Lots of bad reviews here for the food. That wasn't my experience -- the food was delicious -- but I definitely need to echo the negative sentiments about the service here. Some of the worst I've had at any restaurant in a long time. Came here very soon after they opened on a Saturday evening. Our server was extremely cold and brusk, borderline annoyed that we were there, and gruffly showed us to a booth. As soon as we sat down, he started taking away the chopsticks and putting forks in front of us. My brother and I are Mexican and my husband is white, but all three of us can and do use chopsticks and were extremely confused by this (my brother and I were annoyed). While I've been asked a handful of times at other places over the years if I wanted/preferred a fork, I've never had the chopsticks taken away with the assumption I couldn't use them. I stopped the server and told him we didn't need forks; while he left them anyway, I used the chopsticks the entire meal out of principle. At one point my brother asked for a drink refill; a different server quite literally waved him away, annoyedly waving his hand in his direction as if he couldn't be bothered and claiming he'd tell our server. He never did and we had to flag our server down later for the refill. The only staff member who was somewhat nice was the waitress and that was only because she was charging us for the meal. Food was good. Got Mongolian beef, the sour lamb noodle soup, and a stir fried chicken and vegetable dish. My husband was a little disappointed by his soup, which is why we went there in the first place, mainly because he felt the flavors were monotonous and not very complex. I had no issue with my beef and we all thought it was the best dish of the night. The stir fried dish was great and the vegetables were fresh. But I have no desire to come back here anytime soon not just because it's pretty out of the way for me, but because I don't feel like getting treated like an annoyance nor dealing with rude, condescending wait staff who are only nice when they're taking our money. While on the subject of money, I also have to agree with others who had some sticker shock here; not all of the dishes are outrageously priced, but some definitely are. If you do come on a Saturday, bear in mind that this place fills up really fast and groups waiting to be seated quickly start forming outside. Try to get here closer to opening if you can. read more

The food is always so delicious here! My favorite is the beef lung and boiled fish. The service is no frills but friendly. Our new favorite that we tried was the eggplant. Wow! First time dining in since we usually take out and we were very very pleased. My boyfriend grew up in Xi'An, China for some years and always craves here for good food. Would recommend! read more

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Came here with a friend after a concert. The costumer service was quick and kind. The vibe of the spot was good. Ordered some broccoli beef, vegetable fried rice with egg, egg rolls, and some tea. The fried rice was good and at a good portion side. The broccoli beef was ok, but for the price it was a little disappointing at the amount you get for the price. This spot was decent. Not a destination spot, but if I'm in the area and want Chinese food I'd be ok coming back here. read more

If you have a craving for traditional Chinese this is the place to visit. Food quality/taste: 10/10 we got the hot and sour soup. The portion sizes are huge. My fiance and I each had a bowl and still had soup left over. We also got the Mongolian beef which was perfectly flavored and tender. The chicken chow mein had a great flavor with the perfect ratio of noodles and chicken. Service: staff was attentive and friendly. We were seated immediately upon arriving. As soon as we sat they brought out a big pot of green hot tea. The restaurant itself and the dishes/cutlery were clean. FREE DESSERT IN THE END!!! This is the best part. I was shocked to see a free soft serve self serve ice cream machine. read more

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Large portion, delicious food. Also, my favorite part is - free sundae ice cream to end the meal. Friendly service, halal Chinese food. Lots of larger tables that are good for groups or larger families. In terms of cleanliness, this is typical Chinese restaurant. read more

My Dad took us for a family outing here as he ate it with his friends and really liked it. He definitely wasn't wrong and the food was great! [[ Location ]] It's in a pretty good location on Lundy Ave near the US Postal Service, Gen BBQ, Gong Cha, etc. Lots of food places around this area as well and I would say a high-traffic area. The plaza this place is in is sort of quiet as a lot of stores there are closed so parking is not an issue and there's a ton of spaces. [[ Restaurant ]] This place won't win any awards on how beautiful it is but it is a standard "nice" Chinese restaurant. Great place to take your friends, family and co-workers. [[ Service ]] I can see how this place might sometimes be considered "bad" service but again if you go to a typical Chinese restaurant, you should never expect really good service. We didn't have any issues and I thought the food came out pretty fast after we ordered it. I guess it helped that everyone there was fluent in Mandarin so communication was not an issue. [[ Food ]] My Dad likes to go BIG when we go out and he decided to get "Set Menu 3" which feeds about 10 people (~$220). We had a party of 8 so we knew already we would have leftover food. Not only was there a ton of food, but the portion sizes were really big per dish which I never will complain about and each dish was tasty. I'll write the menu down here and put an asterisk on what I liked the most. 1.) Combination Cold Dish 2.) Lamb with picked cabbage Warm Pot 3.) Black Mushroom with Green Cabbage 4.) Tea Smoked Duck 5.) Walnut Prawns* 6.) Steamed Sea Bass 7.) Beef Tendon with Scallions* 8.) Happy Family 9.) House Special Dough Slice Chow Mien* 10.) Sesame Bread* 11.) Steamed Rice and Fruit I think for this restaurant, the Sesame Bread is a must and they are really known for it. It's on the thinner side than most of the thick Sesame Bread I've seen elsewhere but it was cooked to perfection with the outside being very crunchy and a soft fluffy inside. I also liked the House Special Dough Slice Chow Mein since those thick noodles are my favorite. Surprisingly, the Beef Tendon was my favorite dish out of the bunch because they cooked the tendons so well that it melted in your mouth. [[ Overall ]] The whole family had a good time and the food was great. Definitely will be back and bring more people to try it out! read more

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Ma's Restaurant suffers from the same problem that almost every Chinese restaurant in America suffers from - a ludicrously large menu that terrifies new customers, especially those without a background in regional Chinese cuisines, because they clearly specialize in certain things and don't tell you what they are. As a result, ny review is only applicable to the relatively small portion of the menu that I've ordered from - the stuff that I was pretty sure they specialize in. I'm sure the other stuff is good too, but most people wouldn't go to a beef steakhouse to order chicken. First, they are locally well-known for their knife-cut noodles. When you order a noodle dish, they ask you what type of noodles you want, listing several options. My language skills are Peggy Hill levels, so I don't even understand the other options and just pick the knife-cut noodles everytime. They're a noodle type you don't see in most Asian cuisines, very thick, chewy, and doughy. It's very filling and in theory is probably healthier than many other noodle dishes (like I dunno, instant ramen) because the sheer amount of dough is really filling. Second, as a Hui Muslim Chinese restaurant, they are know for their halal options, in particular lamb dishes. Pork is the dominant meat in China where people generally eat pigs faster than Hot Topic eats my bank account, so Hui cuisine's usage of lamb is fairly unique in China (you also see it in Shanxi, Mongol, and Manchurian food, but those are also niche regional cuisines). I assume their beef dishes are good too, but I haven't tried. Third, Hui Chinese food is very northern orientated, which means wheat based foods more than rice based foods. Their scallion pancakes is fantastic, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, bursting with umami flavor. I also usually try to combine the first two options and either get the sour cabbage lamb casserole noodles (dry dish) or the sour cabbage lamb soup (soup noodles) depending on how I'm feeling. They're just very solid dishes, filling, diverse flavors, unique sourness of Chinese sour cabbage (it's not that different from sauerkraut) combined with the sharp taste. Very filling, not that pricey, and honestly kind of hard to find at most restaurants. Finally, they have a nice ice cream machine for complimentary dessert. Like every ice cream machine (I'm talking about you Micky D's), the ice cream machine exists like Schrodinger's Cat. It is both broken and functional at the same time. That being said, the service is pretty good since they will try to fix the ice cream machine for you if you ask, which means turning it off and on, which like work computers, actually works most of time. If it's broken, ask them to fix it! Anyways, this place is a regular stop for me when I'm in the Bay for a reason and looking forward to being back. read more

Ma's Restaurant - Lamb noodle sour cabbage soup - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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Great food & polite service!! Heck yessssss!!! My guy's love for lamb is what tipped the scale and made the decision for us to try Ma's Restaurant. The dish in particular was the MONGOLIAN LAMB... The menu offer is huge. You could easily get lost in all of the options. Calling out to all meat lovers and even those who are strictly vegetarian, there are plenty of options to satisfy everyone's cravings. To help simplify things, Ma's offers some pre-set meals for parties ranging from 3-12. Dinner purchases: -House Special Fried Rice -Mongolian Lamb -Dry Sautéed String Beans [hold the spice] -Spicy Ox Tendon -Bowl of steamed white rice Food: Everything tastes so clean. That's literally the first thing that came to mind when eating. The food isn't heavy, oily, or too harsh when it comes to flavors. While the Mongolian lamb wasn't exactly what we envisioned, it was enjoyed. This dish is not the typical plate of protein fully covered in a thick coating of sauce but it does contain the expected onion slivers, large dried red chilis, & lays on a bed of fried crispy noodles. The string beans were flavorful and extremely tender. Highly recommended by my 3 yo who literally demanded for "more!" throughout her meal. My favorite was the spicy ox tendons. The heat was well balanced with an unexpected undertone of sweetness. Even with the tendon thinly sliced, I was still able to enjoy that little bit of bite that I am forever craving/needing. Last but not least, the fried rice was a bit bland for my tastebuds but I really enjoyed the large pieces of quality shrimp provided. These aren't you average rinky dink, low quality, soggy shrimps- I liked the fresh bite! 5/5 stars because the food was tasty and the service is so welcoming & polite. Every "thank you" was returned with a "your welcome" which doesn't happen often. Bonus points because they offer complimentary soft serve- one per person please. read more

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Large portions, delicious hot and sour soup, mu shu and lemon chicken. Have ordered delivery several times and always had leftovers.

I ordered food for lunch through door dash! The dish itself was $13.95 for the House Special Chow Mein (Shrimp, Beef, Chicken) with regular noodles. I had a good amount of jumbo whole shrimps (it is not the shrimp cut in tiny pieces). There were green onions, bean sprouts, cabbage, carrots, eggs, & onions! I was very impressed by how heavy this togo box was! I think this is enough food for me to eat for 2-3 lunches. It wasn't the best chow mein ever, but for the price and how fast it got delivered to me, I definitely could order it again if I needed a quick lunch. read more

Ma's Restaurant - House Special Chow Mien - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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My go to place for awesome Chinese food. Service always great The green onion pie and sesame pie the best!!!! read more

The star was the onion bread that comes in the pizza box. Our other items were so so. Our mushu pork didn't have much pork and the pancakes were super dried and cracked. The Islamic lamb was super gamey but I had it before where the cumin and spices were excellent. The beef noodle soup was excellent this time without it being too oily. read more

Good cheap Chinese food. Great for groups. We came with 4 other families and took 2 large tables. The must haves are the thick turnover bread, with green onions and oil inside, which are baked in an oven with sesame on the top. This pairs great with the sauerkraut lamb soup. The soup comes in a large pot and is fairly authentic. They probably make it in a giant pot and just scoop it, but it's really delicious. Most options are good, they're not amazing in any sense, but you'll have a good dinner. read more

So glad we stopped here during our California trip. This is one of the best halal Chinese restaurants I've been to. The crispy beef was our favorite, but all the food was excellent. Service was friendly and quick. There's plenty of parking in the plaza, and there is plenty of seating inside. Restaurant is clean. read more

Ma's Restaurant - General Tso's Chicken - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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Ok hands down the best Chinese food I've had in the Bay Area! every time we've gone the service is always phenomenal. The portion of each plate is fitting for a family style dinner. Our favorites are the wonton soup, chicken fried rice, beef chow fun with bean sprouts & the beef & broccoli! It does get a tad bit loud but it's not extremely loud. read more

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DO NOT EAT HERE!! The service is terrible! I had to wait 30 minutes for food and despite the waiters never checking on us and taking so long we left a $5 tip on a $40 tab, the waitress told us that it is not enough for a tip and made a scene. The food is not worth the rude staff. read more

Reminds me a lot of Darda in Milpitas Square. Great beef noodle soup, lots of tender meat and great portions for a great price! Black bean noodle was also amazing. Customer service was helpful and food came out quick. Even better, the free ice cream machine tasted amazing and very similar to IKEA ice cream. Would definitely be back! read more

Ma's Restaurant has been around a long time in the Pacific Rim Plaza and being one of the first "halal" place, other than Darda. Service: Always friendly even though the place is packed with customers and phone-in, online orders. Ambience: Nice, modern decor. They renovated several years ago. Food: Everything is good here, some popular items are: Sesame Bread with Green Onion (allow 20 minutes), Lamb with Chinese Pickled Cabbage Soup, Seafood Beancurd Soup, Lamb with green onions, General Tao's Chicken, Chicken with Chili Sauce, Beef Stew Warm Pot, Mu Shu Dishes. read more

Food is excellent. Services good and ambiance is ok for a mall Chinese restaurant. Good food for a reasonable price.

I would say the quantity of food served per dish is good, but find the dishes to be on the bland side. The salt and pepper shrimp was not very salty or spicy. The shrimp was a large shrimp and I appreciated that there was not too much breading on the shrimps. The service is limited due to the number of staff and the number of tables they serve. Be ready to have to flag down the staff for anything you need. read more

Ma's Restaurant - Prawns with Hot Pepper & Salt - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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Very good food and taste, service great, the Ambiance is great, we will back again, its halal the most important thing.

We tried 10 dishes per table for lunch. I would say only the steamed sea bass was decent quality. Even their most famous sesame pancake was unimpressive. The appetizers were okay, probably better than the main dishes in my opinion. read more

Enjoyed the food. Large sized portions. Good value and good taste. Good service. Lots of parking. Liked the decor. Self serve free soft ice cream cone at end of meal. Ice cream cone is crunchy. Very satisfying. Will go back to try more dishes. read more

Ma's Restaurant - 146. Hong Kong Style Pan Fried Noodles So good. Like the crunchy noodles. Sauce is good. - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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With Covid takeout, ordered Mongolian lamb and a sour napa cabbage with lamb casserole and green onion pancake (thin version). Food was promptly prepared; no wait if u pre-order. Highly suggested, since there's always a line at this restaurant. Food: Mongolian beef is very tasty but it's not the traditional Mongolian style. It's basically a yellow onion & green onion lamb with a little bit of spicy green pepper to give it some heat. Green onion pancake is one of the best in the SF South Bay. Slightly crunchy on the outside, soft inside with lots of onions for a near perfect taste. My only complaint is like getting pizza delivery, the dough is less crunchy after placing in a delivery pizza box. Sour napa cabbage lamb casserole is average good. The right amount of sour mixed in with the lamb & vegi in the soup makes this a hearty winter dish. read more

Ma's Restaurant - Casserole with lamb - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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We have been here 3-4 times. Mostly for lunch and for dinner once. It is always crowded, so it's a popular restaurant. We have tried: Chicken corn soup- very good String beans- also very good Veggie Chow Mien- Bland,Below average. Sesame pancakes- spectacular ( thicker bread is called sesame bread, thinner bread is called pancakes). Order the pancakes, they are better than the bread. Chicken in chili oil- it was not white meat chicken so the meat quality was not as good. My husband did not like it. read more

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The lamb was very good, and green bean dish was pretty good too, but other dishes are not recommended, especially the fish. I probably won't go back. If I go back again, I will definitely not going to order the fish dish and mu shu pork. read more

Ma's Restaurant - My shu pork, greens bean, lamb and fish - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Pros: the free ice cream was amazing. The hot and sour soup was definitely better than most other restaurants and I would return just for that. Cons: I wasnt a fan of the noodles. There was too much egg in the dish and very little flavor. I wonder if I asked to make it spicy would they have increased the spice? We had gotten the beef and chicken chow mein which obviously had a lot of meat in it, but weirdly had no veggies at all. read more

Been coming here for ages and what makes dining here so great is their ice cream cone dispensary! It's a great way to end the meal, every single time. I usually get the green onion pancakes, hand-cut noodles with either beef or lamb, green onion lamb, and the sour napa with lamb soup. Yesterday we decided to try something totally different and weren't disappointed. Ma's is my family's go-to restaurant and the quality of the food has been consistent over the years. read more

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The absolute best pot stickers in town. All the other food is pretty spot on . Good flavor and quantity. We've been there quite a few times and have yet to be disappointed read more

I've eaten here multiple times and I've generally liked what I ordered. Its a very solid Chinese food spot for the area. Food- Knife Cut Noodles: While not rare, not very many places do these style of noodles. These are different from hand pulled noodles which are a different thing unto itself. Anyways they are really good here. I like getting em as a dry noodle dish so maybe the chow mein style instead of getting it in one of their noodle soup dishes. Combination Hot Noodle: Like a jjampong style noodle dish, which is a Chinese Korean Seafood Noodle dish. The broth isnt that spicy but its got good flavor. I would recommend. Sesame Bread w/ green Onion: This is a must try over here. This type of bread is extremely uncommon. Not to mention its really good! Pineapple Walnut Chicken: Chicken was breaded just right and had a nice crunch. Didnt like the flavors. Would opt for General Tso or some other flavor. This one is basically just the honey/mayo walnut shrimp cept chicken. Overall, this is a good spot to get some good ole family style Chinese food. The dishes are made well and they got some things you dont normally get from other places. read more

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The food was getting messy . The quality was bad when we ordered to go . Mix vegetables / chicken fried noodle no vegetables at all . Mixed Fried rice just very dry and no fresh veggies at all . Very disappointed read more

This place has very nice service and good food. I've gone here for many times and they never disappoint. My only complaint is sometimes they give inaccurate wait times when you order ahead, so just add 10 min to whatever wait times they give you on the phone. read more

Service was particularly good. The employees were nice and friendly, As well as they checked in once 5 mins and they were absolutely amazing. The food was good likeee I mean the calamari was the best one, like omg the salt and pepper with the fried calamari was fabulous. What I really didnt like was the lamb dumplings, sorry.. but overall everything was soo delicious. The decor in the restaurant was so ambiance and relaxing. I really recommend this lovely restaurant! read more

Ma's Restaurant - Bean with Salted Vegetables & Tofu Wrappers, Orange Chicken, Shrimp Fried Rice, Lamb Dumplings 10pcs, and Calamari with Hot Pepper & Salt - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

I've been here several times before, and try to try out different menu items each time I come. There's plenty of parking outside and I think the service is fine, seems like often times they are short staffed though. I feel like items here are a hit or miss, and prices are a little more on the higher end but you do get a lot of food, so you get what you're paying for and I'm always going home with leftovers. We ordered the house special chow mein, wor wonton soup, fried fish with sweet & sour sauce, and orange chicken. I liked the flavor of the chow mein-- didn't think it was too salty or oily and had a good amount of toppings. My only complaint about this dish was that it comes with chicken, beef, & shrimp but there was only 2 pieces of shrimp in the large plate of noodles. The wonton soup was good. I'd describe the broth flavor to be kind of similar to egg drop soup broth, just not as thick. The soup tastes great freshly hot and there's lots of veggies in it-- but I don't think they thoroughly wash their veggies? I found a worm in my soup... I really like the fried fish with sweet & sour sauce here. The way they cook the fish is super crispy. The orange chicken was also good, the batter wasn't too thick and it actually tasted like oranges unlike places like Panda Express lol (no shame to them, it's still good to me-- just doesn't taste like oranges). Overall I think most dishes here are good. Plus they have a vanilla soft serve ice cream machine & wafer cones. Doesn't exactly seem like the cleanest restaurant but it's good Chinese food to me for a decent price. read more

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Amazing, good quality, and halal food. Quick and friendly service. Nice ambiance and delicious food to complement it.

Went to Ma's for the first time today after a workout and felt less guilty about all the DELICIOUS carbs I had here. Im honestly a fried rice snob and their fried rice is probably one of the best I've had in awhile. I ordered the house fried rice and added broccoli and bok choy for extra veggies. The add ons were 2 each. And OMG best decision EVER! The fried rice had just the right amount of seasoning and grease. Sometimes when I go to other restaurants it's either way to greasy or over seasoned in soy sauce. This was one perfect. Adding the extra veggies made it even better. I honestly could have just eaten the fried rice and been happy with that. Lol. In addition, we also got their lamb and pickled cabbage soup with hand pulled noodles. I've never had pickled cabbage in soup before so it was a different flavor profile for me. The soup is perfect for 2 people. Maybe even 4. They added a generous amount of meat and noodles. The noodles had a good texture to it as well. Lastly, we got the green onion pancake. It's definitely pretty similar to other green onions pancakes I've had but I knew that when I ordered it. I just enjoy green onion pancakes whenever I order soup. In terms of service, I had a really positive experience. I came in super late - like at around 8:30pm and they closed at 9:30pm. I got my food in about 10 minutes. The noodles took a little bit longer but that's to be expected with hand pulled noodles. I am definitely coming back! read more

Ma's Restaurant - Green Chive Box 2 pcs - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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This restaurant is so good. one of my parents favorites. the breads are all so good and a definite must. service is great and the staff are very attentive. at the end of the meal, you can get a free soft serve cone and that makes the meal end on such a great note. all of our food was delicious, but my favorite was the shian bing, meat was juicy and skin was crispy. read more

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First time in San Jose and wanted to try this place and let me tell you, it was worth it!!!!! At first the service was slow because it was busy in there but as soon as we place our order everything came out super fast. Between placing the order and getting our food was about 10 mins. Wow. Everything was hot and delicious. We loved it and we will be back. We got shrimp fried rice, fried chicken wings, Mongolian beef and house special fried rice. And last don't forget your free ice cream cone. The ambiance was family friendly as well. read more

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My family and I have Eaten here twice. was pret good the first time. Second time was a waste of money. Meat was chewy and dry. Shrimp was over cooked. There was hardly any chicken in the orange chicken only batter. Very disappointing read more

Waitress ran after us demanding that we add more to the tip we left. When we tried to give a bit more, she still said it was not enough. I'm never going there again. And I made that clear to the waitress. read more