Best Chinese delivery in West Hollywood?

[thegrifter]

I'm curious to know what the consensus is on the best Chinese delivery in West Hollywood. So far the only place that I think qualifies as truly good is Hunan Cafe, but that woman is just so hostile sometimes...

[Rogah]

The GREEN TEA -Hands down, for delivery. Dont judge a book by its cover, just a little place next to laundromat on Sunset blvd/Pointsettia best beef/broccoli and orange chicken around. VERY FAST delivery too great lunch specials

[cinzia]

Though a tad expensive, I do generally like Mandarette but have lately been ordering from Mao's on Melrose. The shrimp & spinach rolls or duplings are very tasty. And I customize one of their noodle dishes to make it more like my brother in law's Singapore noodles. Some dishes miss but I've generally been really pleased.

[outshined]

I agree with the Mao's assessment. We order from them about once a week when we're too lazy to walk to Genghis. (As mentioned above, Kung Pao is bad; we went off Chinese food for a while).

Their "Peace Not War Wonton Soup" (all the names are clever and communist-y) is excellent; filled with veggies. My significant other has not been able to find a place in LA that will make Kung Pao hot enough for him and he finally found it. It pleases him every time he takes a bite and catches on fire...

[Ciao Bob]

In all LA?

Has he tried the real Sichuan restos in San Gabriel? They will make it Ma LA (numb spicy) as it sould be.

[Jolly]

Has anyone tried Panda's Delivery? They are generally reliable and deliver til 10p with ok chinese american food.

[chris1621]

The Green Tea House on Sunset is good and everytime I have ordered delivery they've been nice and pretty quick.

[foodfever]

Hands down...China Catering on Beverly Blvd. at Sweetzer. Best Chinese food I've had since leaving San Francisco. Everything I've ordered there is delicious. Their delivery service is super fast and they take credit cards.

China Catering
8250 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: [phone]

[rednyellow]

Its good. Get the delivery, avoid eating there. They have 3 tables with filthy pink table cloths covered with almost clean glass tops. I had to ask for a metal fork and spoon. Food served in styrofoam.

[makkystyle]

I have to say California Wok is the best chinese delivery place I have found. I don't count Genghis Cohen because to me that is much more expensive than what I think most people are looking for in "delivery" food. I have found that the food is always exceptionally fresh and piping hot when delivered and the ingredients they use are really great quality. They also have really great flavors to what I assume is "americanized" Chinese food. They never let me down.

[Chowpatty]

We had Mao's cater our office meal recently and I found it better than the other Chinese/Asian we've tried, including Jin Jiang (is that it? In West L.A.) and Buddha's Belly. I think we're going to put them on permanent rotation.

[Liquid Sky]

The one on Melrose Ave?

[Chowpatty]

Yes, that's the one that delivered to our office on Wilshire. I really enjoyed the fried rice with cashews -- I think it was brown rice, so it seemed kind of healthy. Orange chicken was fine considering it had to travel, and chow mein noodles were ok. I only had a bit of the beef dishes, they seemed the weakest.

[Mr Taster]

We live so close to Mao's and I respect your Chowhound cred... so would you consider Mao's an acceptable alternative to driving to the SGV?

Mr Taster

[Ciao Bob]

I used to live on Melrose/Martel and I would either
a) Drive to SGV, or
b) Walk or bike to Genghis Cohen
before going to Mao's.

[Chowpatty]

No! It's completely Americanized Chinese, but I was just saying that out of the places in the area we've tried that deliver, I thought it was pretty good.

[Liquid Sky]

In NYC's Chinatown, we can predict how good the food will be by how rude the staff is. If they are hostile, that means the food is authentic and decent. If they are polite, that means it's a "westernized" place, and the food will be lousy. This rule almost always seemed to work.

[thegrifter]

hunan cafe is good but i have problems every time i order from there. one time the woman said "too busy" and just hung up. that really wasn't that bad, i can live with that. but the last time i ordered, the delivery came and the guy said "$4 delivery charge". i said, "no one mentioned that to me on the phone" and he said "it's always that way", which is not true, never happened before when i ordered. i live really close too.

anyway, maybe i should just do carry out next time.

[ahuacatl]

We almost ordered from Hunan for the first time, but after reading the "too busy" sentence out loud (in character), I was outvoted. We walked over to Chin Chin. I've never loved this place, but the General Tso's Chicken they gave us was nasty. It tasted okay, but it was all skin, cartilage and I don't know what. I know it's not supposed to be boneless chicken breast, I've eaten it plenty of times and from Chin Chin too, but a foot or a beak wouldn't have been out of place in this one.

I had a bad food weekend. At least a care package of handmade chocolate truffles just showed up.

[mixologist]

Don't get me started on Chin Chin. How is this place in business? I remember sitting there thinking "the waitstaff is nice, the decor is clean and stylish..hey there's even an attentive manager. One would think this actually a fine restaurant EXCEPT the FOOD is disgusting!?" I can't believe what people from LA will accept as "good"..shameful really.

[carter]

You got that right - gives Panda Express a good name!
Seriously folks, order from any Chinese restaurant of choice, yet pick up the food yourself. You will be rewarded with food that has not been sitting in a container for anywhere from 10-45 minutes, depending on how many orders the delivery person is taking at a time.
As to Kung Pao specifically, get the seafood, lamb or vegetarian dishes, or soups, yet avoid the appetizers, but do pick it up yourself.

[Liquid Sky]

Sorry, Everyone. As a Chinese-American who LOVES to eat, I have to say that KUNG PAO is a SERIOUS EMBARRASSMENT to Chinese cuisine!!

[carter]

They must be doing something right for an awful lot of people judging by the business in the place. They don't have about 10 people working in the kitchen if no one wants the product. If you have an ax to grind, then you obviously go elsewhere to eat, yet the items I referred to in my post you replied to are very fresh, very tasty, and have no msg.
Try it again.

[Mr Taster]

I've never been but my wife (who is native Taiwanese) went there once and was thoroughly offended by the offerings.

Mr Taster

[Ciao Bob]

I agree, KPB is really awful. I have tried it serveral times when folks on the board have offered it as a reasonable WeHo Chinese and been horrified each time.

[Jennalynn]

According to gridskipper.com... the top 8 chinese delivery places in Los Angeles, six of which deliver to WeHo:

http://gridskipper.com/travel/los-ang...

(Oh and Genghis Cohen and Wok Master are there)

[wutzizname]

Fortune West on Fairfax, really? Can anyone confirm or deny the validity of this claim? I live right around the corner but have never tried it becuase there's almost never anybody in there.

[thegrifter]

I can absolutely invalidate (is that a word? probably not) Fortune West being good. It is not. That gridskipper article is garbage.

[wutzizname]

That's what I suspected. Thanks for the invalidation.

[Jolly]

I've ordered from there before and sometimes they are really good. I like their kung pao chicken and orange chicken. But if they think I'm asian than the food seems to taste better, spicier, and flavorful. But if they think I'm white, it comes in sweet, cold, and gummy.

[Jennalynn]

I like Wok Master on Beverly.

[hawjack]

Try Le Mandarette at 1651 N La Brea ave.,between Hollywood and Sunset.
Call 323-878-0333 for delivery.

[daniel7720]

I agree...I live up the street from here so delivery for me is easy, but I used to live in WeHo and the Le Mandarette delivery area is pretty wide--they will deliver to pretty much anywhere east of La Cienega in WeHo and anywhere north of Melrose.

[ebbso]

hunan cafe on Sunset in the same mini mall as gaucho grill.

excellent new york style chinese food.

also mao's kitchen on melrose has some tasty dishes.

[goodhealthgourmet]

the important question is...does hunan cafe do authentic new york style EGG ROLLS?

[Mr Taster]

The NY eggroll quest has been done and redone, much of it by Das Ubergeek and me:

See links:
http://www.chow.com/digest/1815
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/349884
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/350293
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/370251
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/351265

The bottom line is that Genghis Cohen is really the closest I've found (though hardly a steller representation of the breed)... though I have not tried Das Ubergeek's China Village find in Fullerton.

Be wary of those non-NY native chowhounds who, though well intended, would lead you to inferior approximations. Case in point: the highly recommended 'eggrolls' at Canton Kitchen in Mar Vista which turned out to be basically a batter dipped deep fried meatball. It was actually pretty tasty, but definitely not at all what you and I are looking for.

Mr Taster
-----------------------------
Protect Chowhound
Boycott Avatars!
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[wutzizname]

It's true that Genghis Cohen's are New York-like in style, however I have found them to have an overwhelming ONION flavor to them which was very unappealing.

[goodhealthgourmet]

taster:

i know, i've read all the other threads before...but i couldn't remember if hunan cafe had already been discussed, and i just didn't hve the patience to read through them again.

thx for confirming - i remembered that you said genghis cohen was the closest approximation.

i'm headed to north jersey & nyc in a couple of weeks...want me to bring you guys back a care package?

;)

[Obessed]

NO!!!! We ordered from Hunan Cafe tonight --- the food was pretty tasty, but the egg rolls were definitely not NY style.

[goodhealthgourmet]

thanks for the warning.

[Ciao Bob]

Hunan Cafe does have fairly good cold sesame noodles but not NY egg rolls.

[ahuacatl]

Kung Pao Bistro, Santa Monica and Fairfax?

I've only had it once, delivered to a party I was attending and it was not bad. I asked the host where the food came from and he gave me a: KP bistro. duh, everybody orders from there - response.

[thegrifter]

Thanks ahuactl. I ordered once from KP Bistro and found it unimpressive, but I'll try it again. Anything to avoid Rice. Mandarette on Beverly delivers and is not your traditional Chinese delivery food, but it's edible. Only problem is the high prices.

I don't think they'd deliver to me, but anyone else like Twin Dragon? I know there are haters out there, but I think it delivers for traditional, basic americanized Chinese food.

I also like Hop Woo on Olympic and Sepulveda.

[Obessed]

I once ordered from a place in the Beverly Connection (can't remember the name)...but it was acceptable.

[ahuacatl]

Mao's Kitchen just left a delivery flier at our door. I think they are in the old Tommy Tang space way over on Melrose. I've eaten at the Venice location a few times and I think with the reasonable prices, I'll have to give them a try. I don't know how far west they deliver, I'm actually surprised that they will come as far us.

thegrifter - we used to order from Rice, many years ago, but we stopped after one of their delivery guys sued us (you don't want to know, but my advice is; carry out can save you a lot more money/time than you might imagine).

Also - as bad (or overpriced) as the Chinese in WeHo might be, I had Hamburger Hamlet the other day and I would eat WeHo Chinese every day for 100 years before going back. What a disaster that was.

[wutzizname]

The delivery guy sued you? Are you Elaine Benes?

[ahuacatl]

Ha. Not Elaine, but yes he sued. It took years to resolve, many, many days wasted with lawyers, lots of hand-wringing and he was awarded nothing. If you are a homeowner or have any assets, you might not want food delivered to your house.

[hdalsy]

wow, I've never had any sort of problem with Rice. They're super fast, I don't think they have a delivery charge or a minimum order amount. And the food is actually pretty good! But if you're looking for a good eggroll, believe it or not, Natalee Thai is one of my favorites (and they deliver too!)

[ahuacatl]

We were regular customers of theirs for many, many years. I agree, tasty food and quick. I'm not going to expand on the 'incident', but I'll never order from them or eat there again. It was the driver, not the restaurant, but it kinda ruined it for us. I'll repeat, millions of dollars, lawyers, days & days wasted.

[carly_mizzou]

Mao's on Melrose in AMAZING! It's my favorite Chinese food hands down. I've gotten delivery a few times and never had a problem. They'll even deliver their home made ginger ale.

[Liquid Sky]

Ugh. I don't like Kung Pao. It's nasty!

Chinese in WeHo is pretty bad all around, but if I were FORCED to do Chinese in the area, I would only trust Mandarette on Beverly.

[Das Ubergeek]

You might be able to get Genghis Cohen to deliver, if you're on the east side of WeHo. West Hollywood is pretty much a desert for any kind of quality ethnic food, other than Russian, honestly... and the general consensus about Chinese food west of the 101 is "only when absolutely unavoidable", the exception being BBQ Unlimited #2, which is just barely west of the 101 on Melrose.

[katydid13]

I tried ordering a delivery from Genghis Cohen a few weeks ago, and they don't do it. They contract out for their deliveries, and I was told to call another number to arrange it. There's a fee, of course...can't remember how much. I didn't bother.

[LANative]

I love Hunan, but I know exactly what you are talking about. Luckily, she's only gone mental on us once, but I've heard stories...I don't know of any other good Chinese in the area.