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Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Downtown Berkeley
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Probably my favorite Chinese restaurant in Berkeley, although I've only been here once. It's been a while, too, but we ordered the Peking Duck, Lettuce wraps, some Crab dish, etc.
Everything tasted great and the service was friendly.
My semi-vegetarian friend ate his first non-chicken meat dish here, too (the Peking duck), and he liked it a lot.
To do lunch: $10
Excellent Chinese food, service, speed, and prices. Take a long lunch on a workday and grab the walnut prawn lunch special. You will be rewarded with a somehow delicious honey-sweet, vinegar-sour lathered pile of full-sized prawns with candied walnuts. This is after a pretty solid egg flower (usually) soup, and on a plate with tons of rice, an eggroll, orange and, of course, tea. It's mo'effing amazing. It also costs just $7.
I've had various other dishes here and they've all been good (especially the tofu), but if you really want to love your stomach and grow your gut, go with the prawns.
The service is also polite and very prompt. They won't rush you out the door, but if you're in a hurry, they effortlessly accommodate.
Summary: I do this every month or two, and you should too.
I've been going to this place since I was in 2nd grade and the food has always been the same - AMAZING! I've been numerous times with family and friends and they have all enjoyed it. Although the wait sucks and the waitresses are the rudest, most bitter people ever, you forget about all of that because the food makes up for it.
Dishes you must try: Peking Duck, Double Skin, Sauteed Crab, Walnut Shrimp
Just when I thought there were no authentic Chinese restaurants within the vicinity of campus, I randomly stumbled across Great China and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of each dish. I had the Peking duck and though it was slightly overpriced, the quality is hands-down one of the best ducks I've ever had. This is like the only place that serves Peking duck with the option of wrapping it in a burrito-like fashion, instead of those small pouches that distracts from the flavor of the duck.
I'd strongly suggest you go there early because it is a small venue...but the wait was well worth it!
im not quite sure why it took me so long to try this place out. i guess im just way too 415. getting to the five and dime can be quite the journey... all 5 miles you know... but recently ive discovered this pretty awesome thing. have you guys ever heard of bart!??! its pretty fucking cool. this was like the fifth time or so i ever rode this magical people mover.. sure i fell asleep, got off at the wrong station, rode the wrong train.. but besides these slight inconviences, its pretty awesome!
so the east bay folks squeezed in an extra chair for me at their monday night dinner. first of all, you east bay food mafia folks are bad ass, you guys rock.
right to the food. i came in thinking that the peking duck was going to be the highlight. it was every bit as good as i imagined it would be but i must say the meat wasnt as "juicy" as im used to... but then again, im used to a fair amount of fat on on the duck.... this duck was FABULOUSLY rendered clean of all the fat. dining companion joked that theres probably a guy in back scraping off all the fat. the only other place ive had duck like this was at a duck restaurant in seoul, where they raise their own ducks and cook it very similarily to great china. prefectly rendered clean of all fat... and yes, their meat is a bit lean just like great china. good stuff.
double skin? nice way to start the meal.
the highlight for me was the surf clams. when the dish was described to me, i wasnt really into it. a big giant clam? ehhhh. i was expecting rubbery meat.... what i got instead was a truly beautiful thing. savory sauce (id call it a broth!!) with perfectly cooked, tender surf clam. im getting a semi just thinking about this dish again. yes. it was that good.
the crab with buns dish? i just cant describe to you what its like. it would be like a blind man trying to describe the first time he felt a boobie. im the spirit of ferris bueller... if you ever get a chance to try this dish, i highly suggest you do. its so choice.
everything i tried here was great... im sure its a blend of the east bay food mafias selection of dishes and that great china, after all these years, still puts out some really good food.
4.5 rounded up because its a block away from this magical thing called bart.
The food here is pretty great. Go somewhere else if you want good service. They will literally throw your silverware on the table and don't expect your drink to be refilled. Sometimes you have to fight for fried rice if it's close to 3pm. I never eat it, but I give it away to homeless people with the rest of my leftovers from their gigantic lunch specials.
The prices are $6 - $8, which is $2 - 3 more than King Dong. King Dong makes some things better, but these are things that I enjoy at Great China:
Mu Shu
Walnut Prawns
Kung Pao Three Combo
As good as it gets!
Their Mei Cai Kuo Ruo exactly how it is supposed to be not sweet, not all fat. It was perfection!
Loofah w/ dried shrimp, A simple light dish that matches well w/ any meat dish.
Their Crab meat with buns is heavenly - 5 perfect stars
The Giant Surf Clams are to die for - 5 perfect stars but it's expensive. We ordered 3 and it came out to be $22.
Steam Oysters was pretty good - 4 stars
Pea Sprouts with preserved eggs - 4 stars, the pea sprouts was a little bit over done but otherwise a great dish.
Song1 Rong2- Apparently it's a seasonal dish that is only available in fall. It's a king of mushroom with rich texture that tasted like meat. So if you like mushrooms you might be a fan of this. It was different & it was done right but I just like other veggie dishes more.
Service is inconsistent but the bald headed guy is always nice and pleasant and there's one waitress in there that's consistently nice. Other waitresses... umm yeah not so much.
O Great China, Y do you torture me so? So Far So Far away....
Service: don't expect it. No one smiles, and the guy tried to hurry us up because there were people… Read more »
I write this to you as I am finishing my leftovers of Double Skin and Mapo Tofu. I thought that it wouldn't be good at all considering that the double skin has noodley stuff. But it turns out its not a bad brunch type food to heat up. So i went in yesterday, and they give pretty large portions of food at dinner time. So beware when you order because I went in with my girlfriend yesterday and we felt like fatties from over-ordering. That's one thing different I noticed between Chinese Restaurants and American Restaurants. They won't tell you that you are over-ordering for yourselves. But I guess it was worth the leftovers? But anyway, this place did have some pretty good double skin, and their sizzling rice soup was good, just like any other nice chinese restaurant. I can't wait to go with more people so I can try the Peking Duck.
I love the ambience here. It was my first time here and we sat upstairs. It felt like I was eating right out of my aunt's living room somehwere in the Richmond district. It's hard to tell if the service is bad or not, we took up 3 full family tables and the food came out in orderly fashion. I'm trying to list exactly the order it came out.
Sizzling rice soup - good
Double skin - nothing to go yee haw about
Peking duck - delish, but I think I rather eat if with a bun instead of the egg roll wrap that they use. Was the hoi sin sauce homemade or was it Lee Kum Kee?
Lobster - not a huge fan of lobster in general, but the sauce was great
Lemon peel w/ tea - oops, that was to rinse our fingers
Sauteed crab meat and buns - won't ever fiend for it
Walnut prawns - pretty decent, I usually only eat the pecans anyway :P
Mongolian beef - neh
Sauteed snow pea leaves - solid
Rice - topped off the meal
Oranges - they were damn good
Fortune cookie - "soon a visitor shall delight you" 2 9 16 18 27 49
I probably forgot something but overall it was pleasant. I'm not a huge wine drinker or even one at all but the owner/son seem to have an extensive knowledge of wines...."This is Syrah blend from France, 90% dark skin grapes and 10% Welch's grape juice..." Kidding about the Welch's, but it went something like that.
I'd like to try the hot and sour soup next time. I am on the search for America's next top hot and sour soup!
First of all: Great China Restaurant? That just SOUNDS like a fake Chinese place! But oh, was I happy that I decided to come here. It tasted authetntic, and I left with a very happy stomach.
I ordered the walnut prawn lunch special, which comes with soup, salad, spring roll, fried rice, and walnut prawns.
The sweet and sour soup was great and had a nice consistency- not the overly thick kind. Loaded with bamboo, mushrooms, tofu, and egg.
The walnut prawns were great! For some reason, I had been craving them for the past week. They weren't the typical walnut prawns that I'm used to, which have a very thick, mayonnaise-based sauce. The walnut prawns at Great China Restaurant have a thicker, crispier coating, and a lighter sauce. The sauce had an interesting citrus flavoring, but it was a little too sweet for my taste. Still really delicious though!
The salad was surprisingly good, too. Crisp and refreshing.
The spring roll wasn't great- just average.
It was a VERY filling meal, and I still had to pack some of it to take! All for $7.82. Great deal! The people sitting next to us also ordered some delicious looking dumplings and pork, so I definitely want to come back again so that I can sample more dishes.
Also, the restaurant itself has a really nice atmosphere and friendly service, which isn't common in Chinese restaurants with good food!
Great China has solid chinese food. The peking duck is amazing-- it comes deboned and the skin is always perfectly crisp. I wish they use the buns instead of the skins to wrap the duck meat.
The service is average. Some nights are better than others. The place gets crowded, so be sure to show up early.
This is a good place for groups. They have large round tables upstairs that can seat about 10-12 people.
My favorite Chinese restaurant in Berkeley. OK, so my parents know the owner so I'm kind of biased, but whatever. If you don't believe me, then let your tastebuds do the talking.
I love duck. If my arteries and pores would allow it, it'd be all I eat. The duck here is delish and not nearly as greasy as I expected it to be. Usually, you can tell when somebody's had duck from a Chinese restaurant since their skin glistens with fat and oil, but if you eat it here, it can be your little dirty secret.
Oh, and please get the Double Skin. I order it every time I come and it never disappoints.
The service here is typical of Chinese restaurants. Slow, rude, and nobody smiles. The only one who actually responds to your questions is the guy with the shaved head.
The food here is alright, but I'm giving it 5 stars for the DOUBLE SKIN APPETIZER. It is my absolute FAVORITE thing here and probably one of my favorite things to eat, EVER!
pork
egg
sea cucumber
carrot
egg
cucmber
shrimp
calamari
jellyfish (or bean thread)
& probably some other stuff
all topped with a spicy mustard sauce. YUM YUM YUM!!!
Before coming here to celebrate my 21st (WOOHOO!!), I thought Chinese food in Berkeley just meant all the usual Chinese-American favorites. Not the case at Great China. My friends and I ordered the Moo-shu pork, sizzling rice soup, General Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Mei Cai Ko Ro (braised pork belly with preserved vegetable), Walnut Prawns, and twice cooked string beans.
All of our food came out quick, and when it did, we feasted. The soup, light, flavorful and full of the sizzling rice (the best part, I think), the moo-shu, flavorful and served with tender, soft pancakes, not those pasty white gluey tasting tortilla-like ones other places use. While everything was flavorful and excellent overall, my favorite had to be the braised pork: soft tender, sweet and salty, just as good as it is in Socal where I'm used to having it. Service was attentive for a Chinese restaurant, but as the saying goes, you don't go to a Chinese restaurant for the service. I definitely have a new go-to place for Chinese in Berkeley!
Flavorful and awesome representation of northern chinese cooking. The people there are friendly and there are a lot of regulars there. I ordered 3 different items and they were all tasty. It wasn't overly salty or oily. Everything was done in a very clean fashion.
I see many people leaving here with big smiles, warm hearts, and full bellies with a positive outlook on life.
Delicious! This place serves all the good stuff of Northern Chinese cuisine. From the best Peking duck in the bay area to this crab concoction that is always tasty to the tongue. I like the cold noodles that they have, too.
I've been here twice and both times with large parties (which I recommend since their portions are enormous).
Can't wait until my next visit. Tai hao chi le!
SOOO good!!
I've been looking for a place in the bay with good hot & sour soup since I moved here, and I finally found it!!!
It's also a cute restaurant. And other people are ridiculous, you don't go to a Chinese restaurant for the service.
I've never been a peking duck fan all my life...Yeck! I say...until I tried the peking duck here. It wasn't fatty and it wasn't gamey...which I always thought of when anyone mentioned peking duck.
This place removed the fat from the skin and the skin is cooked perfectly. It's served on top of the duck meat sans fat. Thin pancakes are served along with it (and they are generous with the amount) as well as hoisin sauce and scallions. I bought my family here when they were visiting last week and they loved it - especially my nephew! :)
Besides the peking duck, I would also recommend ordering the Double Skin appetizer, which is flat jellylike noodles made of mung beans with seacucumber, carrot, egg, pork, shrimp, etc...mixed with a tangy spicy sauce (if you don't like spicy, you can ask them to hold off on the spicy mustard); note, a medium order feeds about 5 - 6 people. Also the Walnut Prawns was a hit with my family.
Note, you can be in for a long long wait if you don't make reservations. If you don't, I would definitely suggest having an early dinner and get there 15 - 20 mins before it opens so you can get seated right away. This place is a gem especially if you have peking duck cravings! :)
Again, like many good restaurants in Berkeley, I had no idea this place existed for several years, living off of substandard student food joints. I remember when I first came here for a friends graduation. I probably had the best Peking duck ever here. Its expensive, but man. So GOOD. There was a mixed mustard dish that was ridiculously good, along with a crab stuffed bun dish that was great.
My friends also love this place. And so they went here for their graduation dinners as well. I ended up coming here about 4 times over the course of a couple of weeks, being treated by different groups of families. It was a great period of great food. So lucky.
Great China excels at Peking Duck. This is hands-down the best duck that I have enjoyed. It is absolutely perfect. In addition to some other gems on the menu (their amazing walnut prawns come to mind), they have seasonal specialties that they won't offer unless you ask. Order a couple of familiar dishes, and let them wow you with a couple more.
The owner's son (James, the friendly-looking guy with the shaved head) is a wine expert. Wine in a Chinese restaurant, you say? Yes! He runs a wine business on the side, and he really knows his stuff. They often have some exclusive labels available that pair really well with American Chinese food.
Parking used to be a challenge, but the new public garage two blocks west solved that issue. Just follow the parking signs.
It's a tough place to get into for small parties. We always get a big group of friends and make a reservation. This guarantees you a table with the lazy Susan in the middle and quick attentive service. One of their tea smoked ducks feeds 3-4 people. Last time that we visited, we ordered three ducks for eight people. That was a feast! Order a few other dishes to share family-style.
I took my gf here about a month ago. If you don't care to read the details, to sum in one sentence, pretty good overall...in taste, service, and overall vibe.
Pros: This place has great duck, and their other dishes are made with good quality and taste. Service was very polite, kind, and dare I say, more like American service (not trying to be racist, but if you're Asian you know there's a difference when you eat in an Asian restaurant vs other restaurants). Place was very clean, food came out hot, and didn't seem like it was yesterday's food. Price seems reasonable considering taste and location.
Cons: Pay for parking or get lucky trying to find one (welcome to Berkeley). Long line..well maybe not that long, but the wait is long due to limited seating in their establishment. I don't recommend their soups, but everything else seems fine.
I wouldn't say this is the best Chinese restaurant I've been to, but I would definitely go back and I doubt it would disappoint for newbies.
food is pretty damn good. I recommend the walnut prawns, the ga cua tofu (or something like that--it's fried and braised), wok-braised lamb, and double skin. service can be a bit rude at times, it's a small spot, ambience is a bit lacking, but the food makes up for it.
Took a trip from the city to check out the Peking duck here and we were quite disappointed.
Fortunately we called in reservations ahead, because the place is an effing madhouse for Saturday dinner service.
We were pretty much the only guay lo table there - maybe a few other non-Asians. That's usually a good sign. But I don't know, maybe the reason for the crowd is that it's the only decent Chinese food in Berkeley.
We did have one 5-star dish which was called "Double Skin". This was a cold dish consisting of mung bean flat noodles with julienned carrots, cucumber, egg crepe, shrimp, squid, sea cucumber (yum), onions, mushrooms and pork. They bring all the ingredients on a tray to the table and toss it in front of you with a soy sauce vinaigrette and hot mustard. Damn that was good.
The Mapo Tofu was also well executed here - just the way I like it.
The table also really liked the walnut prawns. A little too sweet and breaded for my taste.
Pork dumplings - so-so. Seafood/pork dumplings were okay but the wrapper fell short.
We got tea-smoked duck and it was overcooked and there was way too much smoky flavor.
The biggest let down was the Peking Duck. First of all, there is definitely communication issues at this place if you don't speak Mandarin. I spent a couple minutes at the beginning of the meal with two different servers trying to ask if the Peking Duck was carved table side and I was assured it was. Well half way into the meal they show up with a big tray of pre-cut duck. Was not carved tableside, oh well. That wasn't really a big deal to me as long as it was good. But it wasn't. Bird was dry and gamey and I'm not sure how long it was out of the oven before they served it to us but the skin was not crispy at all.
If I lived in Berkeley I would no doubt stop by this place when it wasn't crowded for the Double Skin and maybe a couple other dishes.
Is it worth a trip from the city just for dinner? No.
I come to Great China for 2 things: Peking Duck and Double Skin Mung Bean Noodles....it's the best I have ever had.
I love it that they take off 99% of the fat off of the duck skin...i guess it makes me feel like I'm eating something healthy =). The skin is also very crispy and tasty and goes perfectly with the pancake wraps.
Granted that it is usually a long wait to get a table because the restaurant is quite small and the food prices are not necessarily cheap ($30 for peking duck and $13 for a small double skin), I have never had the same anywhere else.
One of my favorite Chinese Restaurants in the Bay Area. The double skin noodles and the Duck are to name a few of my favorites.
Must get here early because this place gets packed very easily on the weekends during dinner. Lastly, the owner's ROCK because they are family!
Lost a star for poor service and difficulty in getting a seat there. I hear for dinner you should go right when they open to try to get a table (if you aren't able to reserve a table).
Also, for lunch, they never seem to have dumplings.
"Very good." In her twenty-eight years of being in the U.S., I've never heard my mom say a Chinese… Read more »
I went here for a buddies graduation celebration. You know how asian families roll....atleast 10 people deep. Our party had 20 people. I've never been here and outside looking in, it looked like the restaurant could only hold 20 people. Our reservation was on a Saturday at 8pm and we didn't get in until 840pm. They took us inside the restaurant, upstairs, through the back, passing a dark little stock area, then up more stairs. I felt like I was in one of those movies where they have the secret rooms in the back of the chinese joints full of gambling and illegal activity. LOL But when we got to the top it had a big room....non decorated with 5 large tables that could fit about 8 per table. Definitely something I have not experienced before....
The food was delicious. I've never had some of things they served before such as the double skin appetizer. Excellent with the hot mustard!!! I never had the sauteed crab mix where apparently you stick it in the man-tou. A little bland for my taste, but was an experience to try. The peking duck was amazing! I ate about 5 of the peking duck rolls. Their seafood egg soup was soooo good. Walnut shrimp was just right and the shrimp were larger than the usual I have. Overall, a wonderful experience was excellent Chinese food!
The only downfall is its hard to talk to the waiters. We tried asking for soda a few times but the guy working up stairs had no idea what we were saying so I basically had to point it to him. I would come back and take my family here! Thumbs up :)
I have a reputation in my family for being a high maintenance diner. My kids know I'd like menus right away when I sit down, I'd like the food brought out in the right order and I'd prefer not to have to inform the deliverer who got what. And I really don't want to know my servers name unless I ask for it.
Also, I like to have my back to the wall. This is only common sense; an exposed back makes it very easy for my enemies to sneak up on me with a knife.
Actually, I think I'm pretty easy going. It's YOU yelpers with the attitude. Check out the reviews of this place. If there's a common theme, it's that the food is great, but the service is surly and horrible.
Wrong. It's just a little "efficient." There are always hordes of people lined up outside the door for a chance to get in here and eat some of that awesome ultra-lean, ultra-crispy Beijing Duck and Walnut Shrimp. The servers don't have time for small talk. And if they smile at you, it might encourage you to chit chat, which is a waste of their time. That's my theory anyway.
And you know why else I'm disappointed in you yelpers? There are like 280 reviews of this place, and hardly any of them mention the most amazing thing of all. The Wine List. I am not talking about a couple of decent selections. I am talking about 6 pages single spaced of amazing VERY well priced wines from around the world. What is a wine selection like that doing in a dumpy Chinese restaurant like this?
Well, I found out, because when I ordered the excellent northern Italian Müller-Thurgau, it was delivered by the owner's son who is a bit of a wine snob, and he couldn't have been happier to serve me up. We talked a little bit about the list and how Wine Spectator is even doing a write-up of the restaurant and their special wine list. His name is James. I asked.
The coolest thing was that halfway through the meal, while we are working our way through an entire duck, James comes back to the table with 3 glasses containing samples of some his favorite wines from the list. It was a really nice unexpected gesture, and the tastes were indeed quite special.
Crappy service, my fat Gwai Lo ass.
I came here with people that knew how to order and left stuffed and happy.
We ordered:
- clear noodles with a bunch of stuff in a mustard sauce: appetizing combination of flavors
- Peking duck: I liked how the crispy skin was scraped clean of fat
- fish dumplings: wrapping was a little too mushy, but very tasty overall
- pork belly with preserved vegetables: very tender, very flavorful, very very very fatty
- crab with egg whites: good chunks of crab, but it needed more vinegar. My favorite part was the steamed buns that came with it
Service is generally not bad, but our waitress was horrible. She was mean and lazy. When I requested a new spoon because my old one had fallen, she responded "What do you need a spoon for? That just causes trouble when you're eating!" She then proceeded to confiscate everyone else's spoons. When we requested the a partially eaten dish be transferred to a smaller plate so we could continue eating it at our leisure, she told us we should just all eat a bit of it so she could collect the plate. I normally don't care if the service is uniformly bad at a Chinese restaurant because the food is good, but in a restaurant of ok servers, our really horrible waitress stuck out like a sore thumb.
The food was alright.. the only thing I can think to really Yelp about is the Peking Duck-- it was amaaaazing. I've never had it so good! They strip away most of the fat on the skin, and it comes with a very generous amount of wraps. Pretty worth the $30, if you ask me.
Yes! I finally made it!
The double skin and peking duck are everything that I expected. Absolutely delicious!
Make a reservation to avoid the crowds and waiting in line. Minimum party for a reservation is 6.
There's nothing better than celebrating a graduation with family gathering around a scrumptious Peking Duck!! Having never tasted Great China's Peking Duck and basing completely off the great reviews, my girlfriend and I had our graduation lunch and dinner here.
** FOOD
Both meals shared one thing in common: PEKING DUCK! The skin was deliciously crispy, meat all de-boned and with fat removed. Beware that the duck is served with the traditional Madarin crepe/pancakes, not steamed buns! This was my first time trying it in this way; I actually now prefer the pancakes because you taste the flavor of the duck more.
For lunch, we had: Black Bean Sauce Fish Fillet, Chinese String Beans, and Bean Sauce Noodles(?). These are pretty standard Chinese dishes.
For dinner, we had: Walnut Prawns, Sizzling Steak Platter, Black Bean Sauce Fish Fillet (again), Green Onion Lamb, and Kung Pao Chicken. These are all standard dishes as well, but I'd like to point out some stuff.
Walnut Prawns had an interestingly sweet mayonaisse-based sauce. Slight variation from what I'm used to but I love it. The prawns were nice and crispy with not too much mayo. Must try!
Black Bean Sauce Fish was pretty tasty. Texture is excellent when served fresh (freshly deep fried with sauce glazed over).
I enjoyed the Green Onion Lamb b/c it had an ample portion of green onions (I'm a fiend for green onion!), but the distinct taste of lamb was lacking from the dish.
Kung Pao Chicken is mediocre. Might make a decent quick lunch meal, but not a dinner entrée though.
**SERVICE
Service was significantly different between our two dining experiences. For lunch, we were seated downstairs in the back and had horrible service. Each dish was brought out one at a time with a ~10 min wait between each dish. Had to repeatedly request for water and some side sauces. For dinner however, we had a larger party and were seated upstairs where it was all family-sized round table seating. Service was great!
This place is one of the best chinese restaurants I have been to. For the many times I have been, I always get good service and great food. Any item on the menu will not disappoint. Neither will the wine list!
Perhaps I am biased because I know the owner...regardless, I think I would feel the same way.
You havent had great chinese food unless you have been here. Period.
I have come to know this small Korean operated restaurant since childhood and for decades the food quality has been consistent and one of the best in Berkeley. With the menu sprinkled with a few Korean-Chinese items such as double skin, special combo soup noodles, and bean sauce noodles, this place is also known for its Peking duck and an exciting number of spicy Szechuan style dishes.
After years of hiatus, I came by today for a brief lunch and learned that while the kitchen sizzled, service was absent in the worst way possible. The lack of coordination in their service delivery is most noticeable as one of their servers (I presume that she may be the boss), walked around leisurely and took every moment within a 15 minute window to assure me that someone will soon take my order. At that time, I was already fuming by the fact that I had been skipped over several times in favor of those who arrived later, and the feeling of being completely ignored was a bit shocking since the restaurant was not completely swamped.
To wet my palate, my complimentary hot and sour soup was flavorful and packed with silky tofu, bamboo, and mushrooms. My order of house specialty, walnut prawns ($7.82), also came with a side of tangy and sweet Chinese salad, a lightly battered and very delicious vegetable egg roll, and steamed rice. Although the walnut prawns were one of the better ones I've had, I also thought it was 30 seconds over-fried, bringing a heavier feel than it should. I thought the sauce was light, lemony, and beyond just straight mayo, and the number of walnuts was enough to represent without being overwhelming.
I was fortunate to overhear two older ladies commenting on their Korean inspired special combo soup noodles. This table of two had shared an order to plump dumplings that looked juicy and appetizing, and their noodles were filled with large sized seafood from top to bottom. One commented after her first take, "It's pretty good," and the second person, "spicy." Enough to get me interested, I now have something else to look forward to in addition their other Korean inspired dishes.
Overall it was good to reconnect with the place but I was also very disappointed with the lack of personalized service that it was once known for. No longer surprised by what might happen next, the server brought me the bill way before I was even half way done with my lunch. It was another major turn off but the food is good enough for me to do take outs if I ever want to make another visit. Four stars for the food but minus one for not knowing what to do with their customers.
I am not Chinese, but I do speak Chinese as I lived in China for 5 years. This is the real deal. The service, menu, and food were just like what one experiences in China. It was very crowded and we lucked out getting a table. We got there at just the right time. We were near the door and saw others struggling to get in and seated throughout our entire meal. The Peking duck was amazing.
The service is certainly lacking, but the food makes up for it in my mind. We also saw quite a few people come in to pick up their take-out. They only take reservations for parties of 6 or more which was a problem for us. But as I said, we got lucky with our table.
I will definitely go back if I am in the area again.
OK - we owned Chinese restaurant so I am pretty particular about my Chinese food. Having said that, I have to say that I do love their Peking Duck. I am not sure what they do to it, but their Peking Duck is NOT greasy, but still very tasty .... Probably the best I have had. The remining menu items are adequate - the veg. dishes like the pea sprouts, etc. are very good also, but nothing to really write home about.... But the Peking Duck!!!! YUMMY!!! The lines ARE long, and I don't like crowed seatings, so I would not go reguarly, but when I crave the Peking Duck, I would definitely go! It is worth waiting for.
Sometimes I don't get Great China. Are they purposefully trying to steal money from their customers? Sure, the food is AMAZING, but service should be at least adequate.
Here is a list of grievances I have against Great China, to date:
1. Our family got the wrong bill--my mom paid for 6 people instead of 4. Kinda silly of us for not realizing this was why we got 6 fortune cookies. Little did we know each fortune cookie would cost us $25.
2. My aunt ordered the famous Peking Duck ($30) and asked for the bones too, for take-out. When she got home...all the way in the Los Altos Hills, she realized that they had only given her bones.
3. SULLEN RUDE WAITRESS.
4. Ex-bf says that they are even worse to white people, although I'm not sure how that is even possible.
5. Today I ordered garlic eggplant, "not spicy" please. Whoever I called said they couldn't do that, but I had before. She checked and it turned out that they could. Then I go there to pick up my food.
The guy at the cash register wonders why she charged so little--it should cost me more. So I say, "Why don't we check" and pick up a menu. The price was correct. I hope that he sincerely made a mistake and was not just trying to overcharge me (albeit only by a bit over a dollar). He spoke to me nicely though and asked me if there was anything I wanted--chopsticks, any sort of sauce, etc. He also commented, "You don't like spicy huh?" It was written on the receipt.
So I was surprised when I came home and dug into the eggplant. It was spicy...with distinct specks of red chili pepper.
Had the lunch special here for the first time. Totally worth it, even with the sullen hostess (the… Read more »
Service here is quite terrible. I came here with two other people, and ordered the a duck dish. Our waitress refused to serve it to us because she said we already had enough food. We told her it was fine, and that we would bring our extra food home with us.
They clearly did not run out of duck, because later that night, the table next to us ordered duck.
I have never been to a place where the waitresses discourage the ordering of food.
If you are not used to eating Chinese food, then this is the place for you. Its greasy and has a ton of MSG.
Usually, for ethnic restaurants, I try to get a good sense of who is in the restaurant to gage how authentic the food is. You will find all white people and college kids eating at Great China. Kinda tells you something when no actual Chinese people eat at this place.
The Peking duck is a bit over rated. The skin needs to be crispier. They trim the fat off with lots of meat which is a plus. I didn't find the double skin dish to be too special.
Simply the best Chinese restaurant in the East Bay hands down! Take it from me, with a Szechuanese father and a Cantonese mother, both of whom (and to a lesser extent, me) were great cooks and had great taste for all Chinese food. Yes, it's unanimous - the double skin and the duck are at the top, but there are so many other great dishes - all of my relatives and friends have a favorite or two each. It's true the owners ROCK because they treat you like family, but also JAMES is turning into quite the wine connoisseur, without the stuffiness and the high prices - I'm going to reserve a couple of tables for a birthday celebration soon....
Neighborhood: North Berkeley
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: North Oakland
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: South Berkeley
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: East Solano Ave
Category: Chinese
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