New Haven, Ct. Is there a good chineese restaurant? Is there a good fish market?

[keith2000]

I have found pretty much everything I want in New Haven except for a good place to buy fish and a good chineese restaurant. Can anyone help?

[lsnhc]

Chinese? Our favorite is Shanghai Gourmet in Orange. Delicious, fresh tasting food and byob! Within New Haven proper, the best is Royal Palace in 9th Square. They're one of the few local Chinese restaurants that seems to attract a significant Chinese clientele (albeit in most cases, probably ordering off their separate Chinese menu!).
For fish, there is only one place - Number 1 Fish Market on State St in Hamden - just past the motor vehicle department. Definitely a prime example of "you get what you pay for," expect fairly high prices for absolutely amazingly wonderful fish. They always have true sushi grade tuna, wonderful striped bass and sword, genuine wild salmon, and occasionally get species that nobody else seems to have here, our favorite being pompano. Don't let the small size of the store fool you - their variety is unmatched in the area. A substantial percentage of their business is wholesale, with many of the area's finest restaurants and clubs using them as their supplier.

[keith2000]

Big thank you to you and everyone else who recommended shanghai gourmet. I ate lunch there today. I passed it twice but when I finally found the plaza I was not disappointed. The decor was so classic and tasteful. The owner and his wife were there and both friendly. The cultural gap was a little funny when the owner came up to me and said "You like it boy?!" I am sure that in Chinese saying that isn't as jolting as it is in english. I had the sweet and sour soup that tasted strongly of beef boullion and soy. It had a little too much corn starch in it but that thick snotty texture is what I have come to love about chineese soup in america. The flavor of scallion, toasted garlic, slices of shittake mushroom and tofu really set the soup off. I very much enjoied it. For my entree the owner recommended the Sambal. I had it with pork. Wow there were so many vegetables asparagus, tomatoes, chilies, red peppers, pineapples, snap peas, tender slices of pork. It tasted strongly of garlic and fish sauce. Thank god I love fish sauce. The colors were bright the flavors were bright and yet it still had that satsiying gut pleasing greasiness. As I went to leave the owner asked me if I wanted a fortune cookie. I said no but he insisted "maybe you have good luck." The fortune didn't make much sense but I did have good luck with my lunch. I will absolutly go back and now I am excited to try everyones other recomendations. Oh I almost forgot. They don't have a liquor liscence but if you order dinner they pour you a free glass of wine. Cool.

[debvil]

the pork w/string beans is SUPERB and the lunch special is available on Sat too.

[Scargod]

Hong Kong Grocery- the Asian Market, is on Whitney, near Trumbull. They recently remodeled the place to have a nicer restaurant area. I haven't eaten there. I have purchased some of their fish from time to time. The selection is limited but it is fresh.
Has anyone eaten there?

I agree about #1 Fish. The best in the whole NH area.

There is the House of Chao,
898 Whalley Ave
New Haven, CT 06515
[phone]
I haven't eaten there but it seems to get mixed reviews.

[keith2000]

Fish from Asian markets really sketches me out. I will definitly go to #1 Fish.

[Scargod]

I'm not sure why you would say that. Stop n Shop sketches me. I went to Asia Market, on Foxon, for the first time today. Great little store. I was most impresssed with the vegetable selection (I got Thai, green eggplant, long, green beans, nice cilantro and fresh bamboo shoots). No fresh fish! I don' think they do any fresh fish or meats.

Then I went to #1 Fish and got way too much fish! It all looked so good!

[keith2000]

I love asian markets. All the hot sauces, fish sauces, wierd soda, noodles, seaweed, etc. very exciting to me. It is the fish that a lot of them have that makes me nervous. Especially the ones that get their fish from China.

Take the Asian market on State Street. Not the small one run by the korean lady that I love I mean the big one with the smell of old fish that hits you in the face like a truck when you walk in the door. Or the other Asian market that moved and added a basement (am I thinking of the one on Orange?) the produce is cool and the store is expansive but the downstairs fish area smells bad. I don't have any real proof or knowledge about what they carry...I just have a bad gut feeling.

I don't buy fish from stop n shop either.

[Scargod]

The Hong Kong Asian Market, on Whalley, just below Trumbull, is the one that expanded and added a basement with the fish down there. Though it may smell a little, I have bought many a good, fresh fish there. I've not eaten in their restaurant, upstairs.

[EastRocker]

Clarification: Hong Kong Asian Market is on Whitney, not Whalley. I too have gotten some good fish there.

[Scargod]

Sorry, I knew I'd do that eventually. Just got a whole croaker and 1" tuna steak at #1 fishy place. I'm dying to have it! Did you see my topic about El Tapatio?

[danieljdwyer]

There are a few places to buy fish in New Haven, but not, to my knowledge, a real fish market. Some of the Asian markets sell fish, but their selection of good quality, fresh fish is limited. I don't recommend buying fish at Stop and Shop. I go to Number 1 Fish in Hamden as it's very close and a great fish market. Bud's in Branford is also very good, so I'll often stop there on my way back from Bishop's Orchards.
Royal Palace is very good Chinese if you order off the authentic menu. A lot of people don't like the place because they don't have the Chinese food most people are used to. They do offer all the typical General Tzo's Chicken sort of items, but they're kind of bland. I wouldn't order off the regular menu there. I don't know of anywhere in New Haven that has good standard Chinese take out sort of food. Everywhere I've tried has either been awful or just decent, and I've tried every place Google has turned up.
Other good Chinese, but not at all typical take out style, can be had at Ivy Noodle, York Street Noodle House, and Kudeta.

[mmalmad]

I agree with the previous posters, but would add Loa shezuan (SP?) on the Poat Rd in Milford. It is in a strip mall across from Linens & things

[ctfoodguy]

The closing of Dim Sum in West Hartford is still sorely missed for authentic Chinese in this state. Royal Palace is really not bad, but there is excellent authentic Chinese out on Rt 1 - Boston Post - maybe in Milford - called Le Sze Chuan. Heavy Asian customer population (which is always a good sign) and just great food. It's in a small strip mall on the left hand side if you are heading south. Definetly worth seeking out. As always, report back to CH with reviews

[debvil]

Putting my vote in for:
the House of Chao, (we call it house of chaos 'cos it can get really busy)
898 Whalley Ave

or if you're going farther south LOVE Shanghai Gourmet in Orange. (We used to frequent their sister restaurant Village Gourmet when we lived in Fairfield County.

[Scargod]

House of Chaos is apt. I mean, a full restaurant of about thirty eat-in people, to-goers streaming in and out (and clogging the isles), and only one person up front! Only one person in the kitchen! Two people.
It was chaotic and excruciatingly slow...
When I arrived at the front of the restaurant, I thought it was closed. It was dark inside and there were leaves all around the front door, as if it hadn't been tended to for months. I pulled on what I thought would be a locked door and was amazed to find a lot of people inside! There were also a lot of leaves.... inside...
The place is fairly low-lit so it can appear dark inside from the outside, on a sunny day. It is a nice, plain and clean place, except for leaves.
The place filled up and between the people filling all ten tables and the people coming and going for to-go food the place was packed and the young Chinese waitress was having a hard time keeping up with orders and getting things right. People showed a lot of patience because things were moving very slowly and she was giving soup and food to the wrong people. What do you want for under $6.00?
You get the obligatory fried noodles, plum sauce and green tea. All were fresh and good, including the fortune cookie. I ordered the twice-cooked pork with lo mein. This was good but had a lot of TOFU in it. That ain't right! Again, what do you want for $6.00? There were no chopsticks to be seen, and an oddity I have never before encountered, the flatware was skinny and sharp. It had a narrow, rectangular shaft and sharp edges on the bottom that, annoyingly, kept digging into my middle finger's cuticle.
I asked the waitress what kind of beer they had and she brought out a can of root beer! They do not have a liquor license. Again (you know the mantra, right?) what do you expect, when the prices are so cheap?
I don't think I will be back other than I might get dinner to-go, one day. To me, a six dollar meal is not that great a bargain.

[linguist]

Really the only genuinely good Chinese restaurant in the New Haven area is Taste of China, 233 E Main St, in Clinton. Phone is [phone]‎, but I've never had to reserve. Szechuan food that is not a parody of what you might get in China. If you're willing to drive out of town, this place is well worth it.

[kattyeyes]

Taste of China is very good--especially for the shoreline which is otherwise pretty much lacking in Chinese fare. Lao Sze Chuan in Milford is even better. Another great shoreline Chinese option in my book is Samurai in Old Saybrook. We tried it one night when Taste of China (or as we joke, Taste of Clinton) was so packed we couldn't find a parking space. All are really great and well above average, but I send Lao Sze Chuan to the head of the class.

[Scargod]

Is Samurai also "Ja Japanese Steakhouse" or was that something in the past?

[kattyeyes]

I don't remember "Ja Japanese Steakhouse," but I googled it and it's the same address as Samurai. That place changed hands at least three times since we started going a few years back. I like the new owner--hope he's successful and has staying power.

[linguist]

kattyeyes, you are so right about Lao Sze Chuan ("Old Szechuan" in Chinese). My wife and I finally got there last week, and it was a revelation. Much as I have liked Taste of China, I'm not sure we'll be able to go there again. The food is interesting, varied, reasonable, and to my taste (based on 3 months living in Taiwan and a couple of weeks in Chang Sha, capital of Hunan) entirely authentic. I had heard the service was a bit uneven, but we found it efficient and actually gracious. The only thing missing is a bar (they do have beer, if you ask). This is definitely where we'll be going for Chinese food for the foreseeable future.

[airfoyle]

A former graduate student of mine, a native of the PRC, came back to town recently and took me and my wife out to dinner. The set of decent Chinese restaurants is constantly changing, of course, but he checked with his New Haven contacts and came up with Formosa, in North Haven. It was excellent. Granted, the entire ordering negotiation (among my former student, his wife, and the waiter) was conducted in Chinese, a language I don't speak, and the menu was in Chinese as well. We plan to go back soon and see if we make out half as well without the cultural and linguistic expertise.

[cindytong]

Formosa (in North Haven) is very good!
Formosa is Taiwan's nickname so many of the dishes there are Taiwanese. So don't be surprised if the food you get there is a little different than what you get from other good Chinese restaurants.
We had dinner there tonight and the menu is in both Chinese and English. I wonder if this is something new?
Oh, btw, I am Chinese, and a native of Taiwan.

[Scargod]

I am really excited about trying Formosa in the near future. There are good Chinese restaurants around here?

[kattyeyes]

Hi, airfoyle & cindytong:

We've been to Formosa. I agree it's good, but don't think it measures up to the deliciousness of Lao Sze Chuan in Milford. Have you been to LSC yet?

Here is my review of Formosa from the LSC thread. Would be interested in your thoughts (especially yours, cindytong, since you're from Taiwan). I'm only going by my own taste and preferences--I'm an all-American mutt and have no Chinese ancestry whatsoever. ;) But I do think Lao Sze Chuan is something special. And though it's nowhere near my house, we've been maybe a half dozen times and just love it.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/4760...

P.S. to airfoyle--you can get the "secret menu" in English, too, at Formosa...so not having a translator shouldn't be a problem.