Silver Maple

UPDATE AUGUST 2011:
This business is closed. Such a bummer!

Recently going to Silver Maple was a HUGE mistake. Not only does the owner sit at the end of the bar and stare at his customers (making me and others feel very uncomfortable), the food does not taste «authentic». I have heard of other people getting sick after eating there and wonder what goes on in the kitchen. Is the food fresh? There are plenty of better Chinese restaurants out there and I wonder how this guy stays in business? There are hardly any customers there on a daily basis. I’ll be finding somewhere else to eat.

I was really concerned about what I would find inside this restaurant because of its location in the old defunct Shaw’s plaza strip mall.
I was very happily surprised to find a pleasant and elegant dining room!
My visit was for lunch and I was one of three other tables. Service was swift and attentive. I was offered refills of my tea and water just frequently enough, not as a constant interruption…
They offer you crispy fried strips of wonton dough and duck sauce when you are seated. They were quite good, if a little greasy in the mouth-​feel after 3 of them.
Luncheon plates come with a choice of egg drop, hot & sour, or wonton soup. I had the hot & sour and it was nice with a little heat in the back of the throat. Quite good :)
I had a quite delicious portion of Szechuan Style Beef ($ 7.25) from the luncheon specials. The plate came like a separate entrée and was large enough that it could have been shared with another diner. It was full of very fresh vegetables and a savory spicy sauce.
The rice came in its own small bowl also. There was a choice of white, brown, or vegetable fried rice and I tried the fried rice. It was flavorful and had nicely done vegetables and was not mushy like some other fried rices I have had.
I would definitely come here again!

Silver Maple has been around for quite awhile and they food here is quite good.
It’s a little eery being in the ghost-​town-​like area where Shaws used to be but other than that, it’s pretty good.
They also carry the typical Chinese food as well as some more creatives dishes. The portions are smaller than at most Chinese food restaurants and alot of the dishes all taste the same. I prefer South Garden down the road.
There is a bar that sits up above the dining area and it’s in the middle of the restaurant… kind of odd if you’re with your family. Nothing like seeing the local Merrimack alcoholics coming in with their cuffed white-​washed jeans and poofed up hairsprayed hair to order a few bud lights with their stronger Mass accent than people who live in Roxbury at 11AM while you’re trying to have a nice early lunch with your family.
It’s not bad, it’s not great, I’m sure as hell not going to see it on the food network.
Probably a great place to get hammered when you get laid off from work at 9 AM on a Tuesday.

I went there a few of years ago and was decisively underwhelmed. The food was not very authentic at all. Tasted like «Chinese food» for people who don’t know better.

Question: What’s a good Chinese restaurant still doing in an empty looking strip plaza since Shaw’s vacated and moved to Continental Blvd?
Answer: They now have plenty of extra parking spaces with lots of traffic on DW Hwy.
IMO, the Silver Maple has one of the nicer dining atmospheres for Chinese restaurants in the area, comparable to Chen Yang Li in Bedford. Upon entering the restaurant, there’s a very cool smiling Good Luck Buddha statue on the counter covered in lots of dollar bills. I looovvvve dollar bills!!! Cash-​Rules-​Everything-​Around-​Me, CREAM get the money, dollar dollar bill y’all! Wu-​Tang forever!
The dining area and upper cocktail bar area are in the same large room with light background music playing over the speakers. Each table is covered in white linen and the staff wears all black.
I haven’t been here in a while, so I stopped in here today for lunch and the place was fairly busy including a large group of college kids who were enjoying a nice flaming pu pu platter and several Chinese dishes. I came here at the best time when they offer 26 LUNCHEON SPECIALS ($ 6.50-$ 7.50) on Mondays-​Saturdays (11:30AM-3:00PM) which includes choice of soup and rice. No dinner combinations offered here and the food is moderately priced. Desserts offered include fried ice cream, fried bananas, and house made cheesecake. The menu can be found at
Glasses of ice water and fried noodles with duck sauce & hot mustard are complementary at each table. Hot tea is complementary upon request.
I had #22 Triple Crown ($ 7.25) served with hot & sour soup, vegetable fried rice & 3 fried cheese wontons. The hot & sour soup was very spicy and good. The Triple Crown was very tasty and had tender beef, chicken, shrimp, fresh broccoli, snow peas, peppers, water chestnuts in a brown sauce. The fried rice and fried wontons were good.
A pretty good lunch for under $ 10 with tip! The service here was good and fast. I got my food in a very timely manner and the check was settled quickly. Cuz that’s how I roll, in and out in under 30 minutes!