Changhai

It’s interesting what is passed off as crab ragoon. Worst fried rice I have every had, Not sure if it was overcooked or yesterday’s but it was mush and the lo mein was no better. After a few bites threw the entire meal away

This is by far my favorite Chinese food restaurant ever! The vegetables are always fresh and clean looking. There is only take out and delivery but it is so worth it! Try the luncheon specials they are great portions! The crab rangoon here are actually made here and aren’t some frozen variation! The scallion pancake is also phenomenal! Easily the best Chinese food in Lexington!

As far as (Americanized) Chinese takeout goes, Changhai has to be one of my favorites. I’ve been coming here for years but it never occurred to me to write a review until now. Prices have gone up in the 10-​or-​so-​years that I’ve been coming here, but its still one of the cheapest places in Lexington and a good value for the amount of food you get. One order can comfortably feed 2 people. I always order from the Lunch specials, which come with steamed/​fried rice and two fried chicken wings. I like the lunch deals are available every day of the week!
My go-​to order is the Beef teriyaki/​boneless rib/​spring roll option. Be warned that the beef teriyaki more closely resembles Hong Kong-​style bbq pork than your usual mall-​chain teriyaki. Its not drenched in sauce but is still super flavorful. I’d recommend at least trying it to see if your thing. The boneless rib is really good as well. I’d say that the veggie spring roll is average/​on-​par with those at other takeout places.
The general gau’s chicken is pretty good as well. The batter on it isn’t super hard/​crispy, which I like. All white meat, too. Sweet and sour chicken is the kind that resembles «chicken fingers» with white meat and crispy batter. There’s that standard red sauce that comes with it. Not my favorite dish here but it still decent if you like that kind of chicken. Lo Mein noodles are alright. Some veggies and your choice of meat mixed in. Nothing out of the ordinary. I personally wouldn’t get them because you already get a ton of fried/​white rice, so adding a large helping of noodles would be too much carb and not enough MEAT. Szechuan spicy string beans have a good flavor but have a lot of sauce, so be warned. My parents like the beef with green (bell) peppers – standard stir fry kind of thing. I can’t speak about the quality of the shrimp entrees because I’ve never had them.
The chicken wings that come with lunch are actually pretty good. Always hot and not super hard/​too crispy/​too dry. The only criticism I have is probably for their fried rice. It’s not great — just some soy sauce, peas, carrots, chicken/​pork, onions, some egg. Fried rice can be so much more than this! It used to be better. I suspect this downgrade has to do with trying to keep their prices low despite rising food costs.
Keep in mind, this place is mostly for takeout. There are tables inside but I wouldn’t consider it a sit-​down place. If you want a more «restaurant» experience, maybe try Taipei Gourmet (also in Lexington). If you’re looking Americanized-​Chinese takeout, this is the place!

I’ve lived in Lexington for about 22 years and over time, Changhai seems to have changed ownership a few times. The current establishment has brought the place downhill. The brown sauce is so thick, dark and salty that it causes the vegetables to wilt and the chicken to dry out, like it’s been sitting in the sauce for hours. I specifically asked the owner over the phone when I placed my order «please easy on the brown sauce and can you make a light brown sauce.» She answered yes, of course. Not so. I would rather drive a couple of miles further into Arlington Heights and take out from Sun’s, than go back to Changhai.

Try the lunch specials. Shrimp with vegetables comes with jumbo shrimp. Amazing sauce and brown rice. Everything is as fresh as possible. The servers are gorgeous and polite. If you are hungry and want to see beautiful Asian women, this is the place for you.

Was in the area, tried it on a whim. I was pleasantly surprised by the general gau chicken. Its amazing. Although It needs to be spicier, the flavor is just awesome. Not only that, they use fresh chicken! Its not the deepfried rocks of connective tissue covered in rock hard water chestnut flour breading… Its delicious tender pieces of partially breaded fresh white meat.
The downsides of this place include the limited menu, lack of two sizes on dishes and apps and pricepoints that generally lean in the high side. That said its my fav general gau in the area.

Amazingly, I have checked in here a few times, but never actually Unilocal’d it.
Chinese food is something of an art. Like, you either know it’s good chinese or not — and sometimes it can fake you out.
This is what I call an «American» Chinese food place. Everything that boring American’s expect chinese food to be — and being that it’s in Lexington, it’s damn expensive «fake» chinese food.
When hunger strikes so hard that I don’t care what falls into my mouth, this is the place to go.
If I had to choose good asian cuisine — or a Vermeer over little Sandy’s color by number picture, well, I’d choose H-​Mart over Changhai.
Just sayin’
Oh by the way, only take out here… no dining in unless you wanna eat in your car (which I have done btw)

It’s relatively cheap Chinese food with tons of flavor that comes in huge helpings — what’s not to love?
I don’t recommend getting anything that comes in a brown sauce, as their brown sauce doesn’t taste like any brown sauce I’ve ever had before, but the spring rolls, ginger lo mein, and General Gao’s chicken are so good, who cares if they can’t do brown sauce to suit an American who’s never eaten Chinese food in China? I mean really.
Take-out’s great, delivery’s even better — they tack on a fee for delivery and you have to buy at least $ 25’s worth of food to get it delivered, but COME ON. It’s so worth it.
The place itself is kind of janky and gross, but it’s not a restaurant at all — more like an enclosed food stall, so who cares. Just call ahead, go in, get your food, and go home happy. That’s what we do, and it works just fine.
This is my favorite place to get food when I’m too lazy to cook. Love it!

This place is takeout and delivery only. A tad bit pricey for chinese but higher quality than most in this genre. The food comes out very quickly as well.

Tried this place for lunch a few weeks back. Better than most, but not outstanding. Lunch plates are good size and the prices are fair. I am impressed with the size of the Dumplings here, the box was about to give in… will definitely try it again sometime.

Nothing is better than Chinese for takeout, and we only go to Changhai. They are take-​out only, and for «standard» Chinese in the US, they are very good. The ingredients are simply much better than the regular places, so it is excellent for takeout. In particular, we like their special «Changhai Chicken» which is diced chicken, pine nuts & noodles that you wrap in lettuce leaves. Yum! Fresh! Their list of Specialties is always of quality, including the Triple Delight, a spicy scallop, shrimp and beef dish.

For local take out, it’s really pretty good. Fresh ingredients with albeit «Americanized» and boring but still delicious and well made preperations of typical take out Chinese food. And sometimes there’s nothing wrong with that.

Shanghai is chinese take-​out only, meaning there is no place there for one to sit down and eat. I’ve always eaten well there, never gotten sick. This place is certainly better than your average take-​out Chinese joint in the Boston area, simply because Shanghai uses better ingredients.