Desperately Looking For Good Chinese Restaurants in East Bay

[upickforus]

Hi Everyone,

I was hoping to see if anyone has any good suggestions for chinese food in the East Bay. My girlfriend and I usually go to San Tung or So's in SF but are there any good chinese restaurants in the East Bay? We dont mind spending the money so no cheapy overly greasy chinese food. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance!

[dordogne]

Despair no longer. Peking duck and mustardy hot double skin appetizer at Great China in Berkeley. Many excellent szechuan preparations at China Village in Albany (do a search on this board for particulars).

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Great China Restaurant
2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704

[upickforus]

That sounds DELICIOUS! Thanks for the suggestions.

[Robert Lauriston]

Great China (Korean-Chinese), China Village (Sichuan), and Daimo (HK) are my favorites. Also East Ocean Seafood in Alameda for dim sum (have not tried dinner there yet).

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East Ocean Seafood
1713 Webster St, Alameda, CA 94501

Great China Restaurant
2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704

[toofacetious]

East Ocean is great at dinner. My go to place for well executed traditional Cantonese fare.

[chefj]

Spices! 3 or China Village for Szechaun
Diamo ,New Gold Medal for Cantonese BBQ meats, Noodles and the like.
Ark for hand pulled noodles.
Peony, Hong Kong East Ocean Seafood Restaurant, King of King for Dim Sum
Shanghai for Shanghai style
just to name a few.
There are also a few Americanized higher end places like Shen Hua

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Shen Hua
2914 College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705

East Ocean Seafood
1713 Webster St, Alameda, CA 94501

King of King Restaurant
1139 E 12th St, Oakland, CA 94606

[Robert Lauriston]

Shanghai reportedly changed hands recently.

[upickforus]

These are great suggestions! Thanks for the help I will look into all of these and let you guys know.

[bbulkow]

China Village has a broad and unusual menu. there are long threads about what to order there, and reports of a couple chowdowns. Most of those posts are 3+ years old. Research is well rewarded. For example, the stir fried cabbage sounds blah but is one of my favorite dishes anywhere anytime. Wonderful wok breath. Their boiled beef - the classic szechuan dish - is similarly very good. There's one dish I had there once by mistake that I've never been able to order again, not for lack of trying.

Once you're tired of CV, do try Happy Golden Bowl up in EC (or if you live north). CV has a broader menu, but HGB has its moments.

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Happy Golden Bowl
10675 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA

[chefj]

I have been fairly recently( 6 weeks or so).
I know that they have been taking a few knocks here on the board but the only dishes I have seen suffer are the sliced rice cake items.

[SerenaE]

I have a hard time finding a Chinese restaurant I want to go because most serve food that is gooey, sweet, greasy, and sometimes not as fresh as I would like. I pretty much have tried every Chinese restaurant discussed on this board, and Chinese Village is the only one that I would return. With that said, I had a really good meal recently at the newly re-opened "Saigon Village" next to Ranch 99 in El cerrito. The food was fresh, lightly flavored and the service was very efficient.

[gordon wing]

Hi Serena, Any specific dishes that you would order again?

[SerenaE]

We ordered steamed frog legs, octopus salad, a clay pot (lamb, I think) and a fish dish I don't recall. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked all dishes, which had never happened to me at east bay Chinese restaurants. All the ingredients were fresh, the service was fast, and all dishes came up nice and hot. (except salad of course). Right now this is the only Chinese restaurant in the east bay that I actually WANT to go back to. It could be a one-time wonder, but I hope not. Judging by the large number of native Chinese diners there, I think it is promising.

[Civil Bear]

Also in the same mall and very good is Asian Pearl. Prices are slightly higher prices than your average Chinese Restaurant, but it is easy to see why.

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Asian Pearl
3288 Pierce St, Richmond, CA 94804

[dordogne]

Agreed: quality of ingredients and careful preparation warrant the higher prices. I've had only the dim sum and lunch-style dishes there, all excellent. There are big dim sum crowds on the week-end.

[kc72]

Walked by Asian Pearl this morning and saw a sign posted outside w/ Weekday specials. The sign said Fremont, but they probably didn't bother reprinting for their other locations.

Monday: Empress Chicken $12/each
Tuesday: HK Style Crab $14/each
Wednesday: Peking Duck $12/each
Thursday: Ginger and Scallion Lobster $28/2
Friday: Queen Clam $5/each

* Dine-in only. Dinner only
One Table per order (except for Queen Clam)
Not available during Holiday

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Asian Pearl
3288 Pierce St, Richmond, CA 94804

[Ridge]

There is some excellent Chinese food in the East Bay. The ones I recommend have already been mentioned:

China Village
Great China
Asia Pearl (for Dim Sum)

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Great China Restaurant
2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704

[Joel]

China Village is an excellent choice -- but so far there has not been a link to it in this thread. .

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China Village
1335 Solano Ave, Albany, CA 94706

[Melanie Wong]

PeterL, note that there are several restaurants named China Village, so it will not autolink. Thanks for using the "manage your links" function to select the correct one and hook it up.

[katnat]

I really like Jac's Asian Bistro on San Pablo in El Cerrito. I know they're planning or might have already moved just down the street and I'm not sure of the new address but the old place is just after Central ave. The place is totally a hole in the wall and basic, but the food is always fresh, not too greasy and really tasty. Place seems to be mostly full of Chinese families.

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Mac's Wok
10558 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530

[ernie in berkeley]

In the same area, L & L does great Cantonese seafood and dim sum. The traditional crispy noodles with seafood is remarkable in its subtlety and freshness.

[lacerise]

some people like Renee's on Solano. I find that the ingredients are very fresh, but the preparation is lacking in flavor. Little Shin Shin on Piedmont Ave. has had a loyal following for decades. Their food is very flavorful and they've got an extensive menu. Great China is also good and has some dishes not found elsewhere.

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Great China Restaurant
2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704

Little Shin Shin
4258 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611

[Robert Lauriston]

Great China's house specialties are mostly Korean-Chinese. Chef Yu's has some of the same dishes, though they're prepared in a more rustic fashion.

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Great China Restaurant
2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704

Chef Yu's
3919 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609

[PeterL]

If you don't mind going deep into East Bay, a couple of our favorites are Green Valley, and King Palace, San Ramon, Tri Valley Seafood, Pleasanton, and Koi Garden (branch of Koi Palace), Dublin.

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Koi Palace Restaurant
365 Gellert Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015

Tri Valley Seafood
5588 Springdale Ave, Pleasanton, CA

Koi Garden
4288 Dublin Blvd, Dublin, CA 94568

King Palace
11040 Bollinger Canyon Rd, San Ramon, CA 94582

[Melanie Wong]

What do you recommend at Green Valley?
3191 Crow Canyon Pl
Ste D
San Ramon, CA 94583
[phone]