authentic one) and one that is more Americanized. We ordered strictly off the Chinese menu. There were some things on there that I just can't bring myself to try, like pigs feet and intenstine and tripe. But we did order the following, and let me tell you, there were two of us and we had TONS of food, enough for both of us to have multiple meals as leftovers. For a total of $43. Yes, you read that right. My friend who had been here before wanted me to experience everything. Crazy value for the money and ALL was delicious. Appetizers: Mushroom and bean curd appetizer was full of high quality fresh exotic mushrooms. The pancakes with the green onions in them are downright addicting. Soup: Seaweed soup came in a huge bowl and had, indeed, multiple varieties of seaweed as well as shredded chicken and vermicelli. I could have eaten that alone for a meal. Main Dishes: We got the calamari dish which came with shredded vegetables; also very good. And finally one of the noodle dishes that I forget because by this point I was in a food coma. Go here. You will not regret it. read more

When an elderly Chinese woman tells you to make sure you save room for the dumplings you ordered because they don't taste as great the next day, you listen. And when she suggests to put their homemade chili sauce on your noodles, you also listen. You listen because she is always right. That lady was our waitress and she made our night. My fiance and I had their pork dumplings and we each ordered their Shanghai noodles. Omigod, the noodles! They're homemade and they're incredible!! My beef was perfectly cooked, the food perfectly seasoned and my tea perfectly brewed. The price is also incredible! Our total bill was about 30 dollars with generous tip. Yes, the service was a bit slow but it's time well spent to get delicious food. Besides, when you have a waitress as awesome as ours, you do what she tells you and if you have to wait, you wait. read more

The outside of the restaurant made me a skeptic, but just one visit and I was hooked.This is by far my favorite Chinese place in the city, I take anyone that visits here. 4/5 stars because sometimes the service is really slow and on a few (rare) occasions the food has been hit-or-miss. The owners are really nice folks. I recommend: Pan Fried Noodles w/ whatever you like Salt & Pepper Chicken Fried Pork Chops w/ Sweet & Sour read more