China Chef

I stopped by for a take-​out order on my lunch break. I ordered Kung Pao chicken (which is what I tend to buy whenever I visit a new place). The lunch special comes with soup (Hot & Sour) and an egg roll. Both the soup and the egg roll were quite good. However, when I opened up with main dish, it was Kung Pao zucchini with a little chicken and peanuts thrown in. Were there no other vegetables in the kitchen? Onions? Mushrooms? Anything? Zucchini has very little flavor and adds absolutely nothing to the dish. The Kung Pao sauce (for lack of a better word) was so soupy it was leaking out all over the place. A good Kung Pao sauce is much more viscous and flavorful. I will not be returning.

This little hole in the wall is a surprisingly good treat. They service is unbelievably fast, making this a great lunchtime stop. They offer several lunch deals with discount menu items that include a side order of soup. They offer delivery, and will come to places that other people won’t. I am addicted to the beef lo mein and sesame chicken. While it is not the most healthy it is too darn good for me to avoid.

Delivery is always good. Sometimes I get steamed instead of panfried dumplings but its w. e

Its my 3^rd time and I love it every time i come!
My favorite meal is Mandarin Chicken plate.
I am local in la jolla village and I really love it because its very convenient!
Today I was coming from my work and it was already 10:00 PM and the kitchen close 9:30 PM so when I call them and ask them if can I still get some food to go and the lady who anwered she was so nice I just talk to the owner and even though they were closed already half the hour that on there make me food by his own hands. That is a dedication and love for customer best customer service I am very experienced and the fast food industry in a long time.3 times I came here and bowl all of the times I am so satisfied with food with customer service and the overall experience ! best to go food in La Jolla Village experience ever recommended by local la jollan –Me!

I was leary to try it because of a couple reviews… it tried it. It’s good food!!! I called in an order for pick up. When I went in to pick up my food, there were plenty of people dining in so it must be ok. The gal who brought my order out was friendly and happy. Nice people and good food. But… it isn’t a pretty place, small and roughly put together. Good Food!

I don’t know what happened to this place. I’ve had take-​out from here before and everything was fine. This time I used the Delivered Dish app (which is great btw, you can pay online so when the food is delivered there’s no worry about signing receipts or fussing with driver tips). Anyway, this time everything was not good. The food smelled weird and tasted even worse. So sorry to say I don’t think I will order from here again. Just one big disappointment.

Called on the phone to place a togo order. Gentleman was very nice on the phone. 15 minutes later we headed to pick up the food. When we walked in they were attentive asked for phone number for order. Small and cozy seating area so take out is a good choice for us at least. Kung pao chicken had no peanuts & fried rice was just brown rice no carrots or peas. Asked for a side of sweet n sour sauce however was displeased to see it came in packets when we opened the bag.
Would I come again? NO NOT A CHANCE.

Worst Chinese food I’ve ever had. I was back and forth with ordering from here because of the mixed reviews. Such a waste of money. Worst cream cheese wontons I’ve ever had. I ordered general TSOs chicken. It didn’t even taste like it and it wasn’t spicy. I also ordered fried rice but they brought me white rice instead. The only reason this is getting 2 stars is because delivery took about a half hour. I will never eat here again. I rate this an F and wish I could get my money back!

Great food and great service. China Chef is underrated. We love the sweet and sour soup and are regulars here. This place is awesome

The food was awful and the delivery fee was outrageous. The delivery man was rude and impatient. Overall the food was bad, expensive, and the service was atrocious.

If I could give 0 stars I would. Bad service. And the food is no where near good, wasn’t even okay. There were also no customers inside the restaurant the entire time we were there (dinner time).
First off, service. The waitress didn’t even bring our check back with our change. We had to ask her for it, and when we did, she was surprised because she thought that the change was her tip. I mean really? We didn’t even get our change and she just assumed whatever was on the tray was her tip.
Secondly food.
I ordered the Kung pao chicken. They really rip you off when you get this dish. As someone who knows how to make Kung pao and its variations, it was disappointing to see that they put more zucchini then chicken on the plate. I did not pay $ 10-​$ 11 for a plate of vegetables and less than 10 pieces of chicken. Definitely do not recommend to anyone.
The chow mien my friend go was okay. It was not great but it was not horrible. It just tasted like soy sauce doused noodles.
Basically, I will not ever recommend this place to anyone nor will I ever return to get food from them. You are better off going to convoy to get chinese food (even if it is a different style of chinese food) or even Panda Express at UCSD price center. I would give Panda 3 more stars than this place.

Date night with my man was extremely successful with the help of grubhub! Quick delivery and food was a definite 5 star. My favorite was the steamed rice, beef with broccoli, orange chicken. Fantastic.
This restaurant deserves way more stars than 2 especially for their service.
The taste in the Chinese is quality, the flavors felt true to its belonging. I also enjoyed how perfectly steamed the rice was. The soup wonton tasted very fresh and warm. The dumplings were BOMB! Love that gyoza sauce! The orange chicken was also a favorite. Can’t go wrong.
5 stars all the way!!! Thank you for all that you do!!!

Some of the best Chinese food in San Diego county. I love to go there whenever I am in La Jolla. 2 thumbs ip

Very good food, generous portions and very reasonably priced.
Their vegetarian soup had chicken broth which I wish I’d have caught before ordering. I realized this only when we went to pick our order

So I was craving some shrimp fried rice & something spicy so I looked on Eat24 & found this restaurant. Even though they did not have 5 stars I wanted to try it out for myself. I order the Shrimp Fried Rice & Kung-​Pao Three (extra spicy). After I placed my order it said expect 45 – 60 minutes for delivery. After waiting 70 min I decided to call since I definitely did not want cold fried rice! =) The man said «it’s on its way» so I said ok & patiently waiting. After waiting another 20 min (hour an a half now) I called since La Jolla is very close to PB & the man said…“Yeah, he is on his way” I told him I was concerned since my wait time was 45 – 60 minutes & do not want cold food. He then said «oh, I am so sorry. Very busy!»
I decided to wait it out & see wth they were going to bring me since at this point I was not expecting the food to be any good since the service was shi&%$. The delivery guy finally arrives after waiting another 10 min! I selected to pay cash when I ordered so when I gave him $ 40 for my $ 23 order & asked for $ 10 back he said «I don’t have change». So I had to go to my neighbors house to get two $ 10’s so I could pay this guy & get him back to where he came from.
Bottom line is the food was GREAT (warm not hot).
But customer service needs to improve. I will not order from them again

2.5 stars rounded up to 3. My expectations were low given the reviews, but I didn’t want to leave the hotel room, so I risked it. Pleasantly surprised. Not the most flavorful bite of food ever, but it will do in a crunch. The fried rice is a bit overcooked, but it still has a fluffy texture (which is surprising for inexpensive Americhinese).
It should be noted that my entrée did not come with a side of rice, so make sure you order one with the entrees.
The cheese wantons were sadly soggy upon arrival, and they did not come with any sauce for dipping. But they are filled with delicious cream cheese, so I pressed on.

Saturday night and didn’t want to go out for food, so we opted for delivery. We ordered crispy beef, orange chicken, brown rice, egg drop soup, and a hot and sour soup. It took about an hour to deliver. The delivery guy was friendly and didn’t have trouble finding our place.
The crispy beef was a bit soggy — I know it took a while to get delivered but I didn’t expect it to be mushy! It was lacking in flavor. The veggies that came with it were fresh though. I had to use soy sauce to add flavor. The egg drop soup was pretty good.
Boyfriend had the orange chicken and his was more breading than chicken. The sauce had good flavor. He loved the hot and sour soup.
Overall if you don’t feel like driving for some Chinese food and you’re just looking for food to fill you up, this is a good option. Just don’t expect your food to be bursting with flavor.

Overall I was surprised because the outside of the restaurant looked really tacky, but the inside was actually really authentic looking, clean, and nicely decorated. They speak Mandarin and English in there.
I got the String Beans to-​go with rice and I really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say «it’s as good as it gets», but I’m a fan and I’d go back again!
I read a lot of reviews about this place regarding delivery? Delivery is always hard because of unexpected traffic and light stop times. I don’t believe that people should judge this restaurant because of their delivery times because it is really deep in La Jolla. Also, Americans tend to like their food more salty, I still don’t understand why. But one thing I can say is that most Chinese food is marinated and so the longer it takes for you to eat the food the more the food soaks in the sauce and makes the dish possibly more flavorful and sometimes salty.
If this is a problem, kindly mention it to the restaurants (where ever you may order it from) and have them put the sauce in a separate container.
I think their prices are slightly more expensive for Chinese food, but given the area they are in, I can understand.

I am here from out of town, staying at a hotel with no car, and I wanted Chinese food. This was the only restaurant that would deliver to where I’m staying but I was hesitant because of the bad reviews. My craving overruled, though, so I ordered.
If they didn’t have the minimum order of $ 20, my review would’ve been 5 stars. I got the honey walnut shrimp which came with white rice. This was delicious. Exactly what I was craving. However, I also got some cheese wontons and chow mein in order to meet the minimum amount for delivery. The chow mein was too salty for me and the cheese wontons I think we’re the worst I’ve ever had. They tasted like someone took a spring roll wrapper (very thin) and put a spoonful of cream cheese straight from the tub in the middle (no flavor), and then somehow managed to overcook and undercook them at the same time.
Overall, the food I actually wanted was absolutely delicious, and I would order it again. The delivery took about 45 mins and the delivery person was very nice and didn’t forget anything. I also didn’t get a receipt which I needed in order to be reimbursed since I’m on a business trip.

Not very impressed with my delivery experience with China Chef. I ordered on a Saturday night. They quoted me 30 – 45 minutes, and it arrived around minute 42. So, within the window, but the upper end of the window.
We tried the orange chicken with fried rice meal, which comes with an egg roll and soup. Also got the fried shrimp appetizer. The shrimp was awful. The breading was ridiculously thick, thicker than the shrimp it was covering. So, over 75% of this dish ended up in the trash.
The orange chicken was decent, you certainly get a lot of it. I asked if it was spicy, and I was told it was. But, when I tried it, it didn’t have any heat. I like stuff hot, so I can understand if it wasn’t hot enough for me, but this didn’t have heat at all. So, that was another disappointment. But, the chicken was hot and clearly freshly fried. The fried rice didn’t have any vegetables, just rice, bits of egg, and soy sauce. So, that was another disappointment.
I actually liked the egg roll, wish we had ordered more of these instead of the shrimp appetizer. The hot and sour soup was pretty standard. Overall, this is either below average or average Chinese delivery. You get a lot, the prices were semi-​cheap (very cheap for La Jolla), and if you get the right thing it’s not bad. But, based on my experience, this place is definitely hit or miss.