I had a soup craving that wouldn't be satisfied by anything else. My husband and I were searching on Yelp for something new (ramen was out, Mexican was out, pizza was out... you get the picture) and stumbled on China Chen hiding deep in the thick of my thousand bookmarks. We were already nearby having a beer so we popped over after deciding on it due to the drool worthy pics of sumptuous wontons. We both got variations of the most popular dish. I opted for both kinds of noodles (wide rice and chewy egg noodles) as I couldn't decide and wanted to try both. The bowls were plentiful and filled to the brim with tons of goodies (were there delicious tiny pieces of crispy chicken skin?!) and full of the most flavorful broth that was nothing like it's pho cousin. I really enjoyed my bowl and slurped up as many noodles as my tummy could handle. I will say that I think I ended up preferring the egg noodles over the rice noodles for this particular dish, but my whole bowl was wonderful. read more

First off the food here is good. And as for service also good due to quick and friendly workers. The only bad thing I can say is it's in a place where homeless folks tend to be around. The time I went here with my group we saw two homeless close by. But if you can ignore this fact then go ahead and eat here cause the food is not bad at all. read more

China Chen has amazing noodles! The service is fast and the employees are awesome and sweet. For NorCal prices this is pretty nice for pricing and good food. I got the Mi with pork and soup on the sauce and I think I am set for the remainder of the day. Recommend if you enjoy a nice hearty noodle. Plus it's starting to get chilly and the tea and soup hit the spot! read more

China Chen - Number 13 - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Had lunch at China Chen today not knowing that I will be witnessing a heated argument between 2 China Chen workers. The guy by the name of Hòa or Hoàng was very rude and disrespect to the lady worker. read more

Decided to come here because it was walking distance from my hotel & reviews on Yelp made it sound like it would be a decent restaurant. And it was July 4th so options were limited. Turns out, the food wasn't good. Fish ball soup - overly salty. It was unbearable to finish. House fried rice - taste was just ok but $10? Not worth it Chow mein - one of the best dish out of the 4 ordered Beef over rice - tastes like soy sauce based sauce. stay away. Service wasn't the best either. I wouldn't come here unless I was left with no choice. I'm surprised this place has a solid 4 stars. read more

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Great food and service!!! Always craving for more everytime I eat here !! I wished they have their chow mein back

One of my favorite places to have breakfast. The place has been open for years now & you can totally tell by the decor. It's probably the same furniture from when they opened. This doesn't bother me any because the food speaks for it self. If there's only one thing you every order from here get the fried chicken. It's so crispy, moist, and not oily at all. Don't forget to dip it in the hot mustard sauce & get ready to burn your nostrils. read more

China Chen - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Cash only! The service here is alright.. but I obviously don't go here for the service. Order everything at once, because the waiters will never come back. The banh bot chein is amazing! (It's on the menu people!) Sometimes I come here just to get that to go and eat it for lunch. I think it's bout $1-$2 more for a large size, which is SUPER filling. The half hu tieu, half mi wonton noodle soup is good. Yes, there are only three wontons in the damn soup but they're pretty big. The shrimp wonton soup comes with 6 huge wontons. I think all of the soups have the same broth, but I don't mind because it's freakin' amazing! The combo (#1 and #2) don't have any wontons! If you want some in there, I think they'll add it for an extra charge. read more

By far the broth is so good and the portion is generous the sliced pork in the soup is satisfying and the shrimp wonton leaves you desiring more it's the best wonton egg noodle soup around! read more

Banh bot chien trung / fried flour cake with egg $7.25 regular: I love this so much, especially their dipping sauce. Definitely order one for the table to share. Mi xa xiu / pork egg noodle soup $6.75: I can't eat too much noodles in one sitting, so even splitting half is enough for me. I like adding vinegar to the broth. read more

China Chen - Pork egg noodle soup $6.75 (Split half pictures). Fried flour cake with egg $7.25 regular. Vietnamese ice coffee $2.95. - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

My family eats at China Chen multiple times every month because its egg noodle soup is simply the best in the area! Wishing the owners and staff good health throughout these uncertain times. Hope to visit again very soon. read more

Ok so I've been here twice and I can now say my first bad experience wasn't a fluke. It's your typical Asian restaurant so don't expect any service. When we walked in, they were cleaning a table that was supposed to be for us and some woman comes outta nowhere and sits down. The male employee shakes his head and throws the menus down on her table and told us give him a minute to clean a different one. I was hella craving dry noodles but Dalat had a long line out the door and I didn't feel like going over to Nam Vang. I then remembered I wanted to try Kali Noodles but they were closed so I thought hmm let me give China Chen another shot. I saw more of my friends going there so I was hoping something had changed. I ordered the mi hu tieu nam vang kho which is egg AND pho noodles dry. What I got was hu tieu nam vang with soup... I told the guy that's not what I ordered and he shook his head and took it back. What came out next was just hu tieu nam vang kho.. where's my mi?! At that point I didn't bother saying anything and just started eating. But as soon as it came out, I was already disappointed. It was SUPER bland looking and the ingredients were sparse. There was hardly any sauce so my meal was bland and there was just 2 calamari, 2 halves of beef meatballs, 2 fish cake balls and a shrimp. Where's the usual sliced pork?? I definitely ordered the wrong thing. Looks like their mi sui cao is most popular and their nam vang was the worst I've ever had. My fiancé ordered the mi xao thap cam .. combo chow mien with thin noodles. It was too al dente, more like undercooked so he wasn't really happy with his dish either. We also ordered the bot chien appetizer but even that was lackluster.. not much flavor even after dipping it. :( TK noodle in lion plaza still makes the best. Overall I'm done with this place and won't be back. They couldn't get my order right and everything we ordered was disappointing. Just stick to Nam Vang, they're still my favorite dry noodle place. read more

Not much to look at and you're not going to get the Gary Danko treatment. So knowing all this, It's all about the egg noodle seafood soup with satay sauce! read more

I went here for the first time in like... 17 years? Apparently when my grandma used to own a beauty salon a few blocks away, she and my grandpa took me here frequently and always ordered me a bowl of Hu Tieu. After going to Philz Coffee for my Ginger Snap/Mint Mojito lovin', I was craving some good hu tieu since I haven't had any in a while, so my mom suggested going to China Chen because of the proximity and local popularity. I ordered the Hu Tieu Cheo Chow combination with half of the fat white noodles and half of the egg noodles with soup, or "nuoc". My mom ordered the same but dry, or "kho". It was delicious, and for some reason I had lots of either deja vu or flashbacks of when I was five and barely tall enough to sit up and eat. Bowls of noodles here are fairly cheap at around $6.25 to $8. The broth authenticity is at its greatest and was absolutely delectable. The egg noodles were perfectly cooked and chewy as well as the fat white noodles. They also gave a whopping shrimp in the bowl! A lovely piece of Vietnamese (and Cheo Chow?) culture captured in a bowl of noodles. I'm so happy that this place is still around! A wonderful restaurant that brings back so many memories with my grandparents and a local favorite of the Vietnamese community in San Jose. My only qualm is the cleanliness.. but since this place has been in business for a while (20+ years), what the heck, no one's perfect. read more

I got #27 combination rice noodle soup to go but the food was all right. It didn't have that much flavor and there weren't too many things in the soup. Their pictures make their food look bomb, but mine was just mediocre. Maybe it was because I got it to go :( Anyways, it wasn't bad either and the price makes up for it because it wasn't too expensive. read more

I was really pleased with the food we got from here! First of all, food was ready quickly and delivery arrived promptly with soup still hot. Flavors were great. portions were big. Although I only tried the shrimp (both soup and appetizer), I would definitely be interested in trying some of the other meat options. My friend got one of the pork and wonton options and it looked great! She also enjoyed hers. Also something that I care about as a mom is whether or not I would find the food to be kid friendly and I absolutely would. My two year old son would tear this up, no doubt!! Usually I reach for pho, ramen or udon when I'm in the mood for soup. But this definitely struck me as the perfect comfort meal for days when you're under the weather or even just colder days and wanting to warm up. This will be added to my list for future soup joints :) read more

I love coming here for a fixing of shrimp dumpling egg noodle. Soooooo good! And of course, you have to get an order of their banh bot chien (flour cake with egg). This place is literally a hole in the wall, so don't expect the best service ever. But if you want good, cheap noodle soup and quick service, this is the place to go. read more

China Chen - Mi Xiu Cao with Banh Bot Chien - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Features: -Growing up in San Jose, I pretty much have tasted an array of Vietnamese egg noodles all over town. Two weeks ago, my dad brought me here when I had requested that he take me a tasty egg noodle Vietnamese restaurant. I ordered the egg noodles with a fried chicken wing and boy, it was The Best Egg Noodles I have ever had in my entire life. -The soup was very savory and flavorful. The soup had chopped onions with fried garlic--tasted just right with the soup base. -The egg noodles were not too soft and not too hard, but really, just an equal amount of texture. The pork was good and the chicken wing was fried well. Man, if I still live in SJ, I would come here every single day for lunch and not be sick of it. Improvement: -More noodles in the bowl would be nice. Tips: -Meter parking on the streets. -Bring cash! -Trust me on this, get the egg noodles! read more

China Chen - Egg noodles - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Defintely my favorite spot to cure my Egg Noodle fix. The rice noodles are ok but you have order the yellow egg noodles. The noodles are tendor, not chewy and the broth taste simple but delicious not like most other places where all you taste is MSG. The broth is unique here is made the way it should. The egg noodles with BBQ pork and the egg noodles with fried chicken is delicious. Add the shrimp dumplings and a shrimp cracker and you got a perfect noodle soup feast. I always get the Flour Cake. it is crispy, hot and egg-licious. Parking might be a pain on weekends or nights since its downtown and they don't have a private lot. Second to this place for egg noodles would be Mi La Cay on Mckee. Happy Grubbing! read more

The food really is amazing. I'm a San Jose native and this is my favorite noodle place. It's a hole in the wall. The outside structure is dirty red brick and parking can be a bit of a pain, but it's worth it. Service is TERRIBLE (and I mean that even by Asian joint standards), but the food is just so good that I keep coming back. Tables aren't kept very clean and a lot of times I'll have to wave my arm around until someone comes over to wipe off a smear of something suspicious looking at my table. Once they forgot to bring my brother's noodles, and despite flagging down two people, it still took an extra half hour after everyone else had gotten their food before his finally arrived. Now onto the fun stuff! I always get the noodles and shrimp dumplings (Mi Siu Cao). I don't even like dumplings usually, but I'll sit there and eat these till I can fit no more. I usually order it with the extra shrimp chip, and I let that soak ever so slightly in the broth before biting into it's slightly crispy, broth-soaked goodness. Whoa, I'm making myself hungry now. Another favorite appears to be the roast chicken soup (just look around as you walk in and you'll see plates of chicken lying around). You get a bowl of noodles, and the roast chicken comes on a separate dish with a knife so you can cut your own pieces out to eat with the noodles. Quite tasty, but a bit too much work for me, and I'm already in love with the shrimp dumplings so I don't bother. I also usually get the Banh Bot Chien (Fried Flour Cake). which is good here. The first time I came here I remember I got some kind of rice dish that was nothing special. This place is definitely for the noodles. read more

China Chen - Noodles and shrimp dumplings! - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Simple food but good. Service was good. Food came out fast. The only thing I didn't like is how cheap they are with the napkin, they give one for each person. But you can ask them for more if you need it. This place used to sell fried ice cream but stopped for more then 10 years now. :( It was the best fried ice cream ever! By the way if you come in early around lunch they have the bones in the soup!!! It's so good. If you come late, they sometimes run out. read more

China Chen - Finished it. So full. Heehee - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Had a hard day at work and so I decided to stay in the hotel room tonight instead of hoping in the truck to drive somewhere. I looked around and had a craving for Chinese food and saw this and read the reviews and decided to order some food for delivery, the lady on the other end of the line said that they do Door Dash for delivery only. I ordered through the app and saw the progression on my phone. The door dash guy knocked on the door and dropped off the order, the bag was filled with the juice from my order, I think the delivery guy had it sideways, all the food was on pushed to one side of the cartons, it was kind of a mess. However, that aside, the food was really good, I had the sate spicy beef chow fun and the house special fried rice. Very good and there was a nice portion of each.If I have a craving again, may have to go to the restaurant instead of Door Dash. read more

I come here and order the same two dishes and this place never disappoints: banh bot chien and Mi sui cao. Both dishes combine bland looking ingredients into flavorful masterpieces that are simply delicious. Mi sui cao ( shrimp wonton with egg noodle soup). The soup consists of thinly slice pieces of pork, hand made shrimp wontons and egg noodles topped with green onions and chopped lettuce. They used to top it with these small deep fried cubes of pork fat but I haven't had them on my soup the last few visits. The egg noodles are thicker than (Asian)store-bought egg noodles and cooked just the way I like them, slightly under al dente so that they are soft but have the slightest crunch. The shrimp wontons are quite large and they don't skimp on the shrimp. The pork slices are thinly slice with no discernible seasoning. What brings these rather bland looking ingredients together is the soup. The soup broth is REALLY tasty with a little bit oil due to the the meat bones (pork?) they cook it in. The small is quite filling and just simply delicious. Banh bot chien ( rice flour stick fried with eggs and chopped green onion). This is China Chen's most popular dish for a reason. Comes with a dipping sauce that consists of primarily vinegar and soy sauce. It's this sauce that really makes this dish. As many have said, simply delicious! The large portion is only $1 more so it's a no-brainer to upgrade even though I can never finish the entire thing by myself so I just take the leftovers home (It reheats well on the stovetop) Service is typical for an Asian restaurant. You have to flag down the server after you initially order to ask for drink refills, ask for to-go containers, etc. So I'm not sure why people are complaining. This isn't a fine dining, white table cloth type place where waiters are trying to earn tips. This is a family-run CASUAL dining place. So the service can be slow at times especially if they're busy. If you're Asian and complaining, shame on you; you should know better. If you're not Asian, (news flash) Asian restaurants aren't known for their service, but simply flag down your server and s/he will assist you. When you're finished dining, note down your table number and walk to the cashier to pay. Parking is a pain as only metered street parking is available (free after 6pm Mon-sat and free on sun), but there is a large rip-off pay lot across the street. read more

China Chen - #10 small (Mi Sui Cao) shrimp wonton with egg noodle soup - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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So far I've only ordered the pork fried rice but what I received is so damn good. Best rice I've tasted since being in San Jose. It's hard to find good Chinese foods that taste like home. I don't normally eat the fried rice with the peas and carrots but I didn't mind it in this. read more

I got the shrimp wonton with egg noodles. The broth for this was so good. The wonton's shrimp filling was so good and well seasoned. I love how much extra wonton skin they have and how big it is. The pork that came with it was thinly sliced and tasted good enough. The noodles were amazing. They taste exponentially better than the store bought ones. Pretty fast service. The Vietnamese iced coffee was pretty strong. read more

China Chen - Shrimp wonton noodles and Vietnamese iced coffee - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Hands down the best noodle house in san Jose. I've been going since I was born! My parents took us here since we were babies, now that I have my own, I've been taking them here as well!! 3 generations!! Great service and quality! read more

Tried calling several times to place an order and no answer, so I drove 15 minutes to the restaurant only for them to tell me they no longer have fried rice or stir fry.. only soups. Would've been nice to know before I drove down there. read more

Second time coming here. Soup so flavorful. Fried chicken so crispy and juicy. And flavorful! Cant wait to go back. read more

China Chen - Mi Ga Quay - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

I'll admit it, I can be a germophobe & I've been to some dirty Chinese restaurants; but this one makes me feel dirty just by walking in and passing the tub filled with dishes that's just sitting at the door. But...they say the best Chinese/Asian restaurants are the dirty hole-in-the-walls, right? So...why do I come here if I'm such a germophobe? BECAUSE THE WONTON NOODLE SOUP IS OFF THE HOOK! I only get the shrimp wonton noodle soup which has four big shrimp wontons (6.50 after tax). This is not for the non-meat eaters because it also comes with some thinly sliced cha siu & chopped up bits of pork skin. Waaay better than other noodle places in the area such as TK Noodle. read more

This spot is well known for their egg noodle wonton and for their flour cake. Best in town IMO!! Blows Tung Kee away.. read more

China Chen - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

This is were my fiance's favorite place to eat at. I have to say the food is pretty damn good in my opinion. Definitely a good place to eat asian food and if you're on the go. Service here is super fast and your food gets your table in minutes. The employees come out the kitchen with the food yelling something out in an asain language ( i think its vietnamese ) while trying to get your table. I don't know what I ordered because my fiance orders for me. hehehe! its like shrimp won-tons, beef with noodles and they add this battered fried shrimp which is yummy. The place doesn't look that great but their food is delicious. It gets really busy and by the looks of the place you wouldn't think so. The price is very affordable and tons of food to choose from the menu. Remember: Cash Only! read more

China Chen - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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Nice food for our lunch, we have great food all times. Actually I love Chinese food therefore I am so excited and acknowledge about it! I always use my time to eat there with my friends with many choices. But the big problems that we have here to being parking because they have no parking. You have to park on the stress with 5-6 space only with charged $2 for 1 hour. One more about the place, it is on the corner of 3th stress and E San Salvador, so there are many students who always like me stop by to get food for lunch and dinner. Customers from city hall is big deal to talk about, so if try to stop by you should get there soon don't wait until 12pm to be there. You will get no tables and you will wait next your turn! :)) read more

Ugh I can never get the right words to convey how much I love this restaurant. My family always orders the dry noodles with oyster sauce and side soup, as well as the banh bot chien and they're both always amazing and hit the spot! It's a tiny restaurant at the street corner and the tables are tightly packed. If you're looking for a fine dining experience then turn away. If you want some great food, fast, at a great price, then this is the place for you. The banh bot chien is probably the best in the area, when it's fresh (don't take it away!). It's crispy, tasty, and comes with a delicious sauce. Every time we come, this is a MUST HAVE. The other item we always order is number 13, the dry egg pork noodles with side soup. The noodles come seasoned in a little bit of fish sauce that you have to mix up to ensure all the noodles are evenly coated. It gets a little salty, so drinking some of the side soup helps sooth it a bit. My friends also like to add shrimp wontons, but I think just the pork is delicious enough. read more

Worst Chinese food ever! Maybe because I ordered something other than the noodle soup, which I hear is supposedly deliciousss. I don't quite remember what I ordered, but I remember it was super MSG packed, and I lost my appetite after a while. I'm usually not much of a picky eater, but this place was lameeee. The service wasn't amazing either. The man who served us didn't speak to us at all, basically just gave us our menus and left, but that's probably because he doesn't speak chinese or english, haha. I think a lot of the workers there are vietnamese, so this place isn't exactly authentic chinese. Maybe if I ever try the noodle soup, I'll change my mind? read more

Adding China Chen to my list of delicious places in San Jose that I've only (unfortunately) discovered after moving away. Came here on a whim after telling my friend that I only had two criteria for somewhere to eat --1) had to have wonton soup and 2) accepted cc. I was pretty bummed when I got there and found out they only had shrimp wonton soup....and that it was cash only, but we decided to just stay anyway. I ended up not even getting wonton soup and instead opted for #12, the pork egg noodle soup while my roommate ordered the shrimp wonton soup. Service was quick, we ordered our food and waited no more than 5 minutes for it to arrive. The soup broth was delicious and definitely hit the spot after an entire day of wine tasting. I find that at most soup places they don't give you much meat with your soup, but that's not the case here. I had more than enough pork, which was great on its own but even better when dipped and mixed in their sriracha/hoisin/chili sauce that's on the table. Surprisingly, I finished the entire thing..broth included, which is a rarity as I usually get tired of eating a huge bowl of soup almost everywhere else. I'm sure if I were still in college that this would've been one of my recovery hangover meal choices, especially since it's decently priced and located so close to school. The total came out to something like $15 for the two of us. Only downside is that parking could be a bit of a hassle given that it is metered parking and in the heart of downtown and that it is, again, cash only. Other than that, I really wish I tried this place out sooner but uh, better late than never, right? read more

Great place if you are craving for tradition egg noodles! My mom is from Hong Kong and she is very picky about her noodles and she loves the one here! Don't get fool by it's exterior, the foods are delicious. They are now accepting Apple Pay which is perfect for the time of COVID. read more

It fills the spot. China Chen is essentially the hole in the wall for your southern Chinese noodle fix. You can tell is a good place because all those rich Asian with their RS7, GT4, various Benz parked outside. You'd this China Chen is a dirty typical Chinese restaurant with no services. On the contrary, this place is cleaner than most if not all, your typical American dinners. They don't speaker much English, but just point at the menu and you will get whatever you wanted. The food at China Chen follows a simple guideline: 清汤淡饭. Simple Chinese food that fills the spot. Number 20 and 22 is usually the safe choice for me, simple soup base that's not overpowering everything with bit of chives and green onions on top to give that clean aromatic . The noodles are fresh and home made, it tastes exactly how it should compared to Asia. The meatball,wonton, char siu is nothing to write home about but it's miles ahead of your prepackaged from 99 ranch. And when you combine all of it together, it becomes a fulfilling dish that lightly warms up your stomach with no food coma attached. Also , If you went during a non busy hour, I'd get the #1 just because. Location: 8/10 Place: 8/10 Quality: 7/10 Quantity: 9/10 Price: cash only/10 I tip this place well and I would come back again just like the other guy with his S550 read more

I had the noodle soup today and it was so delicious. The portions are big and I couldn't finish it! I'll have to bring my fiancé sometime since he loves it and always finishes it for me. My friend got dry noodles and I want to come back and try it sometime. The dry noodles had broth that came on the side so you don't miss out on the soup. They also have this pork topping that my friend showed me to put on the noodles and it was amazing! I also got to try the fried wontons this time and the shrimp is so big Inside - never had better fried wontons! Great place to eat. read more

China Chen - Great food! - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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Delicious egg noodle soup, poor service. Take your pick. First time actually going to China Chen and I've been at SJSU for about 3 years. This place just never caught my eyes until one day I was craving Chinese porridge (jook). Sadly, China Chen isn't as Chinese as I thought it would be and there wasn't any jook. I looked at the reviews before and everyone raved about their egg noodles soup so I ordered a shrimp wonton egg noodle soup. To my surprise, I enjoyed it! But the service here definitely sucks. The guy just threw the menus on our table, no greeting, nothing. They charged us tip without indicating anywhere on the receipt because my item was more expensive than what I expected. But I still tipped them. The environment is really chilled, hole-in-the-wall type of Asian place; a place where my dad would go. The workers there were just chilling on the table and speaking Vietnamese loudly. It's okay though, I'm use to that but for those non-Asian customers, it can be quite intimidating. I don't think I'll be coming back to China Chen anytime soon unless I'm craving egg noodle soup. read more

China Chen - Shrimp Wonton Egg Noodle Soup - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Came by last night (7/19) with family for dinner. We had to drive around the restaurant at least 4 times until we found a vacant parking spot in the street 1 block away. -We ordered: --Mi Bo Vien Ca Vien Chien ($7.95): tasted OK, Bo vien and Ca vien chien were just OK, but soup was a little salty. --Com Ga Quay ($9.95): good. --Com Xao/Rice Plates Beef Broccoli ($8.95): tasted OK, but the broccoli was way overcooked. --Mi Xao Bo Sate ($11.25): tasted OK, but the veggies was way overcooked. --Mi Xao Bo Brocoli ($11.25): tasted OK, but the veggies was way overcooked. -Price: overall a little pricey based on quality and quantity, but it's OK to eating here once in a while. -Staff/Cashier: OK read more