I've been bringing my dad to Ming Yen for lunch once a week for the past 6 months. We have loved EVERY dish we've ordered here. This is some of the best Chinese food I've ever eaten. The wor wonton soup is filled with won ton and tender meat and perfectly cooked vegetables in the most delicious broth. The beef chow fun is my dad's favorite. The asparagus fish fillet is seasoned and cooked perfectly. We also love the potstickers, beef with soft tofu and the Mongolian beef. The portions are generous and the service is great! The owners and the workers are all friendly and make an effort to talk to my dad. read more

I don't often repeat places in a week, but that's what happened last week. Ming Yen was closed for remodeling for a while and it looks super nice outside and in. They redid the facade outside and cleaned up the interior and have a different layout. It's good. Super delicious Szechwan fare makes this menu stand out. The curry chicken is incredible, light spice and packed with crunchy veggies and large pieces of chicken. Spicy Mongolian beef is perfection, tender beef and deeply flavored sauce. They have a great meal for dinner for 2 or three or more, it's a ton of food. Noodle dishes are made fresh and each is a stand out. The chow mein is fresh and filled with meat and veg and all sorts of veg too, not just cabbage and onion. Appetizers and an incredible start, seriously get two orders of the pot stickers. They make them in the morning and are huge and have a great balance of pork, garlic and ginger. The lunch specials are massive, you get soup and an egg roll then the main and rice (two choices) or noodle (two choices). You will take some home for sure. Also the Hot and sour soup is rich. It's a stand alone meal and worth a try. Dark thick broth studded with tofu, sliced mushrooms, onion and bamboo. It's easy to eat a huge bowl and so comforting. Also try the Wor Wonton, a light broth filled with veggies, shrimp, wontons and two kinds of meat. Worth it!!! The owners are really kind as well, I picked up soup the second time I popped in and they remembered my husband and I. They asked how he was doing as he was a little sick when we were there. That's small town kindness and will keep me coming back. They also deliver for Free if you order $25 or more. It's worth it. read more

Rude lady, screams on the phone when asked a simple question about their menu and hung up on me when I was thinking to order. NEVER again will i call this place. And never again eat their food total disappointment. Definitely not my favorite anymore after this. read more

This place came up as Hot and New with 4 stars on yelp, so looked promising (as there are not really any great Chinese restaurants in Novato or Marin county, for that matter). We ordered take out of five items: 1. Egg rolls- mostly cabbage and carrots and not very tasty, comes with the sweet red wonton sauce 2. Mongolian beef- sauce and overall dish was very sweet and was not expecting that. Did not care for this dish 3. Eggplant and green beans- this was also very sweet (as if it was really made with sugar!) and again was not expecting this; did not enjoy this dish either 4. Salted fish fillet- I always order this at Chinese restaurants if they have it on their menu, so can compare the good and bad. This dish suited my taste enough and will probably order this again 5. Salted fish fried rice- I also order this often at other Chinese restaurants- this was pretty good and suited my taste (I'm Filipino and am accustomed to eating salted fish) but would rather it without the chicken. Would probably order again. Would have to try other things on the menu to see if they warrant a higher rating, but overall 2/4 dishes were just too sweet. Otherwise fast and friendly service! read more

I'm happy to have this newly retooled gem of a place back in action, with new owners and employees dishing out some excellent Chinese food. My usual faves include Mongolian Beef or Chicken, pork and eggplant with copious amounts of hot sauce. The house made pot stickers will make your belly happy. read more

Ming Yen - Mongolian beef - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

See all

Ok. First of all I was a big fan of this place a long time ago. Then it was taken over by new owners. Everything went bland from there. Did not go back for two years. Decided to give it a shot today. WOW. What a difference. The food was amazing! Everything was very tasty. read more

Ming Yen - Mongolian Beef Orange Chicken Chow Mein Beef Chow Fun Walnut Shrimp - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

See all

Ming Yen is not the old ming yen. Food actually has flavor! Mongolian beef chow fun is my favorite. The beef is the best I've had at any Chinese restaurant lately. You can actually taste that it's flavorful beef. Peggy runs that place and she gives exceptional service. I recommend you give it at least a couple of tries before making your mind up about this place! The fresh food and generous portions will have you coming back! read more

Ming Yen - Their grand opening! Walnut prawns, roast pork, and salt and pepper chicken wings! Delicious!!!! - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

Hello I wanted to let people know how I have had a great experience here not once but several times. The owners are very attentive along with wait staff. The food is excellent and fresh and I can't say enough about this place! Great food and great service. Don't know why there is some haters on here? Maybe they were having a bad day read more

I am an avid Chinese food extravagant - Ming Yen does it right, the best Chinese food outside of SF, and can rival some of SF's best The house pan fried noodles, salt and pepper pork chops, salt fish fried rice, dumplings, sesame beef, and Chinese broccoli are our favorites and we order a couple times per month. We never had a disappointing experience. Great spot in Novato for some high quality Chinese - The owner is awesome and such a sweet lady as well - Thanks guys! read more

I have given this restaurant many opportunities thinking it will improve but unfortunately it has not. Food has gone down. The beef in Mongolian beef was poor quality, lots of fat. I also ordered chow main combo and it was flavorless. read more

This is by far the best Chinese in Novato. The new cook/owner have done great things. The food is delicious and the service is amazing!! The pot stickers are large and super tasty. The chicken and broccoli is in a sauce like no other and is so good my mouth is watering just thinking about it. My husband's favorite food is Chinese so we have been to a ton of Chinese restaurants and this is his choice everytime!!!! Try it you won't be disappointed. read more

See all

Update-After looking at some other reviews, I see this woman is often rude for no reason and tries to rip people off. Also, I just read her reply. Be nice to everyone? Maybe don't yell at your customers and whip off your mask during a pandemic. I'm part Chinese and wanted some comfort food at the end of a long day to remind me of home. I ordered on Grub Hub, them arrived to pick up the order and the lady started telling me how Grub Hub steals from her and how if I wanted the food, I needed to get on hold with GrubHub while sitting in the restaurant, cancel the order with them, then re-order it with her. I told her it was ridiculous. My food was sitting right there and I didn't have time. She then starts yelling at me how no on orders from Grub Hub and I needed to do this and she didn't owe me any money because Grub Hub doesn't send the order, even though I had a receipt and she had another copy in her hand she was waving around at me. She then whips off her mask as she continues to scream at me, during a pandemic, so I left. As far as I'm concerned she's stealing my money and endangering people's health. read more

This might be biased, but im told my Grandparents apparently owned the location years years and years ago before exchanging several owners. I've never had it during that time. I'll be real though: this ISN'T some Fancy restaurant or an American Chinese restaurant. This place serves some real Chinese food. I rarely run into a Chinese place in Marin county that would do salt and pepper spare ribs, ma bao tofu, AND roast duck. I have to go to SF or East bay to get anything remotely close to the flavors I was introduced too when I was younger. The portions are huge for what you pay. I would have to say this place is the best Chinese spot in Marin County. Does it serve the taste buds of the Marin crowd? Only time will tell. But until then, I'll enjoy my childhood again. read more

Not the greatest Chinese restaurant in Novato. Portions and price are right, especially if you go for lunch. You can get a decent size plate at lunch for under $7. It includes: egg roll, soup and your choice of steamed rice, fried rice or chow mein. The fried rice and chow mein might have an additional cost but no more than a dollar. My only complaint is that the egg roll is the tiniest little thing you I've ever seen. Today when I went their with my family they brought a plate of 4 egg rolls out before our meal. Then when they brought the meal over the cook had put another one on the plate. When the waitress saw that she took my moms plate right out from under her and said "hold on, you already have egg roll." I mean how much could a microscopical egg roll cost?! I would recommend trying other places in Novato. read more

Ming Yen - $7 for w decent size lunch. - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

I have come here many times before and it was excellent; however, I wanted to try their soup, so I ordered Won Ton Soup, as I had a hankering for it. OMG, the won tons had a ammonia taste too them. I immediately threw the soup out, lest I may have gotten sick. I was very disappointed to say the least. I feel as though I had wasted $20. The other dishes I have tried in the past were very good...the Mongolian Beef, egg rolls and others. I would have given them less stars, but given the previous yummy dishes prior I gave them an extra star. read more

Best Chinese Food in Marin!! Amazing family and attention to detail! Portions are large and great for families. Just travelled back from New England and drove from the airport to here for an amazing meal! read more

Love Ming-Yen, good portions and delicious every time. I love the service and the owner is very friendly and welcoming, overall it's an amazing place. read more

I have ordered food from here many times and the food has been very good, but unfortunately it was not the last time. I got Won Ton Soup and was looking forward to eating it, but not only did it taste bland I was afraid to eat it because there was an ammonia taste to the dumplings. The egg rolls were good. read more

Four stars for location and prices. The food is fresh but can be on and off good! Ming Yen is located at the corner of Grant and 7th street. It's right downtown Novato. The locals like the restaurant and it's like old home week. The waitresses are very nice and speak in broken english. They have cute personalities and it's fun to talk to them. We really like the pot stickers and it was our favorite restaurant however this year it's off and on - great to disappointing. The beef and chicken are of quality and we can't complain about the entres. I would say that you should try this local favorite and decide for yourself. I think it's a hidden jewel and prices are right. We just ordered Broccoli Beef, one brown rice and Kung Pow Chicken for a total of $20.20. Today, #yummy and #glutenfree read more

Ming Yen - Happy New Year! Hung hey fat chow (?) - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

See all

Super delicious and great service. I eat here all the time dine in or take out. My faves Bao Salt and pepper fish Mongolian beef chow mein read more

What a shame! They charged me an extra $78.35 on top of my original charge of $44.50. I made a report at my online banking about this fraudulent transaction and was immediately conditionally credited. Will never go there again. Be aware! The food was good though. read more

Ming Yen - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

See all

We have ordered take out twice recently and both times the food was great! Portions are large with lots of fresh veggies, and they don't skimp on the meat either. The first time we ordered we got home and noticed our salt and pepper prawns were missing from the bag. Before we could call them to inquire about it they called us to apologize! I've been to many places where an item was forgotten, and this was the first one that called us and owned up to their mistake. The second time they comped us the prawns to make up for last time, and gave us complimentary egg rolls as well. Very impressed with the level of customer service, and the quality of the food. Will definitely be going back! read more

I am never disappointed when I come here! Peggy always smiles and is gracious and the food is fresh and not oily and you can tell its made with care! There is no better place to eat in Novato! And the price is more than reasonable! Always the go to for me! read more

Ming Yen - General Chicken - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

My family comes here all the time because we love the food and service! So many favorite dishes including the walnut prawns (last time we were there we added a second order during the same meal because we liked it so much), sizzling beef, peking duck, whole fish, potstickers, fish with black bean sauce. My parents love the salt and pepper spare ribs and braised tofu. We bring baby here a lot and they are so nice to us even when he is loud and throwing things around. So nice to be able to get out and have some really great food with the entire family. We'll definitely keep coming back! read more

My boyfriend and I come here come all the time now ! Their pot stickers are amazing ! We order them every time we come, not to mention they are always so friendly read more

Ming Yen - Pot stickers, steamed rice & lemon chicken, yum - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

I love this place. The owner is super nice! I work down the street and go often. My favorite is the salt and pepper pork chop, the fried fish fried rice, and honey walnut prawns. Mmmm read more

Ordered on line. When my husband went pick up our order, it wasn't ready and was told he had the time wrong & it would be ready later, but they said they'd get it ready faster. When the order was brought out, it was only one box and not 3 as ordered. The woman insisted that he was wrong and our computer had made a mistake. Then they finally figured out that the package that had been sitting on the counter was ours. She had not even looked at our phone number. No apologizes were given. Once home, the food was cool and not too tasty. The food mediocre with all 3 dishes having the same flavor. Her surly attitudes will keep us away for good. Will let our friends in Novato know to beware of this restaurant. read more

It pains me to say this but I think this is the worst Chinese food I have ever had in the San Francisco region. I've had worse in some small towns in the far reaches of California and beyond, but never in a city or suburb have I encountered such consistently bad food. The onion pancakes had barely any filling. The meat dumplings were filled with something meat like but it tasted and felt like it had a lot of filler in it. The fried rice was basically white rice that may have been passed through a frying pan for about 10 seconds. The orange chicken did not appear to actually be made with any orange and the nuggets were so stringy and tough that I had to use my hands to assist my jaw muscles to finish chewing. My daughter ordered chow mein with vegetables that had barely any vegetables and the noodles were bland and tasteless. I would give them some slack if their prices were good, but I think they are even more expensive than the better places we will go back to next time, like Jennie Lows and China Palace Granted these are difficult times and maybe the regular cook was unavailable, but if that's a case they should have just closed rather than subject people to this terrible food. read more

We frequently used to eat at this restaurant before it was sold. We had eaten there a few times after the sale, before COVID and the food was OK. Since Covid we have not eaten there, but tonight we decided to order takeout. We ordered the shrimp and lobster sauce and the spinach in garlic sauce. The spinach and garlic sauce was virtually impossible to chew, as it consisted almost entirely of spinach stems, not spinach leaves. We also do not recommend that you do not order the shrimp in lobster sauce. While edible, and containing a good number of shrimp, it was too salty and not in any way what In I would call shrimp and lobster sauce; at least not what it was like under the previous owner as well as many other restaurants.We were very disappointed and felt cheated with the food we received. read more

I work very close to this restaurant and it has changed hands a few times in the 25 years I've been here and I LOVE the newly remodeled place. The food is fresh and delicious. The staff is friendly and generous. Today I had the wor wonton soup. It was piping hot and loaded with wontons, shrimp, chicken, pork, and lots of veggies. It was delicious read more

Ming Yen - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

Stay away. Sugar in all three of our dishes even though I specifically said No sugar, No flour, No MSG when I ordered using DoorDash. The owner assumed NO responsibility but blamed the problem on me ordering through DoorDash and not through her. When I asked if she had seen the directions to the chef, she read them to me and said yes. Though still, she took no responsibility for the mistake, only blamed me from not ordering from her directly. We will not be going back. Just for the record, we ordered hot sour soup which was good but not great, beef and broccoli, scallops in garlic sauce, and spicey eggplant and string beans. The only thing that wasn't sweet was the soup. We will go to China Village on San Marin Drive. They listen to customers' requests and are quite good. read more

Beautifully decorated restaurant inside and nice staff. We love the spicy eggplant and house fried rice - lots of choices on the menu for my vegetarian friend. Right now during the shelter in place takeout only time you can get your food to go and walk over to one of two nearby parks and eat outside. There is also a shaded bench across the street. Enjoy! read more

Great food served up by a wonderful family. I could eat at Ming Yen everyday. Good place to people watch, too!

I went to Ming Yen after they reopened and was truly disappointed. I am not very picky and never take food back so when I returned two items to Ming Yen, I thought I was being helpful. They are under new owners and I wanted them to do well. I didn't even ask for my money back. The woman owner wasn't interested in hearing anything I had to say. She was rude and barked repeatedly, "how is this different from last time?" I wasn't even sure what she meant. Then she went back into the kitchen and came out waggling a frozen crab puff at me. I wasn't mad. It was kinda comical. I wouldn't go back just because she was so rude but I ordered 4 items and 2 of them were substandard. Not a great way to start a new business at any rate read more

I never write reviews but reading some of these comments leads me to believe that many people that have come to this restaurant and have posted negative reviews have not experienced a true Chinese restaurant. The food I ordered for pick up was ready when it was supposed to be and was on the higher end of authentic Chinese food. I even requested an item that is not on the menu that no one in Marin county has and she told me she would have it for me tomorrow. read more

I heard this place had a new chef and decided to try it for the first time. Unfortunately, the food was nowhere near expected standards. We ordered: 1) Steamed bbq pork buns: came out hot but bun was tough which suggests it is not fresh enough. 2) Bbq pork chow mein: super bland bbq pork, barely any veggies inside the noodles. 3) Mongolian beef: ordered very spicy and it was just somewhat spicy. There was a lot of sauce which spilled everywhere in the packaging. The food was not very greasy and the onions seemed fresh enough, but the taste was not up to par. Novato isn't known for having great Chinese food, but there are other options that definitely rank higher. read more

Hadn't been to Ming Yen in years and decided to try it for an early Sunday dinner recently. I took the advice of other reviewers and ordered the potstickers. They were delicious and cooked perfectly - as was the rest of my meal. I don't usually like hot and sour soup, but Peggy insisted that I try a small cup. I'm glad I did. She also told me I could ask for more or less sweet or heat for any dish. My second visit I ordered less sweet and more red chile in the General's Chicken. It was even more delicious than the first visit. The vegetables in the fried rice were fresh and tasty. I'm looking forward to trying their lunch menu. read more

Absolutely love this place. They are super efficient, extremely friendly, and most importantly, VERY CLEAN! I appreciate the fact that they do not wear gloves in the kitchen. When food workers wear gloves, you get a significant more amount of cross contamination due to the fact YOU ARE NOT WASHING YOUR HANDS. I trust this place more than most because I know they are consistently washing their hands instead of using the same pair of gloves....I actually have long conversations with the lovely people that work about how everything is going during this crisis. They are extremely friendly and the food is killer! read more

Great food. Clean bathroom. Best sevice.Vegetable Fried Rice chickenSpring RollsSweet and Sour Chicken

I will keep this short. Easily the best Chinese food in Novato. Their fried chicken wings are incredible. I question those who gave poor reviews as to whether they actually know good Chinese cuisine. read more