While I am not a fan of Shun Feng's Dim sum menu, I must say that this place does have some pretty delicious Chinese food. The restaurant is a medium-sized, authentically Chinese restaurant, and the food here is good. I can tell that the restaurant owners put a lot of love in creating a Chinese-styled, restaurant-city type of place in an area so lacking of Asian cuisines (Santa Cruz); I can tell by all the little knick-knack, pattywack, idols and items placed beautifully throughout the restaurant, not to mention greenery as well. There are many restaurants that make generic Chinese food, but what they don't have, that Shun Feng does have, is food-authenticity; Asian Cultures value tradition, and Shun Feng stays true to their Chinese origins, rather than bending to the will of the mainstream dollar. Its real Chinese food, and that is what I like most about Shun Feng.
I've tried many entrees, a la carte, here, and I would recommend 3 dishes: Beef Chow Fun, Walnut Prawns, and the Beef and Broccoli.
Firstly, Beef Chow Fun. This plate is pretty good, an excellent lunch item. It is a mixture of rice noodles, savory beef pieces, and various white side-vegetables in a combination of sauces that culminate into a filling and satisfying meal. It is quite tasty, and the perky meat only adds to the excitement. However, there is a downside; this plate can come off as a bit oily to those not used to eating it every week in Chinatown, drinking tea with your grandpa har har har
Second, Walnut Prawns. This plate is at a level higher than that of Beef Chow Fun. While the Beef Chow Fun is delightful, the Walnut Prawn is tasty. This plate is jam-packed full of flavor. There's something about the prawn, both tender and crunchy, that makes this plate so awesome. The prawns, combined with walnuts and a scoop of lite-condensed milk in the mixture, create for quite the yummy yummy in my tummy.
Finally, the Beef and Broccoli. Now, ordinarily, this plate is pretty dull..unexciting. It is this way partly due to the fact that it has been generically replicated so many times in so many places by so many people that the entree dish "Beef and Broccoli" has lost its very meaning.. and culture in its translation. Its not even a Chinese dish anymore as it has become a mainstream Panda Express staple all over America. The Beef and Broccoli here at Shun Feng is unlike any other Beef and Broccoli I've ever had. it is very tasty, and refreshingly different than your average Beef and Broccoli. It is not a simple replication of the Beef and the Broccoli, but rather, a mixture syndicate of BOTH of these things in an appetizing dance of the taste buds. It is a savory dish of flavor, but more importantly, a celebration of tradition. This dish is very good, and I would say, it is the best Beef and Broccoli I've ever had anywhere.
o yah.. one last thing, yanno the fortune cookies you get at the end of each meal.... they are truly prophetic here, i swear. they are no "you will breathe oxygen later" or "water is wet" kind of bullshet, but more like a "you will die on Sept 22, 2056" kinda dealy; well.. i may have exagerated a lil bit on that one, but one time when i was about to surprise my girlfriend with a gift.. my girlfriends fortune cookie wrote "you will be surprised later today"........ i literally rubbed my eyes *erk erk erk* in disbelief. whoa read more