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Central (Red)
Mon., Wed-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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Oh god, what was our waitress's name? She was something special. I was sick, but she persisted that I order something warm: hot sake? Fine, pour me a carafe of sake for under $5. Twist my arm. She really took great care of Dave and I. I tried to order the spicy pork and cabbage noodles soup, but she insisted that I wouldn't want the item, because it came from a can (I hope that chef wasn't listening!). Instead I ordered the Sichuan Beef Noodles Soup, medium spicy. Dave and I are also partial to scallion pancake, so of course it was also ordered.
So the food is just lovely, the sauce unique, and the sichuan soup flavorful (and ultra affordable). The noodles were a little too firm for me (which equates to much splattering while eating), but all in all, it was good stuff (melty yummy beef chunks). The space itself could use some work, but I'm all for it versus the reeeally run down Pu Pu Hot Pot.
It's been awhile since I've been here. But they're quality hasn't gotten better or worse. I remember when I first encountered Mary Chung I was kind of scared by the selection and the prices. It's a little much if you try to eat here everyday, and the dishes are inconsistently good.
The things I've liked are the appetizer; Suan La Chow Show. Once when I ordered fried wonton I got these meat filled huge things wrapped in wonton. they're more like fried peking ravioli. but that's listed seperately. maybe the difference is they deep fry the wontons and only pan fry the ravioli? I don't know for sure tho. The wontons were very big and tasty. I also like the bean sprouts in Spicy dun dun sauce, but it gets redundant if you order a bunch of appetizers because they all have bean sprouts with spicy sauce of some sort.
I did not like the bon bon chicken, I did not expect it to be served cold and the chicken tasted old and dry. The Chinese fried bread was overly greasy bland and heavy. It didn't even have the regular taste bonus you get from frying things.
I only eat things here if its recommended to me by my Sichuan friends, but they don't prefer this restaurant. They only go when they've been lazy and didn't prep something tasty from home.
I was so excited about Many Chung after the first visit. If you go, get the Suan La Chow Show appetizer. Mind-numbingly good (and spicy).
But after maybe six or seven visits -- all for takeout -- I have just been disappointed too many times now. Like many Chinese restaurants, the menu is huge and the quality is not consistent. If they cut half the items off the menu, it might be easier for the customers to find the good stuff.
This is quite an undelightful place to eat. This however is a landmark eatery for Central Square.
There are only 3 things anyone should ever eat at Mary Chung's Swan La Chow Sho, Dun Dun Noodles, General Gao's Chicken.
I will continue to eat at Mary Chungs but I don't go out of my way for it nor is it the first place on my mind.
This is probably one of the only two times Yelp has ever seriously let me down.
I was so excited to try this place based off others' reviews.
The place itself was so dumpy. It was a hot summer day and it was even hotter inside this place (because real asians don't use AC - save that money!)
But the meal started off strong with great scallion pancakes, then it all went downhill.
The dun dun noodles are really not my thing AT ALL.
The Broccoli sauteed in garlic was pretty bad.
I don't remember the General Tso's being all that great.
My girlfriend hardly ate anything after the pancakes - I felt pretty bad.
I've only eaten here once but I highly doubt I'll do it again. Reading the other reviews it sounds like they do the spicy stuff better but eating with the sort of people who want the basic stuff: chicken fingers, beef teriyaki, lo mein... i was pretty disappointed. The beef was dry and tough, the noodles didnt have much flavor, and everything else was unspectacular.
The pork dumplings were good and the orange chicken, the lone spicy dish, was probably the best. All in all though if you cant do lo mein or beef teriyaki right I dont have much faith in doing more complicated dishes.
Cheap, Friendly. foods are ok. Be aware you need to bring cash because they don't take credit cards.
Let's just say that if I wore large plastic clip-on earrings, those suckers would have been pulled off in a dramatic fashion before the greeter/receptionist and I tussled.
Before I continue I would like to point that it was extremely slow.
The receptionist at Le Meridien recommended this place and in fact is the first restaurant featured in their print-out of local eateries. After walking around Cambridge and Boston for about four hours, I stumbled in exhausted and hungry beyond belief. The receptionist asked if I wanted to eat in or take-out and after I stated I wanted take-out and a moment to peruse the menu, I was bombarded with a million questions. I kindly asked her to give a moment while I familiarize myself with their menu and to catch my breath. Whether it was from the long, hot day/walk or petulant lady, the menu was becoming blurring so I just asked if they had a seafood noodle dish rather than reading the menu. She listed three or four items at which time I asked if the aforementioned items were a seafood noodle dish and to which she replied each time, that they were some beef/ chicken concoction.
Then the real greeter came out and began suggesting every thing but a seafood dish. Once again I stated I was in the mood for seafood and here's when the thought of tussling began. The first greeter looked at me straight in the eye and muttered something in Mandarin about how difficult I was being and how I was wasting her time.
Lady, outside!
What happened to customer service? If I want an angry Asian woman yelling at me in another language I'll just go visit my grandmother.
Another one of my family's favorite hotspots, for many years.
FAVORITES:
scallion pancakes
dun dun noodles ...very spicy; i'd order the sauce on the side
xiao long bao
pan fried pork dumplings
salt & pepper shrimp ...the technique to eat this is to suck all the flavor on the shell and then peel it off
They have a very spicy but delicious pepper sauce that goes with just about any of the appetizers. My mom loves the hot soy bean milk, which I'm allergic to! SO SAD :( The rest of the food is nothing too special, but still tasty. Service is generally pretty good, though we usually order take-out. Nonetheless, I still recommend Mary Chung's if you want authentic (and inexpensive!) szechuan food.
I like Mary Chung. But I don't love it.
I'm Chinese and grew up with a bowl cut. Mary Chung reminds me of a Chinese restaurant in Saskatoon where the White family down the street took me when they wanted to impress me with their chopstick skills in the 80s.
3.5 Stars for Mary Chung's. It's a good place to have in the neighborhod whenever I need my Chinese fix--which to be honest, isn't all that often since I generally find Thai and Vietnamese much more crave-worthy.
It's nothing special decor wise, but they do have a tasty scallion pancake and nice and spicy kung pao chicken. Oh, and they offer brown rice, which I always appreciate. The staff was attentive and friendly, but literally asked us every time she came over if we needed a fork and knife. Apparently we did not look like we could handle ourselves with our chopsticks. I tried not to be offended.
Overall, a good place, decent food, decent prices. I'm not running back to eat there again, but I definitely wouldn't mind going back.
If you want fancy, overpriced food, Mary Chung's is not the place for you.
But if you want some Szechwan down-to-earth cooking, and are in a rush or short on currency, Mary Chung's is right.
Things I like:
1. wide variety of dishes
2. generous portions
3. non-pretentious environment and polite staff
Things I didn't like:
1. could be a little cleaner
2. restroom is really tiny
Things you should know:
1. staff is polite, but sometimes short on patience, be kind to them
2. not sure if they take credit cards yet, it has been cash only for a long time
World's finest dun dun noodles right here. Seriously, I've been around the world and have had dun dun noodles in many cities on several continents, and these are my favorite. With chicken or without, they're cheap, hearty, and spicy as hell. The dumplings aren't bad, either.
Downside: tea is awful, and many dishes aren't bad, but are pretty ordinary. No credit cards, so hit the ATM before you come here.
I once broke up with a guy because he told me he thought the Dun Dun Noodles here were "gross".
I don't fucking date morons.
We always end up getting the Hot and Sour soup and Dun Dun noodles. Great for two, about $16. My cousin is addicted to the broccoli -- he found Mary Chung's while visiting from NYC and came home raving about it. In the old days, former MIT students used to plan laying over at Logan on business trips just to take a quick cab ride into Cambridge. This does seem a bit excessive, but it shows how dedicated the following is...
Cash only and it's closed on a weird day (Tuesdays, I think? and there's a whole week of Tuesdays some random summer week)
I go to Mary Chung for lunch once a week... it's the perfect spot for any lover of spicy foods. All of their lunch specials are under $6 and my favorite item on the menu, the Suan La Chow Show (spicy meaty wantons) are only $4.25. I also go for the hot and sour soup and the Dun Dun Noodles with Chicken. So spicy and delicious!
I love this place to death but I've noticed that some people are not on the same page with me. I think they are disappointed by this place because when they think Chinese, they want egg rolls and rangoons and chicken fingers, and while you can definitely get some of that stuff, they specialize in szechuan and I think they are going for a more authentic approach to Chinese cooking. Also, maybe the ambiance leaves something to be desired.
This place is hard to review because the things that are good here are SOO GOOD, but the things that are bad are possibly worse than any random Chinese restaurant you can find on any corner in Boston. If you like spicy stuff and are willing to take the advice of other yelpers, you'll have a delicious and cheap meal. Also, a sweaty head (I love spicy things!).
Things to get that will make you love this place (not a complete list):
- dun dun noodles with chicken
- suan la chow show
- crab rangoons
- scallion pancakes
Things that will make you wish you didn't go here:
- their tea
- general's good chicken
- basically anything not on the list above
Things that are confusing and I'm scared of ordering:
- grandma's pie
I used to come to Mary Chung's a lot back when I was in college, mainly because it was reasonably priced, decent quality Chinese food in a neighborhood with a dearth of good Asian food.
8 years later, I still like it for the same reasons. It's not the best Sichuan food, but it's a nice solid option when you're in Cambridge and want a quick, inexpensive meal.
The only thing on the menu that really stands out for me is the Dun Dun noodles--I love the spicy peanut sauce they put on there. I'm pretty sure that's not what Dun Dun noodles are like in China, but hey, it's still pretty good.
Extremely disappointing. I've been to my score of Chinese restaurants in Europe and North America, from decent ones to super-dodgy ones, and I must say this one is possibly the worst.
I ordered 7 different dishes just for myself, and there wasn't enough to get me full, that I could stand to eat. Only the starters were decent.
I am surprised by how solidly tasty this place is. For some reason (perhaps the very ugly green awning), I wasn't expecting much--I mean, it's not like Food Wall in JP is exactly drop dead gorgeous, but they deliver on the food front too, but what can I say--there's a reason the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" exists. (Or a store by its awning and ugly signs, in this case.) But if you're judging it by its delightful culinary treats, Mary Chung brings the goods.
What I love most about Mary Chung, aside from the very low prices of their lunch specials, is that they listen to the magic word: spicy. I have often found that I have to ask--nay, beg--for seriously spicy food at every, single place I eat, and even after doing so, inevitably find myself loading up on the chili paste. Mary Chung does not mess around. If you're like, "listen, I want my face to melt," they'll make your face melt. And I love them for that.
A personal favorite is the Bean Curd with Mushrooms and rice ($5.25), which is cooked in a flavorful (and did I mention spicy?) black bean sauce; the tofu is steamed, and the consistency works very well with the mushrooms and diced onions/hot peppers. The Bean Curd with Broccoli and rice ($5.25) is also tasty--and there are loads of wonderful, inexpensive veggie options (all way under $10) on their regular menu. And they do right by vegetarians (not oyster or fish sauce), but I always mention it just in case.
Mary Chung is a pleasant surprise. Definitely a reliable, inexpensive, and delicious lunch/dinner spot if you're in Central Square.
Will the real Mary Chung please stand up?
The reason I ask...after reading many reviews that say the spicy dishes are extremely spicy, we deliberated a while before deciding to take the plunge and order one mild and one spicy dish.
We started out with wonton soup and were quite impressed not only with the size of the wontons but with the quantity. Not only that but they were quite tasty, too.
For the mild main course, we chose Moo Shi Pork. I was going to order Moo Shi Chicken but the waitress said it had all dark meat in it. The Moo Shi was very flavorful and I was impressed with the amount of pancakes that come with the dish. Most places only give about 4 pancakes which are never enough. My only complaint was that the pancakes were a bit on the dry side.
Now...for the spicy main course. We ordered Ma Po Tofu (I know it's spelled differently on the menu but forget exactly how). When it came, we both tried it with some rice. Yes, it was spicy---spicy enough to make our noses run but not so spicy that we were guzzling water trying to put out the fire! It struck me as a truly authentic dish. I have a Sichuan cookbook at home and make this dish sometimes and found that Mary Chung's version was almost exactly like what I make. Mary Chung's had a good deal of Szechuan peppercorns in it which is quite impressive. My only complaint was that the tofu was too soft. I think that a firmer tofu works better in the dish.
So...what's going on here? Did we go on an off-night, was that why the food wasn't burn-your-mouth spicy? Or are other yelpers just not used to spicy Chinese food? Or has Mary Chung's recently started toning down the spiciness? Or are Mary Chung's spicy dishes more spicy than other local Chinese restaurants' spicy dishes? So...which is the real Mary Chung?
We would certainly go again next time we're in town. The food is priced right and you certainly get your money's worth. However, even though we went when the place wasn't too busy, waitress service was still on the slow side. So I wouldn't recommend dining here if you are in a rush. If you have lots of time to spare, then give it a try!
3.5 stars. This place has been a family staple for many years. The food is good, and the selection is quite varied. The decor is homey, with a greeter station immediately as you enter, and a mix of round tables for larger parties, booths for 2 and booths for 4. We come here for comfort food, nothing fancy. They like children here, and I think the kids grow up remembering that they were welcomed and they tend to come back.
I would give Mary a trillion stars if I could. I don't even know how to express how much I love Mary Chung's in a simple review.
I started coming to Mary Chung's when I was barely able to walk with my family and have been coming ever since. I absolutely love everything about this place.
We used to come at least once a month for dim-sum on Saturday or Sunday. Everything is so unbelievably unique and delicious it is impossible to replicate. Nowhere else in the world comes close to Mary's. I have been living in San Francisco for 2 years now...tried the best dim sum they have to offer...and these places aren't in the same league as Mary's!
At Dim-Sum we almost always order the same stuff:
-Suan La Chow Sho (my last meal if I was on death row)
-Peking Ravioli (pan fried)
-Tzar Chung Mein
-Dun Dun Noodles
-8 steamer buns (with ginger and vinegar)
-Scallion Pancake
-Spring Rolls
When we come for dinner we usually get things like Mongolian Beef, Hot Stuffed Eggplant, & Chung's Spicy shrimp, along with some of the dim-sum items above.
This is not a place to come and order beef with broccoli and orange chicken. So if you have come here before and not liked it....please try it again for dim sum and order some of the items I have recommended above...I promise you will love it.
Ever since I left the are for college and eventually moved away to San Francisco I have missed Mary's more then anything else about the east coast. Whenever I come home to visit I go at least twice....even if I am only home for a weekend.
Mary if you are reading this....I LOVE YOU.
Chinese food doesn't get better than this around here.
Mary's is wonderful, especially if you like spicy.
Be sure to try the shrimp Saun La Chow So
I have been going to Mary Chung's since my parents carried me in as an infant, 22 years later and I'm still coming back. It's bad when the owner knows you by name huh?
The must-haves are the Dun Dun Noodles (sorry but if you complain about them being too hot... you're probably just a wimp), scallion pancakes, Suan La Chow Show, and the steamed buns if you happen to make it in for Dim Sum.
Mary's doesn't accept credit cards, and you are bound to overhear some interesting conversations while you are there. The food is worth five stars, I am giving four because I really wish they would re-do or keep up with the bathroom, as it is a bit questionable.
Ohhh this one was a toughie.
Five stars for being the best Chinese joint in Central Square. Bravo!
Four stars for the food, which is really good, but Mary can't quite compete with the Chinese food in larger cities, like NYC.
Three stars for being suspiciously overpriced and not taking credit cards.
Two stars because the green tea always tastes like an ashtray, for some reason. (Thank you Dave and Lisa for pointing this out).
Bottom line- three stars. Yummy Chinese food for Boston, but bring cash, and skip the tea.
After so many visits to Mary Chung's, I still don't know what grandma's pie is, only that whenever I go in on Saturdays for lunch, Mary or whomever is behind the counter eagerly suggests I try it! As you can glean from this, this place has very friendly staff, I love it.
Food can be a bit deadly... not the healthiest. You may even get very drowsy after a meal in the middle of the day, and might have to go back home to take a nap.... :-) MSG?
I really like their wontons and steamed buns served during dimsum. Their "dimsum" is different in that you don't see the staff wheeling around carts of food but instead you order from their special dimsum menu as you would at a sushi bar. So it doesn't have that unique atmosphere that comes with a true dimsum place. Good selection, and decent price.
Mary Chung's offers good quality Chinese food at reasonable prices. Oft-favored by locals and often totally packed, the reputation of this place is well known. Suan la chow show and dun-dun noodles are probably the dishes most often quoted and requested, but their other dishes are notable too - they do a pretty authentic range of Chinese dishes.
My ratings summary:
Food: Good food - some favorites! Not too greasy, too. Not health food by any means, but you don't feel like you're going TOO far off the diet.
Service: It's a relatively small place, and it does get really busy - which of unavoidably slows service. Sadly, I have to ding their no-credit policy - I've forgotten this more than once and had to dash out for a quick fee-laden ATM trip.
Value: Good value - if you remember to bring cash
Ambiance: The seats and other furnishings are a bit worn, but otherwise a pretty standard Chinese restaurant decor.
Parking can be a bit inconvenient here - there's no readily-accessible lot. There are a couple of municipal lots nearby, but they're usually full. Take the T if you can!
Bottom line:
Decent food, somewhat inaccessible if you're not a T-guy, and no credit cards!
Okay...so I wanted to avoid writing this review for a while since I wanted to keep this little neighborhood gem to myself! However, with this economic situation, I thought it is only fair to share it with our fellow foodies. This is because it's good and very affordable!
What I like about MC is that it's a humble little mom and pop type of restaurant. Mary Chung herself works there AND in the kitchen! Almost like getting home-cooking from mom. Yummy!
Some of my favs are the scallion pie (home made!), Grandma's pie (it's a special -- not always avail), the dumplings whether it's in the wanton soup or in their "suan la chow show" cold dish with homemade spicy sauce with bean sprouts! If you are there late in the lunch hours, you might catch them making the dumplings in the back table. Yummy Dun Dun Noodles (very spicy, but you can ask for the sauce on the side and adjust it as you like)
Okay the beers and Glen Ellen wine (by the glass) are same affordable price of $3.95! Ka-Ching!!! Sake is $4.50 (warm or cold). So where else can you get that along with the food?
I gave it 5 stars because MC is what it is. It does not try to be more than what it needs to be.
A place with good service + good food + affordable prices = 5 Stars.
We went to Mary Chung with high hopes based on a recommendation from a friend who had lived in Hong Kong. However, we found the food only slightly more authentic and flavorful compared to Royal East. Nevertheless, the owner should be applauded for his/her originality as we have never seen dan dan noodles prepared this way before. It's also worth noting that adding bean sprouts doesn't make a dish automatically Chinese.
If you want tastier and more authentic Sichuan food, go further east on Mass Ave. to Thailand Cafe (the name is deceiving and we've tried the Thai food there). It's a dump, but the mostly Chinese clientele should tell you something.
I just love this place and it's simplicity.
I first had a taste of Mary Chungs at a work function, when a friend of mine had ordered a whole variety of yummies from there to cater the event.
I was sold -- I don't know the names of all of the 8 or 10 dishes she ordered -- but it was just unadulterated, healthy tasting. home style cooking. all of their vegetarian tofu options were delectable. Nothing was too salty or doused with oyster or hoisin sauce like so many other places.
I've visited the restaurant itself twice since -- and it's really a hole in the wall in Central Square -- feels like a throw back to the olden days of the 70s or something -- well old in a timeless sense - since there aren't really any identifying markers to date the place.
The place is always hoppin'. And seems to have a ton of regulars, I suspect mostly the MIT crowd from down the street. There are usually large groups of people eating in community when I've gone.
The staff are so super helpful and motherly. I felt like I was sitting at the family dining table, with my aunt giving my advice on the side about what to eat, how to cook a mean lo-mein and who not to date. (No not really :). But the staff really are sweet.
The downside to the place is that they only accept cash -- so I've found myself having to scoot to the ban machine about 3 block away to replenish the supply, whenever I get there.
Maybe I just don't get it. Where I come from, fried rice is off-white and fluffy, slightly sticky, and studded with peas, carrots, and bits of egg, NOT grainy and brown. Mongolian Beef is tender and lightly marinated, NOT drenched with sauce and onions. Not to say the food was all bad, merely that it didn't meet the standards all the positive Yelp reviews had prepared me for. It's still better than some of the food I've had in Chinatown.
The fried rice had an abundance of yummy things in it and was easily moistened with some of the liquid from the drenched soupy version of Mongolian Beef, I received. The flavor of the beef was good and so was the quality. The fried was also really cheap for such a large portion as were most of the dishes, except for the Mongolian Beef because it is my unfortunate habit to always want the most expensive thing on the menu.
The reason it gets 3 stars instead of 2? Service/Atmosphere. The place was so warm and inviting the second I walked in. The music was serene and the staff, helpful. My food was ready quick quick quick. I was quite pleased because of the unassuming exterior.
By the by, I was intrigued by the Mysterious Flavor Chicken, but didn't have the stones to order it. If anyone has any keys to the mystery, please clue me in
Who would have expected that this little spot with such an unassuming storefront, in the area that's borderline Central and Kendall would be such a great spot for Chinese? Lovely place to grab a dim sum brunch. And I will be back soon for more, dim sum or regular menu.
Their dumplings like the mini steamed buns (little soup buns, essentially xiao long bao) are not as good as some others I've had, but they are still very tasty, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I've heard that this place can get really spicy, and I mean 'burn your mouth and set your face on fire' kind of spicy, but it was at a very enjoyable level of hotness for me. I didn't go for the severe big guns of spiciness but it was really good. The noodles are not as greasy-heavy as they are at some other places - I could eat them enjoyably among all of our other dishes without feeling like a grease monster was going to weigh down my belly for eternity (or at least the rest of the day). In fact, it was all very pleasantly digestible and whether you're looking for more Americanized dishes or more authentic stuff, I think it's a great place to go to get good Chinese food.
It's cheap too, which makes it all the better. Sure, the decor isn't exactly stellar (it's quite bare-bones actually) but it's still comfortable and nicely clean enough. Many of the other patrons looked like they were lost in their own planet, but I probably looked much the same when I was trying to figure out how to shove spicy wonton beansprouts, dumplings and noodles in my gob with intensity one after the other. Yum.
But best of all, what brought me here in the first place, was my friend telling me that they have TANG YUEN! Listed on their dim sum menu as 'sweet sesame balls', these glutinous rice balls stuffed with sweet black sesame paste and served in a boiled hot water soup are absolutely heavenly. Reminiscent of my childhood (and adolescence, and adulthood, and forevermore), they are a delight to eat and if you haven't tried them yet, you've got to get yourself over there pronto. And you can get 4 of them for less than $3. Ohmygoodness. Thank you!
Most people I know like it here but I am not that much of a fan.
I think the meats are not the best of quality and that is very important to me.
You may like it though, it's cheap and you do get what you pay for.
I've been eating at Mary's every week since they opened (28 years ago) and it's my favorite Chinese restaurant. Now that I've moved back to Virginia, I count the days before my next Boston trip.
My most recent visit was a couple weeks ago. Well, actually during the four days I was in town, I went to Mary's four times with different groups of friends. I'm sure you can tell by now that I love the place, so I'll just give some standing recommendations.
Suan la chow show is a classic dish prepared here in a relatively unique way. It's steamed pork wontons on a bed of mung bean sprouts garnished with ginger and scallions, and hot peppers, in a soy-based hot ginger sauce. (Other restaurants sometimes have a peanut butter version of this dish, or even a spicy and sour wonton dish that's in the same universe, but I have yet to encounter the basic version that Mary makes. A restaurant down the street with historical ties to Mary's makes a less spicy, sweeter version of suan la chow show, but otherwise I can't find it anywhere.)
Beware: Suan la chow show is simply addictive.
Another big favorite is her rendition of Dun Dun Noodles. I got some carry-out on the day we left to bring to a friend in Connecticut on the drive back home. She was, of course, ecstatic.
There are lots of great dishes at Mary's; I'll review them on another occasion. You could go just for the suans.
The quality of the meats here are of particularly poor quality. The two times I've gone I have been literally injured by my food (razor sharp chicken bones hidden in my supposedly boneless meat). The veggies have always seemed rather squishy in a way that doesn't make me too confident about their freshness.
When they mean spicy they REALLY mean spicy! For some dishes the spice is great, and as a spicy food lover I really enjoyed it. However, there are some dishes here that are frankly terrible because any flavor is completely offset by how spicy they make it. If you are sensitive to spicy food I suggest you go elsewhere almost everything here has a bit of bite to it.
Chinatown may be a bit of a hike but it is worth it to find much cheaper, fresher, and better balanced food.
i am chinese, i like chinese food and Mary Chung's is one of my go-to places. it's familiar, spicy, yummy, and inexpensive (can be very inexpensive depending on what you get). came here first with my parents, and since i live in very close proximity, i get stuff from here all the time and it's extremely satisfying.
i usually rotate between the same items: dundun noodles with chicken (spicy, salty, noodly, peanuty, ultra comfort-food), scallion pancakes (theirs are more the fried than flaky variety, though i like both, and they come with the most delicious sauce, my guess is soy, sugar, garlic, scallion? intense amazingness), and mama bing (what they call Grandma's pie)--awesome but they only serve it on the weekends, and sometimes, i get cravings for eggplant and some kind of green vegetable (pea shoots! when they are in season).
plus, staff and servers are friendly and courteous, which is not always a sure thing in asian establishments.
i'm getting hungry thinking about it!
Mary Chung's is my favorite for Chinese food in the Boston area. It does have a generic name and there's no bells and whistles about the look of the place, but their food is fantastic! I've never had a bad meal here...ever. The food is always fresh tasting, never too greasy on the fried items and if anything on the menu is considered 'spicy', you betcher ass it's spicey! The first time I ate here I shared the house steamed dumplings, General Gau's chicken and a spicy beef dish w/ a friend....I almost called into work the next day, but it was worth it LOL. They leave a pitcher of water on your table for a reason.
Cash only, closed Tuesdays.
These are two simple facts, but somehow I've been there both without cash, and on several occassions I've pawed the locked door on Tuesdays.
Regardless, this place rocks. Huge portions, deliciousness, and believe them when they say it's spicy. This place fits the criteria of what my dad describes as "making you pee in the river so you don't set the trees on fire."
I'm alive. If I died last night, Tarah was going to write two reviews. One for the food and another as a memorial. Kind of like what we do for Yelp events. But hella morbid. Anyway, I'm alive! So dry your eyes young squire, all is right with the world.
After Andrew M.'s event at Miracle of Science, Tarah and I jumped on Yelp to figure out where to eat. Completely and utterly indecisive despite my previous residence on Green Street and my familiarity with the area, I texted/called Ligaya and Tarah texted Tom E. Tom was the first to respond and since one of his suggestions was Mary Chung's and that was the closest (it was DANG cold last night) we hopped in. ::end of excessive name dropping::
One of only a handful of "couples", we got a booth. By the looks of the other patrons this seems to be group destination. It was nearly 8pm and there were a good amount of groups 3-7+. The waitresses were very friendly and the service was quick. There was a certain somber quality about the place and it seemed like Tarah and I were the only ones talking/laughing/cackling.
Which sometimes slash always happens when I'm anywhere.
We had the beef teriyaki to start, which was good but a little chewier than I would have liked. It was also served with a sauce that was okay, but totally unnecessary. Tarah got the chicken and broccoli, I got the sweet and sour chicken, and we shared a medium bowl of brown rice. I would have liked some more rando-veggies with the chicken, but it was a pretty big portion in itself, so whatever. Just perfect to stuff the two of us. There were no survivors. Food-wise.
So you're probably wondering what's up with the dramatic beginning. Wellll.. they have pitchers of water on most tables.. but when we first got water, the waitress poured from another pitcher from the back. Since I made Tarah taste some of the random sauces we got, she said that I had to taste the water from the pitcher. Being the brave soul I was, I drank it.. and I'm alive! I know.. lame story.. but it was funnier to us when we thought I was drinking chlorox. Yeah.. I guess you had to be there. And be pretty effed up. 3.5 stars
Neighborhood: Kendall Square/MIT
Category: Chinese
Cambridge, MA
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: North Cambridge
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Brookline Village
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Central Square
Category: Thai
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