I don't know if it's because I've been spoiled by the authentic Chinese food here in Hawaii but there was nothing gourmet about Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant! So me, my fiancé and 2 of his friends were taking a little Seattle vacay. It was only our 2nd day there and we were already craving something Asian so we decided to stop by Chiang's before we checked into our guesthouse across the street. It seemed like a pretty popular place, especially with all the newspaper articles about them plastered on the walls. It took us like a couple min to get seated since there was like only 2 people running the floor. My fiancé jokingly told me to go in the front cause maybe they would seat us faster (since I'm part Chinese lol). We got seated shortly after. The place reminded me of a typical Chinese restaurant. They had lunch specials that were pretty good deals or you could also order from their regular menu. I decided to get the sweet & sour chicken with fried rice and egg drop soup. My fiancé ordered the pan fried Singapore vermicelli noodles and his friends also ordered from the lunch special. Service was a little slow and the server seemed a little irritable every time we'd ask for something.. but that's not something surprising. Our food came fairly quick which was good cause we were hungry! So the egg drop soup was pretty safe.. nothing special. The sweet & sour chicken.. something you'd think couldn't really go wrong at a Chinese restaurant, was like the worst I've ever had. The fried rice had barely any taste and it seemed like they just drizzled a little bit of shoyu and threw in some peas and carrots and called it a fried rice. I honestly only ate it cause I was hungry. The boys didn't seem to pleased with their meal except my fiancé's Singapore vermicelli was actually good and the only palatable dish. Def not the best Chinese restaurant... I think next time I'll stick to going somewhere in Chinatown! read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - Singapore vermicelli - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Family chose Chiang's for our Mother's Day lunch. We were greeted and seated quickly. We ordered our usual such as a variety of soups to start - two egg drop, 3 hot and sour and one won ton. All were hot and tasty. Our entrée's included Fried Noodles and chicken, Mongolian Beef, Beef and Broccoli, Dry Sautéed String Bean. All were excellent- flavorful and good size portions. Already craving a return visit. read more

We had a late lunch here today - Five star chicken, string beans, Walnut prawn and Pig intestine hot pot. Every dish is delicious and authentic. We throughly enjoy the food and the service was great. Even though there was only one waitress working, she was very attentive and made sure we got everything we needed. I drove by this place all the time and never once tried it, now I know what I have missed all these years. I definitely would come back and try their other dishes. read more

Okay, okay, I came here again recently and i was caught in complete surprised by its awful service! I guess its service never really bothered me that much before or maybe i was just not really paying much attention? Anyways, here is what happened - My friend and i visited this place recently and we were seated fairly fast. However, it took them awhile to come around and take our order, which is ahhhhhh-okay. Then we have to wait really long for them to re-fill our water and every time we ask for something, the waiters do not look happy, which is.. okay, fine, okay they had a long day, NBD. Then when we were ready to pay and asked to split our checks, the lady told us "no two cards, only one card" I was like WHAT??? ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME???!!!!!!!!!!!! (Folks, this is Seattle after all, not an NYC establishment.) I have been to restaurants that even kindly accept separate checks for part of 6 and over, and NOW SHE EVEN REFUSED TO SEPARATE ONLY two cards? read more

Have driven past this place for years. Decades. Finally decided to give it a try with friends of ours, having read some decent recent reviews. For us? Meh. Let me say first that our server was wonderful, and very patient as we asked all of our questions. I would give her 4 stars for sure! It wasn't horrible food, but it wasn't anything to come back for either. We had a vegetable dish (basically only broccoli since they were out of green beans and other veggies), kung pao chicken (not bad), a noodle dish of some kind (not bad, but not impressed by the noodles - maybe they weren't the homemade ones) and I had the 5 star spicy chicken from the Szechuan menu that I'd read about in all the reviews. I was SO looking forward to trying this! But. It wasn't very spicy. At all. The breading was okay (but not spicy) but the chicken inside the breaded "nuggets" was almost nonexistent and what chicken there was, was so, so dry. I didn't eat much of it, and took it home (they put it into a box with ALL the peppers and chili pepper flakes/crisp which was perfect). Eaten cold the next day for lunch it was way better, for some reason - and spicier, probably from sitting in the chilis overnight. Still not sure I'd want to go back though. read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - Szechuan 5 Star Spicy Chicken - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

After living down the street from this spot for over a year, I finally tried it out! I'm so upset I didn't go earlier because it's my new favorite place to eat. I've tried a variety of their dishes and they have all been so delicious. The staff is really friendly and pretty fast, but the line forms quick so don't be surprised if there's a small wait depending on when you go. There's lots of indoor seating available and the overall vibe is great. Try this place out!! read more

Order a noodle dish and a squid dish. The cucumbers in the noodle dish had mold on it and tasted slimy. Unfortunately, it took me a few bites to realize that the cucumber was bad. Check the food before putting it in your mouth. read more

I can always count on Chiang's Gourmet for an amazing Chinese meal. IN fact, I often crave their "zha jiang mien." They have the BEST here, in my opinion. I love the chewy texture of the noodles and the minced pork and sliced cucumbers. They are pretty quick for take out orders too. I've ordered just the noodles a couple of times after work to pick it up and was always satisfied. It definitely looks like a sketchy restaurant from the outside and because it's on Lake City Way, BUT do not judge a book by its cover. Chiang's has great Chinese food, sometimes on the greasy side... but let's be honest, that's what makes Chinese food so delicious sometimes. Their Taiwanese breakfast is pretty good too, but I haven't been in awhile. I always take my mom here when she comes to visit, and I'm likely to take my dad too later this month. I remember we ordered seven or eight dishes to share among ten friends last year for Chinese New Year, I think. THAT was SUPER yummy!!! The bigger the party, the bigger the variety of dishes you can try. That's my recommendation. A couple of dishes worthy of your money: string bean pork, drunken chicken, mapo tofu, and of course, the zha jiang mien. read more

We got their honey walnut prawns, yellow chicken, broccoli beef and a few other sides. Everything was amazing, we went on Christmas Day which was very busy but the service was still awesome. Would highly recommend this spot for authentic Chinese cuisine! read more

I've eaten here in person a few year's back but this review is for the late lunch takeout order placed from here which consisted of Steamed Whole Fish and Braised Pork w/ Preserved Vegetable since I was craving the latter and there aren't a lot of restaurants which serve this dish. We wanted to also order Lamb & Herb in The Soup but they were out of it. The packaging was done well and the quantity of the food is on par with what you get if you eat-in. Steamed Whole Fish was $22 pre-tax and they used a trout instead of the usual pompano or tilapia I've seen and I was pleasantly surprised by that. The fish was also fresh and the soy sauce with ginger/scallion flavor was good. Braised Pork w/ Preserved Vegetable or Mei Cai Kou Rou was $17 pre-tax. The quantity of pork belly was decent however, the mei-cai or the preserved mustard greens were almost non-existent. If they had given some veggies and also steamed the pork belly longer to make it more tender, this dish would have been perfect. Price-wise the dishes are pricier than what you may get it International District however, I was happy with the quality of food. read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - Braised Pork w/ Preserved Vegetable on left & Steamed Whole Fish on the right. - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Excellent variety of Chinese and American-Chinese food. Great service and nice staff. Jiaozi comes out piping hot and juicy!

I live close to this place, and thought I would try it. I ordered homemade soup noodles with beef and vegetables. The beef didn't look like beef. It was a very sparing amount of over boiled meat, that I think was pork. The noodles were not homemade, but rather spaghetti noodles in a flavorless broth with a couple of mushrooms, and a very small amount of spinach. They were busy when I arrived, but it took about 30 minutes for my food to come out, and it was definitely disappointing. I added soy sauce, and chili paste to make it more flavorful. It was 15.00 for something that probably had less than a few dollars worth of ingredients in it. I ate it, because I was hungry, and too tired to try and send it back. I will not eat at this restaurant again though. read more

I love Chiang's Gourmet! If I am in the mood for Szechuan food, this is my favorite place for a family style meal. I say family style because the portions are family-sized. I've been going to this restaurant for over 10 years, and it is authentic. It's a decent sized restaurant that looks outdated, but you are going for the food! They also have their own parking lot, which is an added bonus in my book. Here are my MUST orders every time I go: + Spicy Beef on Romaine (on the Szechuan Heaven menu) - I love this dish. So, I order it at just about every restaurant that offers it (aka "boiling beef"), and nowhere else comes close to this - it's the spicy garlic-y sauce. Yes, it is a chili oil sauce which means it is oily. And yes, it is so delicious. + Spicy Fried Chicken - one of the most popular dishes at Chiang's (and for good reason) + Shanghai Style Stir Fried Noodles - Noodles have a good chew, good wok flavor, and really rounds out a meal. Looking for lighter fare? Try the hakka style vegetable stir fry or a rice roll. Their menu has a huge selection. I have yet to try all of it even after all this time. read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Honestly, if you've ever been to China before, this is the place for you. You'll understand that's it not about the cleanliness or the fact that the place looks like a hole in the wall (it is), it's about how homey the food tastes. It's comfort food at it's finest and it's cheap, affordable, and includes no frills. If you come here, don't expect superb service, but expect awesome food like 炸酱面 and 鱼香肉丝 that taste like China. I'll always come back. read more

After 3 years in Seattle we finally decided to try Chiangs Gourmet...and odds are we won't go back. This place looks like a hole in the wall from the outside and truly looks the same way inside. The service was subpar, our orders lacked flavor, the ambiance leaves a lot to be desired, and we just didn't feel welcomed. Now, we did visit on a Saturday afternoon where there were only 4 other people there and we only ordered 2 dishes so it may have impacted our thoughts on it but it's hard to give this place more than 2 stars from our visit. We took home the leftovers and made it much tastier the next day by adding our own ingredients. We did not order anything that this place is probably known (chicken with noodles and Ma Po Tofu) but the flavor just wasn't there at all. When we walked in we had noticed how drab the place was; stained dropped ceiling, windows that may not have been cleaned since Labor Day, stacks of chairs behind our eventual seat, and just crates of food and soda right next to the dining area (why are Chinese restaurants able to get away with this frequent display and other restaurants would be dinged by every reviewer for such a display...but we moves on). We were seated and given 4 menus and had no idea why we 2 extras. Only after speaking with the server he let us know that they have different items but the costs on both menus were pretty high (but the portions do seem to be generous to make up for that) and then left our table to come back 5-10 minutes later for no reason. The server had very little personality. He never told us to enjoy the meal, never recommended anything, and really seemed like someone who needs training in handling customers; especially when there are 4 other people there. I am sure it's a much livelier place at night but during the day it's not a pleasant experience. Why don't they play some music, clean up a bit, serve tastier food (and maybe add some veggies to our meal), and just be kinder to us? read more

A solid Chinese food option in north seattle. Inside of Chiang's looks pretty much how you'd expect from the outside- worn out, out of date and sort of dingy. It's not upscale, a date spot, somewhere to go to celebrate or anything fancy. But, the food and service make up for the lack of ambiance. Highly recommend- hot and sour soup, Szechuan eggplant (the best! I come solely for that eggplant!) If you like things spicy, their homemade hot sauce is out of this world. Good but not perfect- house made noodles (great noodles but they could really use some veggies), scallion pancakes (hit or miss, sometimes great but sometimes doughy or greasy) Service is attentive, quick and friendly. Tea and water served immediately upon seating, orders taken promptly and food brought out in a timely manner. read more

Great food, great service! Strong MSG for sure lol, but definitely worth it. The owner is super friendly. They also have a vegetarian menu.

The food is outstanding and the service is great! Great staff that treat customers like family.

Love this place. Friendly staff and extensive and delicious vegetarian menu. I love the bean curd in hunan black bean sauce and the hand made pan fried noodles with vegetables. read more

I'm so disappointed! Never eaten here before, but saw the amazing reviews so decided to try it. It is some of the worst Chinese food we've ever had. The almond fried chicken was all completely burnt. It was burnt/black with a burnt smell to it. Who gives that to a customer? It's very insulting and how could you not realize it wasn't burnt? Are you cooking in a kitchen that is in the dark? Also the buns for the mushu pork were stale We will never come back to this place again!!!! I sure do miss Sea Garden. To all the customers that rave about this place, are you serious? You really need to try some REAL good Chinese food not slop. read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - Burnt almond fried chicken - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

We dine here (or takeout) regularly, and love it every time. It's the only place around to get Shanghai noodles, and there is nothing better. We usually order off the "Chinese Menu" rather than the "Dinner Menu", but everything we've gotten off either has been great. read more

Really tasty food & great service. We've come here in large and small groups and everyone is always happy with their meal when they leave.

Chiangs is such a great place. The staff were so friendly and the food was amazing. They have two menus - one more authentic and one "American" Chinese food. You can get both which is awesome to try something new or get something of comfort. Highly recommend. Prices are reasonable and large portions. Wonderful for sharing. They had large tables or booths and service was fast and friendly. This is the spot. read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I lived near this restaurant for 17 years, even before the current owners took over. These owners did a fabulous job adding an authentic menu that includes homemade noodles, a lovely steamed fish with veggies dish, and other delicious items. I've ordered large means (7-10 items many times for my extended family). Unfortunately, it feels as if grabbing dinner is twice as expensive as before. It's just not reasonable to pay $20-25 per dish on a family budget. I understand that costs have gone up and maybe Chiang's has decided that it's okay to cater to more wealthy customers. That same large order would cost me over $200 today. It's just not worth it anymore. read more

Authentic Shanghai cuisine in north Seattle! My go-to place for decent dishes that require real culinary experiences since 1996. Foods are fresh, mouth watering delicious, and beautifully plated. Professional services. Friendly and thoughtful. Restroom is clean and well ventilated. And the price, wow - I am surprised that they managed to keep the price affordable in the midst of inflation. Such a kind gesture to their customers and the community! read more

So good. We'll be back!! Complimentary tea is nice. Excellent Hot & Sour Soup (as good as Judy Fu's)! We loved the Shanghai style pan fried rice cakes (which have Napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms and thin sliced pork in a brown sauce) along with the Spicy Basil Chicken and Vegetables (which has baby corn, water chestnuts, broccoli, Chinese broccoli choy sum, in a mild spiced brown sauce). White rice is $2 per small bowl (per person). Only wish they had some music playing for more ambience. read more

Seriously?? We ordered 4 adult dinner entrees, two orders of potstickers and two pseudo egg rolls that were smaller than spring rolls for takeout, almost burned. Arrived home and there were no servings/containers of rice. NO RICE included. No fortune cookies. No bells and whistles. No where else in 'Murica have I EVER had to order rice apart from an entree in a Chinese restaurant unless I was upgrading to fried rice. I've never had fortune cookies not included in take out. While the food is getting cold and we're hungry cooking rice that should have been included in any other entree ordered from an Asian/Chinese restaurant on the planet, regardless of the quality and taste of the food, I'm so angry that I'm just stopping here. Not a fan. read more

Classic American-style Chinese food. Service was very friendly, and portions (we got the special for two) were very large.overall, a very nice meal. read more

It's a dive, but oh man, is it a good one! Looks pretty run down on the outside (even a bit on the inside), but we followed the rave reviews here and we're not disappointed. First off, go here if you like Szechuan style Chinese food. From other reviews and even people in the restaurant; Chiangs doesn't try too hard with the "American" versions of their dishes. You'll be disappointed with mediocre "general tso's" etc. the real jewel is the Szechuan menu. There is literally a separate menu for the Szcheuan style.. I'd recommend only ordering from it! We got the onion pancake, noodles in Szechuan sauce, sliced beef and green onion, and the pan fried noodles on spicy Szechuan sauce with pork. Omg was it all tasty. Green onion pancake - probably liked this the least, nothing crazy interesting, it really took the place of rice in the meal. A staple to kind of clear the palate. Noodles in Szechuan sauce - faint hints of peanut in this, tasty tasty dish. It was overshadowed by the other dishes we ordered, but it was cheap, saucy, and delicious. Sliced beef wth green onion - best meat from a Chinese place that I've had to date. Simple, flavorful, and with charred green onions?? I wanted to eat this endlessly. So so so so good. Get this, please! Pan fried noodles in Szechuan sauce with pork - you can choose your meat for this (chicken and beef are options).. this is DELICIOUS. Spicy, oily, garlicky, goodness. It was panfried then drenched in sauce giving it a unique chewiness that I love. Reminds me of Dough-Zones "Dan-Dan noodles".. oh man, but a heaping plateful with meat! Long review short; get the sliced beef with green onions and pan fried noodles in spicy Szechuan sauce. The leftovers are even better. All the stars to this divey place for doing Szechuan right! read more

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Amazing service, dim sum and shanghai noodles was tasty. Cute decor, a little run-down vibe but that's where the best Chinese food always is. Would definitely recommend. read more

Good hot and sour soup, green beans with black bean sauce and chicken chow mein. Portions are generous. Service was odd - polite and quick, but also a bit elusive. read more

It is very difficult for me to describe how I feel about Chiang's Gourmet. Take your friends or family with you, order whatever interests you because everything is good. And ask for the Taiwanese donuts. They're homemade and if the woman likes you enough she will tell you to mix the two sauces with the table sugar and dip. I am nothing but smiles at Chiang's Gourmet. It is my Lake City Szechuan happy place. Honorable mentions, Hot n sour soup, walnut shrimp, hand shaved noodles, scallion pancake. read more

I have to admit I've probably driven past this restaurant over 6000 times over the last 15 years and finally ate there last weekend. I think we had been disappointed by so many Chinese food restaurants in Seattle, that we gave up on the cuisine all together. But after battling colds for almost 2 weeks and still mildly congested but hungry, we decided to give it a go at Chiang's for some tea, hot & sour soup, and spicy food. The food was sooo fresh and delicious. We also chatted with (who I presume is the owner) Mabel who practically spoon fed us when she noticed we weren't mixed our dishes well enough to integrate all of flavors in one bite. She recommended a great way to eat our Mongolian beef as leftovers. (Spread some cream cheese on a hoagie bun and stuff with reheated Mongolian beef. Soooo good!) We ordered take out tonight and with clear sinuses the food was even tastier!!! We'll definitely be making up for lost time by eating at this neighborhood gem on the regular! read more

Don't be put off by the exterior: this place is legit, and delicious. There's two menus: traditional Americanized "Chinese" food, and authentic Chinese dishes. You want the Chinese menu. Fish and sour cabbage soup, shrimp with walnuts, salt and pepper lobster: it's all here, and glorious. Definitely get a vegetable side (pea shoots or gai lan) with ginger. For an optimal experience, bring a large group and share: you'll want to sample most of the menu. read more

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The service was great. They stayed open later to let me and a friend eat closer to 9 and we were the only customers. Very nice people... We ordered two of those combo meals that came with soup. Egg drop soup was pretty good. Orange chicken was so breaded it was hard to get the chicken out from the bread though the flavor was good. The broccoli beef, however was pretty soggy and lacked flavor - tasted like it had been reheated multiple times and could've come out of a microwaveable meal. I was very pleased with the green tea they served with the meal at no additional cost. Overall: the service made the experience but the food (at least what I had from the menu) was nothing to write home about and made me feel a little unwell - although if you're ordering greasy, fried Chinese food, what can you expect?! Sometimes the body just craves food that isn't good for you at all .. easily over 1k calories in one meal lol read more

Outstanding and varied Chinese food in a family-run feel. First and foremost, the food here is absolutely delicious. Judging by the steady stream of take-out customers coming and going on a Wednesday night, many other people know about this gem of a restaurant. It is not, however, a polished gem. The whole experience has an ad-hoc, family-run feel to it. The space is disorganized. There is room for more seating that seems to be used for storage, and when we arrived early, take-out orders were scattered randomly on open tables at the front awaiting pickup. The tables filled rapidly, though, and by the time we finished the line for seating was out the door. They were woefully understaffed the night we were there. And yet they brought the dishes when they were ready, and brought us more tea quickly when we asked. And the food - my goodness, the food. There are two menus, one more classic Americanized Chinese, and one wide-ranging and adventurous. We ended up ordering off only the second menu: crispy and spicy frog legs, like the smallest, crispiest chicken wings you've ever imagined; braised spare ribs wu shyi style, meaty and beefy; pig's feet in garlic sauce, chewy and flavorful, spicy hot fish fillet on (sic) roman lettuce - how do you cook romaine and manage to have it still crunchy? And the most wonderful string beans, spicy, with a perfect crunch. I found the enoki and mushroom in bean curd sheets bland, but my wife and daughters loved it. All in all, portions were substantial, price was fair ($20/person), and I look forward to sampling more of the intriguing choices on the extensive menu. read more

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I stumbled upon this restaurant a year ago and have been going back ever since. Their food and service never disappoint! The owner is super friendly and welcoming and the food always comes out fresh and hot. I recommend egg drop soup, sweet and sour pork, green onion pancakes, and handmade noodles. read more

You have to be careful about expectations. Its hard to live up to them. I was excited to try this spot, which had been touted as the best Chinese outside the ID. It was also written up as one of Travel and Leisure's top Chinese restaurants in the U.S. That is an exciting promise. Chiang's Gourmet looks somewhat trapped in time (think 20-30 years ago) although this can signal an exciting find, here, prepare yourself for a mostly mixed bag. We had one pretty good dish (homemade noodles with ground pork, dried tofu, garlic galore, bean paste, red pepper and cooling cucumber) and I suspect their homemade noodle dishes will make you happy. Spicy, garlicky, with firm noodles, it was tasty. The garlic flavor was pretty heavy handed. Our starter of bean curd sheets with chicken, pork shirmp was crisp and came with a sauce packing mild heat. The remainder of our meal was disappointing, including the far too greasy, heavy garlic eggplant (a simple dish and can just be fantastic, but was too oily here) and chicken fried rice. Fried rice is straight ahead (ahem, boring) sure, but some places prepare it deftly with a smoky umami flavor, heavy on the veggies, far less oil and more panache. Here it was salty and sloppy and the only veggies to appear on the plate were (likely previously frozen) peas. Hit and miss, mostly miss. read more

My review is just based on one thing, which is the only thing me and my dear even came in for... that is the stinky tofu (or on their menu - fried tofu of strong odor) and I had to drive across the border on a road trip to tempt this when I come from a place where you would think stuff like this would be abundant.. but no... and the one's I have had in my hometown = suck. Why not take a gamble with my money and try a different place for food, and a very special dish at that. Near the end of our day trip we just needed a snack to get us back to the border, and it was decided to just do this, we weren't too far away. Once we got there I really wanted to turn the car around and find another joint. Even my significant other had question marks in her head. This place reminds me of Chinese restaurants in small towns, or more like back in the 80's when there were very few places you could have this type of food. The look of the place is best described as the term 'smorgasboard'... trick the other cultures and give some poor ass Chinese food that will pass on their tastebuds.. yes... all those childhood memories happened when I pulled the car into the lot. I'm surprised that the place is not called some Dragon-luck-fortune something..... We were here, the hell with it, if it's bad... then I shall never venture here again, and all my beliefs will have been valid! So walking in, more of the same past thoughts, the plain walls, the tables covered in white paper, old, booth like... how long have they been here? Being spoken in English at a Chinese restaurant is definitely a rarity to me, as this usually doesn't happen, so I definitely felt out of place, luckily the table had chopsticks and not a metal fork. We came around 5 PM, and most of the people in here were not of the Chinese variety.. another warning for me.. get ready for this meal..... As I said at the beginning... my review is only based on one dish, as that is all I ordered. I think all my expectations were out the door, and I was just looking for another reason to go somewhere else to plan my next meal while I was searching on my phone what I really wanted. The order was put in... all we had to do now was wait for whatever was going to come from this. The plate itself took a good 20 minutes, longer by my standards but there is a silver lining here. The dish was big, steam was coming from out of the cut blocks of freshly fried tofu pieces laying on a bed of green leaves. The pickled vegetables were a plenty on one side of the plate, and the crushed garlic in dipping sauce was taking up another side of the plate. This dish looked very appetizing, something I would find back home, except for the stinky tofu.... as usual I let my dear try first, and while she was biting down there was silence. I then decided to take a bite and it wasn't bad one bit.. more like it was better than all the places I have had in Vancouver and Richmond. As we only needed a snack, this plate was good for the both of us for the rest of the night. Each bite was satisfying, with that taste that you can only get from stinky tofu (anyone else have it.. they know!!) the pickled vegetables were good, the only thing that could have used some more spice and kick was the sauce. This place has passed all those stereotypes that I would mark and stay away from and I would probably come back to try the other food... I will be back one day for the stinky tofu - oh sorry... tofu of strong odor, and I hope to be surprised at some other things on the menu. read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - This is how the joint looks like.. I think this picture makes it better than what it really looks like. - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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For Chinese restaurateurs, Christmas Eve is an extraordinary day. Except, of course, that it's the same extraordinary day EVERY SINGLE YEAR, which means that in reality, it's a rather ordinary day. Accordingly there are a couple of key things the restaurant should already know. 1. It's gonna be hella busy--from the moment you open your doors, until the last customer leaves. 2. You're going to need more help than on a normal night--in the kitchen, in the dining room, busing the tables, answering the phone, running the cash register. Which begets the question: If I know these things, why don't you Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant? Within minutes of arriving for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner, everyone in my party could tell that this was going to be an interesting meal. Dedicated to providing you, the Yelp reader, with as accurate a recap of our night as I could, I decided to live blog our meal. 6:00 We arrived on time and our table is waiting for us. A good sign! 6:20 The first acknowledgement of our presence. Water is brought to our table. No hellos. No sign of menus. No offer to take a drink order. That initial good sign has morphed to broad trepidation. This could be a long night. 6:30 The phone is ringing incessantly. There is no effort to pick it up, so it just goes on forever. Note to the people on the other end - are you really trying to call in a takeout order on Christmas Eve? #getaclue 6:35 Someone arrives at our table and asks if we're ready to order. Um, we don't have menus yet. We get menus, half are American style, half Chinese style. No effort is made to explain the difference. Fortunately, I read about the two menus on Yelp and explain it to the table. They think I am a genius. 6:42 We note that there are exactly three people working the dining room for the entire restaurant. Attn: Chiang's, please see my note above regarding appropriate staffing on Christmas Eve. 6:47 Finally, our orders are taken. My son tries to order a Shirley Temple. The request is met with a blank stare. He settles for a Coke. 6:47 Exchanged hellos with an acquaintance in line at the cash register. He tells us that he placed a to-go order at 2 o'clock in the afternoon for a 6:00 pickup. He's been waiting for the pickup for 47 minutes now. 6:57 All of the tables are full and the line out the door is at least 30 deep. People are now starting to block the dining area. A woman backs up to our table and practically ends up in my mother's lap. The phone continues to ring nonstop. It's driving us a bit crazy. 7:03 Our Vegetarian Egg Rolls arrive. They are good and disappear in seconds. 7:05 Our first entrée, the Assorted Vegetables arrive. We look at each other confused. What about our Egg Drop Soup and Fried Vegetable Dumplings? At least they are tastee. The members of our party who don't like vegetables have sad faces. 7:16 Our second entrée arrives, Broccoli Beef. I don't remember asking the waiter to hold the flavor. He must have made that call on his own. 7:22 Hey, it's our second appetizer, the Fried Vegetable Dumplings. They are bland and soggy. The Vegetable Fried Rice also arrives, minus the vegetables. 7:30 The table behind us that arrived an hour after us, starts getting its food before all of our food is out. Tell me how this makes sense? 7:34 The General Tso's Chicken arrives. It is hands down the best item all night. Crispy and delicious. 7.37 The phone never stops ringing. 7:43 All of the food at the table is eaten, but where are our noodles and soup? 7:45 The Home Made Pan Fried Noodle Shanghai Style have arrived! They are as greasy as I remember them being years ago. 8.00 We have given up all hope of seeing our Egg Drop Soup. Several at our table are quickly moving through the five stages of grief over this fact. On the plus side, nearly all the food is eaten. This is undoubtedly because after finishing one course, by the time the next arrived, we were hungry again. 8:02 Our check arrives. Of course our soup is still on the check. We have to point out that it never arrived. They have no clue. Collecting our payment and turning over the table is the most efficient aspect of the whole evening. The total bill for six people comes to $78.81 not including tip. Only one beer and one soda was ordered, so that undoubtedly kept the bill down. 8:05 We depart, pledging that next year we will just head to Panda Express. Health Department Report I've decided to add records from the Dept of Public Health to my restaurant reviews because most people don't even know these records are available. On 9/26/2012 Chiang's received a score of 37. Problems included improper cooling procedures (30 points) and thermometers not available or used as required to evaluate temperature of potentially hazardous foods (5 points). Just four months earlier on 5/23/2012 Chiang's also received a score of 40. Yeesh. Source: http://1.usa.gov/V8BfNd. More information on what the scores mean here: http://1.usa.gov/R2. read more

Chiang's Gourmet Restaurant - Days later we are still waiting for our soup to arrive. - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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