Ok, it's definitely Peter Chan in the kitchen after my skepticism in previous update. I know this…read morebecause first, a regular customer came in and called out "hey Peter how you doin?" Second, because the hard working chef is once again quietly exerting his authority with small acts of independence. He brought out my lunch special himself but declined to give me a dinner plate (needed because the serving entirely covers the oval plate it was delivering on) and, once again, my pork with pickled cabbage had no pickled cabbage. Touche, Peter. The regular customer ordered items I would never consider, like walnut shrimp and egg foo young. But I'm sure it was still great, as was my no-pickles pork, as is everything Peter cooks. The guy is a gem. And he looks to be in good health after that mystery hiatus so I hope he'll be around awhile.

I remember reading that Ocean Palace was closing for months to renovate. I was happy to see the…read moreresults. The entrance looks a lot better. Instead of picking up takeout at the front door, customers can now make their way to the counter. I'm glad to see them reopen. I had a lunchtime craving for Cantonese style curry chicken. It was a favorite dish growing up and it brings back fond memories. Another favorite is Roast Pork Lomein. I also bought a shrimp stuffed eggplant appetizer. It was pretty good. There are also new lunch options. Instead of a free can of soda, I was offered soup. I chose Hot & Sour Soup. It was good. This is one of the few local Asian restaurants that offers brown rice which is a healthier option. I always make a point of calling ahead so the food order is ready by the time I get there.

Northeast Chinese Restaurant II is one of my favorite local Chinese restaurants. All of my favs are…read morenorthern Chinese. That means they can serve up some deliciously spicy dishes. But if you're looking for something milder, they're great at that, too. I think the large menu has been updated since my last visit. The first few pages include dishes that I would describe as "soul food." There's frog, beef tripe and pork intestine-- you get the picture. I never really got into that. On this visit, my friend and I picked Stir Fried Spicy Squid, Crispy Chicken with Crunchy Red Pepper and Bok Choy with Garlic. We were hungry. The veggies came out of the kitchen almost immediately. Crazy fast. We were grateful. The other two dishes took a bit more time. When you see all of the ingredients in those dishes and how finely sliced they are, it's no wonder. I loved the chicken dish. The chicken was a little crunchy but the red peppers were super crunchy. It was a bit spicy but deliciously so. I liked the peanuts and what looked like slivers of jalapeño peppers, too. The squid was also great. Here, I think they used more jalapeño peppers and spices. There was more heat to this dish but it was deceptive. The more I ate, the more I could gradually feel the burn. By the time we were full, I could feel my face starting to sweat a little. That was fun. The restaurant is clean and attractive with a remarkable amount of seating. The back portion is reserved for hot pots which I have yet to try there. The staff is friendly, helpful and bilingual. They will make suggestions if you'd like. This restaurant generally gets a bit noisy because it's where large Chinese families gather when they want to go on the town. That's a good thing. There's also a large screen tv that plays cooking shows. With so much going on, the customers seemed pretty happy.

Been here a bunch of times now and they never disappoint…read more The review is really that simple. It's going to be really good every time. Order something spicy and get excited. Also get the ribs!!!

I love getting the beef noodle soup. So good. Have eaten in the restaurant once and the restaurant…read moreis clean and the service is great.

The stewed beef chuck, which is really beef noodle soup, was ok. Good portion size, good amount of…read morebeef and bok choy. If you get it to go, they put the noodles and stuff on a tray that sits on top of the broth, which is really cool. The broth was lacking in flavor, very bland. Their lo mein looks like it would be good, but it tasted really strange. Broccoli and beef were good though. The beef was very tender and flavorful.

I just love this place and the staff. My family was delayed with meeting up with me for an hour!…read moreThe staff took the best care of me, and then of my family. The food is delicious. The ambiance tonight was like a house party because there was a work party going on - so it was unusually loud. It is normally pretty quiet there. The pics tell a better story about the food than I can right now, but I will describe one: The poached fillet is a treasure chest of good stuff. It has sea bass, enoki mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, lotus root, bok choy, etc. I did not realize this until I dipped the spoon under the fish. It is worth every penny. The flavor deepens with every bite.

My family of four had a terrific experience at Emperor Garden. Given the beautiful ambience with…read morered lanterns, one would never think one were in a suburban mall. The Chinese food was tasty and authentic, and portions were generous (huge amount of rice). The lunch specials included one egg roll and a soup. We ordered the slightly spicy homestyle tofu, which came with nicely textured tofu, soft on the inside, along with a superb egg drop soup. The other vegetarian dish, with sautéed eggplant, green peppers, and potato, was just as good. The wontons in the wonton soup were small and forgettable (only pork, no shrimp, unlike the classic Cantonese version). The two entrees overall represented Dongbei cuisine well. We appreciated the friendly and prompt service.

RAMEN! ...but wait-there's more. So much more than ramen…read more(which was DELICIOUS-I had the vegetable ramen with enoki mushroom, bean sprout, seaweed, corn, bamboo shoots, nori and scallion; I chose the Japanese creamy vegetable broth over the miso soup base). So many soup varieties including Thai style, tomato, original bone broth, spicy, fish maw, chicken, beef, pork and even sauerkraut soups. There are plenty of hot and cold appetizers available plus fried rice and stirfried dishes. Don't forget Boba, fruit teas, milk, teas...etc. Loved my lemon green (fruit) tea with clear boba. I just happened to be driving by between meetings, spotted Ji Bei Chuan and got takeout. Service was awesome...really helpful and fast. There's a good sized dining room if you'd prefer to eat there. I would like to have one of these places closer to home, please. Thank you.

We dropped in after looking at some decent old reviews. The place was empty. Ordered 2 soup dishes…read morethe only guy who was there recommended. When the noodle soup came out, the soup was salty worse than the seawater and noodle was soggy & waterlogged. We immediately brought up the issue the soups were not edible and the guy said it's the matter of personal taste. We tried to leave and the guy bullied we have to pay for 2 soups we could not eat. He threatened he'll call police and we had to pay almost 19$ he demanded without eating any of the atrocious extremely salty inedible stuff he called the matter of personal taste. We'll not go back and do not recommend.

Stopped in for some soup, dumplings, and spring rolls. The amount of food I got for the price was…read moremore than fair. Couldn't finish it all. This is a beautiful sitdown, Chinese restaurant with an old-school feel. Two older gentlemen were the waiters and I believe one of them may have been named Simon. He could not have been nicer and more accommodating. I overheard some regulars talking to him, and they definitely felt the same way. I saw several of the dishes that other people were eating, and they all looked delicious. I really like this area of Albany with all the old buildings right by Washington Park and I plan on making Rain part of my regular routine. 100% recommend.

I ordered takeout so not sure about the inside ambience and facilities. Service was very fast but…read moreagain I ordered takeout out so not sure about wait staff. The food was ok, but not particularly more special than my local place I love. The egg drop soup was yummy and smooth. I thought the shrimp and broccoli would be a little more spicy than what I received, but it still tasted great.

My grandson invited me to one of his favorite restaurants for a 19th birthday dinner. It was my…read morethird time here, but the best dining experience because we were five adventurous adults. We shared family style some memorable food choices which were all enjoyed. Our order: *Seaweed Salad with chili pepper in a toasted sesame oil dressing *Jellyfish app - "oohed and ahed" over it *Vegetarian Dumplings - with dipping sauces, tasty *Four Season Buns - Five colorful, tender dough buns enveloping flavorful fillings *Sea Cucumber with Beef Tendon - I preferred the sea cucumber over the tendon. *Chicken with Snow Peas - melt in your mouth chicken *Vegetarian Tofu with General Sauce - excellent! *Hu's Seafood Hot Pot - squid, flounder, shrimp (I did not like the green pepper, but someone else did.) *Crispy Shanghai Duck - sliced table side and amazing! Enjoyed with accolades. Brown Rice for all... Service was excellent; it was experienced, skillfull, and courteous. Kudos! Hu's is in a class by itself for gourmet Chinese cuisine dining. What a GEM! P.S. My grandson is interested in Marine Biology, so he was delighted with the variety of our seafood edibles. He provided interesting background information as we dined.

During the first Covid lockdown in 2021, we isolated in our Catskills home. The infection counts…read morewere low in Greene county New York and nobody knew what would happen next. TV news broadcast dire predictions during every 24 hour news cycle. So of course, cooking and acquiring food while binging movies and TV shows on cable became the obvious means by which to deflect attention from the rising COVID body counts world-wide and dire predictions. High anxiety was the order of the day, and tippling, cooking, take outs and eating became a reliable means to blunt it. Between TV binging we continued our years long, fanatical search for Xiao Long Bao -- or anything Asian to cook of takeaway and eat TV-side. HU's is a small Chinese joint in Albany, near where we received our Covid vaccines, and a good 90 minute drive from our home. There was nothing that vaguely resembled a good Shanghainese take out joint any closer - so when we didn't care to cook Asian, we made the trip to Albany for takeaway. As it turns out, HU's makes some authentic and delicious soup dumplings, and other dim sum like shrimp har gow, perfectly seasoned sweet/sour soup and some very tasty Scallion pancakes and Peking style duck. It was well worth the 3 hour round trip to take away -- or even eat in. The restaurant enforced social distancing making the eat in experience feel safe and authentic. I dunno. It's been a while since our HU's excursions in 2021, but I think in hindsight the food is truly a solid 4 stars good. I can't get to 5 stars because I could not rate the service due to pandemic restrictions in restaurants. Service was diminished due to social distancing during Covid times - but the restaurant was sparkly clean everywhere we looked. I imagine the same is still true today. So if you find yourself craving Shanghainese when in Albany, NY - HU's is a solid choice. The fact that their food selection and quality was high during the worst pandemic in the last 100 years speaks volumes about HU's food cred. Top tip: Even though the dumpling skins are bit on the thick side, stick with XLB and dim sum. They are NY Chinatown worthy. The usual Cantonese dishes like egg foo young, chow fun and ribs are serviceable too.

I eat here about once a month. They do have an outdoor patio which is nice…read more Food is always incredible! I like the curry chicken. I do it without vegetables and I add shrimp with House rice and my mother got steak and mushroom combo with House rice, roasted pork wonton soup and everything is just incredible and she brought it out to us on the patio. Wonderful late lunch/dinner

Food was very bad, and the portion size is very small compared to many Chinese restaurants in the…read morearea and they only give you a very tiny portion of rice that's bland. The general tso's chicken was very disappointing, even though I was hungry, I didn't like it which tells you how bad the food is . Will never come back .

Went for lunch with my sister-in-law on a Wed. arriving at 12:15. Parking lot was almost full, and…read moreit had just opened at noon. Walked in and almost EVERY table had diners. By 12:30, every table was occupied. What? Great reputation! We were seated at a small but nice window table right away. Immediately, we received a pot of tea. We placed our order since I had to be home by 1:30. Turned out we were served quickly considering how busy the kitchen must have been. Our Hot and Sour Soups came within 7-10 min. followed by our lunch choices. Hot and Sour Soup was outstanding. My go to anytime it is on menu, so I compliment from experience. It had a flavorful base that was perfectly sweet and sour. The tofu was sliced small, and the mushrooms had a pleasant texture and taste. Delicious! Sesame Chicken was with a sweet and tangy sauce that hit all the right notes. It was made with nice size chunks of white meat. Broccoli was not over cooked. Pork with Garlic Sauce was a great choice. Tender strips of pork covered in a good sauce that was perfect on the rice. We each took a portion of our lunch home so we would have "room" for ice cream. Homemade Ice Cream! Two scoops for each of us: Too delicious to share plus a real treat! *Green Tea/Matcha was deep in color and the flavor--superb. *Red Bean was sweeter, and my taste buds enjoyed every spoonful. Enjoyable lunch at a restaurant where you can count on food being well prepared plus get experienced service. A true GEM.

For dim sum dining, this is the place to go in the Capital Region. For those of you who don't know,…read moredim sum is comprised of small plates of food perfect for sharing. It is mostly eaten for brunch and or lunch. I ordered many small plates but the ones that stood out most were the pork soup dumplings, crab and pork soup dumplings, seafood shumai (a traditional small cup shaped steamed dumpling) the wontons in spicy chili oil, and shrimp dumplings. Additionally I also enjoyed their General Tso's shrimp and Peking Duck. Service here is on point and the waitstaff is attentive. They checked on our table a number of times and the pot of hot tea and iced water with lime wedges did not go unnoticed. Also the ambiance here is nice and the interior space is well maintained and inviting. I highly recommend eating here as the food is authentic and delicious. An exceptional dining experience awaits you!

Owner was very kind and sweet with excellent service despite us coming in shortly before closing!…read moreGreat food and good service, Thank you!

Shining Rainbow is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the Capital Region…read more Their noodle soup lunch specials for $10.75 are one of the best values around. The noodles are fresh--never dried--and the soup comes with plenty of meat, veggies and tasty broth. I can never finish an order of soup here. I usually take half of it home. I went back recently just to see if the soup is still on the menu. It was. If you order the WonTon Noodle Soup and ask them to add some meat, ie. roast pork, chicken, they will. Only you won't get any wontons. It's one or the other, not both. I guess I was hungry. I brought a friend with me and ordered too much food. That's on me. If each of us had just ordered a noodle soup for lunch that would have been plenty. Instead, we shared one order of soup. I also ordered Singapore Fried Mei Fun (Rice Noodles) which are spicy. They're sautéd with roast pork, bits of scrambled egg and vegetables. Then, I also ordered sautéd snow pea shoots with garlic, which are seasonal and considered a bit of a delicacy. It was a great meal. Cost more than I originally intended to spend but we wound up with delicious leftovers. I took the rest of the soup home. My friend got the Singapore dish. The service was pretty good. It took a bit long for the soup to be completed so there was a slight timing problem. The restaurant's decor is very pretty. I particularly like all of the light fixtures which help make for a nice dining experience.