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Mon-Tue. 11:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Wed-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 10:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
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Recently made my first visit to China Village after finding it on Yelp and reading the reviews. The lamb with cumin was amazingly tender, not too spicy, very fragrant with cumin and Szechuan pepper; the eggplant in yellow bean sauce was tender and delectable, though I would echo the warning that it retains a LOT of heat and should be allowed to cool a bit before eating. We had the Zhang style spicy fun, which were translucent, oblong, rubbery green noodles in a sauce of oil, Szechuan peppers, and chopped scallions. They were ok, but the sauce was amazing; I want to try duplicating it over pasta, and was spooning it onto my rice.
The food seems quite authentically Chinese, which is to say very flavorful, made with good ingredients and cooked just right, but with a fair amount of oil. As my partner put it, "It's not greasy, but it's very rich." Might be worth considering if you have a lot of less adventurous eaters in your party, or perhaps balance out some of the heartier dishes with a soup or vegetable dish.
Service was actually surprisingly quick and very attentive. I'm giving 4 stars but would advise going with people who like fairly authentic Chinese cuisine.
Truth be told, I've been here many a time and had not written a review.
Why? Well laziness is always an easy answer, but I prefer to think I was sampling the sultry Schezwan spicy servings over time.
And I have fallen for one dish in particular.: The Village Spicy Prawns
OMG, this is an oily, yummy, buttery, spicy, flavorful dish. Succulent shrimp swimming in a sea of peppers. Forks and chopsticks ready for some delicious fishing. This dish has NEVER disappointed and is absolutely perfect in every way. Oh, I HIGHLY recommend the unshelled vs. the shelled version.
Service is prompt, quick and surprisingly attentive. The place attracts a motley crew of folks all looking for unique, spicy Chinese, to a city not known for its Chinese offerings.
And the (complimentary) dessert they serve after the meal is also perfection. Not too sweet, yet sweet enough. I personally prefer the cold version, but the hot version is yummers too.
Great for groups or just to enjoy alone. Park in the neighbborhood, and be wary of folks who drive REAL slow on Solano looking for parking, forgetting (not caring?) they are holding up others.
Enjoy!
SZECHUAN = SPICY = LOVE IN MY MOUTH YEABOY
PART 1: Some dishes Yelpers raved about: Fish Soup, Cumin Lamb, 1000 Chili Chicken + pile of potatoes + egg lolcakes with pickles.
PART 2 Fucking -random: SPICY BEAR-DUCK (wtf), dried eels, eggplant braised with yellow beans, beef with XO sauce
OVERALL SOLID.
The fish soup is really something. It should be definitely be shared with at least 4 people. Nothing else really impressed me than the fish soup, but I'd say this is really solid Chinese food in general and hits the spot. It's definitely Szechuan spicy (throw in obligatory dried chili peppers and jalapenos everywhere).
So the Bear-Duck was really just BEER-Duck, but I was hoping for some ridiculous cross between eating a furry bear and a feathered duck. I probably wouldn't get that dish again because it was just braised duck in spicy broth, but it was worth a fun-try.
The 1000 Chili chicken and dried eel are cooked very similarly in that they dump alot of dried chilis and jalapenos your way, but very little chicken or eel. Any pieces that you are able to eat are very very delicious though.
Service is actually very very good. They kept our rice, tea, and water all filled before we even asked for it.
New go-to spot for Chinese food. AND IT'S MY SPICY LOVER.
"Co-mingling flavors." That's what it says on the menu. Really. Their famous West Style Spicy Fish Fillet soup in chicken broth has '1000 chilis to allow the flavors to co-mingle'.
Epic description.
I wish I had a menu to look at, cause I want more, and right away.
It being a Szechuan place, ALL the decent dishes are spicy. Half the dinner came out on a serious bed (and I do mean bed) of chilis:
+Fish fillet soup. Fish fillet, glass noodles, chicken broth. The fish flavors interacting with the chicken flavors, the chicken flavors returning the favor, and the glass noodles there to moderate the two. The soup was a big hit at the table and there was plenty to go around. You really have to try it for yourself.
+Lamb with cumin. Mexicans flavors at a Chinese restaurant? Absurd! Very good 'main' dish.
+Dried chicken. Tasted a bit like fried spareribs, but way better. Came with the most amount of chili, so there wasn't a lot of meat to eat. Shame.
+Egg pancake with pickled green beans. Another incidence of mingling flavors. All egg at the beginning, all pickled beans at the end. Rich, crunchy texture, almost cheesy, but I don't think there was any cheese. A neat surprise.
+Julienned potatoes. Served as a good break from all the chili oil on the other plates.
Service was solid. The waiters made sure we really wanted to order the chicken, which they said was super spicy, and they chatted about the soup while they poured out the first bowl.
Want. More.
People thought this was:
Wow. This place is amazingly good with their use of dried chili peppers, a prominent feature of Szechuan cuisine. In fact, it's so good, that their plates come loaded with them!
-Spicy chicken, dry style: this is what inspired the buffalo wing. Chunks of bone-in chicken prepared with spicy seasonings and then fried to a delicious crisp. I wish there were fewer dried chili peppers left in the dish and more pieces of chicken, though. think of the salt and pepper spare ribs, but with chicken, and more spice.
-Spicy fish fillet soup: apparently one of their best dishes. and it was! to our surprise, the dish arrived covered with chili peppers that the server fished out ladle at a time. granted, it really gives the soup its bold taste and allows for the "co-mingling" of flavor that they describe in the menu. complete with clear noodles and several tilapia's worth of fillet. it's not really spicy though, so it's perfect for anyone.
-Lamb with cumin: at first i said to myself, "this is lamb? it's pretty damn good!" another sauce-less dish, but that didn't take away from the dish one bit, as all the flavor is in the meat itself. oh, and more chili peppers (notice a trend here?)
-Shredded potatoes: still worth mentioning because the oils leave your mouth tingly and numb. it's a big plate of shredded potato. good if you're on the Atkins i suppose.
-Egg with pickled beans: this one threw me off. A simple dish, basically egg infused with pickled beans served round and flat like a pancake.
Verdict? It would have been 5 stars had they left out some of the chili peppers when plating the food, but i guess it's part of what gives this cuisine its name. It wasn't very crowded so the service was so good that they even checked if we needed more tea instead of waiting for the universal sign. If you're a fan of spicy foods, definitely visit China Village. Even if you aren't, the flavors are mild enough to enjoy. Who knows, you may even get a kick out of reading the menu...I did.
It's 3 a.m. and I am counting down to the minute when I can dash to China Village.
Here are some of the MUST-HAVES (that I'm currently drooling over):
Pickled vegetables -- Complimentary small dish at the start. A great teaser for what's to come. Crunch, refreshing cabbages marinated in chili oil.
Mouthwatering Chicken -- The magic is in the peanut/soy/chili oil sauce.
Water-boiled fish or beef -- Out of this world! Classic Sichuan dish. Intimidating? At first glance, absolutely. All you see is a sea of chili oil, garnished with more red pepper/garlic in a large bowl. Once you try it, you'll be hooked. The fish is always so tender and flaky (beef is less consistent) with some leeks and cabbages. The flavor is complex and satisfying, especially with the lip-numbing, addictive taste of black peppercorn.
Cumin lamb -- Melts-in-your-mouth tenderness! A good balance to the spicy dishes. Reminds me of the lamb skewers I used to eat as a kid in China.
Some other GOOD dishes:
Husband wife beef slices -- Classic cold appetizer. Thinly sliced beef drenched in, you guessed it, chili oil. Not as spicy as I'd like, but still great.
Fish fillet soup -- There is a spicy one, also another with pickled vegetable. Massive amount of tender fish. Enough for several people.
I've been frequenting China Village for five years now, and it never disappoint. Definitely affordable, even when I was a student. You can always tell who is in the know by stealing a quick glance - if their table is not covered with a sea of redness, then China Village is lost on them. Similarly, if you receive orange slices/fortune cookies instead of the mochi/dessert soup with your check, you should consider ordering differently.
One caveat: good luck to you in the bathroom the day after. But so worth it.
It's 3:30 a.m. I wish I can fast-forward time.
This is undoubtedly one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area...the ingredients are fresh, the flavors are superb and the service is good as well.
Some of my favorite things include their tofu with greens soup, seafood (like the fresh crab), and the beef with orange peel.
I am such a jerk, because I want to tell you about the most delicious, scrumptious, spicy fish dish EVER, and I cannot remember the name of it for my life. If you never, ever forgive me, Yelpers, for unintentionally keeping this secret from you, then I will understand. Hopefully I can make up for it by simply raving endlessly about this restaurant, which you absolutely MUST try.
Other than the fishy dish, we also had the Traditional Eggplant (which I WARN YOU, comes out extremely hot temperature wise! My overly eager companion shoved an entire piece into his mouth to grimace and announce, "EGGPLANT. IS. NAPALM.") and the Black Pepper Chinese Steak, all of which were utterly scrumptious.
Our service was impeccable, the price was reasonable, especially considering we had leftovers for two or three more meals that involved engorging ourselves AGAIN over the next few days, and the food was prepared absolutely perfectly. Good god, my mouth is salivating just thinking about it.
Mediocre Chinese food is easy to come by, and terrible Chinese food is rampant in the restaurant world. DON'T SETTLE FOR LESS, just go to China Village.
People thought this was:
So, we went to China Village after a day of engagement photoshoot. We came in at around 8:30pm and was surprised that they'd still serve us! I guess a lot of restaurants in Berkeley closes early? My friends, who went to school at Cal, told us that their spicy fish soup (I'm not sure what it's called) was really good! So we ordered this dish- and yes, yes it was. SO GOOD! If you leave the chilli to soak long enough, it will be even more spicer- YUM! We also had the pork shoulder (don't know what it's called) and the duck and A-cai veggies. All were good, although the pork and duck dish were cooked the same way.
Overall, if you like spicy szhechuan food, you should definitely check this place out. My friends said that their spicy lamb was also really good! (It takes longer to prepare, so we couldn't order it that night...too bad). I definitely want to come back and try their other dishes. The spicy eggplant sounds really yummy!
We sat there eating talking chilling until close to 10pm (their close time was at 9:30pm). They didn't boot us or anything but subtlety dimmed the light to let us know that they are closing. I thought that was nice of them to give us the message that way instead of coming to our table and telling us to get out (it has happened before).
We came back for another tasting at China Village and tried a few other dishes this time.
We started off with a pig ear appetizer that was sliced almost paper thin on top of a bed of green onions, I believe. This was actually really good and different that pig ear at dim sum restaurants. 4 stars.
Braised Pork- 3.5 stars. The pork was very fatty and tender and tasted good, but I'm not a fan of black bean sauce and I could taste it in there. This dish came in a bowl with other vegetables and had a great kick, but I prefered the pork shoulder to this.
We ordered the spicy cabbage again this time. It tasted a little bit different, but still really good.
Some sort of spicy deep fried prawns with the heads attached- 5 stars. YUM! I like how it was deep fried really well so that you could eat the whole prawn and the schezuan kick to it.
Glazed short ribs- 4.5 stars. I thought this was one of the better parts of the meal just because everything else was spicy and this dish complimented the meal quite nicely. The spare ribs had a nice, slightly sweet glaze to it.
All in all, China Village is the real deal folks and service here is great for an Asian restuarant. =]
4.5 stars.
The food here was awesome. Service was great, very friendly. They even brought out this…
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Alright, this review is based on two separate visits, the first of which was awesome, and the second recent trip which was quite dissapointing based on our anticipation, based on the first visit.
Scene 1:
Our entourage of 6 bikers, having just completed a 50-odd mile ride to Point Reyes and back, devoured dishes of eggplant, green beans, vegetable soup, and Mongolian beef. The eggplant was cooked to a nice mushy tenderness that just settles in your mouth, soo good with rice. The green beans had been tossed in a light batter of flour or starch, and was cooked to just the right done-ness, not too flacid but not too crunchy either. The mongolian beef was also tender, and not too salty. Overall, very satisfying after a long day.
Scene 2:
A rainy night in Berk, new oven not working -- to China Village we go. Oh yeah just so you guys know, it's kitty-corner from the CVS on Solano, so don't be dumb like we did and park 5 blocks away. My friend got recommendations from her Chinese roommate for several dishes, two of which she ordered: Tofu, which is actually fried soft tofu in a dark brown sauce with assorted veggies, and a noodle soup. I ordered the Schezuan beef, dry style, which the waiter said was prefered by "real" asians. OMG, the MSG, and the NACL, hit our MOUTHs from the start. The noodles where a ramen-like noodle in a thicker spicy red sauce, was about medium salty, although after the sauce washes across your tongue you start feeling a slow, yet very distinct low burning on your tongue, attributable to the MSG we thinks. The tofu was probably the best dish, salty still but balanced by the veggies. My friend is a veggie-only person, so it was up to me to attack the Szechuan beef. This dish is what really killed it for me, it was so salty that I didn't really have to chew it to taste the saltiness and MSG bits built into the deep-fried exterior. Again the slow burning and thirst started buiding up on my toungue, but this time merely by just putting a piece in my mouth. Disheartened, we ordered the green bean dish that had been our favorite from the first visit, and it really was as good as we remembered, but not enough to save this dinner.
But hey, free dessert, tapioca in coconut milk, basic and not too sweet. Well if you do go maybe read around on Yelp to find out the best things to order, perhaps we just ordered a bad combination of stuff. I'm willing to give it another chance, but maybe will need to give myself about a month to proper re-hydrate.
We had take out from here today. The fried rice (combo) was ok. The spicy noodles were pretty good. And the spicy fish was OK too. The toddler seemed to like the fried rice.
I've eaten here for college graduation luncheons and remember not being very impressed. I want to try their 1000 pepper soup though.
N. and I stopped for dinner to warm up after a Shotgun production at John Hinkley Park
The restaurant was very full; we were given a table at the walkway between the two rooms. We asked to be moved and luckily for the crabs we sat almost next to their tank. I could not order the crab special because a lovely crab starred at me when I was reading the menu I could not bring myself to eat him or her.
After I decided to forgo the crab I enjoyed the following dinner.
The spicy pickled mustard greens and cabbage that they put on the table when you sit down was excellent. We ate it all and asked for more.
Pot stickers: They were good; they must prepare them at the restaurant they did not taste like the Costco brand that most restaurants are serving.
Shredded Pork with tofu and green onions: I liked the taste and would order again. The pork was not shredded it was thin strips.
Walnut Prawns: Good we finished them all.
When we left, there were people waiting for tables.
People thought this was:
This is my favorite Sichuan place. Favorite dishes:
Szechwan home-style chicken (cold appetizer), great spicy dish with lots of Sichuan pepper. The similar conch dish is also great.
West style spicy fish filet, catfish (basa) in chicken broth with noodles. Looks like it's going to be insanely spicy but it's relatively mild.
I almost always order he dry-fried bamboo shoots, which remind me of asparagus.
Easily the most authentic Chinese food I've had in the United States.
Food: Excellent
Service: Excellent
Great Chinese food without breaking the bank.
The key to having a good meal here is knowing what to order, which doesn't mean asking the staff -- it means asking your Chinese friends who are 1) fluent in the language and 2) have already been here. You do that and you'll have a great dinner. You stumble your own way through the menu, and there's a coin toss chance that you'll walk away full, but disappointed.
Also be prepared for, how shall I say this... mainland style manners. Simply wave down your waitor when you're ready to order and get over yourself.
My friend Ian M. invited me to a gathering of "hard-core foodies" at China Village. This is a restaurant that I'd walked past countless times without realizing that it has been regarded by many as a Bay Area destination restaurant. When I got to the restaurant, I was surprised to learn that no one in our group had phoned to reserve a table; the point was that reservations are not necessary in this restaurant, which is never more than half full. As one of the three Davids at the table put it, "I can't understand why this restaurant has so little business when Kirin up the street packs people in and serves mediocre food."
As our group was assembling, Ian showed up with a large cooler filled with rieslings and some Alsatian wines that were left over from a tasting in the City. We ordered a large collection of offal dishes and a few plates of vegetables for balance. We also got the "must have" fish soup, which was a real disappointment: the broth was very tasty, but the fish itself reminded me of frozen butterfish filets from Safeway.
As far as the bulk of the dishes go: they were great! I'm not sure which of the two tripe dishes was the better one or whether they were both eclipsed by the kidneys. I do know that I enjoyed the pork dish that seemed to consist of slabs of bacon floating in red-colored spicy fat and oil. I very much enjoyed my visit here: I'll be back, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Oh, and I learned that Bakesale Betty's now serves a brisket sandwich! It's definitely worth hanging out with the foodies.
People thought this was:
We love China Village! It's usually where we take out-of-town friends and hold special occasion dinners.
I've seen a lot of recommendations for cumin lamb, 1000 chili soup and sesame bread, which are all wonderful. I'll also add my favorites:
I love the A I vegetable, which we think is a type of leafy green called Yu Choy (if not it's very similar) cooked in sesame oil and garlic.
Also the spicy fish, which is pan-fried (not crispy but not too soft) covered in a chili-oil sauce, served with shreds of celery. It's really hot but superb if you like that kind of thing.
I visited here on a Sunday, which offered the full menu with limited Dim Sum items. I was actually on my way to another Dim Sum restaurant on Solano Ave that I just visited last week. I drove past China Village and something caught my eye. (I seem to have some knack for discovering new restaurants and most often will try a new discovery before returning to a previously visited place).
Service was tops! Seems I had a few wait staff assisting and, I believe the owner stopped by to make sure that one of the waiters had taken my order. I ordered the onion pancake, beef chow fun, and steamed pork and shrimp dumplings. These are a few of my maker dishes. I also asked for red-vinegar as typically dip a bite into the vinegar then hit the chile oil before I Nom nom nom nom! My orders flowed out of the kitchen as they were done. First the pancake, then my Chow Fun, next the steamed pork and shrimp dumplings. All were fresh, hot and tasty! Complimentary hot tea, not of the lipton variety, with loose leaves was hot and flavorful. I was not able to finish all and was asked if I would like to take the rest home.
The restaurant was fresh and airy and nicely decorated. it was a nice day and the door was open. I never had to ask for more water nor the bill. Nice and tidy tables. It was busy but not crowded. It's always nice to find another sweet spot!
After watching and drooling over my TV while watching the Check Please show, I had to try this place for that One thousand peppers soup.
As I am watching the show, i see that the round eyed guest claimed he got ill after the show due to MSG. ....Yeah right. typical I thought, ...the Non-Chinese man always blames the MSG on his ills. ..Never mind the loads of oil/salt/fat ...it is always the MSG.......SO I go and try, and I can admit, I am wrong and I stand corrected.....I got major headaches after ordering this soup, once right after eating it, and then the foillowing day after eating the leftovers.
So was the MSG headaches worth it? NOPE.....first off the damn soup is expensive, $16.50 to be exact. The red peppers were skimmed off the top and taken away and based on the lack of impact they had on the soup, I may take a jump here and say they were off to the next order of Soup....yeah, I said it, I bet they re-use those peppers....
the broth was plain boring, it was described as a "rich" broth. Mine was far from rich, more like a debt ridden, watery and not at all flavorfull. ...also, for a huge bowl of soup, the amount of glass noodles were way out of porportion, me coming out on the losing end.
very disappointed.
It's all about the FISH SOUP!!! It's not common to find an amazing signature dish that is so memorable, unique, and delicious that you just can't get anywhere else. Here, it's the fish soup.
First of all, the presentation is very interesting - it comes in a giant bowl with a million red chili floating on top. The chili is then skimmed off (my brother-in-law loves eating them) but I for one am not a spicy aficionado. What you're left with is a rich broth (just a hint of peppery-ness but not spicy), large fish chunks, clear noodles,... I am mentally drooling at the thought!
I don't have any other specific recommendations here - just order what you like to eat, but definitely try the fish soup!
People thought this was:
Went to China Village with friends, and who knew that an ordinary -looking local Chinese place could be so good. Super-tasty and authentic Western Chinese cooking, (although for a place claiming to be part-Sichuan, they could have had a lot more Sichuan peppercorn in evidence on the menu).
Unlike what someone else wrote, it's pretty oily. And it's pretty spicy, pretty garlicky, pretty heavy. And all in a good delicious tasty way! You want all that chili and black bean oil on your Chinese food! Yummy - when in the area I'll be back for sure!
For a pretty authentic Chinese restaurant, the service at China Village is surprisingly good. If you like spicy food, you're in for a treat. Many of the dishes here are plenty spicy! And garlicky! We try to refrain from getting the spicy garlicky stuff during the week because we don't want to have garlic breath at work the next day.
UPDATE!
Can't hold back any longer - this bad boy goes to 11.
I love it. Just go already.
.P
People thought this was:
My new standard for Szechwan style Chinese in the East Bay.
After years of staying up above Colusa, I…
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me also like it
Definitely the best sichuan restaurant I've been to in California. The authentic semi-numbing chili and pepper brings me back memories of my trips to chengdu, chongqing, and yichang.
Only point my friend brought up was that they used American leeks instead of chinese leeks for their stir fried pork belly and leek dish.
Now to find a place that's comparable in Southern California.
People thought this was:
yum yum yum, been going here for years. My favorite is their orange beef, and all my friends love the fish/tofu soup
My friends and I came in here after a loooong hike, and were basically ready to eat the house down (does that even make sense)? Our Asian stomachs raged to be satiated. I suppose if we had eaten a lot of anything, we would have felt pretty good, but this was really an excellent choice.
We were promptly seated. I don't know how busy it usually is, but it was President's Day, so figured there could be a small wait, but it is Albany. Who goes to Albany? We got our tea and water, and our order was taken quickly.
And then the food came. Oh boy did it come. At first, they brought out some of the entrees before the appetizers, and I was confused. However, my confusion was for naught, as they were really just bringing everything out at once. I have pics of the splendid bounty that was laid at our table. Go, and make belly's ache with food lust!
We ordered:
-Potstickers
-Spring rolls
-Mongolian beef
-Beef fried rice
-Garlic chicken
-Braised tofu
-Spicy shrimp
-Walnut prawns
-Spicy beef noodle stew
It was all pretty amazing. The spices were savory. The portions were plenty. The noms were nommy.
My only niggles were just personal preference ones. I ate my first whole shrimp there. I've never had shrimp with the head on, and I had it here. It was...interesting. Also, the beef noodle stew was good, but they left the 'tendon' on the beef. On purpose, of course. But I really could not deal with the texture. Again, those are just personal things, but if you are not a whole shrimp eater, well...take note.
All that food fed 5 hungry young men for ~$80 + tip, which was great considering how much I enjoyed the food. I look forward to my next trip! Especially so I can take more pics of the food assault!
People thought this was:
This is a secret spot. Shhh! Don't tell a soul.
You like sezhuan? This is the best I have had in the Bay.
Hands down.
Sometimes Chinese restaurants are packed because they are cheap. This place is packed because it is great!
Serious... don't go here. If I go there and I found out you went...
I will be forced to remove you...
People thought this was:
Watering eyes, running nose, tingling tongue... all the while slurping greedily at the the soup... sure signs that you have succumbed to the addictive deliciousness of the spicy fish and tofu soup.
I always have a craving for it during cold winter days, but especially after a long day of boarding in Tahoe. The fish fillets are flaky, the tofu is silky, and both are amazingly tender in the spicy, tongue numbing, flavorful broth. MMM. I've ordered it every single time I've gone to China Village.
Other faves: the thick sesame bread (perfect for sopping up left over broth!) and the Chinese green beans.
Non-Chinese friends also like the garlic chicken, orange beef, and Mongolian lamb dishes.
The staff is always super accommodating, even when our group of 10 shows up 15 minutes before closing time. The waiters also wear the most awesome ties!
People thought this was:
Don't come here and order fake Americanized Chinese dishes or even the Southern style dishes on the menu. Go Northern and Sichuan all the way and you'll be happy. I suspect many of the people who were not satisfied here just ordered the wrong things.
I'm Cantonese but a Sichuan friend of mine recommended this place and since then I go with my family regularly. These are the dishes we always get (I tried to copy the English names off the menu on Spork - I think they're right, but since I'm trying match the Chinese names with my subpar Mandarin it may not be perfect):
Hot and Spicy Pork Shoulder - big a** fatty piece of meat swimming in spicy sauce. Great to mix into rice.
West Style Spicy Fish Fillet - the spicy fish noodle soup everyone is referring to. The broth is so delicious and they give you a ton of fish too.
Prawns with Honey Glazed Walnuts - they make a very good version of this.
Village Special Noodle Soup - one of the best chau ma mian I've had.
Hot and Cold Salad - aka liang jiang pei, the salad with a thousand hot and cold ingredients mixed together with Chinese hot mustard and green bean noodles, yum. Also one of the best versions I've had.
Stick to these dishes and you won't go away unhappy. Also if you are lucky you'll get some rice wine soup with dumplings for dessert.
I've been here a few times for dinner with the BF & his family, and we always leave feeling satisfied. We've always gotten something with intestines and pork blood in it (my favorite!), immersed and simmering in a spicy sauce. We also get the tea duck, which they serve with the white buns and hoisin sauce. Not particularly flavorful but the meat was cooked well. The usual eggplant or green bean veggies are cooked well too. Very nice staff and great service. I wish the place was a little bit cleaner.
Loved the place. Nice variety of Chinese cuisine. The thing that stood out with the lamb with cumin is that not only was the cumin intense, there was also room for other more subtle flavors.
People thought this was:
I am from Chengdu, Sichuan and I find this one of the best Sichuan restaurant in the bay area. When I was living in Berkeley I went there every week. Now I only get to go about once a year, it is still good.
The most important approval came from my parents. Most Chinese parents turn their nose upon Chinese restaurants in the U.S., even those we find to be good in California. But my parents gave this restaurant their approval.
People thought this was:
My last experience at this restaurant was a bad experience. The food was absolutely way too oily and the meat was not fresh at all. Maybe coming at the end of the day isn't a good idea. It's pretty sad that I can get better Chinese food in the middle of nowhere in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada than I would here in the east bay area excluding San Francisco.
This is by far the best Chinese restaurant around the Bay Area. Great food, not too oily (for… Read more »
As my husband and I walked up Solano Ave., trying to figure out what to eat. I could smell something so delicious and I knew that it was coming from China Village. I was about to pass by it but the aroma of food just grabbed me and I knew that with Chinese food, we would get our order quickly.
I went a bit crazy and ordered 4 dishes for 2 people:
Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
Sesame Chicken
Sesame Bread
Mandarin Noodle Soup with Chicken
The eggplant was good but needed a bit more garlic flavor. it seemed more overpowered by the hoisin sauce. Sesame chicken was flavorful. Sesame bread was crisp on the outside, doughy on the inside. Not bad but just didn't have enough pizazz for me. Mandarin Noodle Soup had homemade noodles which were good but the soup base was just bland.
Overall, not a bad experience. $30 for all 4 dishes. Service was fast and efficient.
People thought this was:
Thanks to Yelp, Check Please, and a foodie friend who raved about China Village, Hubby and I made a visit last night and loved the food.
We have mild-moderate spice tolerance and we enjoyed every dish we ordered.
We started with the Westlake 1000 chilies fish fillet soup. The presentation was impressive with all those roasted red chilies floating on top. But just as a Yelp reviewer had mentioned, the soup was not very spicy, but oh so full of flavor. It was essentially fish with the cellophane noodles in a rich full bodied broth. So good. I loved this soup. My husband was so-so about it so more for me... plus I have the left overs for lunch today!!
We had the black pepper beef with onions that came out in a clay pot. Very tasty! The cumin lamb that was also suggested on Yelp, was awesome. My husband who doesn't usually like lamb cuz of the gamey taste, thought the lamb was the best. Its cut very thin and you can smell the cumin from far away... so very tasty.
We had the jellyfish salad and the watercress with garlic that we enjoyed a lot too. The sesame bread was so-so... but everything else was so good, we hardly noticed. Service was attentive.
And according to the Yelp reviews, we felt like we hit jackpot when the owner stopped by our table to ask us if we enjoyed the food and then the server promptly served us the warm dessert soup vs. oranges/fruit.
We will be back. We had tried this Szechuan restaurant in the Pacific East mall that was horrible. All we can remember of it was the intolerable spiciness. Here, at China Village the food was spicy at times, but had such good flavor that the spice enhanced vs. smother the dishes like the other restaurant....
Hubby gave it a thumbs up, too. :D
People thought this was:
Terrible Service, attitude, and no they do not deliver
Disclaimer: the rating for this restaurant was for the most part determined due to one dish. But I think it is completely justified. So I am just going to gush about it in this review like a fat kid gushes about cake.
I figured I couldn't continue Yelping without writing about the origins of the yardstick by which I now evaluate all my fooding experiences: the Westlake Thousand Chili Pepper Fish Soup at China Village. Or whatever it's called. It's a soup with some sort of white fish and thick clear noodles (as you can see I am very versed in my cooking terminologies) that comes with hella chili peppers floating on the top that the waiter scoops out with a ladle before serving. As someone who has very low tolerance for spicy foods, the sight of all the chilis might be frightening, but it really is the flavor of the chilis that remain in the soup - and man, it tastes good. I had never felt about any food the way I feel about the Thousand Chili Pepper Fish Soup, where tears come to my eyes whenever it comes across my mind. This must be what they call Love.
Don't leave the restaurant without asking the waiter to pack away the chilis that were scooped out of the soup in the beginning. They still have tons of flavor and you can stick them into ramen and home and relive the wonderful flavor of the soup over and over again until you run out of chilis.
Other dishes at the restaurant are good as well - crab with rice cake, some other sort of super spicy chicken with many chili peppers that has too much bone and not enough meat but that is delicious nonetheless, etc. Service, mediocre, blah blah blah and they totally racial profile as confirmed by my boss. I.e. if you're Asian, you get the sweet tapioca soup for dessert, and if other ethnicity, oranges. Or something.
Anyway, I'm sure I've hyped the soup up way too much by now. In any case, the moral of the story is that the Thousand Chili Pepper Fish Soup at China Village is super yummers and you should go get some (even if you get ONLY this at China Village) before I eat it all.
People thought this was:
Albany, CA
Category: Chinese
El Cerrito, CA
Category: Chinese
Richmond, CA
Category: Chinese
Albany, CA
Category: Chinese
El Cerrito, CA
Category: Chinese
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