Shanghai has been a favorite of mine for years. They went through an ownership change here a while…read moreback... It's had an impact but it's still at the top of my list when I'm craving Chinese food. This weekend was my 54th birthday. My daughter is at camp, but I wanted to do something with my son. The place I wanted to try was China Chef however I didn't realize they had closed their dining room area. After driving from Clive to the South side we changed plans in the China Cheft parking lot and headed to Waukee. We were greeted and seated right away as we walked on and were seated at a booth. The place is starting to show it's age. The carpet...it needs replaced. But overall it's clean and if nothing else it's familiar. We were presented with menus and glasses of water. Staff checked on us regularly throughou the meal Since it was between 1100 AM and 200 PM we were eligible for the lunch special options. It's a smaller menu, but comes with an egg roll, crab rangoon, your choice of soup (egg drop or hot and sour), and the entree. My son ordered the orange chicken with egg drop soup with a soda. I ordered the Yu Shiang shrimp with hot and sour soup and stuck with only water. I LOVE Shanghai's crab rangoons. They're definitely more on the sweet side. I ordered another order of those. Love them! The house hot mustard. Be careful! It's easy to overdo and it will clear your sinuses like tear gas. But it's SO good...! The orange chicken was excellent as usual. The Yu Shiang shrimp... It's the first time I've ordered it there. The deep red of the sauce was a little off putting. I'm used to a spicy brown sauce. The sauce on the Yu Shiang shrimp... This is just a visual thing though. The sauce is spicy and it tastes good. But like they say...first you eat with your eyes and then with your mouth. I'd love to see this changed to a more traditional look. It just looks "off" as is. Great service and good food. And enjoyable birthday lunch...and we got to sit eating down in the restaurant. Lol Always a great option in my regular rotation! https://shanghaiwk.com/

Fantastic! My wife and I were passing through town, on our way to Wisconsin. We read the great…read moreyelp reviews and gave Shanghai a try. We were welcomed to a nice atmosphere, great service and nice people. The food was very good and offered in large portions. If we lived in the area, Shanghai would be one of our regular stops.

YAY!! I finally found a place to get gluten free Chinese/Thai food. We ordered out last night and…read morethis place was fantastic. The portion size was terrific. I have lunch for today and probably another dinner. I ordered the pad Thai and my hubby got the sweet and sour chicken. Both were very good. I can't wait to order again!!

Excellent Chinese food for take out! There are dine in options available, but it strikes me as a…read moregreat go to take out place. The interior is fine, but I'm sure most people pick up their food. The crab Rangoon was so hot and fresh. Definitely recommend it! I enjoyed the chicken with mixed vegetables, too. We don't live in the area, but I'm certain if we did this place would become our Chinese food staple and quickly be incorporated into our dinner rotation.

Fresh, Delicious, and Always Satisfying!…read more If you're looking for amazing Chinese food in Waukee, this place is a must-try. Every dish I ordered was incredibly fresh, full of flavor, and clearly made with care. You can really tell the ingredients are high quality--nothing felt greasy or overly heavy like some typical takeout spots. The staff was friendly and welcoming, and the service was quick and efficient. I also appreciated the variety on the menu, with a few unexpected items that added a fun twist to the usual options. Highly recommend the General Tso's Chicken, beef with broccoli, and their egg rolls--crispy, hot, and packed with flavor. This is definitely going to be my new go-to for Chinese food in the area.

Have been coming here for years and this place never disappoints! Broccoli Beef and Mongolian beef…read moreare the go tos.

This is my favorite buffet. Great food, great atmosphere, and super friendly staff. Always an A+…read moreexperience.

Such a nice surprise! The family owned business is well run and appreciated our business. The owner…read morethanked us several times and invited us to come back. The food on the buffet was kept fresh and everything was clean and appealing. Looking forward to our next visit.

China Café has been a mainstay on the Town Square for a few decades and deservedly so. This is has…read morebeen a family owned and operated restaurant providing service with care and attention - recognizing regulars like friends. Speaking of which, many times you'll see friends and family also dining here. They have a super takeaway business. I've provided copies of their menu to help in your takeaway ordering. Today, we had the dine-in lunch specials. Each lunch came with soup; we choose Egg Drop Soup and Wonton Soup. Both soups, see my pics, are full of ingredients and piping hot (particularly welcomed on this cold, windy day). Each broth was rich and flavorful. The wonton soup had crunchy veggies inside the wonton. The Garlic Chicken was full of flavor. The garlic while pronounced wasn't over powering. The diced water chestnuts were crunchy which complimented the moist chicken and was good carrier for the garlic sauce. The carrot slices added some flavor but really added more crunch. The side egg roll (also comes with the lunch special) was super crunchy and mildly flavorful. The brown rice was a great way to enjoy the remaining sauce. The Chicken with Broccoli had the same sides as the Garlic Chicken. However, its sauce was milder, yet still savory.

We were starving driving through town and made a pit stop here. WOW, awesome hole in the wall…read more Amazing food quality! Very clean atmosphere. The workers were very friendly. Can we go back tonight? Loved: spring rolls Eh: egg rolls (too much cabbage and nothing else)

We have been searching for an authentic Chinese restaurant that serves Peking duck in our…read morearea...and we finally found one! And it's so close to home! Family owned and operated, this little restaurant is located in the cute small town of Norwalk. The restaurant is clean and includes your traditional Chinese deco. On to the food: we have not had anything here yet that we didn't LOVE! Yeah. Fresh ingredients, authentic Chinese spices and preparation, and prices are very reasonable especially for the amount of food you get. The star of the show for us is the duck! If you want to get the duck, you have to order it a couple days in advance and it's sooooo worth it! Service was exceptional considering it's usually only one or two of their family members working. If you're in a rush, be sure to order head and be patient. They're able to keep their prices affordable because they don't hire a lot of staff. If you're dining in, go early. If you come at peak dinner time, expect to wait a little bit. Even with only one server the night we dined there, service was still quick. This restaurant will be on our regular rotation of places to eat at!

I'm very disappointed in the food that I received. I've been going to China dragon many years and…read morehave always been satisfied but today, it was just plain awful. I ordered: Egg drop soup Pot stickers Chicken wings Shrimp egg fou young. Other than the soup everything wasn't even edible. The spring rolls were passable. The potstickers were horrible. They had a thick dough on them and very little filling. The dough seemed more than pancake batter. The chicken wings were overcooked, tough and inedible . This order was a gift from a family member for Mothers Day. I don't know what going on at China Dragon but it wasn't the China dragon I was used to. Very disappointed . I don't know if I'll visit again

So, when I used to live in the NoVA/DC area, all of the best Asian restaurants had the workers who…read morealways looked and sounded annoyed that you were there The food was always legit and worth the attitude haha We encountered that service today at Canton Chinese off of Ashworth Dr in West Des Moines. The food was actually pretty good. The restaurant could use some new chairs and booths, but the service was short and to the point. Definitely a hole-in-the-wall establishment. Food: Korean menu Tangsooyook (Korean Sweet and Sour Pork) 4/5- the dish didn't come out looking that appetizing because it was drenched in sauce but it was actually good and tasted as it should taste. They also have a chicken version of this. Mapo Tofu 3.5/5 - this was Korean-style. It was pretty tasty as well and had a hint of gochujang in it. Chinese menu Lunch Shrimp Lo Mein 3/5- this was okay. I probably wouldn't get it again as it was mostly veggies and hardly any noodles. Flavor wasn't bad at all. Lunch General's Chicken 4/5- this was delicious and chicken was crispy. This tasted more like the generals chicken from the Panda restaurant that used to be at Kaleidoscope. All-in-all, we would definitely try the other dishes, especially from the Korean menu.

The receipt with the substitution of specks of chicken which lacked flavor was not as satisfying as…read morethe original recipe of fried rice & chicken with chunks or shredded chicken. The wait time is too long with service not as customer forward as in the past. Customers rely on consistency for a good return on their money and taste fulfillment being primary at a time when small food businesses are losing customers due to cost and food quality. The inside is well worn with decor especially the floor needing a deep cleaning which makes one spend less time in the environment. As times change businesses must maintain good quality control to retain repeat customers.

The option to dine in has returned here at Asian Cuisine! It's actually been back a while now…read more.. I was just very happy to see it when it happened! The plexiglass wall that closed off the open kitchen during Covid has been removed. I've been here a couple of times since dine in reopened, but had still done take out anyway as my girlfriend lived not far away there in Grimes. She recently moved... We missed the food...and seeing Lily and Ken! So we decided to drive over and grab a table. When we walked in we were greeted right away. It had been a minute since we'd last been in. I was happy to see Lily working at the counter and Ken busy in the kitchen along with the rest of their staff! Seating is all low top tables and chairs. Mostly tables for four and two. Now instead of table service (like it was pre-Covid) it's more order and pay at the counter. Take a seat. The food is brought to you on disposable plates with plastic silverware. Drinks are cans or bottles. There are no napkins or condiments at the tables. Condiments like soy sauce and spicy mustard are served in packets. Sweet and sour still comes in a cup. Bus your own table into the trash receptacle when you are done. The food was as good as it ever was! We ordered an order of the crab rangoon. These seemed a little lighter on the filling than I remember them being in the past... They were served hot and fresh out of the fryer! I got the Yu Shang shrimp. Probably my favorite entree here and my go to. It was fantastic as always! I struggled eating it a little with my plastic fork... The tines kept bending on the firmer components of the dish. Heather ordered chicken fried rice and added shrimp (extra spicy). Another awesome dish! And I benefited from some leftovers she brought home... Lol I'll say that overall the food here is still top notch... Lily and Ken are two of my favorite owners in the metro! Couldn't ask for two better hosts... Take out business is still booming! While we dined in the stream of people picking up their orders, or coming in to place take out orders, was constant. But... The overall dine in experience has changed... We adapt to survive and we lost a lot of businesses during Covid... Some businesses that had been open for decades... Asian Cuisine adapted to a take out only model and made it through. Can I blame them for continuing to evolve while bringing the dine in option back? No I can't. In fact I want them to do WHATEVER it takes to keep their doors open...! I can even bring my own silverware... Lol I'm really not that picky and can grab something to eat anywhere. I see closure notices come through my feed almost weekly. Some are kind of a bummer, but they really don't impact me much even when it's a place I go to often. No real personal connection... It's different for me here. I'd probably cry like a little kid who just had one of their childhood beliefs shattered... I'm also not going to lie and say I don't miss things the way they were... I think as a rule a lot of us could say the same about many things today.

Service was excellent. Wife and I decided to try it out today. We usually hit hi vee for their…read moreasian grille... not today though,today felt different. Wife ordered the general tso entrée amd I had the sesame chicken entrée. Portion sizes were great. Presentation was inviting and on point we couldn't wait to dig in. Flavor was amazing both.. entrée s...Crispy where it needs to be and tender on. The inside. Every bite was an experience.. as far as ambiance.. its a simple set up. Black tables black chairs.. reo speed wagon "taking it on the run" on the house stereo. Very welcoming..we had the place to ourselves. Great experience.

The food was good, but it took about 10 minutes to be able to sit down because they only had one…read moreperson working in the dining room and she was doing everything

This is the most authentic Chinese food around Central Iowa. Everything I order is delicious. Kung…read morePao Shrimp, Hunan Chicken, Hot & Sour Soup... Service is unobtrusive and attentive. Prices are reasonable. I only go here since I moved to Manning. I love the Chinese Decor and perfect lower lighting.

We went on a Thursday at lunch time. great service. S and I ordered the Mongolian beef spicy with a…read morehouse salad. mom got pot stickers and tempura shrimp. the meals came with an eggroll, miso soup or a house salad. I wasn't sold on either one, but a salad sounded good. the dressing was so good!! it's a sweet dressing. the salad had a cherry tomato and some cucumber slices. the potstickers and shrimp were very good as well. the Mongolian beef was even better the next day for lunch. we'll be back for sure.

Our daddy daughter afternoon started at Mandarin! Like her dad she has picked up a taste for…read moresushi... Well...at least sushi rolls. We haven't gotten her further down the rabbit hole just yet. Lol Mandarin Grill & Sushi Bar is located in a small strip pretty much across 128th from the Walgreens there on University. Parking is mainly in a small lot in front of the restaurant with additional parking nearby. Seating is a combination of tables and chairs and booths. As always we were greeted right away when we walked in and seated immediately. Our drink orders were taken a minute or two later and we were given time to look over the menu. I've never had a bad experience here! The food and service is ALWAYS on point! We ordered the following: 1x Firecracker roll (Right) - Cream cheese, kani, jalapeno, cilantro on the inside. Tempura battered and fried. Spicy mayo, crunchies, unagi sauce and spicy tuna on the outside. 1x Unicorn roll (Left) - Tempura shrimp and avocado on the inside. Spicy tuna, soy paper, raspberry and a house sauce on the outside 1x Shrimp tempura roll (middle) The sushi rolls hit the table after a short wait. We both loved the Firecracker roll! The Unicorn roll was very good too. I don't think I've ever had a raspberry sauce on a sushi roll before... Nice! I was strangely impressed by the shrimp tempura roll... While this is a basic standard roll at most places the shrimp was more heavily breaded... The crunch factor on this one was fantastic! It's that contrasting texture thing I guess... If you're not into sushi the other menu items here are great too! The menu is extensive and covers a lot of items we normally associate with Chinese food along with Korean dishes as well. If you haven't been here it's worth the stop! If you just haven't been here in a minute... It's time to go back! Pro-tip. I have two soups I consider kryptonite to a cold. One is Brenda's Spicy Noodle soup at the Vietnam Cafe in Merle Hay Mall... The other is here! Their Hot & Sour soup with shrimp. Add rice, a side of kimchi and extra chiles. You can thank me later! https://www.orderonlinehub.com/mandaringrillsushibar_q8fzy3 https://www.facebook.com/MandarinGrillandSushiBar