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Hangen Szechuan Restaurant
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 9:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
140 reviews for Hangen Szechuan Restaurant
Review Highlights
"...the mongolian beef, fried string beans, and chong-jing..."
(in 4 reviews)
"...new fav dish there: Hu nan fish fillet of sole, i like it..."
(in 5 reviews)
"The Han Gen Vegetarian Special."
(in 3 reviews)
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140 reviews in English
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Review from Sara K.
San Jose, CA
1/1/2012
We visited downtown Mt. View on a lark last night which happened to be New Year's Eve. Hangen was the first Chinese place we saw, they weren't crowded & we decided...why not? Give it a try!
At first we were a bit concerned, we got out tea & water right away but no sign of the waiter. When he did finally arrive, he apologized, they'd been inundated w/ take-out orders. After that, service was terrific.
And the food? Yummy! We ordered one of the family style meals since there were 4 of us & we got the following:
egg rolls - fine, nothing super special
fried shrimp - really good, nice batter
won-ton soup - lots of won tons & veggies, nice!
mixed fried rice - good, not great, lots of meat though
honeyed walnut prawns - excellent...nice batter on the shrimp, very good sauce
chicken dish - maybe it was orange chicken? not sure, looked at their online menu but didn't see a match - gosh it was good though!
green bean dish - beans were cooked w/ pepper flakes, garlic & onion...SO GOOD!! my favorite thing
Hangen beef - cooked w/ leeks, garlic & jalapeno, spicy & good.
All in all, a fine New Year's Eve meal. Glad they weren't crowded, looking at some of the other reviews, we'd have been unhappy there on a noisy, busy night...we'll be back! -
Review from Karin H.
Los Altos, CA
1/2/2012
We've dined here three times but usually because our other favorite Chinese restaurants had no reservations available. Among the dishes we've tried are:
Soups: wonton, sizzling rice and hot & sour (wonton was the best)
Pot stickers (kids enjoyed)
Eggplant: garlic and Hangen (preferred the garlic)
Wok-fried string beans (excellent!!!)
Baby bok-choy with garlic (loved it!)
Vegetable delight (pretty good)
Mu-Shu: chicken and pork (both good)
Fried rice: chicken and shrimp (both good)
Beef: broccoli, pepper and Mongolian (we liked the broccoli the best)
Chicken: Kung Pao, lemon and with snow peas (liked the lemon)
Duck: tea smoked and crispy (preferred the tea smoked)
The food was really pretty good but sometimes they seem short staffed on weekend nights. The decor is really passe and the lighting could be better. If they updated their decor and improved their lighting and staffing (on weekend nights), I'd give them 4 stars. -
Review from Chels T.
Sunnyvale, CA
11/12/2011 6 Check-ins Here
I freaking love Hangen. I have been meaning to write a review because I get concerned for Hangen...they are nearly empty every time I go. Like, maybe on a good night, there are 2 other tables in there. I digress.
The potstickers are an amazing way to start the meal. They are made from scratch, the wrapper tastes so fresh, and the filling is seasoned well with a good mix of green onion and ginger.
Other dishes--all great!
- Orange sesame chicken
- Salt & Pepper scallops
- Mapo tofu
- sautéed baby bok choy with garlic
Keep this place in business people! -
Review from Daniel L.
Portland, OR
1/14/2012
Orange chicken was just fried something in orange sauce, crab puffs had no crap and was full of some white liquid. shrimp fried rice was decent just because everything else wasn't
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Review from David B.
Sunnyvale, CA
1/15/2012
Best of the few remaining old-line Chinese places on Castro. The house special beef ($9) is foil-wrapped and cooked with basil and chili. Quite tasty.
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Review from Gary J.
12/15/2011
Nothing special, very laud and difficult to hear, and the service was a bit maddening as servers ran around like crazy; was there a server race contest of some kind? Not a great experience.
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Review from Enrico R.
Mountain View, CA
11/25/2011
I visited Hangen with a friend and I have to say that this place is elegant and the food is excellent. It was on Thanksgiving and the place was fairly quiet (I think it was about 2PM and 4 or 5 tables were occupied). The waiter was nice. The kitchen had only one cook but the food came quickly. I ordered sizzling lamb and white steamed rice which I found very tasty, so good I slurped all the extra lamb sauce with the rice. The place has a nice ambient, it can be private and classy at the same time but also casual. The only problem I encountered was that above the restaurant I could hear kids running around (I'm not sure if it happens every day and what's going on upstairs). I liked the food and I will visit the place again.
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Review from Doug C.
Mountain View, CA
8/21/2011
Best Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup in the South Bay.
Spicy with combinations of hot spicy, numbing, and black bean salty in the broth. Good texture balance with fresh chewy noodles and beef/tendon/fat combination. Not Americanized style. Beef has tendon and parts most Americans wouldn't appreciate/eat. Asian style.
Very good. -
Review from j s.
Mountain View, CA
11/5/2011
My wife and i used to order takeout/delivery from Hangen semi-regularly, but went on a long hiatus. After ordering again today (had a craving), we're pretty sure we'll never order from here again.
I /think/ this place has changed ownership since the last time we ordered from Hangen. We were surprised this place had someone answering the phone who spoke and understood English--we had gotten used to having some communication difficulty when calling in orders.
We were told the food would be ready for pickup in 20 mins. I got there at 20 mins after I called the order in. I ended up waiting an extra 20 mins after i got there for the food to be ready.
The food itself turned out to be a let down: the chicken tasted like the oil they fried it in had been reused a few too many times, and needed to be changed. The orange chicken was breaded and fried, but there was no orange flavoring to it. The Hunan beef was grisly and oily, but the black beans in the sauce were tasty. The Mu shu pancakes were greasy.
I used to like this place but now I need to find a replacement for reliable Chinese takeout place. -
Review from Susan M.
Santa Clara, CA
11/12/2011
Tried Hangen for the first time. The service was good, the food was good. Will be back.
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Review from Jeffery Y.
Sunnyvale, CA
8/11/2011
Hangen restaurant rocks!
I have couple favorite dishes that I would like to share:
Honeyed Walnut Prawns
-good portion, and the mayo sauce coated perfectly on the prawns! I also like the presentation of this dish. overall it is a high-end dish.
Hunan Fish Fillet of Sole
-at first, when I look at this dish, it didn't catch too much of my attention because the sauce was all over the fish fillet which I can hardly see any fish. Beside, they use fish fillet instead of the whole fish in traditional Chinese restaurant. Well, this isn't a big deal for me because I hated to deal with fish bones, especially the small ones. However, as I was dig into the dish, I was stunned! it was so good! the sauce really goes well with rice, I think I ate 3 bowls of rice just for this dish along.
Hangen Chicken
-this dish comes with leek, basil, and breast meat chicken. I might be a little bias about this dish because I am a basil lover. Anything you add basil inside and it doesn't go wrong. But I also see other tables ordering this dish so I guess this is one of their signatures.
I would like to mention about the manager (I think he is, because he is the only one with vest and tie), he is a very nice guy that provide excellent service!
I would definitely be back here soon. -
Review from Rachel E.
San Francisco, CA
9/20/2011
On my last night in Mountain View before moving, my boyfriend and I were craving Chinese food so of course we turned to Yelp to help us find the best one on Castro St. Unfortunately, everything seemed to be 3.5 stars. So we had a crazy idea, let's visit 4 Chinese restaurants and order 1 item at each and then compare! (Side note: I do not recommend this...)
Hangen Szechuan was our third stop of the tour. The decor was a little lacking but service was good, they brought us tea, and the food came out quickly.
We ordered the sweet and sour pork, a personal favorite of mine, and it did not disappoint! It was a large portion, two people could easily share, and I don't even recall asking for rice but it appeared.
The only negative thing I have to say was that there was a very large party including several small children in the restaurant (which was otherwise empty) and it was very loud. So I'd hate to be here when the place is packed.... -
Review from Nik W.
Mountain View, CA
1/11/2012
One of the best lunch deals in Mountain View. The service is extremely speedy and the food tasty. The Kung Pao tofu is a personal favorite of mine. There is an expansive vegetarian selection as well.
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Review from Jamie C.
6/4/2011 1 Check-in Here
Pretty stoked that the person helping us spoke decent English.
I think the food was average.
Try the fire cracker chicken. You won't regret it if you're into spicy. -
Review from Local S.
Mountain View, CA
8/3/2011
The former Hangen Seafood Restaurant (which I recall being one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in the region) was re-branded, by new owners they told us, as Hangen "Szechuan" restaurant a year or two back, and local postal addresses have been deluged with introductory discount coupons ever since. I've had only one lunch under the new name, so this report reflects very limited information.
We ordered three dishes for lunch, two of them signature specialties of Sichuan (Szechuan) province. I know that food, I seek it out and cook it at home. Hunan Chili on the same block, 102 Castro, has a real Sichuanese chef, a good one, and the Sichuanese dishes there show it (try the Ma Po tofu at Hunan Chili, for instance -- it's famous).
I would be very surprised if the person running Hangen's kitchen on the day we visited grew up in Sichuan. The familiar and widely available Sichuanese dishes that we tried were bland and atypical. Not auspicious, for a restaurant with the province in its very name, and strong regional competition a few feet away on the same block! The third dish, though, we all thought excellent and subtle, containing mixed poultry and seafood (my notes aren't handy just now with details). It wasn't Sichuanese,as I recall.
So I'll probably return and may update this. But I'll focus on non-"Szechuan" offerings. -
Review from Yvonne N.
San Jose, CA
Updated - 7/29/2011
2.5 for Hangen update...wasn't the same as my first review or my memories of this place a few years ago while working at EPRI.
Kung Pao chicken was not crispy as I remembered just stir fried.
A coworker supposedly got food poisoning from Hangen but my other coworker and myself were ok.
Service was pretty slow as there was only one waiter for lunch service.
Unfortunately I can't say I will be back, you've lost me Hangen!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/8/2008
Note: I only visit Hangen during lunch for the specials. Price per person is between $10 - $15 max… Read more »
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Review from Nirmal O.
San Jose, CA
3/10/2011
Food, Price - OK
Service, Ambience, Parking - Nonexistent -
Review from Morris C.
5/12/2011
I really debated if I was going to write this review, but in the end I decided I will. I came here with a friend and we'd both never tried this place and decided to give it a shot. It was lunchtime on Friday, and most of our regular go-to places on Castro were busy with lines and we didn't feel like waiting that day. This place was less than half full, and after eating here I understand why. I ordered the dried fried string beans with pork, and my friend ordered the general tso's chicken, both from the lunch menu. The food was mediocre at best.
Being that my friend and I are Chinese, we REALLY should have known better than to order from the Americanized lunch menu options, so I'll take some of the blame for that, but even still, the food was just so "meh." It wasn't terrible, but there are just so many better food options on Castro street to pick from. The reason I feel terrible about writing this review, is because I got the vibe this place is a small, family-owned restaurant, and the service was very nice. The prices were inexpensive too, so that's why I'm giving this place 2 stars. -
Review from David W.
5/2/2011
Normally, the service at a legit Chinese restaurant is pretty crappy and that's the norm but this is located in the prime of Downtown Mountainview...you'd expect extraordinary service.
That was not what we got. It took about 40 minutes for our food to arrive. Not only were we starving by the time the food arrived but we have work to get back to! But the service here is oh-so-friendly. it seems like they try really hard (some Chinese guy runs around every so often asking if you want water) but it really doesn't show.
The food itself is mediocre at best. What I do like is that they give you complimentary salad and sweet/sour soup. I ordered the Hong Kong Style Noodles, which was actually really good (the staff there is all Cantonese by the way). Friends ordered the Szechuan noodles (looked really plain) and Mapo tofu (looked like it came out of a microwaveable pouch).
Hangen Szechuan will do the job if you are craving some Chinese Food in the Mountain View area as there really isn't much around but if you have the time, you should venture out a little more for some better eats. -
Review from Piya K.
Santa Clara, CA
7/25/2011
I have tried most of the chinese places at Castro. The one almost next door - Hunan Chilli is good but has been closed on many occassions that I have been. On one such day, we tried on Hangen.
The ambience is ok, nothing great. The service was just fine. The food was really good. We had the Garlic chicken and the Hangen Chicken and both were done very nicely. Specially the basil added to the Hangen chicken was really good.
Only complain - We checked in at 2:55pm. They took our order at 3:05pm. The lunch special was on till 3:00pm. Technially they should have offered it to us. Instead on asking they told us it is already 3. Not fair ! -
Review from Carl W.
Santa Clara, CA
3/15/2011
Thank you Yelpers for steering my friend and I towards this place! We had a staisfying "family dinner" for two (the "Szechuan Hot") The beef and chicken that we got was spicy and tasty, the chow mein and soup, well, they were average, but seriously the meat was so great, with a nice amount of peppers, onions and so on, that I will probably go back just for that when I am in the area again. In some ways it seems like a good balance between Americanized and authentic, at least for this white person; not bland like typical Americanized but not so spicy that you have to get ice cream after (well we did anyway, but we didn't have to!).
As for service, I thought ti was pretty darn good considering it looked like the older gentleman was serving all the tables himself, at least on a Tuesday night! -
Review from Amy C.
2/11/2011
I walked in on a Friday night, and the place was nearly empty. Also, there weren't a lot of Asian people there. And there were no chopsticks at the table, just forks. Though they brought us chopsticks later, those things certainly didn't infuse me with confidence in the place.
So I was extremely pleasantly surprised when the food came. I'd been looking and looking for a decent Szechuan place in the South Bay after moving back from San Diego, and everything I've tried fell short. We ordered twice-cooked pork (thin-sliced pork belly with veggies) and ants climbing up a tree (a stir-fried vermicelli dish). Both were excellent; the pork was sliced thin, with plenty of meat, and flavored strongly, though I would have liked it slightly spicier. The vermicelli had a great texture, not over- or under-cooked, and was nicely spicy. Both were oily, but that's expected for a Szechuan restaurant.
Service was fantastic for a Chinese restaurant. Waiters were very attentive and polite but not pushy. I will definitely be coming back, especially to check out their lunch specials. -
Review from Victoria Y.
Saratoga, CA
1/11/2011
While I haven't had a 'real' dinner here, the owner and manager are wonderful people! I needed a place to host a mixer and they did a great job. We had green onion pancake, vegetarian spring rolls, fried shrimp, and dumplings as our unlimited appetizers and 2 drink tickets for our guests. Plus unlimited water and tea.
The upstairs is a great place to hold meetings (they've done events for Microsoft (or some other big name tech company) and for Stanford). We had an alumni/student mixer here and everyone enjoyed themselves. Plus it was a great location for South Bay folks and right next to Cal Train so the people in the city could make it down without battling traffic on a Thursday night. -
Review from Carrie D.
San Jose, CA
2/14/2011
Overall, I like thisi place. The food is good and the service is usually pretty good.
We went here last Friday evening. It was a little later in the evening, and there were people there, but it wasn't really swamped-busy.
I hadn't been here in a few years, actually, but was craving Orange Chicken and remembered that it was really good here. But I was a little disappointed this trip.
It seems like the economy has hit lots of businesses hard and this was no exception to that. It was almost kind of sad. The last time I vistied Hangen, it had a more upscale feel. Prices were reasonable, but the servers were well dressed and the place just felt classy. In the years between then and now, their decor hasnt' changed, which is fine. But instead of the nice, cloth table linens and chopsticks on every table, the cloth tablecloths were covered in those cheap, paper placemats that you see in fast food restaurants. I'm sure this is an effort for them to lower costs in not having to replace the table linens after each party. But it was a turnoff. There were forks at each place setting, but nothing else.
I was a little disappointed with the service as well. We ordered a seafood dish and the orange chicken. The seafood came pretty quickly but the server brought us Orange Beef instead of Chicken. When we said that it wasn't ours he actually argued with us. Finally we said No, we ordered Chicken and he took it away. It was another 10-15 minutes before the chicken arrived. It was all very tastey, but my fiance said that the dish he ordered was good, but different than the last time he'd had it there, which was odd to him.
In the end, we were satisfied with the food, but disappointed in the rest of the experience. We will definitely be back, though. -
Review from Cher G.
Palo Alto, CA
6/9/2011
I have tried all the Chinese restaurants on Castro and this one wins !!
I love Szechuan cuisine and this is the place to eat it.
If you are near Castro in Mountain View you have to try it.
I can't believe I did not try it earlier but it is kind of hidden.
Yes, I will be back many times in the future !!
So happy I found this place. -
Review from Ou L.
Santa Clara, CA
8/11/2011
Eggplant in hot garlic sauce and honeyed walnut pawns are my favorite there! They are so good that I order them every time. I discovered my new fav dish there: Hu nan fish fillet of sole, i like it with a lot of rice.
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Review from lily n.
Mountain View, CA
9/22/2011
The food is below average, I do not understand why this restaurant is
getting 3.5 stars rating. Most of the dishes that we ordered don't tasted good. The smell of the pork inside the wonton was too strong, the fish smell too fishy, and meat the smell like pig. Never going back. -
Review from Christina M.
Mountain View, CA
11/12/2010 4 Check-ins Here
This restaurant gets five stars because it delivers for a very small fee, and it's cheap...and it's GOOD! Delivery is the manna for parents of young children...especially ones who are too lazy to cook (like myself). I know there's debate about 'real' Chinese food - and i'm sure this is whatever Americanized-version of Chinese food is, but WHATEVER - it's f'n GREAT!!! I'm having it tonight.
All that being said - i've NEVER been to the physical restaurant, so you'll just have to go by my food opinion...it rocks! -
Review from Chris O.
1/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
Pretty damn good! Excellent kung pao chicken, and great shanghai dumplings.
Service was good and the place was clean. -
Review from Emily Z.
San Jose, CA
1/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
Went here on a lunch break and my bff from work told me before getting there that we were gonna have "large bowls of noodle soups".
I disregarded what I would soon realize was a warning because when I saw the nice server man bring over my order of beef noodle soup... "large" did not even come close.
The circumference of the bowl is the size of my head + 1/2 and the food/soup was filled to the top. The meat pieces was big and generous and the soup was very well flavored. I love the texture of the noodles too!
In addition to the larger than life beef noodle soup, you also get a little bowl of soup and salad. Both of which was just... eh.
The price was ridiculous. I think with tip + tax it only came out to be $9.
Will def come back again to try some of their other stuff and probably bring my beef noodle soup loving boyfriend here too. -
Review from Amina M.
Fremont, CA
1/1/2011
The one thing that makes this Chinese restaurant stand out from any other around the bay area: The Stir-Fried Won Tons. This is my favorite dish, very yummy. And they don't serve these spicy wontons at many places around the area. So that's what I mainly come here for when I'm really craving that dish.
Other than that, this place is alright. Nothing else very special or exceptional on the menu. Last I came here was pretty late at night and barely any other customers in the restaurant. It was also really cold outside, but when they served us our meals the food was nice andhot and fresh, which was good. It did take a while to get the waiters' attentions to start ordering though, which was a star down since they weren't even busy and just sitting around reading newspapers that night. Serving us though, they were very polite and didn't mess up on any orders. They also made sure to keep refilling our water as we ate too.
Overall, this place is decent. But if you're craving those spicy stir fried won tons, definitely come here! -
Review from Rayid G.
Chicago, IL
9/9/2010
Best szechwan food I've had in south bay so far. Here's a tip: ignore the american menu that they hand to you and order from the chinese menu (unfortunately it's not translated in english but if you're a true szechuan food fan, you can ask for things by name).
I was initially very disappointed when I walked in and looked at the bland looking menu (kung pao chicken, general tso, etc.). When I asked why they were missing szechuan dishes, I was told they have them in the "chinese" menu. We ordered the boiled fish (sole), firecracker chicken, and string beans...all soooooo good. The spice level is pretty mild for my standards but makes the food edible for the rest of the world :) The service was great, the staff very helpful and friendly. I'm definitely going back there! -
Review from Sridhar D.
Sunnyvale, CA
9/2/2011
I went here for a company lunch with some colleagues. They had many vegetarian options and the portions were plentiful. The sizzling tofu was particularly good with a good peppery kick to it. The service was efficient and the ambiance was okay bordering on the ordinary side. Parking can be a bit of a pain on Castro street during lunch time. You are better off parking in one of the free parking garages rather than looking for a spot on the road.
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Review from M R.
Sunnyvale, CA
1/5/2011
Got the lunch special :
Kung Pao ckn came with steamed rice and soup and salad. Yummo! Its very unlike any other Kung pao - in fact I've never had kung pao that tastes like this. I liked this version - its smoky and had red chilli paste and tender ckn.
Also got chow fun ckn. Very nice, tender and well sauced. Liked it too.
1 star missing coz I had to wait 30 minutes to get my order coz the kitchen forgot to bring it out !!! Everyone else around me was chowing down on their food...and all I could do was stare!!! I asked after 25 minutes and the guy didn't know what I was talking about !! "What order" he said - he was the one who took my order in the first place! Finally he went in and came back in 5 mins with my order...go figure. -
Review from AJay M.
Seattle, WA
12/25/2010 1 Check-in Here
First, looking at the reviews, it's pretty clear that a total change in management, cooking style, etc really improved things in late 2009.
We went by on Christmas Day evening, and the room was about 2/3 full. The wonton soup was good with a nice light broth and hefty wontons. We had baby bok choy w/garlic, green beans & chicken, and sweet & sour pork. The bok choy was tender but not overcooked with good garlic flavor, the green beans were nicely seared, not limp, with plenty of chicken pieces, and the pork was good, not soggy.
The service was fast and attentive, bringing out the main dishes just when we had finished the appetizer and soup. The size of the dishes was plenty big -- we had lots of take-home from 3 main dishes for 3 people -- and tasty, so that take-home won't go to waste.
Bottom line was a very nice experience and food, and a very modest cost -- didn't think you could still find that in the Los Altos/Mtn View/PA area.
Almost forgot -- lots of free parking in the big city parking garage just behind this block of Castro (north side); you can go right in the back door of the restaurant from there. -
Review from Bert K.
10/4/2010
Well, there is some decent Szechuan food in South Bay.
Yelpers, I agree.
The Szechuan food served at Hangen is p. good.
We stopped in sunday afternoon around 2pm and ordered a good 8 dishes; of which I can only remeber these. All were good.
We ordered the dried bean curd w/ green beans, breaded fish w/ sliced red n' green bell peppers; a huge dry chow fun with seafood, chili chicken, and the Lion head dish and several other dishes.
Crispy veggies with the breaded fish; the chili chicken is not for the weak, it's blazing red, very chili spicy, and O so good.
My favorite was the bow tie dried bean curd, each bow tie was firm, yet soft and the small boiled green beans were tender too. The Lion's Head was pretty good too: layers and layes of bean curd sheet stuffed with minced fragrant veggies.
The rice was a bit dry; perhaps, next time it will be moist and steamy hot.
Customer service: a bit slow, yet personable.
Decor: clean.
Tip: Right behind the restaurant is a huge multilevel parking lot that is free. -
Review from A. M.
Sunnyvale, CA
12/8/2010
OMG, the worst chinese food ever!!
Panda Express is 100 times better! Safeway is better! The only other place that was worst was in Zanzibar and at least they have an excuse of being on the coast of East Africa. You're in Silicon Valley for Christ's sake!
We ordered 3 very simple things. Orange chicken, vegetable pot stickers, and under the House Recommendations 'Han Gen Vegetarian Special' (Stir-fried asparagus, fine cut tofu, and Chinese basil).
The orange chicken...what orange chicken? Was there even chicken on the plate under all that gooey sugary orange goop? Not sure because it was so thin, almost shoe string like. We both had a very difficult time chewing or rather gnawing on something like battered leather strips. Needless to say, we had trouble swallowing even with water to assist us.
The Han Gen Vegetarian Special...honestly...it was just odd looking. They cut up all the ingredients (asparagus, tofu, basil) super small, think minced and the tofu tasted strangely. It was brown on the outside and had a white firm artificial texture. We concluded it wasn't fresh and came out of a package.
The pot stickers...the only thing that was decent and edible.
My friend and I both got sick the next morning. It'll take me years to get over this place.
How we managed to select this horrible place out of the bevy of other good restaurants on Castro Street is beyond me. -
Review from Nathan W.
Alameda, CA
10/28/2010
The food here is pretty good. I like how they offer more then just the Americanized Chinese standards as lunch specials. I had the Hunan Scallops and thought it was quite nice. The presentation is very nice as well...
What first caught my attention was just how friendly and personable the host and waiter were. That isn't something one sees very often in a Chinese restaurant...
The prices are quite fair here, which is nice on this stretch of Castro... -
Review from Red Tail H.
Sunnyvale, CA
11/25/2010
They changed owners a while ago; to be more accurate, one owner bought out the other.
We hadn't been here in a while, and I was craving Chinese, so off it was to see what changed!
What changed is that a restaurant that I would have given 4 stars to dropped own to just average. There was nothing *wrong* with the food, per se. It's just that there was nothing compelling about it, either. The hangen chicken was a bit too sweet, the satay beef a bit too tough.... I ate my fill, but I wasn't left feeling like I'd really enjoyed it.
The service, however, is much better than it used to be. -
Review from Monty H.
San Jose, CA
9/25/2010
VERY good food! We went on Monday night (09-20-10) and it was desolate in there! I had eaten here before years ago, so we decided to take a chance and eat here even though we were the only ones in the restaurant. After we walked in, a few more tables filled up so it did begin to feel lively in there. They even commented that it is Monday night football now and business slows down for them I felt they were being honest because all of the Castro Street restaurants we looked through before selecting them were either completely empty or had only a handful of people in there.
We ordered the Hangen 2 person dinner and we were pleasantly surprised! Very flavorful food and freshly made for us plate by plate so we were able to enjoy each dish on its own alongside our rice. We had ordered some pot-stickers on the side as we are freaks for pot-stickers and we have to try them at every Chinese restaurant we go to and they were good, but not the best we have ever had. The meat was skimpier than I would expect and the meat fell apart when cutting the pot stickers in half so we had little pieces of met to try to scoop up.
I am not sure if it was solely due to the slowness of the restaurant that night but there were two waiters and they gave us exemplary service! They were on us the whole dinner keeping our glasses filled and plates etc. removed like "white on rice" pun intended. :) They were totally polite and attentive and asked questions on how we were doing, would we like this or that etc. SUPERB! Even if it WAS because it was so slow that night, the fact that they cared enough still to be that attentive instead of trying to hide from us and enjoy their slow night in peace, really won us over.
Thank you fellas for everything! Your service is what pushed my review up to 5 stars! :)
