Paul Chen Hong Kong Restaurant
2426 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD, 21218
Paul Chen Hong Kong Restaurant Menu
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Address :
2426 N Charles St
Baltimore, MD, 21218 - Phone (410) 235-8745
- Website https://www.paulchenhongkong.com/
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :10:30 am - 11
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : Yes
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Parking : Street
Bike Parking : No
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : No
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Divey
Noise Level : Quiet
Alcohol : No
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : No
Categories
Chinese Cuisine
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
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Esteban M.
I lived in charles village for over 4 years and this restaurant used to be good but then something happened where they stopped giving a crap about the restaurant and service.
(1)Ajay M.
I placed an order today at Paul Chen Hong Kong restaurant. I placed the order and an hour later I called to check on the order and she said it would be at least another 45 minutes. Her explanation: 'I don't know what to tell you'. I asked to cancel the order and she hung up.
(1)Sarah J.
I'm so disappointed! I usually swear by Paul Chen's as the freshest, best, Chinese takeout I've had in Baltimore. And they deliver all the way to Canton where good Chinese is definitely a rarity. But tonight it absolutely sucked. Almost inedible. I don't know what happened but I feel like I just wasted $30 and I won't be ordering from here again anytime soon. Sad.
(2)Joshua D.
This was my "go to" for chinese food take out when I attended JHU. I didn't really try much on the menu besides the crab wontons, won ton soup, egg rolls, szechuan crispy beef and General Tsaos chicken. The Szechuan crispy beef was awesome. Nice crispy strips of beef in a spicy and sweet sauce with strips of carrot and celery. It was easily the best entree I tried and was my standby. The GT chicken was pretty run of the mill, as were the crab won tons. The won ton soup and egg rolls were pretty pedestrian as well, but the crispy beef was king. I still miss it, almost 3 years after I left Baltimore.
(4)Sheena B.
The szechuan and kung poa tofu are really good, vegetable spring rolls are crispy yummy (not greasy) rolls of heaven. I also love that they offer steamed brown rice and they have a hit the spot, though not quite perfect, strawberry daiquiri. Delivery time is speedy to average and service has always been a pleasant experience. They're the only chinese/takeout/delivery menu in my apartment for the last three years.
(5)Drew R.
Very good, good prices, and a great go-to for good american/chinese. Always get carry out, but have seen diners inside. The inside is nice, as is the staff. Would definitely recommend!
(4)Victoria G.
This is solid Chinese food, I'm really confused by the other reviews! I have ordered delivery from them for years when I lived in Bolton Hill, and now that I moved even closer I eat in and get take-out frequently. I have never had an issue with incorrect or unfriendly delivery. Sometimes (like on a fri/sat night around dinner rush) I remember it could take longer to get food (~45 min - 1 hour) but it was never cold, soggy, or bad, which made the wait tolerable. I have definitely gotten burned by terrible American-Chinese food in Baltimore, but this place hasn't let me down yet. The menu is HUGE and I have only tried maybe ten different entrees, but this is probably because everything I've had I wanted to get on a regular basis. The food is reasonably priced and it satisfies. The vegetables are always crunchy and the sauces are flavorful and viscous (sometimes a little too vicious, but I prefer this over bland or dry any day). Seafood is reasonably sized and well-prepared. Portions are not too small but not too big. They don't skimp on the fortune cookies or sauce packets and the food has always been well-packaged in my opinion (no styrofoam, cardboard is stacked between items, double-bagged). The place itself is quite shabby and generally sticky inside (wish I was kidding) which is why I've rated it so low...I have never gotten sick on the food there but sometimes I think I am surprised by this. I would be way less uncomfortable eating there if they maintained their restaurant's appearance a lot better. Obviously it doesn't keep me away much...it's convenience and reliable deliciousness balance out my wariness, but I really wish they were a little more clean and updated.
(3)Kristin R.
I ordered delivery from Orderup for my boyfriend and I to eat on his lunch break (around 2 PM) and it took well over an hour to be delivered. Needless to say, my boyfriend had to go back to work on an empty stomach. I called the restaurant and they said the driver was on his way (a 9 minute drive from the restaurant to my apartment). 40 minutes later - no food. So, I call again. The lady says she's going to call the driver and call me right back. 20 minutes later - no call back and no food. So of course by this time, I haven't even eaten and I'm already turned off from this place. I will not order here again! Also, I ordered the General Tso's Chicken and the Orange Chicken. They both tasted exactly the same. Not much flavor at all and same with the egg rolls. There were also tiny holes on the bottom of the takeout box, so it leaked EVERYWHERE. Blah. Bad experience.
(2)Gary H.
The place needs to be closed for a through cleaning. It is filthy. The rest rooms are beyond filthy. It boggles the mind what the kitchen must look like. Better try Yum's up the street.
(1)Graham P.
Ordered fried rice. What arrived was old, hard and smelled like an old carpet. It was the worst fried rice I've ever had...and I've had a lot of fried rice. Also ordered Moo Goo Gail Pan, which was decent.
(2)Vickie S.
Mostly writing to remind myself not to order delivery or take-out here again. The food is disappointing. Yes, even for cheap Americanized Chinese takeout food. I like Kung Pao and dumplings, as a general rule. This is not the place to get them. It's free delivery off of GrubHub, and most dishes fall below seven dollars apiece, so I guess that's the plus. I've ordered from here more than once, figuring I wasn't trying the right thing. Learn from my mistake. The soup is bad. The broth tasted... off, and there wasn't anything other than broth and noodle. It's not like the green onions in wonton soup do much, but it's a textural difference every so often. The Kung Pao isn't hot. Now, I'm a spice fiend, but I'm not blind to Scoville units in the hundreds. Nothing. The sauce for the dumplings tastes like barbeque sauce thinned with soy sauce and they're very doughy. The Monk's Yu-Shiang pork (hey, the monk dishes got good reviews, go with those, right?) had three strips of the fake meat in the container and entirely too much onion. The sauce was bland, too. It's a lot of corn starch, as people have said. The szechaun green beans were okay. Bright side? There's a whole series of cheap Chinese delivery options. This is not the place to indulge the craving. Just say no and spare yourself the regret.
(1)Josh R.
Ma Po Tofu is too sweet I don't understand Americans and sweet Chinese food. It's BAD BAD. The Hunan Tofu is perfect. No Americanized sugar added. The Wonton Soup was great. I'll remember to avoid Ma Po Tofu. I'll go to a Chinese or Taiwanese place for Mao Po Tofu from now on. Get it Straight, or I'm spending my money elsewhere.
(2)Emily L.
Crab rangoon were delicious, but everything else was mediocre at best. The eggrolls were completely tasteless. To be perfectly blunt, this was the worst Chinese food I have ever had- although to be fair, I don't eat a lot of Chinese food.
(2)Megan G.
there really isn't any great asian food in baltimore - but this place isn't bad. the food comes hot, it usually takes 45 mins - hour. the wonton soup is good - and they actually make their crispy friend noodles.
(4)Harik C.
Extremely tasty General Tso's that was not overpowering with spice. Extremely quick delivery as well!
(4)Food C.
Horrible!!!!!!!! Just horrible!!! Save your money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ordered fried rice, it was hard. no flavor, beef chewy as f*ck, like rubber, horrible!!!!!! I had egg shells in my rice, man, friend rice with egg shells!!!!! Then the dumplings I ordered weren't even cooked all the dang way. This is a problem. This is THE WORST Chinese food I have EVER had!!!!!!! Save you money and go buy elsewhere, cause this was just a mess. (Srsly, how do you mess up fried rice?)
(1)Ievolve E.
The only upside about this place is their slushes and the fact that they deliver beer. The food is lackluster, but has made do for period food when i didnt feel like cooking. Though I have been ordering from them for awhile, the reason i am just now writing this review is that they STOLE MONEY FROM MY CREDIT CARD! The day i last ordered, i gave them my card info over the phone. i got a call back shortly after i placed my order and someone from Paul Chens asked me for my card number again. The next day there was a charge from FOOD DEPOT from $331 that i did not authorize...and i still had my card on me!! They wiped EVERYTHING out of my account. i called to talk to someone about and they have refused to call me back. I called the police and this is still under investigation. These people are thieves! So, if you are going to risk your health by eating the food, at least preserve your finances and PAY WITH CASH!
(1)Lindsay K.
I've read a lot of these other reviews, and I must say I'm simply puzzled, because I've never had a negative experience with Paul Chen's. I've been ordering takeout and delivery from this place on average about once a month since I moved to Baltimore ten years ago (sue me, I eat a lot of takeout), and I love their food as much now as I always have. Delivery typically takes about 45-60 minutes, I can remember maybe one or two times ever that I've been given wrong items, and I never have a problem with the delivery guys. Paul Chen's does your typical Americanized-Chinese food, but they do it very well. The pork fried rice and pork lo mein are staples for me- big chunks of pork- and I love their pan-fried meat dumplings. Try the szechuan crispy beef or the szechuan crispy scallops for a great combination of sweet and spicy. I'm also a big fan of the mixed vegetable saute- simple but delicious- ask for the white sauce. Check out the honey fried banana (chunks of banana battered and fried, then covered with honey) for an interesting and delicious treat. (Stay away from the "apple stick" though, I've tried that and still don't know what the heck was going on there.)
(5)lauer k.
We did get what we ordered,.however, once again, they messed our order. We requested HOT, but everything was bland. It is not that it was not tasty, it just was not prepared the way we requested.They seem to read our order, and send what they "feel" like sending to us. The folks that complained about the egg rolls are correct. That is why we no longer order them! Perhaps they were really super, in the past, but in the past year the quality is less than I expected. Perhaps they are attempting to keep their prices low by producing substandard stuff! In other words, it is just ok, but not the quality that I was accustomed to a few years ago. I wonder if they actually read these reviews. If so, they gotta step up their quality control. UGH! If not, I'm afraid it will continue to go downhill, and their customer base will continue to decrease. THoughts?
(3)Dan A.
I've ordered from Paul Chen's on a few occasion since it's near my apartment. That being said, I've never dined-in here... so take what you may with a grain of salt if you plan on dining in. I ordered from grubhub.com and the whole process was quick and pretty easy. For the most part, the food is alright. It's your typical carry-out-ish, Americanized Chinese food. Here are some thoughts on some of the food I've ordered here in the past: The general tso's chicken is not bad. It's a little on the greasy side but the flavors and quality seem pretty standard. The kung pao chicken has a nice kick to it. However, when I ordered it, there was more veggies than chicken, which was a little disappointing. The Peking style pork was not bad. I had no idea what to expect when I ordered it... it turned out to be a dish very similar to mushu chicken. It also came with the hoisin sauce and pancakes. It was pretty greasy though; if it wasn't so greasy, it'd have been pretty good. But it's just too greasy. If you order around lunch, they have "lunch box" specials which are essentially rice, entree, and egg rolls. Price was reasonable (around $6) and the egg rolls were nice and crunchy, even after the transit over. One more thing, between the fried rice and white rice... save yourself the calories and go with the white. The fried rice isn't that good anyways as it's pretty greasy...you're not missing much of anything ordering the white. Overall, a decent place for Chinese. It's not the best, but it's not the worse either.
(3)alexis r.
We ordered a nice big meal for delivery last night at 9:30PM, paying in advance. As it neared 11 and the restaurant was closing, we called them to make sure our food was on the way. They assured us it was and would be here soon. I figured busy night and waited as patiently as possible for hours. We called again and again. We NEVER got our food, not even a phone call. We talked to them today and couldn't even get an apology. They claim the driver called us over and over (he didn't, and didn't ring the doorbell, and we were calling THEM over and over.) Paul Chen offered us nothing; Foodler got us our money back. Food NEVER came, folks were rude. Will obviously never order again.
(1)Raimee E.
Although I only ordered three items, they are common enough that I had to comment on how bad they were. I had the General Tso's chicken, an egg roll, and the house lo mein. The lo mein smelled so bad that I took one bite and then threw it out. The chicken was soggy and drowning in a sticky, sweet, nondescript sauce. The egg rolls were dripping with grease. I wish I could give this place negative stars. One positive note-the broccoli in the chicken was perfectly cooked. Go figure.
(1)Zakiya S.
Great tasting food. However a little pricy for Chinese delivery. Would give more stars if they were not the most expensive in my area. I recommend the lychee slush, very delicious!
(3)Dan H.
I recently went for lunch and cannot see going back. The food tasted like it had been sitting around for a few days. The service was slow. Other than that, everything was fine. Of course, there really is not much more "other than that," is there?
(2)Sally H.
They really do have some of the most delicious delivery Chinese in the Hampden area but every single one of my four or five orders has had an issue. A few times it was just not having the kind of bubble tea I ordered which is no big deal. I mean, they deliver bubble tea (and beer) which is awesome. I got a call about half an hour after placing the order online and they simply asked for my second choice. I have unreliable cell service at my house, however, so if I can't answer I get my sesame chicken order replaced with a big old box of super unappetizing sweet and sour chicken. I essentially just paid $26 for two spring rolls, an egg roll and a box of rice. I also had a rude delivery driver last time who didn't bother to use the doorbell (despite the fact that there's a note on the door asking visitors to do so *and* having made a note when ordering from them that they needed to ring the doorbell or I wouldn't hear the delivery guy. I heard him loudly complaining to the neighbors about me not coming to the door and he was rather snarky when I did meet him. This was my last try with Paul Chen. The marginally better quality of their food just isn't worth it.
(3)Ben B.
Wow. I didn't think it was possible to screw up cheap greasy chinese food. But Paul Chen's goes above and beyond to make you want to vomit.
(1)Roger G.
Lunch special is a very good deal w a decent portion for the price. I got Diet Pepsi instead of the Diet Coke I ordered which was a bit of a disappointment. Teriyaki chicken skewers were flavorful and perfectly cooked.
(4)Moira L.
Run away! The food came 40 minutes late. It was cold. The wonton soup had an off taste and the steamed dumplings had been forced into a small container and had cooled to a congealed mass. The vegetable mu shu was lacking any flavor whatsoever, and the pancakes were cold and dry and broke when I tried to wrap them around the filling. The special request for a container of chili oil was ignored. One positive....the ribs were good after being reheated, but still not good enough to make up for the rest.
(1)Al H.
I ordered at Beef Lo Mein from this restaurant with shrimp toast. The order was delivered very promptly but the food had weird smell. It smelled like a combination of fish and rusty water. It had terrible Chinese food before but this restaurant has to be the worst if ever had across 3 continents. Do your self a favor and find another restaurant.
(1)Mike N.
Very good Chinese food from this restaurant. It was definitely my no.1 choice while I still lived in the Mt. Vernon area. I've only had their delivery service and I was never let down. Always delivered my food in a decent amount of time and food was always hot.
(4)R H.
Reading all the "good reviews" here, we decided to order delivery. They have free delivery, so I thought I'm getting a good deal. Unfortunately, we were thoroughly disappointed by the quality of the food. We ordered egg drop soup. The quantity was ok, but the soup was quite short on Egg, the main ingredient. Also, the taste was quite bland. The Crabmeat wonton sounded nice on the menu, but when we opened the takeout box, we found only 6 tiny pieces of wonton with about a penny sized piece of crabmeat in it. The wonton was hard to chew and was tasteless. Then we eagerly opened the Crispy shrimp. There was only 5 pieces of shrimp in the $6.95 portion we ordered, but wait!! The shrimp came with uncleaned - and un-deveined with black veins clearly visible on the shrimp. The skin of the shrimp was also dark/dirty in color. And after removing the 5 pieces of shrimp, we found the rest of the box (2/3rd of it) filled with uncooked Broccoli. Hey, if I wanted to order Broccoli, I would have done that. But it is quite unfortunate when I order a shrimp dish, and the box comes filled with Broccoli. And to top it off, the broccoli was smelly and half rotten. They did not bother to steam it at all. The final item we ordered was bon bon chicken. The chicken was ok, well, the 4 spoonfuls of chicken that arrived in the 6 dollar portion was ok. Like the previous dish, it came filled up with inedible uncooked broccoli, smelled rotten. Both the shrimp and chicken were dry. The sauce was thick and tasteless. In the end, we spent more than 20 dollars on the takeout, and then had to go hungry as we had to throw half of the food (read, "uncooked, rotten, broccoli") away. So, don't order from here. You will be very disappointed by the quality of the food.
(1)Jacqueline B.
the place has good food and is a couple doors down from my place, so extremely convenient to order take-out. I wouldn't eat there though, as it's not really nice inside. the food is good for someone who doesn't eat meat and/or dairy (i.e., me). Has meat substitute products and does pretty good at preparing food.
(4)Maria A.
I have been craving chinese since Chinese new years. Every restaurant in town was so packed or backed up I could not get my hands on anything. So finally I found this little place, next to Safeway. It is run by its owner, a very gentle mannered man, who has the warmest smile. First of all, I must say I was shocked by the prices, it was like being in a time machine back in 1990. Cheap! I ordered my food and waited, it was ready in no time. If you are not in a hurry there is a dine in option, a fairly large room will accommodate a good 50 people. The ambiance even if aged has some nice Chinese decor. Back to the food, umm I went for the healthy choice, pepper steak with steamed rice, ummm it had a strange plasticky smell and taste, I was so hungry I ate it anyways. It did not make me sick. I must say my pepper steak was abundant of meat and lovely peppers, everything appeared fresh. I also had their bubble tea. That was the BOMB! The taste was perfect and the bubbles were amazing. I am not quite convinced on the pepper steak, but I would definitively go back for the bubble tea.
(1)DANIEL T.
Ordered take out. Chinese food is dead near Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. This is corn starch galore. When I tried to rinse off the corn starched sauce off the carton, it took a total of 5 seconds for the sauce to even start to dissolve. NOT authentic Hong Kong style. I guess one can call this typical sub-standard Americanized Chinese food. Beef with Brocoli: Beef was cut with grain parallel to knife, not perpendicular. A big no-no in Hong Kong style stir-fry beef dishes. It wasn't marinated with the right amount of water content. Marinated beef needs to soak up a LOT of moisture before being tossed into a super hot wok. This technique helps sear the outside of the beef and lock in the moisture so beef is tender. Paul Chen's beef was chewy. Yat Ga Mein with Shrimp: Was curious about this dish but *puke*. It was udon noodles with a hard-boiled egg+onion soaked in an ambiguous ketchup sauce. Shrimps were smallish and overcooked. Moo Go Gai Pan: Tender chicken breast pieces. This was the most acceptable dish. Hits the spot but sauce was a bit on the gluey side. Scallops with Blank Bean Sauce (haha I meant to type Black Bean Sauce but the PUN was fitting): 5 scallops counted in a $6.95 dish. WTF. The rest were indistinct kitchen sink vegetables, whatever they found lying around the kitchen floor/sink. Sauce was again a gooey, ambiguous brown glue. No black beans in sight. OK, three black beans. Hong Kong style cooking has very distinct rules of what vegetables go best with which meat and sauce. Paul Chen has completely compromised that dignity and mixes everything with everything else. When in Baltimore near Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, stick with the non-compromising Korean-operated restaurants. They have guts, they have dignity, they protect their culture, they do not sell out. I grew up in Hong Kong and I live in San Francisco now.
(1)Not A.
I will admit to having eaten a lot of this food as a graduate student, but it can't hold a candle to other chinese restaurants around town. However, the cocktails are cheap and delicious, and that bumps the rating up a star. I recommend starting an evening at Paul Chen's for their interesting and eclectic cocktail menu, but then grabbing your food somewhere else. This restaurant is vegan and vegetarian friendly.
(3)Mary M.
now my favorite chinese take-out place in baltimore. the si chuan beef is pretty good. kung pao tofu too. kung pao tofu is my go-to dish at every chinese take-out. i like the tofu a bit crispy on the outside and they do it well here.
(4)Jen N.
Based on yelp reviews, I gave this place a shot tonight (delivery). I got the sesame tofu- it was pretty average. I also got the garlic eggplant (which I didn't see on the menu but saw the recommendation on yelp), and it was DELICIOUS. The review about it from Ben V was dead on.
(4)Bridgette J.
If I could have given it a zero I would! Ordered food online at website for delivery and it took forever!!! When the guy finally came he was dressed in rags and barely spoke English the car he drove was barely running.....food was ok...
(1)Lizzy W.
Ordered food at 10pm on a Saturday night. The prices are great and it all arrived in about an hour and the delivery guy was super nice. Food was hot and smelled great opening the bag. Unfortunately, the food didn't hold up to our expectations. Pork fried rice and General Tso's chicken were extremely dry. The hot and sour soup was decent, but left my friend with a stomachache later on. The 2 liter soda we got also had a layer of grease and dust at top of bottle (that is common when plastic is stored in a kitchen for a long time). Not the end of the world, but does raise a concern about restaurant cleanliness.
(2)Elisa H.
We've ordered from here multiple times at work and never had a problem, so I'm assuming it's a new delivery driver, but the guy calls me and while I'm trying to explain where we were located, he starts yelling about how he's at the wrong building altogether. We included delivery instructions because we know it's not easy to find Now the food has always been pretty good, and I love the milk tea, which is why I'm giving 3 stars instead of one
(3)Jen T.
There's not really much left to be said after Ben V's review on this place, but I have to say I've fallen in love with the Monk's fake meat menu too. It wasn't just "oh, you want something vegetarian? We'll just put some fried tofu in that." They make it intentionally the way that it is with different types of fake meats replacing different real meats, and you can definitely taste it! Delicious: Monk's Moo Shi Chicken and Monk's Kung Pao Chicken. I'd have more recommendations but I somehow only just found out about this place and that's all I've tried so far! The appetizers weren't my favorite but I'm still giving five stars because I'm so stoked on the abovementioned. I wasn't feeling the veggie eggrolls (misleading name; they're actually spring rolls) or the steamed dumplings, but they were at least edible, which is more than I can say for this restaurant's neighbor (Orient Express).
(5)Gina W.
My go-to for Chinese delivery. Not great food but decent. Best thing are the vegetarian appetizers; it's all my son eats from the menu.
(2)Ted T.
Crap. I'd give it 0 stars if I could.
(1)Ben V.
Yo, I got HUNDREDS of Paul Chen Hong Kong restaurant meals that have partied on in my belly, back in the day. Yup, back when I carried large peices of furniture for a living, there was nothing more rewarding than having my boss drop me off the back of the moving truck, $10 or $20 tip in my back pocket, and getting me some Monk's Sesame Chicken or Monk's Pepper Beef after a hard day's work. Amazing vegetarian fake-meat that is so good you will swear they fucked up your order and gave you the real thing instead. The Monk's Sesame Chicken you gotta ask for, and they'll make it for you. The run of the mill Garlic Eggplant is nothing but-sweet Hunan flavored sticky, puffy, gooey delicious eggplant that leaves you feeling pumped up. But the Monk's menu is really where it at. A certain zen nirvana-thing is attained when you get that bloated, too puffed up with gluten too move, 5 star feeling, settle into the couch, pop in some fucked up Argentine art film from Video Americain, and drift through your late teens and early 20's, repeating this exact exercise by night, while blowing off college classes, womanizing, and paying $200 a month in rent. Shit, where did I ever go wrong?
(5)sven g.
If you are one to be troubled by the sketchiness of a dining room vs. quality of food, only order for delivery. They are quick and always get the order right. If updates and repairs to the dining room are very low on your list when it comes to food, go, be seated. They leave the lights off until someone comes in- I like the odd nod to energy conservation. The food is fantastic. As odd as it seems, the food is not typical heavy, greasy takeout chinese. Though I sometimes prefer that style, at Paul Chen's the food is incongruously light and balanced. We often get some combination of four items: broccoli w/ garlic sauce (perfect balance of intense flavor and light sauce), kung pao tofu (light flavorful sauce and a surprising balance of light vegetables such as celery), egg rolls (NO EGG in the wrapper or filling, VEGANS REJOICE!) and vegetable fried rice (again, the flavor comes from the veggies and cooking, not from oil and msg). They also have a separate faux-meat menu called "Monk Special". It's not really my cup of tea, though. I prefer to go with tofu in the same dishes. The monk meat is a little soft and squishy for my taste. It's a texture thing. What makes a trip to Paul Chen's exceptional is to order off of the drink menu. They have about 10-15 super high alcohol content drinks that favor fruity flavors, fruity garnishes, tiki god mugs and paper umbrellas. All in the $2-3 range. If they had a traditional bar, I would get smashed there regularly.
(5)Katie R.
Decent cheap chinese.
(3)Christie M.
We ordered carryout from this restaurant last night and were pleasantly surprised. We received the menu in the mail and thought we would give it a shot, instead of going to our usual standby, Asian Taste. We ordered the General Tso's combination platter, extra crispy, extra spicy, with the sauce on the side. Everything was cooked perfectly. The sauce was less on the sweet side and more on the spicy side. A welcome change from the overly sweet goo you can get from any other place. We also tried the meat steamed dumplings and they were good as well. All though, we're not sure what kind of meat is in them as it was not stated in the menu. The only complaint is that it took an hour for our food to arrive. Having said that, it did arrive hot and tasty. We would order again.
(4)Christie S.
This isn't a totally stellar Chinese restaurant, but it sure hits the spot and serves up yummy food fast. The people who work here are friendly and attentive. The food is everything I want it to be when I crave Chinese--hot, with just enough salt and oil to make it bad for you. They are reasonably priced and take out service is quick. They even gave me a free kitschy calendar last time I visited.
(4)Michelle B.
Sesame chicken is my go-to when I want cheap Chinese food and I've tried it here twice. The first time it would have been okay except that the chicken was such low quality that it was full of gristle and pockets of fat. Pretty gross. So the next time around I ordered the vegan version and it was much better. Not gourmet but your standard greasy, satisfying-in-a-slightly-nauseating-way fare. The combo special is enough food for 2 meals (for me anyway) so I'll probably end up eating here again, but I'll forever steer clear of the meat.
(3)Christina P.
My pork lo mein tasted suspiciously like shoes. The veggie spring rolls are incredibly chewy and are missing veggies. The fake chicken general tso's is ok and so are the string beans. The coca cola was perfect, but also hard to mess up. Forgot my egg drop soup but, honestly, I think we dodged a bullet on that one.
(2)