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Ah Fong Kitchen
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
1815 SE 82nd AvePortland, OR 97216
Neighborhoods: Southeast Portland, Montavilla
(503) 774-0061
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
About This Business:
Shandong uses all fresh ingredients. Our vegetables are delivered every 3 days to ensure freshness. Water chestnuts are the only vegetable that comes… read more »
14 reviews for Ah Fong Kitchen
14 reviews in English
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Review from N B.
Gresham, OR
2/14/2012
Don't let the shabby exterior fool you. This place is wonderful.
The waitress was super friendly and helpful. The food was hot, fresh, crispy, and delicious. They let us modify any dish we wanted without any complaints and the food is very inexpensive. The inside is definitely nicer than the outside, but hey who cares....if they have great food then thats what I came for anyways right?
The General Tao's Chicken was fantastic featuring all white meat chicken with the perfect amount of batter surrounding cooked to crisp perfection. Don't get me started on the sauce........makes your mouth moan. I added broccoli to mine for a small charge and it was even better.
Salt and Pepper Calamari was great as well as the Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant.
I recommend this to anyone in the area who is looking for a great chinese food restaurant.
Even better is the fact that you can now have Ah Fong Kitchen delivered to your front door through Delivered Dish. So if you would rather eat from your own couch or table you can! -
Review from fon z.
8/15/2011
We found this place purely by accident a year ago coming back from a hike on mt hood. The road was blocked from some accident/construction and we couldnt make it to the place we wanted to go and ended up here. Judging from the exterior of this place, I would have never stopped in. It looks like a very bad american chinese place. The sign looked like one of those chinese take outs from that movie "dude where's my car." ( dont judge me for watching that movie cuz I watched after surgery and being heavily medicate).
The food here however is really authentic. The price is so good we generally order 2 dishes per person (again, dont judge me, I just love to eat). The food is pretty authentic cantonese style food. I love the fact they serve you a free chicken/herb soup at the beginning for free, which they do in canton/hongkong.
Everything is pretty good, but the fish here is aweful. It's frozen fish thats seved hard and dull. Avoid the fish if you come here.
If I was to rate this place based on the quality found in china I would give it a 1 star. 2 star if I was comparing to chinese food found in North America. 3 star if compared to most big cities in America. and 4 stars in portland. -
Review from Susan M.
Portland, OR
1/28/2012
I have been eating at Ah Fong now for the past thirty five years.... they have very good fresh made dishes. The service is very quick and the atmosphere it okay.... so I usually order to go and pick it up. The make the very best egg foo young in the city and family fried special rice by far! You can go many places and spend more and get less with not even the flavor this place has. If you want a good meal .... don't miss Ah Fong!
Susan M -
Review from Joyce F.
Portland, OR
3/1/2012
My family comes here so often that I could call it my second home haha (ok thats an exaggeration)... anyways, if you know the taste of authentic chinese food, you'll know that Ah Fong is (i dare say) one of the best chinese restaurants in the Portland area. My HK family is very picky about Chinese restaurants, they only expect the best and it must be one that is able to consistently maintain its quality. We've found that at Ah Fong Kitchen and no longer need to go to all the other Chinese restaurants as none of them have been able to keep up their quality the way Ah Fong has. Their chief is, no doubt, one of the best chinese chiefs in the Portland area. We've been to almost every Chinese restaurant in Portland and we're glad to have found at least one that we can confidently bring guests and visitors to. Don't be turned off by its appearance, its very neat and clean in the inside. The food is even better than those u'll find at other 'fancy' chinese restaurants in the portland area (if you know how to order). I wouldn't recommend their dimsum, but other dishes are great!
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Review from Al M.
Vancouver, WA
3/14/2011 2 Check-ins Here
So my girlfriend and I were very hungry yesterday. I set out to get food at Ah Fong Chinese restaurant, and it was a good decision. We ate so much that I'm pretty sure my stomach was full the next day. She is sitting there on the bed right now, laughing at me as I'm dictating this. But in fact the the case remains that there was a shit-ton of food, it was delicious, served hot, and served to the specifications that we ordered it in. Yet there she is, still looking at me like "you, crazy man."
So yes we got the beef fried rice, chicken fried rice, Shezuan(?) beef, broccoli beef, and hot and sour soup. She also got an order of crab puffs which I thought were fortune cookies when they came, which was really funny because in fact there were no fortune cookies in the order. Even though they were given to us in a big box labeled "Chinese fortune cookies, box of 350".
How ironic.
When I called for the pickup order I asked for the food to be extra spicy. I actually told the woman on the other end of the phone that if I was crying and there were tears streaming down my cheeks I would be a happy man. They did this, even for items that were normally supposed to be spicy such as my broccoli beef. I'm very pleased with this.
Altogether, this massive amount of food cost is a whopping $42.00, which is absolutely acceptable for the massive amount of food that we got. We got so much food in fact, that my beagle ate the pizza from two days ago, because neither of us wanted it and he figured out how to jump up onto the counter, again... Delicious food, piping hot, close, reasonably priced, and generally superior to anything else in the immediate vicinity. Not to mention, they have a funny name which makes me laugh. It may be the massive amount of alcohol talking, but I have no problem going back there over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. -
Review from Jodi C.
12/6/2009
Ah fong! I forgot to put the load of laundry in the dryer...
Ah fong! Did you see that guy just totally cut me off?
Ah fong! That is a buttload of fried rice on your plate. Can I have some?
Every time I drive past the ginormous Ah Fong (!) sign on 82nd Ave, a bit of my road rage is depleted temporarily. Basically because the name on the sign sounds like some form of censored expletive. Fong! I stubbed my toe. Know what I'm saying? So as I drive the long, tedious pedestrian- and street light-crammed hellacious road known as Shady Second, I entertain myself with that one colorful word: Fung.
"What the fung are you doing? Use your turn signal next time!"
"That is one funging ugly crackhead..."
"When the fung did that coffee shop open?"
It's miles of entertainment. But perhaps I shouldn't poke fun of the word, as I believe it's the name of the family who owns the restaurant.
I finally made it out to Ah Fong with the intention of doing more than creating slander out of the name: I was on a Chinese food bender, and I went to the right place.
It IS a bit funky when you walk in, through a corridor, pass a video poker room, and go through another door. As an added bonus to the ethnic cuisine, apparently guests also get to enjoy this free "maze" upon coming and going. Yey!
It's a traditional Chinese restaurant: Cute, giggly Chinese server, one lone Chinese chef slaving away in the kitchen (no doubt shouting "Ah fong!" every time he burns a finger...), Chinese and non-Chinese patrons shoveling mounds of Chinese food into their cheeks. It's all very... Chinese. Which is cool with me.
I've always been a fan of the Chinese style of serving food. It's something I can't do at home because a.) I'm limited to maybe three bowls, b.) glass and I don't get along. We're bitter enemies, and I'm very skilled at breaking glass. So to go out to a traditional style restaurant that has the red lanterns hanging from the ceiling and the white table clothes dressing the round tables and the rotating centertpiece so everyone can share the diverse food... Well, it's a joy. The ambiance is a bit funky and small, but it suits me just fine.
The server and chef were more than happy to assure all of my food was made without egg. And the amount of food that ended up on the table was enough for a small village. We almost had to move to a bigger table. Seriously. My friend got a heaping pile of kung pao chicken, pork fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, and an eggroll for $7. My fried rice, vegetable soup, and spring rolls were all yummy. Not mind-blowing, but not dull either. A few hours later, I've still got a distended abdomen and two full containers of food awaiting the Second Coming. Ah fong, look out...Listed in: I Heart Foster-Powell
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Review from Rebecca H.
Dublin, CA
11/14/2007
This is the kind of place that you drive by and say, "Ick, I'd never eat there." It looks grimy, like it was a different restaurant eons ago and it went out of business and then became Ah Fong. There's a 21 and older room for gambling that looks like a converted utility closet. It's just weird. That being said, the people working there are really nice.
We got there a little after 3 pm, and the lunch menu stops at 3pm, but they still let us order from the lunch special menu. +1 had the Hong Kong beef, he said it was like tomato beef and way too sweet. I had the Mongolian Beef and Sweet and Sour Chicken. I love the sweet and sour sauce; there is no food in nature that has that sickly pink glow and I derive great pleasure from eating a substance that must be constructed of nothing naturally occurring on this planet. It was good. The Mongolian Beef was ok, definitely a less than prime cut is used because the beef has that chewy, gum like quality that makes lunch last awhile. The hot and sour soup was surprisingly good. I can't argue with the price, under 12 bucks for both of us, pre tip. Would I go back? Probably not.
We noted that there were people there who spoke Chinese, and they could have been Chinese, although I suck at guessing Asian nationalities so I'll leave that for somebody else to decide. The Chinese speakers seemed to be eating things we didn't see on the menu. That seems to be our experience of most Chinese restaurants; what everybody else is eating looks so much better than what we are eating. Like when we go to dim sum with our Chinese speaking friend we get stuff that never seems to be on the carts being wheeled around, and always tastes better than the stuff we order when we go by ourselves. Anyway, it looks like there could be some really great stuff there, we just don't know how to get it.
They do have dim sum, but we got there too late to try it. -
Review from Erin O.
6/3/2008
Located on scenic SE 82nd, this place looks like a run down, long vacant burger king, the employees speak as little English as I do Chinese, and the decor is ghastly.
The food, however, is cheap, plentiful and yum-tastic. -
Review from Minna S.
Portland, OR
8/10/2009
Personally, I would give this place a solid three stars, but the extra star is because every time my parents are in town, we always end up eating here.
Like everyone else has already observed, Ah Fong is a bit dingy/sketchy looking from the outside. Inside (once you get past the retro-fitted 21+ entrance to the lounge area) is much better. They have what is probably the strongest AC unit on all of 82nd (avoid the table near the middle of the room off to the right if you are sensitive to gusty cold air blowing on you constantly!).
You can tell that the Chinese menu of dishes posted on the east wall is much longer than the one in English post on the west wall. My father noted on our last visit that the price on at least one of the dishes was also different. He didn't really make a big deal about it (or ask about it) though, because he likes the people there.
We always get the clay pot dish with eggplant, chicken, and little bits of salted fish. The salted fish is incredibly potent (I think it's slightly fermented/preserved in salt) so a little goes a long way - and it is what lends the dish almost all of its flavor.
Dad wrote me a cheat sheet of some more of the dishes we tend to get there (usually a steamed fish of some sort, and then another dish with black bean sauce (sometimes beef, this last time it was clams)). You can order good food here without the translator present (and we have) but I feel more comfortable when the 'rents are making the selections. Now I can just point at my ragged little notebook like a loon to get the dishes I want. The slight embarrassment is totally worth the food.
Another dish we get pretty regularly is the beef and bitter melon. This last time the bitter melon was pretty daggum bitter, though, so caveat comestor. -
Review from Phoebe T.
San Jose, CA
4/1/2010 1 photo
For a place that looks really raggedy & jacked up this place served A-OK chinese food. The only reason why I didn't give it a 4 or a 5 is because it's REALLY greasy & honestly, I've had better chinese food.
I went here with a couple of my girlfriends & my boyfriend (of course; like always) & I had ordered the "#1", which was fried rice, sweet & sour chicken & this chow mein noodle thing (can't remember)... For only $8.95, it wasn't bad... It was very filling, but idk if I can say that it was a good filling because a couple hours later... I had the "runs"... Literally.
The waitress there was very friendly, but I noticed that since there wasn't that many people there she was very chatty & kept coming to our table to chop it up lol. But that was fine with me. :)
Overall this place deserves a 3 star... 1 for service, 1 for food, 1 for price. 'Nuff said. -
Review from Jeffrey L.
Somerville, MA
11/25/2008
Food was better than average
Service was excellent
Cleanliness seemed fine
Price is affordable -
Review from helen f.
8/14/2009
hole in the wall kind of place. Decent food for the price, picked up some to go from here.
Their Peking ribs is not bad :) fast and quick service! -
Review from Jando S.
4/29/2010
Ah Fong is your average standard mom-n-pop Cantonese & Seafood Chinese dive. It's one of those places that is frequented more for it's Chinese-American variety, but they also have the "other menu" for their Chinese patrons. The bottom line? Everything is cheap and good.
The decor won't impress anyone, in fact, I would say minimalistic is a great / wrong way to describe this place. It doesn't look like the fast food joint that used to occupy the spot, that's for sure. I still think there is a drive through window on the left side of the restaurant, but that might be sealed up already. The place despite being on the smaller side, is well equipped to handle larger groups though anything beyond 6 may be pushing it. The tables are clean and the place is well maintained, even the bathrooms are solid.
The food is good and the prices are extremely reasonable. A large hot and sour soup only ran us for $5.99 and an entire Crispy Chicken (Zha Zi Ji) was a mere $10.95. That sounds like a lot, but the portion size was good enough to feed 5 people, so that works out just fine. Also on their hot list is a decent attempt at Honey Spareribs (Tian Dao Pai Gu) and Fish Beancurd Soup (Mei Yu Dou Fu). However, the rest of the stuff that I've sampled here was pretty subpar to say the least. That said, on their busiest nights they have quite a few Chinese customers. And on their empty nights, this place is nearly dead.
Don't let it stop you from wanting to come out here. The exclusive parking is spacious and the service is fabulous. They try hard to please the customer, but make sure to ask about the specials or recommendations from the staff. Don't be discouraged to order Chinese American dishes either, as I'm told they make a mean General Tso / Kung Pao Chicken. -
Review from Don B.
7/10/2007 1 Check-in Here
I moved in 2 doors down from this place and was immediately skeptical. Looks old and dingy and americanized like many of the "Chinese and American" food places on 82nd. Well, it's not. I am pretty stoked to have this place on my block. They do a pretty good job of avoiding the usual greasy-noodle-and-salty-sweet-stir-fry paradigm of Portland Chinese food.. They have a dry sauteed green bean dish that is the closest thing I have found to real Chinese here (yeah, I have been to China, the food is WAY better there). Their Kung Pao is pretty decent. They have a super veggie with tofu that's medocore, but still blows the pants off the MSG laden crap that is usually passed off as Chinese here. With 100+ choices on the menu, I have not even scratch the surface of what they have to offer, but the fact that they can get kung pao and green beans right makes me curious to try for more. Thank god I am finally finding some decent Chinese food here in Portland. Most of the Chinese I have sampled in this town is pure crap (similar to PF Changs and worse).
I may up my rating to 4 star once I try more (if the Green Beans are any indication of what is to come).
Oh, and avoid the Saigon Style Rice Noodles. Fairly tasteless.
