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Yen Ching Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
18 reviews for Yen Ching Restaurant
MSG WARNING!!!!!!!!!!! They use MSG but will leave it out upon request. After tasting our food without MSG my question is why do they need it?
I have been here 4 times and they were finally open. We had spring rolls, wife had egg flour soup and I had hot & sour soup. Much to my surprise, I actually tasted sour in the soup, a rarity with hot & sour soup.
We had the Mu Shu Pork and the Chung King Pork. At 1 star, the Chung King Pork was still too spicy for my wife, and not nearly spicy enough for me, but still had a wonderful flavor. The Mu Shu Pork was comprable to anywhere else, very good. Did I mention that everything was great without MSG?
I have to start by saying that I really wanted to like this place after seeing all of the good reviews, but we kind of were dissapointed in the food. I think there's an identity crisis going on here- is it a Chinese or Korean restaurant or both? We ordered Hot and Sour Soup(korean style, I guess because it was super spicy), chicken chow mein(bland), mu shu pork(where's the pork in it?), shrimp with lobster sauce(we like our with black beans in it), and garlic chicken. Since we can't read Korean, we had no idea what the korean menu had on it. I think the food was just bland and bleh.
The service was good, the waitresses were nice and helpful.
I used to live near Yen Ching. The Jjang Myun and JJang PPong is the best. Out of all chinese and korean restaurants, this place has the best 2 of the dishes mentioned above. Overall, the service is good but if the interior was cleaned up a little more, It'd be the perfect restaurant to visit.
This is twice now -- after the unfortunate "Greek" experience which shall remain nameless, lest you see my review of of it -- twice now that Yelp has made up for leading me astray that night.
We were craving Chinese and I've been noticing the reviews of Yen Ching on here for a few weeks now. So, Sunday night about 8:30, we rolled through the ghost town parking lot on 57th to find Yen Ching nestled quietly amongst one of the seediest complexes I've seen since North St. Louis. When DD meats is the anchor of a complex ... well, that doesn't necessarily bode well. Alas, we ventured on with the reviews of the masses at our backs.
The first thing I noticed was this small fish tank in the entryway with this HUGE fish in it! I felt so bad for this fishy! He was way too big for the tank, and as an animal lover, I must admit I taken aback and kind of sad for him. Also, decor-wise, don't miss the big clock on the wall, it looks like Flava Flav's prom outfit. Ok, so decor and big fish in a small tank aside, the place smelled great, and was empty, so we were seated immediately.
I was very very excited to see that they make Sizzling Rice Soup! This is my very favorite staple at my favorite Chinese restaurant in St. Louis and I miss not being able to have it save once every six months or so. It wasn't quite as good as the version back home, but pretty darn close and it really hit the spot. I ate enough for three.
My man ordered sweet and sour pork and I chose almond chicken. They were both exceedingly yummy, particularly the S&S which was perfect parts sweet to tangy. The almond chicken was really nice with lots of crunchiness from the celery, almonds and water chestnuts. They also left all the garlic and onions out for me without trouble and so the dish was very flavorful with the natural taste of each ingredient. MmMm.
Oh, and they also have "the good" fortune cookies. You ever have a fortune cookie that you spit back into your hand to make sure it's not cardboard? Well, these are the nice fresh almost vanilla-y ones!
Bottom Line: we'll be back Yen Ching (maybe next time with a net to steal the fishy and get him to a bigger tank!)
Oh, and how could I forget?! Our whole bill was $25. A beer, a glass of wine, soup for three, and two dishes for $25. You can't beat that with OJ Simpson! ... too soon?
My friend recommended me this place and told me that they serve really good Chinese food. I later found out that it was actually Korean/Chinese fusion, but still I wanted to try it out. It is definitely a hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant where it is tucked away in a small, ghetto Mountlake Terrace strip mall.
One of the things that stood out for me was that the service was very friendly for a Chinese restaurant, which is not something you expect. The lady was very nice in taking our orders and refilling our waters, so no complaints there.
The food can either be really good or just ok. The broccoli and beef and sweet and sour pork was a bit too sweet for my taste. The BBQ pork fried rice and curry chicken tasted better. On the other hand, I thought the Korean dishes tasted excellent. I tried jjam bong (spicy seafood/noodle soup) for the very first time and I loved it. It was very flavorful and not too spicy. The ja jang myun (noodles with black bean sauce) was delicious as well. The prices here are ridiculously cheap. I paid $8 including tip. There might have been a few dishes that I felt could have tasted better, but the fact that I paid less than 10 bucks for decent Korean/Chinese food will have me coming back here in the future. I will definitely come back just for the jjam bong itself!
I've been going to Yen Ching ever since I was a little kid. I can't remember very well but I don't think the decor has changed very much but the food and prices is still just as good.
I usually go for lunch - I get the egg flower soup (yum) and the Mongolian beef with the chow mein. There is a lot of green onions cooked with the beef that leaves your breath stankin' afterwards but it's so worth it!
The other food is just as good (sweet and sour pork, jja jjang myun, jjam bbong). If I had a bigger stomach I'd eat more than my usual haha.
If you are a native of Mountlake Terrace, you know this is the only great chinese food in town, and better yet, north of seattle!
I am a "regular" customer and every time i visit Yen Ching i am treated as if i am family. The waitresses know me by name and also know most of my family as well. This type of "Cheers" (sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name) feeling from a restaurant makes it a pleasure to visit everytime.
I have tried almost everything off the regular menu, and all their food is resonably priced enough to keep me coming back time after time.
The spring rolls may be a little oily but their flavor is awesome. dab them with your napkin to get some grease off.
It is true, the hot and sour soup burns something serious, but the flavor of the broth is so tasty you cant stop eating it! they will refill your tea and if you go for dinner they serve apple treats. Youll have to go there to see what i mean.
On the day of my sisterw wedding (we had decided to have a half catered half home made affair for the food) my mom totally burned the rice dish. We called yen ching right when they opened (early, at 11:00 am) and ordered 8 servings of fried rice. it was ready in 40 minutes and totally saved our butts!!
My favorite main dishes are the mongolian beef (comes VERY MILD so if you want spicy order it "extra spicy"), The mandarin chicken (bone in-or boneless), the potstickers, fried prawns (perfect tempura and never fishy) and the spicy diced chicken. The lunch special is under 6 dollars and includes soup, rice, fried wonton and main dish. The fried rice that is served with the lunch special is not as good as the entree bbq pork fried rice.
If you live anywhere around Terrace DONT be scared to try Yen Ching. It wont make a dent in your wallet, the portions are good, and the flavor of the food is excellent, and is always hot and fresh. Ive never ever had a bad experience here.
THE BEST HOT N SOUR SOUP!!!! We used to order take out or eat in at least a few times a month when we lived in MLT. The seafood dishes were not our favorite but the rest is awesome. Great prices as well.
We now live in Hawaii and cannot for the life of us find decent hot n sour soup :(
Seeing all the great ratings, and wanting to try a great Chinese restaurant without having to drive an hour I figured my husband and I could go and try this place. I was hoping beyond hopes that this place could match up to my favorite restaurant in Tacoma. I have been to about 6 with high ratings in the Bothell/Woodinville area. Alas, this one once again does not live up to my sky high expectations.
I was pleased to walk in and see the small, actually Chinese run, restaurant. I sat down, and perused the menu and here came the first let down. Though I myself do not see such a big deal in it my husband was saddened to see they do not have sesame chicken. I don't think it's a big deal but he was grumpy during the whole meal.
The prices were great, 7.99+ tax for mongolian beef, pork chowmein, rice, and hot and sour soup. My husband got the 6.99 hot and sour soup, sweet and sour pork, pork chowmein and rice. Potstickers/Gyoza were 4.95.
The soup came out and it was good, I was rather impressed that it had lots of tofu, bamboo shoots and spice! Definitely a 4/5 soup. A little too spicy for my typically 3 star spice hubby, but I loved it.
The potstickers were okay. We keep hoping for these little fat handmade potstickers with the perfect asian dipping sauce. It is a fantasy we harbor because in Tacoma there is such a restaurant with the beef perfectly flavored, and not too many veggies. Though these were homemade they are kinda...flabby, and thin. 3 stars.
The dinner was a disappointment to me. My mongolian beef wasn't cut well so it wasn't seasoned all the way through. The pork chowmein was pretty atrocious. I had to season it with soysauce to give some flavor to this bland dish. The rice was alright. 2.5/5 star
The little candied apple dessert thing was GREAT. I loved that extra little touch and wish I could just go and buy those things mmmm! We will have to recommend those to our favorite Chinese Restaurant in Tacoma.
Though this place is alright, I will still drive the hour and a half when I'm craving good Chinese. Regretfully this place is not it, and I do not consider this place for really having TRUE Korean food. If it would, it would have some Dwaeji Bulgogi darn it....Sure there is some Jjam Bbong but that's about it...
So don't go here for Korean, go for the Chinese. The prices are great, the food is okay...but hey if you aren't picky then give it a try.
Chinese/Korean fusion food. can you dig it? Okay, i've been to many many chinese/korean places all my life- and this place is like my favorite restaurant of ALL TIME. yes, i have that much faith in it. they're very discreet and not too trendy/popular. however, the people who DO know good eats and like dining in a more secluded and private place all know about this little gem in Mountlake Terrace.
from Jja-Jang Myun (brown bean sauce & noodle), Tang Soo Yook (korean/chinese sweet & sour pork... but light on the sour), Lah Joh Gi (Braised Chicken w/ veggies), Ggan Poong Seh Woo/Meh Woon Sae Woo (Spicy fried shrimp) is to die for, Ggan Poong Gee (Fried chicken) is heavenly as well. the Jjam Bong (Spicy Seafood/noodle soup) is slightly salty sometimes... but i just ask for less salt.
i dine here everytime i visit Seattle. i dined there for many years before that. it was a tradition for my family to visit there at least one a month. the staff never changes. the place is very humble... their menu, prices, friendliness, and ambience never changes. everyone i bring there only raves about it. at the end of the meal they bring out their fried apple or banana w/ carmelized sugar. very sweet/tart... but yummy!
Rock star service AND finally a family run Ma and Pa Chinese restaurant we can call our own!!
I'm so happy, I'm freaking dancing as I write, I mean who knew in the heart of "old" Mountlake Terrance there was this hidden gem!
I used our GPS system to get us to the "other" side of the freeway, we live on the Western half of Shoreline/Edmonds and Yen Ching is hidden in what I'd call "old" Mountlake Terrance, basically it's a run down strip mall with an archery shop, meat market, delivery pizza place and dry cleaners. You get the idea. So, the good old GPS tells me the restaurant is on the left hand side, the only thing I could see was the throw back strip mall from the 70's! After letting our eyes adjust we saw the dimly lit sign pointing our way to nirvana, well as close as you'll get this far outside of the ID!!!
So we get seated, by splitting up our party of 6, they gave us 2 booths, as the only large table in the house was taken by some "regulars." While the decor was nothing to write home about the servers kept the "Cheers" like atmosphere friendly and inviting.
The menu is somewhat small but they make up for it in FLAVOR! HOLLA!!! Crispy Beef, Ma Pa Tofu, Sweet and Sour Chicken, (my kids pick), a clear noodle dish, Won Ton soup noodles, and a Bo-Bo appetizer dish which included a flaming fire pot to heat the bbq pork and beef kabob, fun to eat as well as tasty! All these dishes were served up fresh, within minutes of each other and no mass quantities of corn starch could be found!!!
One other note, we started with the Hot and Sour soup, the spicy heat from this could have killed a small mammal, my Mom and I were in sheer heaven and haven't had a bowl this good of H&S soup in years!!
Plenty of parking, great service, and flavorful dishes for sure!
We'll have to come back and try the secret Korean dishes on the back page of the menu next, since we couldn't read it, we had to stick with the Chinese dishes, but it's all good!
Be forewarned, this is truly a whole in the hall!! Of course some of your better meals can be found in small places!!
I might give them another star if the second go around is still just as wonderful! Fresh fortune cookies imported from the ID and a fried dessert thingy topped off our delightful evening.
Thank you Mzjoolz for the heads up!
I enjoyed everything you reccommended!
My fav. was Spicy Fried Shrimp.
It melted in my mouth.
Went here for dinner tonight based on other yelp reviewers, with 6 other people. Overall, it was a mixed-bag.
The food was really good. The wait staff was very attentive and we never had a drink run dry, rice run out, and they split the bill three ways without a single complaint. My only issue with this place is that it's not korean-chinese food, as previously mentioned. It's Chinese food, good Chinese, but just Chinese. There is a Korean menu, but it is essentially the same menu as the english one.
So if you're looking for Chinese food on the north end that is good and not too expensive, go here. If you're looking for Korean, look elsewhere.
I LOVE YEN CHING!!! My family and I have been going to this place since I was a wee child. The service is always friendly / fast and the food is phenominal....and so cheap!!! I constantly crave their Hot Sour Soup...and haven't been able to a restaurant in New York who's Hot Sour soup even comes close...definitely hitting this place up when I go back to Seattle for the Holidays..... I even requested we have their Hot Sour soup as a starter at our Christmas Eve feast.
This place is in a hole in the wall strip mall in the city where I live. The only way ppl know about this place is word of mouth or they accidentally drove by it while starving. The food here is great. I usually get the mongolian beef combo meal and my lady usually gets the same or the chachangmyun which is black bean sauce on top of noodles; very delicious stuff. The staff is family run and very friendly. The prices are good too. If you come inside and there are ppl waiting or it looks packed, be prepared for a very long wait. Several times it took us over an hour from the time we were seated to get food when its busy. When its not busy your seated and chowing down in 10-15 minutes. Give it a try if your in the area, you wont be sorry.
This place is a hole in the wall - I only went in because of a review from another site. However, I was pleasantly surprised and the food was pretty good and prices were very reasonable (we did takeout). I would definitely not call it great Chinese food but for people that live in the area it's convenient and fills the need. I'd probably rate as 3.5 stars if that was an option. I will return to try the other recommendations so the fact that I'd go back seems good.
The Egg Flower soup was quite good and the Sweet and Sour Chicken was a hit with the kids and grownups (one of the better renditions of this dish I've had around these parts). The Chicken Chow Mein and other dishes we had were all OK but lacked flavor. In the old days this would have been supplemented with MSG but now this just seems bland. I loaded up with hot sauce and that seemed to help.
BTW, for anybody else that's looking for the perfect Wonton soup - this is not the place. This is a personal quest to find the soup I grew up with in Los Angeles as a kid. They used the thinner (and better) wraps) and it was closer than a lot of the others, but still no winner.
Stopped in for lunch since I like trying new places..........well new to me. This place looks anything but new, but to me that usually means a good thing because you don't last in this biz without customers. The place is tucked away in a tiny strip mall next to the Mountlake terrace Post Office. It is also near Double DD meats a great food find http://www.yelp.com/bi... I ordered off the lunch menu and had a decent no frills meal. The chow mein was good but the soup and fried rice was very average. (Why the hell doesn't anyone actually make good fried rice for lunch)? This is a ok spot to try if you live close or happen to be in the neighborhood, but I would never drive out of my way to get here unless I buying meat from their neighbors.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this place. First, after going there more than 15 times, I have NEVER had bad or just o.k. service. The three sister wait staff is consistently excellent, friendly, polite and attentive. The food is always good and I highly recommend the hot&sour soup, it is to die for and the best I have ever had. Every dish I have ever tried there is good, if not excellent. And the best of all, the prices are outstanding. My boyfriend and I can both get appetizers, entrees, drinks, and rice all under $25, Including tip.
