Little Potato
(between Alvarado Niles Rd & Meyers Dr)
Union City, CA 94587 (510) 487-9168
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: None
56 reviews
Palo Alto, CA
"This place is a beautiful, upscale Cantonese banquet restaurant. You won't embarrass your great-uncle from Hong Kong if you take him here…" read more »
79 Reviews for Little Potato
Oh, no !!! This place is totally changed. They turned on the AC, but the food is not as good as it used to be before they changed ownership. There are not many selections now.
Does anybody know where the original owner and chefs go? Do they open another one somewhere else?
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It's actually painful for me to give my long-time favorite Little Potato a 3 star. I used to eat/order there regularly. It used to be the only place I could find in bay area that serves Dong Bei Jian Da Gu (Northeastern style spare ribs), very good one too. No longer available.
It annoys me that two conversations I had with two waiter/waitress last month and this month contradicted each other. It's obvious they changed the menu. But last time I asked, they said the ownership hadn't changed. They simply limited the menu to Shanghai style from the original Dong Bei (Northeastern) and Shanghai style. This time she admitted to me it's a complete change. I have to say it's misleading they kept the names of the previous owner's famous special dishes on the windows. But they don't offer most of them. My tiny hope of a temporary renovation was completely destroyed. Well, all the faces are new - how I believed the words last time remains a mystery.
Price is definitely higher. Dish-wise, they taste okay at the meals, but the after-taste later was not delightful, which hints they use heavy sauce - a bit against familiar Shanghai style. I'm not from Shanghai, so take my words with a grain of salt. All I know is I've had better Shanghai food around the area, especially when there are so many Shanghai restaurants to choose from.
Never been around this area before so I decided to have dinner with one of my friends. He suggested this place and said we could get 3 dishes at 15 dollars. At those prices, we couldn't resist. After looking at the menu, it seems as the 3 for 15 deal was no longer there because of a change in management. However, there were still a majority of their dishes ranging from 5-7 dollars each. We had no idea what to get so we copied some table next to us. We ended up trying the garlic chicken w/ black beans in some type of banana leaf served over white rice, eggplant in some garlic sauce, and this stringy tofu dish. The dishes came out really quick and I thought to myself: "you get what you pay for." These dishes did not look that good at all. So we dug into our dinner and to my surprise, they were really good. My favorite was the eggplant dish because it was very fresh with just the right consistency. Best of all, our bill came out to about 20 dollars!! I will definitely come back if I am in the area.
I used to like this place. New owners and there are some new dishes that I like, but......my last carry out had a foreign object in it. I went there today and they told me it was a piece of wood and did the right thing by allowing me to place a new order at no charge.
When I got home...you guessed it....I found another piece of wood (thinner this time) in my food (different dish but both were fish dishes)
I called and talked to about 4 people before they put a customer on the phone as nobody else there could understand English well.
The food tastes good, though not as good as under previous ownersip. My concern is the price increases and the "surprises" in my food.
The food here was pretty good and also you could choose any 3 times for only $15 bucks! whoohoo! and you can eat them for the rest of the week for leftovers!
I've passed this place many times while frequenting Marina Plaza. Finally made it in here tonight with the parents since they had a good first time experience last time around.
1. Green onion pancake - so so but not as crispy as I like it. I usually dip mine in soy sauce and vinegar. They had a ready made sauce they serve with it which was similar but the vinegar tasted more like balsamic vinegar to me. A little heavy and gave it a more than usual sour taste.
2. Seaweed fried rice with shirmp - deelish! I think this is my favorite thing that I had here tonight. Loved the addition of seaweed to typical fried rice and nice hint of saltiness gave it a great aftertaste.
3. Eggplant with Bifentang sauce - sauce not as you know it. "Sauce" in this dish is comprised of dry bread crumbs, fried garlic, onion and salt tossed with fried pieces of eggplant. I couldn't tell from the picture that it was a dry dish but it looked good. It was surprisingly tasty but a touch on the salty side.
4. Fried Tofu with Minced Pork - also a bit on the salty side but otherwise good.
Besides the saltiness of some of the dishes, still a good hole-in-the wall for some cheap eats. It's always packed so you know you don't have to take my word for it.
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Little potato has changed ownership. They expanded the place (if you can believe) and changed some prices and the menu. Same owner as Shanghai Delight is milpitas. We ate there last night... final analysis:
Food was okay... still above average for a Chinese place, but not as
good as the previous owners. Basically, the "Yian du xian" (salty pork
with bamboo and tofu soup) is no good anymore. It was definitely one
of our previous favorites. There was only three of us last night so we
couldn't try too many things. It's still good enough to go back at
least one more time to try things out.
On the up side of things, the service has improved 10,000%. The new
people are friendly, and unlike the original owners which decided to
run the entire front of house with 3 people, they have 6-7 people
service, waiting, cashing, etc.
To summarize, my friend put it very nicely when he said, "Now the prices reflect the food you get, when before it was a bargain." So the food is still good and with a 5% price increase, it's no longer a "steal"
but at 9:15pm when we strolled in last night, every single table was
still full and we had to wait.
This is going to be a long, mad, mean review, but read if u have time! haha.
It is also a warning to those about to go to this restaurant or to those that have been here before. (a man next to me muttered, "It's not the same. sigh.")
The last time I was in the area I saw the 3 dishes + soup for $15 deal. What can I say? I was stoked. I came back here last week to take full advantage of that deal and satisfy my hungry little stomach to its full content. And with good reviews on yelp? -- GOLD.
I entered the restaurant and that sheet with "Special" clearly labeled on it is GONE. How can this be? I was pretty disappointed already because now I'll probably control myself and order 2 dishes instead of 3 because there's only two of us eating. And I wanted that variety!
There are a whole bunch of specials with mouth-watering pictures posted on the wall. I see a Spareribs dish on the wall and I know i want it. But for the life of me, I can't find it on the menu. No matter. I call the waiter over. I would like Eggplant w/ Garlic and that dish (I point at the wall). He mutters in Mandarin. I speak cantonese and can only speak a few phrases in Mandarin, and one that is conveniently: "I don't speak Mandarin." He says "Oh sorry sorry sorry."
It is clear he has no idea what that dish is on the wall (after trying to converse with him for about 2 minutes) I point to another spare rib dish on the menu and then point at the wall. Are these the same? He says no. He points to the wall and he says he doesn't know what that is. UHHHH. I order the other spare-rib dish because this is pointless and I'm hungry. He takes the order and joy-joy that dish I ordered is out of stock. I ask him to suggest a dish and he says "Boiled Beef in Chili Sauce". I concede and he walks away with my order.
Another waitress is around so I decide maybe that it's just the new waiter's fault. I point at the wall "Do you have that?" "Yes we have that." WTF. "Can I switch my Boiled Beef with that Spareribs" "I'm sorry, your boiled beef is already being cooked" (It's been about 2 minutes after I ordered the boiled beef). "Your other waiter screwed it up" "I'm sorry, your boiled beef is already being cooked". Well I guess I leap at the opportunity (I wanted to try more dishes anyways right?) I order the spareribs on top.
Regarding the food itself:
- Eggplant = great! not too greasy either
- Spareribs (sweet/sour sauce) = too sweet and too thick, layer of oil/fat on the plate
- Boiled Beef in Chili Sauce = DEFINITELY not my thing. I would only order if you know what it is beforehand and love it
When the bill comes back it's 5.50+6.50+7.50+2.00 (rice?/tea?). That's weird because my dishes are 5.50+5.50+6.50. I tell them that the bill is wrong and they apologize and say they mischarged us an extra dollar. They said the 2nd "mistake" wasn't a mistake because the Spare-ribs were actually $6.50. I pointed (to the wall again) where it says $5.50. She said "No. That is wrong". WTF?!?!?!?! She then says "It's been corrected on the menu" and points to the menu at the $6.50 section where I see no such Spare-rib dish. I decide not to argue, as I can just take that money out of their tip.
I've never been to a place with this bad service. I was expecting B\bad, but not HORRIBLE. I've NEVER been to a place where I order a dish and they tell me the price they advertise is wrong. Why put $6.50? They might as well have said "That price is wrong." and charged me $20 for that dish instead. Either way, I wouldn't have gone back.
It was kinda funny because the group of 4 sitting next to us waited for someone to serve them then after 15 minutes stood up and left. Haha.
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Came here for father's day and was really disappointed! First the wait was too long. The place is a small and cramped. Second, the service was poor. I think they changed management or something. I kept seeing the servers making mistakes by not knowing who order what. They didn't have enough clean water glasses! They brought out a wrong dish for us and not cook right. Awful experience, the food was
decent though. This place should be more like 11/2 stars.
They changed the menu. No longer 3 items for $15. But it's still cheap starting at $5.50/ dish. The kidney and bamboo shoot with brown sauce stands out the most! Also LOVED their seaweed fried rice with shrimp (yummy!). Their g onion pancakes used to be more crispy but now it's just so so. The boiled beef in spicy sauce SUCKS! It has some nasty after taste that lingers on your tounge. That place is always busy around common time. It's cheap and good!
Next time I wanna try their steam pork with preserve veg, wine fish, special steam shanghai chicken, pork chives dumplings, (spicy garlic eggplant), shrimp and scrambled eggs, ground pork with fried tofu , Dong Bei Style Braised Spareribs
Why'd you change your menu?? It's so much more confusing now. Yeah, there are pictures, but you reduced your 150-dish selection down to 75. And where did the buy 3 for $15 go?? :-(
They said it wasn't new ownership and they wanted to focus more on Shanghainese dishes. 1) Um, don't lie to me about not new ownership, and 2) don't lie to me about Shanghainese dishes when you have stir-fried potatoes and lamb on your menu, both, I presume are Northern dishes.
I want my sour cabbage with lamb back.
At least you turned on the AC and cleaned up the sticky tables.
Cheap. Good. Chinese.
FAVE = shrimp and scrambled eggs.
SKIP = the large oversized meatballs
PARENTS' FAVE = ground pork with fried tofu
FAVE VEGGIE = green beans
Crowded on the weekends, full of chinese families like my own!
Yeah, this is the real deal. The $5 lunch special is a ton of food. Flavors are strong and often spicy. Service is negligible, but you should know what to expect when you peek in the door. Not a white-tablecloth kind of place. If you're not used to this kind of food, it's probably best to bring a friend who is. But they're not especially unfriendly to monolingual American newbies, either, so if you want to just take a stab at the menu, go for it.
I wish I hadn't forgotten so much of my Chinese, because I can read just enough of the handwritten specials to get the feeling that I'm missing out on some good noodles and dumplings. Dammit.
Conveniently located near Daiso, so you can buy tons of stuff you don't need, then stuff yourself silly, and still feel virtuously thrifty on both counts. Score.
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This place is surely the most non- typical chinese restaurant ive been to, that is good. I want something different, something not americanized...you know? Right away when you walk in the door, youll see little scroll down menus along the walls. And they are in Chinese only. The place is always packed, So I know if the locals like it its good. Its almost always asian people, now you know its good. We had to request forks.....this is like traveling, I like that.
The owner is nice and he speaks english. The menu is the biggest menu ever, you can get 3 things for 15 bucks! thats a heck of a deal. Its good food and you will leave satisfied. It can ba a little salty and garlicky...keep that in mind. Ive been here several times. I will go again.
The Dongbei braised spare ribs came out a couple of minutes after I ordered them. I got a big pile of meat, bone, cartilage, tendon and fat. The edible bits were extremely tender and unctuous. Strong taste of soy sauce and pepper with a hint of sweetness. The dish, which I didn't even try to finish, was definitely worth the BART trip; whether it was worth the calories is less clearcut. Came with a egg soup with tomato segments (not to my taste) and unusually firm steamed rice.
Aside: "Dongbei" is one of the few Chinese phrases I can read. All the written Chinese I know I learned from mahjong.
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My husband and I come here when we're too lazy to cook, and don't want to spend so much. Having eaten here so many times, I think I'm kinda sick of it. One thing I complain about all the time is the rice. It's the small grain type (not sure which), and the rice is always cooked with too much water. I love the walnut prawns and the green beans.
Little Potato offers home-style Dong Bei cuisine (the northeastern part of China, north of Beijing, bordering North Korea) at low prices (3 dishes for $15 comes with soup which we didn't get - maybe you only get it on weekdays?; $5 lunch specials on weekdays). According to my Chinese parents, Dong Bei dishes tend to be salty (liberal use of soy sauce) and noodles, dumplings, and breads are a central part of the diet.
True to form, we found the dishes to be a bit too salty, as well as a bit too oily but the portions were generous (and cheap). I'd say in terms of taste, I'd give it a 3.75 but I've rounded up due to good value and the presence of some less common dishes. They offer a wide variety of dishes including dumplings, noodle soups, pancakes, sizzling plates, clay pots and lotus leaf dishes. I haven't seen the lotus leaf item elsewhere.
The restaurant is a no frills place filled with Chinese families. I looked around and the most popular dish was a sauteed eggplant. There are specials written in Chinese all over the walls and a section of the menu that's just in Chinese (but most items are in English). You may have to wait for a table. The food comes quickly though. My parents said the Chinese name of the restaurant is actually Little Peanut and I spied a giant peanut on a pedestal stand that I really liked.
We had the following:
* Shanghai style rice cakes - the ovals were larger than average and nice and chewy, sauteed with pork slivers and cabbage in a slightly sweet sauce - our favorite dish
* Dan Dan noodle - medium thickness soft wheat noodles topped with ground pork, green onions, preserved vegetables and a spicy sauce - overwhelmed by too much white pepper and soy sauce
* Little Potato style clay pot with silver thread noodles, green onions, bamboo shoots, and pork. The saltiest dish (too much soy sauce).
We like New China better because it's less salty (it's in the same shopping center). Cash only.
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I found this restaurant on Yelp and decided to try it due to the good reviews and it's also less than a 5 minute drive from my house! The place lived up to it's reputation on Yelp fully. The dishes are 3 for $15 which is dirt cheap! Imagine how much a meal would cost if you go to Jack in the Box and think about this. The menu was rather large for a restaurant that offers the 3 for $xx.xx special. Most places I've seen that do that have less to choose from and I think one reason to try this place is that they do offer some things different from your usual beef and broccoli, peking spareribs, etc. We tried the the dongbei ribs and I thought it was quite good. I ordered because I wanted to order something I've never tried.
I've been back one other time already and will be frequenting this place due to it's close proximity and price. Definitely worth trying.
Dong Bei Style Braised Spareribs = 5/5!!!
Meat so tender you can eat it with a spoon. Seriously. Good flavor to the pork too with whatever Dong Bei Style is. This is the one to try. It's the first item on the menu. That's gotta mean something.
Sizzling Fish Fillet with tomato = 4/5.
Been on a whole tomato and meat/fish dish craze lately. Gotta try it everywhere I go. This doesn't disappoint. Bread/fried fish with tomatoes, onions, bell peppers. Good amount of sauce.
They also make a decent Chicken with Rice Stuffed in Lotus Leaf. Otherwise, the other stuff I tried (shrimp omelet with chives and seafood with tofu) was pretty standard.
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I used to goto Little Potato for their 3 for $15. Now it just blows. No specials and the wait staff is even more rude than before. The days of cheap food and a full stomach is over at this joint.
So, how do i put it. It's just very well priced, unbelievably cheap, well, it's Chinese, go figure. I love most of the dishes on their, but to list a few, there's the walnut prawn, the cumin lamb, the seafood clay pot, and...
But in terms of the service, well, don't expect them to give you the time of the day or to even smile, cause they are too busy serving you so you can eat your calories and get on your merry way so the next load can come in.
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This little gem of a Chinese restaurant is hidden deep within Fremont. The cuisines range from regions of Shanghai to Northern China and the prices are hella cheap at their 3 dishes for $15 special. There are over 50 different things to choose from and I've barely covered 5-6 of them which means I will definitely come back to conquer the rest of what this place has to offer. The eggplant is good and so is the braised pork with preserved veggies. Very authentic stuff that you normally don't see at typical Chinese places.
If crowds are a indicator of things, then this place has the goods as there is almost always a wait to get a table in this little hole in the wall. Service is just average as I believe no one who works there speaks fluent English.
Van The Man's Must try : Braised pork with preserved veggies (#49)
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NEW OWNERSHIP...different menu....dong bei spare ribs are gone, combination chicken noodle soup is gone!! It's a sad day in Union City. If anyone knows where I can get these spare ribs at...let me know please!
Food was still tasty...but my favorite dishes were gone.
This place can be hit or miss. We often order take out when we are too tired to cook, they have a 3 dishes for $15 (includes soup if you eat in).
The space is small, so large groups will have to wait a little and small groups may have to share tables.
They have some really good dishes and some eh, but overall it makes for a cheap, decent chinese meal.
this time we ordered:
Lamb with Cumin, spicy, a little oily, but i really liked it.
Black fungus thing with pork -- eh. bland.
A soup with pork and preserved vegetable -- decent.
they have a lot of lotus leaf dishes are are pretty good. the service is speedy and well, sort of rude, even if you do speak chinese. don't go for ambiance, go for a quick meal when you're too tired or (like me) don't really know how to make chinese food...
PS: CASH ONLY.
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I came to this place a few days ago with my family because my dad said that the food is pretty good for the price that you pay. We ordered Shanghai Rice cakes (which were pretty good), Spareribs, chicken, green beans, and chicken and mushroom. The food in general was decent, but I gave it a lower star because the service was CRAP. The waiter and waitress came only to take our order and serve us our food, and when we asked for a fork, SHE DIDNT EVEN LOOK OVER TO ACKNOWLEDGE that we even asked, to me its rude, and we spoke chinese too! So I gave it 3 stars because the food was good, but the service really weighed down everything else.
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Good cheap eats! The draw to this place is the affordable value of tasty food you get for the price. I found this place by reading the reviews here on Yelp, only to learn that my wife had already visited this place once somewhat recently w/my bro-in-law.
This place is similar to another place a couple hundred feet further down, New China (see my separate review). Both of these places serve mostly tasty northern China dishes to include a few spicy Hunan and Shanghai offerings.
Bland in taste is not to describe 'Little Potato'. Depending on who you ask, some may consider the seasonings of these dishes perfect or a tad on the salty side. One thing about some Chinese dishes (particularly Hong Kong styled dishes) that I'm not particularly fond of, is the 'shiny-aesthetic presentation' of the dishes. The shininess on many dishes is achieved by adding more oil to the sauce to achieve this gloss. From the eating healthier stand point, I'm not a fan of this as I try to watch my salt, oil and fat intake and you may learn this is how some of their dishes are served.
Little Potato is small place (just a tad smaller than New China) that doesn't seem to have a problem with customers coming in. The place is usually crowded and today, there was even a short wait outside after we were seated. Service is probably what you'd expect at a place like this, minimal (come here for the food, not the service).
There is a 3 items for $15 on the menu, which is a very good value and includes white rice and tea. Today, we ordered a fried sweet and sour spare-rib (which was tasty and good but this dish have my before-mentioned "shiny sauce"), a garlic eggplant (also tasty and with the "shiny sauce") and a Hunan shredded pork with bamboo shoots (good but very spicy!). Order items from the 3 for $15 menu during the weekdays and they will include a large soup to be shared for free.
True to being an authentic Chinese restaurant this place is cash only. Located in the Marina foods/Daiso shopping plaza.
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Was thirsty from MSG in Sparerib / Winter Melon Soup until following morning. Downing about 3 liters of tea and various other liquids barely helped. At one point, I began hallucinating and thought I saw Jim Morrison walking through desert.
Food tasted good, and reasonably priced. Huge menu featuring a ton of Shanghainese and Northern China entrees, such as Tofu with Minced Meat (excellent), Braised Eggplant and Potatoes (good), Sweet Sour Fish Fillet (highly disliked by friend who despised the heavy use of ginger), and of course my mortal enemy, dee SOUP.
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This place is a cheap casual chinese restaurant. I've been there countless of times and most of what they served are fairly decent. This place is crowded most of the time so if you want to try it out, go there earlier before the rush.
Try their signature spare ribs, it's full of flavor and really tender. If you like spicy food, you can try their fish filet in a bowl of hot oil and cabbage. That's my brother's favorite. For some warm soup, try one of their big clay pot which can serve as soup and a dish. I usually go for the seafood one and it's full of flavor. Don't forget to order a plate of veggies!!
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Love the food, Love the price, but not the environment...
I was my with 3-yr old last night for "to go". As soon as we stepped in to the store, my 3yr old told me... it smells. this place smells. haha, That's why I enjoy the food for ToGo. Not to eat it there.
If you want tasty food and good price, do a "togo". It was so good to have tasty food and stay in your own comfy home.
Another good place is the "New China Tofu" in the same plaza. It is pretty much similar food/price.
This is one of my favorite chinese places to eat in Fremont. The prices are good and the food is delish. The flavors are definitely unique here. You won't get your typical chinese food. It may have the same dish names or ingredients but I find that the flavors are a bit different...I guess that's partly b/c the food is from a different region of China?? Whatever the case, the food is yum here. I always get the eggplant with potato and slice pork....just writing about it makes my mouth water!! And I always order one of the dishes in the leaf wrap. I've tried the chicken in garlic sauce, chicken in bean sauce, and beef in tomato sauce. I'd have to say the best one is the chicken in garlic sauce. All their dishes are flavorful! Surprisingly, the dishes come out quick even when the place is packed!
I've minused one star though because there's this one waiter there that's a bit shady all the time (he's the younger waiter..i think there's only two guys that work here because ever time I come, it's always the same two guys lol). He's not friendly at all! But there is another waiter there that's way more friendlier and nicer! Also, minusing a star for the long wait!! The place seems to be packed no matter what time you come! It's a small restaurant so it doesn't really seat many people. You can make reservations but that doesn't always work out. Had reservations one time and we still had to wait in line lol
Haven't been here in a while so I'm definitely due for a visit!
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The food here was good but there were little cockroaches crawling around on the wall. I was thoroughly disgusted. My mom kept telling me to ignore it and she thought that I was being a wimp. Sorry, but it's kind of hard me to ignore COCKROACHES running around the walls as I am EATING. I haven't gone back and don't plan to. Because of this place, I now make an effort to not sit along the walls in Chinese restaurants.
The food here is awesome, the service is outstanding, well the server is pretty nice to me and always brings me my fork because I don't know how to use chopsticks.
My mom makes conversations with the server and that's always fun.
I always end up eating too much, so I go to the nearby Daiso Japan while my parents keep eating.
This is such a family place, I really love it here. :)
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I must say I love this place.
Good - Great prices, great selection of food, food is oily
Bad: - long wait sometimes, food is really oily
I would gladly make the 40 minute + drive down here to eat. Authentic Chinese food, extensive menu. Cheap. Who cares about the service. The waitstaff is a bit rough around the edges but efficient and competent. If I knew I was getting a measly 2 dollar tip I wouldn't kiss your butt.
Value *****
Food ****
Decor **
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Well, I admit, I took notes from Yelp reviews before going to order...
It wasn't as big a hole in the wall as I was expecting, small yes, but not a "hole" - I'm not sure if that says something about my standards, but it was well lit, appeared clean, and was about 1/2 full with families sitting down to eat at 6:00 on a rainy Friday night...
I ordered the 3 for $15 special - got the chewy Shanghai noodles, just like I remembered having years ago made by Chinese grandmother from Shanghai. The addition of the sliced cucumber cut the saltiness of the tofu and ground pork, and I could have probably eaten the whole thing myself. Also got the sauteed green beans - they were good, not too salty, not overcooked. Third item was the spareribs. While the flavor was good, I am a complete meat-snob - visible fat on meat absolutely repulses me, so while the flavor was good (cinnamon and star anise notes flavoring the meat), the gelatinous nature of the ribs themselves was a bit tough to overcome....
Now, warning to the white folks. This is very good food. But it is NOT "Chinese" food as you know it. Don't go expecting the food to taste like your favorite Chinese restaurant take-out. While I'm sure they may offer fried rice and chow mein on the menu, that's not why you visit a place like Little Potato. This is the food that Chinese people eat, not the stuff gussied up for American palates. My husband found it to be bland, as a result. I love the flavors.
And maybe it was my stab at Mandarin, but they weren't unfriendly - there were 3 servers that I could see. The service is brisk, no frills, but if you are patient and are willing to try something new, you won't be disappointed.
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This will be an out of the ordinary review for me. I am actually giving this place a pretty good review despite pretty aweful service. You will understand after you read on.
A few weeks prior, a friend and I ate next door to this place. When we were leaving, we noticed this place was packed with a line out the door. There were people getting take out and we asked if it was good. THe guy pointed at the line and the crowded tiny restaurant and said "obviously!" SO we made plans to venture back there.
We got there just after 6pm on a Wed night. The place had 3 or so tables available. We seated ourselves and then waited for the waiter to take our order. It took awhile. The menu has english, but the specials are all in chinese (oh well). WE ordered three spicy dishes (mmmm.... spicy), some rice and tea.The dishes are any 3 for $15. Wow, cheap. Within about 10 minutes of sitting down, the place was full, a line was forming, and the phone was ringing off the hook for take out orders. People came and went getting takeout.
What we quickly noticed is that the place has only two servers/cahsiers/takeout counter folks. They are pretty likely the owners. The two scurried around trying to handle everything. It seemed to us that they were able to keep the prices down because of the lack of extra staff. Ok, we can deal with that.
Our food came and it was delicious. I do not recommend the hunan style shredded pork as it had about a tablespoon of pork in it and the rest was vegetables (out of the ordinary ones that I didnt recognize). The sause on it was quite good though. The other two dishes, the kung pao chicken and the eggplant in garlic sauce were great!!! We saw tons of other dishes go by that we want to try and will surely have to go back.
I highly recommend this place. But, if you have someone who speaks chinese, you may be a little better off than we were. No necessary though. Just be patient. THey are really busting their butts and saving us money.
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I've been living in Fremont for 8 years - this is my favorite place for takeout.
Price: CHEAP! 3 items for $15 and a lot of food.
Food: Great! As long as you know what to order. Dry sauteed string beans for sure. Fried rice is good. Won ton soup pretty good. Avoid the shrimp with salty cabbage. Tastes as good as it sounds - don't know what we were thinking.
I only take out - it's too crowded, and we have communication issues sometimes (although i've gotten a couple good dishes by accident that way). Pretty small place.
Update! :D
I went again and had these dishes:
Spicy Tofu - This was REALLY spicy for those non-spicy eaters out there...we had it done mild and it was SPICY. However, i thought it was super tasty...it tastes like authentic "ma la" tofu ... mmm ...dish one of my two fave dishes of the night!
Green onion pancake - thick, aromatic with the green onion smell, yummy pancakeness! a little oily...but then again... it is onion pancake...
Shanghai Thick Noodles - thick but not too thick, chewy and not too salty. great consistency! yummderrrrs
Vinegar and Sugar Chicken - I think they have this listed as "sweet and sour chicken" but everyone who can read the chinese knows its Vinegar and Sugar Chicken. This is definitely not your regular chicken drowned in red sweet and sour sauce... its very yummy! Tangy and sweet at the same time, but too much makes your tongue a little rough if you know what i mean, second of my two faves of the night!
I likey!
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If you are any of the following, I would advise you not come here:
1) Terribly picky about service, especially "Chinese" service, which by all other standards would be considered "bad." However, like I always say, its just part of the experience - plus, I think the only reason service might not be hand-and-foot is because they are packed.
2) Don't like small, crowded spots - because, Little Potato is just that - a small crowded spot.
With that said, I like this place. I *HIGHLY* advise you to come with a chinese speaker, mandarin preferred. There are tons and tons of specials on the walls, and you should order from there if you want the best that the place can offer. However, 3 for $15 menu is also great, tons of stuff to choose from, and the portions are gigantic. The food is tasty, although a little salty but thats probably because chinese food tends to be SODIUM heaven! : /
1) Garlic Eggplant
Huge portions, yummy eggplant, a little TOO much sauce, and a tad salty...
2) Shanghai Style "Chau Lien Gao"
Good, except the noodles were a little too soft for my taste, I like them chewy...
3) Sacha Beef
Pretty uninteresting, but huge portions...
Needless to say, we had THREE to go boxes....
Can't wait to come back and try the specialty stuff on the waaallllsss!
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I ordered the dan dan noodles, and damn! damn! There was something weird going on in my mouth. I swear that my taste buds were about to fall off. My lips got numb and it felt like a bunch of pins stabbing me in my tongue. I don't know what kind of spices y'all used, but the dan dan was wacked.
Onion Pancake was ok, gave me a tummy ache at 3am tho.
Excellent place--just have to order from the right menu. Which for me, meant bringing someone else to pick out the right dishes. If you don't order dishes from the menu off the wall, then you might not be as impressed
Hole in the wall type of restaurant and very authentic. Shanghainese. They don't do Cantonese cuisine as well.
Long lines are usual.
Wow, John L's review is so true.
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