Chef Ming

One of the very first things I look for when I walk into a restaurant is the health score, so when I walked into Chef Ming and noticed that the health score was no where to be found on the walls, I was very concerned. This concern was magnified when I was on my way to the restroom (which was very unclean) and accidentally walked into the «employees only» room and smelled garbage. Yikes. The service was very good, the food tasted and looked good as well, and it’s been two days since my visit and I’m not sick, so I guess that earns a few stars back, but it would be nice if Chef Ming did a better job of assuaging the fears I have of unsanitary restaurants.

5 star service 3 star food. The man who took my order was very friendly and definitely made me feel welcome. My order came out really fast and it was bagged up with all the necessary to go utensils/​sauces without me having to ask which was nice. The food was hot and the rice was generously portioned although the chicken portion was smaller than I’m used to. I got the General Tso’s chicken and it was alright, but it almost seemed as if they didn’t know how to make it. Yes, it was fried chicken and had sauce on it but it had a bunch of mushrooms, zucchini, green peppers, onions, baby corn… basically a bunch of interesting ingredients that usually do not come in General Tso’s chicken. It wasn’t horrible but it definitely wasn’t the best. I would probably come back but I would try something else.

Egg drop soup tastes foul and oily, Mongolian Chicken had a metallic taste. Bathroom was less than desirable. Overall I would not recommend this place.

The food tastes good but we have gotten sick every time we have tried it. I am actually really sad that it makes us sick because the staff is very kind but I would not recommend it. Not safe.

Worst Chinese I’ve ever eaten. Even the steamed rice tasted funky as though something had been burned in the rice cooker. To add insult, a ROACH crawled past our table on the wall. We will not be back.

Best Chinese Restaurant in Athens.
The service from the staff is excellent and authentic. Lots of regulars make it legit.
The real reason for my many visits is the FOOD-​FOOD-​FOOD! Great food. No MSG and it all tastes so good and fresh. The value is very reasonable and adorable, allowing me to visit more often.
I don’t have anything bad to say other then a remodeled bathroom would be great. That’s all.
Starts:
5 — Staff and owner
5 — Cuisine quality
5 — Décor and environment
5 — Value
5 — Experience

This restaurant is a favorite to take my 6 kids on a special lunch date. For around $ 5.50, they have a lovely lunch menu. I love the cashew chicken, and the kids like the sesame chicken. The crab Rangoons are delicious! So, if your looking for a nice, inexpensive lunch (with a beautiful saltwater aquarium!), check it out!

My husband and I have eaten here twice and both have been lackluster experiences. The food is okay, but the service has been awful. The first time we went a couple of months ago, the waitress spoke only to my husband and only offered to refill his drink, but not mine. When we ate lunch there yesterday, the service was even worse! The waitress barely spoke to either of us, and she copped a huge attitude because she gave my husband the wrong order and he politely told her that the order was incorrect. She didn’t apologize, or say anything for that matter. She took the dish away and chucked the new dish onto the table without a word. Needless to say, we will not be going back.

We’ve tried Chef Ming’s a few times. I’ll say the food is OK, but not great. The service has always been good and staff is friendly.

Surprise! They have added some authentic Chinese dishes to their old menu. I usually get take out here but recently had a sit down dinner and it was very nice. Their pan fried pot stickers are the best in town: crispy on one side only (as they should be) with a nice thin dough coating and tasty filling and sauce. And now they have MaPo Tofu which is just the right degree of spicy and tasty. Hard to get this done well even in Atlanta. The rest of the food was fresh and good and the spicy dishes only mildly hot. The place is clean but bland décor. The service is attentive and accurate with nice smiles. To top it off the prices are a dollar or so lower than other area sit down Chinese restaurants. This is my go to spot for Chinese in Athens.

I’ve tried Chef Ming twice now (once for dinner and once for lunch, different dishes each time) and will never go back.
The quality of the food is about what you’d expect from a Chinese restaurant in a mall, and is probably not even of that ‘quality’. Of the two different dishes I ordered, both were almost exactly the same: both came out with a thick, gloppy, sickeningly sweet sauce that left a bitter aftertaste; the vegetables in each dish were scarce and flavorless; and there was little flavor to the food other than the taste of the sauce. There was little to differentiate between the two dishes. Both looked and tasted basically the same.
For dinner I got take out and threw the leftovers away (which is something I rarely do). For lunch, the entrée was hot but the rice was room temperature. Also lunch came with a chicken wing that just didn’t taste fresh. I took a bite of it and it tasted slightly off, like it had been fried, stored, and reheated. The soup that came with my lunch was okay, but seemed to be canned (it had a vaguely tinny taste to it). Overall, on both occasions the food just didn’t taste fresh.
I hate to one star a restaurant, but from my experiences here, Chef Ming just isn’t any good.

It is a calm quiet atmosphere I’ve seen a few families come here to have a nice family dinner without the crowd. And I enjoy eating lunch alone or with a friend. I even love the lunch prices especially with how much food comes with it! I was taken care of instantly, I never had to worry about calling for a waitress, for a refill and my order came out correctly. I ordered the General Tso’s Grouper for lunch (I uploaded a photo). My side was an egg roll & my soup was egg drop soup (not pictured). The egg roll was delicious with the sweet & sour sauce, you can really taste the pork in the roll. The egg drop soup was okay I added some pepper but I still prefer the hot & sour soup. Once I finished my appetizer & soup my entrée was ready. Its nice to see your food steaming fresh. The General Tso’s Grouper didn’t taste too spicy but after a few more bites you can start to feel the heat. The fried rice is a bit bland but mixing it with the grouper and veggies made a nice touch. I will definitely be back to eat here!

Great restaurant if you have good allergies. Will to make substitutions. My friend can’t have gluten, and they changed her meal. It did not make her sick! No MSG either. Twice cooked pork is good.

I was wary of coming to Chef Ming’s due to the reviews that I found on Unilocal,but a co-​worker loved the place so me and my boyfriend took a chance and went to Chef Ming’s.
The place looked clean and did not smell (like one of the reviews said). The price for dinner wasn’t any different than any other chinese restaurant. I bought the combination dinner that came with soup and a spring roll plus entrée which totaled to only be $ 12. The food itself was plentiful and very good. I got the kung pao chicken and it tasted fresh and great.
My boyfriend got one of the hot pots thinking it was something he used to eat but came out to be something completely different, but nonetheless it was great.
Service was kind of slow but they were nice and did their job when asked for something.
I would like to come back again and try something new, maybe the lunch menu.

The place has offensive, nauseating odor upon walking in the door; restroom (cannot speak about the Ladies’ room) is unpleasant; wait staff passively hostile, unwelcoming, un-​interested, and ungrateful.

Alright. True to my word, I returned here to try out the lunch menu. Decent value but the quality of the food is still sub-​par. Got the shrimp in lobster sauce with fried rice, hot and sour soup, and a crab rangoon for $ 6.40 or so incl. tax. Shrimp was decent though not plentiful. Veggies were canned and tasted like it. Sauce was okay– I have no idea what would make it a «lobster sauce.» The crab rangoon was sweet cream cheese in a wonton wrapper and a suspicious red streak that was perhaps supposed to indicate the presence of fake crab. Hot and sour soup was alright– heavy on the black pepper and light on everything else.
My quest for good Chinese food in Athens continues.

I’m giving 4 stars because lunch is fantastic. Hard to find good chinese food in Athens, but I think this is the best place around here. Lunch menu is great. You get a soup, fried or steamed rice, drink, and appetizer for less than $ 7. They have the best soup, all of them are fresh and tasty. Staff is extremely nice and accommodating. The place is clean and kept up nice. I have had many items from the menu and they have all been great, including garlic chicken, black bean chicken, general tso’s chicken, orange chicken, mushu chicken, and kung pao chicken. I’ve had better lo-​mein and beef with broccoli though, but theirs is tasty and acceptable. All chicken dishes are white meat for no extra charge, which I love. Dinner is more pricey (about $ 10 per dish), but is A LOT of food. Lasts me several days and one meal could be shared by 2 people.

Went there recently with some family and the service and food was great. The place wasn’t over crowded and the staff really made us feel welcome. They let us substitute a couple of dishes on the family menu for vegetarian ones. The spicy eggplant dish in particular was absolutely fantastic. I’d recommend it to anyone. Even the carnivores in our group loved it. The egg drop soup was delicious and so were the veggie spring rolls. Their food is really fresh and flavorful without using a lot of MSG and other additives. The waitress even came and boxed up our food for us while we got situated so we didn’t have to do it. Really great service and yummy food.

Avoid the Sesame Chicken at all costs… taste like peanut paste every time to every one who tries it. Gen Tso’s is fine. I prefer Peking restaurant.

For dinner the prices are a bit high, but for lunch the prices are amazing and the food is superb. With lunch you get a soup and your choice of egg roll or crab rangoon.
One time I decided to be daring and tried the grouper. To my surprise it was excellent. It is what I get every time now.