Chef Gao

omg LOVE THIS PLACE. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to review this place! This is the go to place for me and all of my Asian friends! It’s authentic and delicious. May now be the healthiest meal, I would consider this Chinese comfort food. We usually order the spicy boiled fish, eggplant in garlic sauce, chicken in wine sauce, and salt and pepper ribs. When we want to switch it up, sometimes we order the chef gao tofu, shanghai rice cake, or mapo tofu. All really good! We usually go for lunch or after 9pm because that’s when the specials are but sometimes we crave it so much that we just go during regular hours even if it’s much more expensive. I will definitely miss this place when I move back to California!

My wife and I were starving after her soccer game and nothing was open. Fortunately for us it forced us to stumble upon this wonderful place. I’m always hesitant to come in to places when they will be closing in an hour… Especially a sit down meal. I feel bad doing that to the staff. The staff here made us feel great about coming in. They welcomed us with open arms and an option for two separate menus. I was extremely surprised to see the entire staff with smiles on their face. You don’t always see that. Especially when there is a huge table of rowdy teenagers. I couldn’t help but to watch the waiter smile and eagerly helped them move a table over for the extra members who walked in much later. All and all after experiencing that I loved the staff.
Now to the food… We ordered the egg drop soup, garlic pork, pan fried wantons, and orange chicken. The egg drop soup was huge I was expecting two cups but it was definitely at least 8. It had bits of tofu which I really enjoyed. The garlic pork was something new for me. Everything in it was cut about the same length like little strips. The sauce was so good I had it for breakfast the next morning. Pan fried dumplings were meh they seemed as if they could have been the frozen ones you get from Costco. The orange chicken was actually really good and probably one of the best I’ve had. I will say I’m not a picky eater and I did ask the waiter what she recommended. I just told her what protein we wanted and let her pick. I feel at a mom and pop joint it’s the best way to go.
I can comfortably say it’s the best Szechuan I have had since I’ve been in salt lake. I instantly texted my family members telling them that exact thing. I’m excited to try the other menu and the spicy boiled fish. I mean great service, great food, and open late! I’m so in brah!!! My wife and I left thinking we finally found or Szechuan spot!

If you want authentic Chinese food this is the place to be. Mapo-​tofu is delicious, green beans, eggplant cooked in garlic sauce, potatoes and Jalapeño, every single dish I’ve had there is just fantastic. Note for lunch, they only take cash otherwise they charge you dinner pricing. Everything is $ 5 after 9pm (cash only) which is kinda nice when you’re craving for Chinese food late at night. The owner is really nice and funny.

This place sucks from the food, seating to the vibe. Hardly any vegetables with entre. They just served a big pile of meat. With what little onions that were in the dish or considerably over cooked.

Service was so so, we had take out so maybe that is why. The Wonton Soup smelled like bleach and the wontons were slimy mush. It went in the garbage. The pork fried rice was like paste with a mushy texture. The mongolian beef was pretty good. The sesame chicken we ordered… have no clue because we got some other chicken dish that I have NO clue what it was. We were not driving back. Will cross this place off the list of places to go.

Authentic Chinese food… After 9 over 60 dishes are for $ 4.95…stopped by some friends on weeknight and saw lots of people… Good food…

All of their food has a very homecooked feel to it. It’s very delicious and from what we were told from someone who spent a few years in China, very authentic. This will definitely be a location we come back to as often as we can. Many complain about the service, but they are the same for pretty much for any Asian restaurant. They provide you with the food, drinks, and amenities you need to finish a meal; which is all you need. The location itself is not a 5 star Ritz Carlton, but it doesn’t need that. Good food and great tea is all you need! We can’t recommend this place enough!

This is the best Chinese I’ve had in SLC.
The spicy boiled fish had good flavor and although spicy at first the spiciness dissipates fairly quickly and doesn’t sit in your stomach burning a hole either.
The flat rice noodles tasted just as I thought they would/​should although some of the noodles were clumped together.
The scallion beef was flavorful too. Beef was super tender and both type of onions were cooked well enough.
The egg with tomato dish was the only outlier in the sense that it tasted like a breakfast item. They needed to put some savory flavor into it.
Service was to be desired. The server we got didn’t speak English so there were some issues.
You won’t go there for the décor or service, just the taste.

As another review said the spicy fish bowl was one of the best dishes I ever had perfect amount of spice and ma la to give a little numbness. I also had the pot stickers very good and shrimp fried rice. Plus there was also a lot of Chinese people eating there so that’s always a good sign.

Authentic Chinese food and great service as well. Those who frequent Chinese restaurants would know that it is very rare for a Chinese restaurant to have both of these traits. So really glad to have stumbled upon this restaurant! Almost all of the speciality dishes are amazing. The Mao’s style braised pork is my personal favorite!

Authentic Chinese food. I’ll definitely give that to them.
Servers don’t really care to talk or smile, but that is to be expected with Asian restaurants in general — it doesn’t bother me. They bring me my food, check, and refill my water in a timely manner — good enough.
Food comes out very quickly ! It’s a great bargain for the amount that you get.
The tofu shrimp was amazing ! Just the right texture and flavor.
White rice was exceptional.
The flavor was so good for the shanghai pork soup dumplings, but the wonton skin broke on all of them, leaving all of the soup leaking out. Very sad :(They are tough to make, but if not done properly, I don’t think it should be on the menu at all.
The spicy beef noodle soup had great noodles, but the beef was tough. It’s typically supposed to be very soft.
I will definitely be returning to try more of their dishes, but each dish is a hit or miss.

Came here with friends on Friday night for dinner and let me tell you how disappointed I was at both the service and the food. Every since the name change and them opening multiple branches the quality of food and service here went down.
Let start with the service. There is only two servers doing everything from seating to charging to serving. Now some servers know how to speak english and is really great servers while others don’t speak English at all and don’t even care. We got that server. We ordered 5 dish and one of them was a cold dish for pork ears. The server never put it on our bill because he didn’t understood was we wanted. One of my friend went to point out what we wanted and he just stared at her and then just walked away. Didn’t even say anything or cared.
Now onto the food we got… we order «three cup chicken» and I think there was something wrong with the chicken. It tasted like the chicken was spoiled. No one touch the food and we couldn’t do anything about it because the server we got didn’t care what so ever. So we still had to pay for the meal which sucked… because we didn’t even eat it. Next thing is the rice that was given to us. There was shred of vegetables on the rice scooper. Obviously it seem like they didn’t wash anything.
Totally not recommend coming back here, esp because of the quality of this place just got worse and worst.

This is a really nice place and, per my friend that knows better, very authentic. The service is good and I’ve never been disappointed about the taste of the food.
We normally have dumplings, chicken broccoli and kung pao chicken. My favorite is the chicken broccoli.
When we went at 6pm, the place was fairly empty and it took a while to get seated but once we ordered they prepared our meal fast.
We normally go closer to 9pm to take advantage of the special. The place gets really lively and we enjoy that there aren’t a lot of Western looking people.

Chef Gao is a great place of Szechuan.
Since they switched out one of their waiters (the young one), their service has gotten 100% better.
As for food, I would recommend that you come with a group to try a few things.
The 2 must haves:
+ Spicy Boiled Fish — A must try. Spicy, soupy, tingly.
+ Chef Gao Special Tofu — Crispy (and oily), soft on the inside
On the negative side, I’m not a fan of their rice. It’s sticky and tastes a little goopy. Wish they had jasmine or long grain rice or even brown. Something a little more fragrant.
Will be back.

I heard about this place from a friend, and we went during their late night hours after 9pm and the food was cheap and delicious. We ordered the pork intestines, spicy fragrant ribs, hot and sour soup, mongolian beef, salt and pepper chicken, and shredded potato with vinegar. My favorite dish was the spicy fragrant ribs because it was so soft and flavorful. Next time, I do want to try the tripe and spicy boiled fish as many people have mentioned how great the fish is.
There was plenty of seating and the waiter was extremely kind. This will be a go to place for a late night and cheap meal. I will definitely be bringing my friends and trying the other dishes that they offer.

Since my first time here, I love this place. Why? it’s cheap and opened late. They have a late night happy hour and lunch special.
Their food is flavorful and authentic to a degree that I can still eat it. The buffet say is not a hot pot side with different broth offerings. If you haven’t tried Szechuan, I recommend that you come in a group and do family style here, so you can try more dishes. If youre a fish person I would recommend the spicy boiled fish. I think they make it the best compared to the other Szechuan places in SLC. You could also do a mix with the soft tofu which is good since youre also getting tofu with it.
Come here on a weekend/​Sunday to get some Chinese breakfast other dim sum. Don’t get the rice roll from here, it’s not that great, but they are the only ones that make it in Utah. If you have the chance, I would get it at a Taiwanese place in California. Get the grilled buns.

Legit. Great new find for me based on a recommendation from a friend. I have been generally disappointed in the Chinese food offerings in the greater Salt Lake area. This is one of the few good ones and probably the only good and pretty authentic place in the suburbs.
I’ve tried about seven dishes there and none have disappointed. Meats are cooked to the right tenderness and he does not cover his dishes with gobs of corn starch heavy sticky brown sauce. Dishes all have unique and intense flavor and the combinations remind me of stuff my mom used to cook. I have found a new favorite Chinese place. Even though this place is a 15 minute drive from the house (while I have several within five minutes drive) I will come here from now on.

Sweet Ginger is still my favorite restaurant in Utah. I’ve been here once a week since the first time I came last October, and I’ve never had a mediocre dish. This past trip there, decided to eat in and try 2 new dishes along with the Spicy Boiled Fish which I get every time.
1. 水煮鱼 — Spicy Boiled Fish (⁵⁄₅) — If you like spicy food and fish, then this will be your favorite dish. Not much more needs to be said except the portions are always generous and the filet is always tender and on point.
2. 上海糖醋排骨 — Shanghai Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs (⁴⁄₅) — I felt after ten trips or so, it was time to try a dish that wasn’t spicy. Again, very generous portions, and the meat was great. Reminded me a little of the Americanized orange chicken so if you like that, I think this is definitely better.
3. 火爆腰花 — Fire Exploding Kidney (⁴⁄₅) — I tried to get even more ambitious. I had never eaten kidney in my life, but was feeling more adventurous. Honestly, it was a lot better than I thought it would be. Comes with lots of stir fried vegetables, honestly you wouldn’t even know it’s there. The meat is a little firm, but easy to chew and the sauce and seasoning makes it really good.
Sweet Ginger does great in all criteria I’m looking for in a restaurant. Value, quality, quantity, and service. If you want to play it safer next time, with a group of people, share these 4 dishes:
— Spicy Boiled Fish
— Ma Po Tofu
— Salt and Pepper Chicken
— some fried rice dish, Scallion Beef, or Shredded Potato with Jalapeño
I guarantee satisfaction.

Today we thought we would try their hotpot, the picture on the wall when we came in made it look like a San Fran style hotpot.
Service wasn’t very good, we told the lady that seated us we wanted hotpot and we sat there for 15 minutes waiting to see what they were going to do.
Finally a guy came and asked us what we wanted to order in a rather rude tone. We told him we wanted hotpot, he brought us out the checklist and 10 minutes later picked it up.
Finally the soup comes out, but no sign of the meat or veggies. Finally when the meat and veggies arrived they didn’t bring us any utensils for taking out items from the soup. Then they forgot our noodles and had to let them know when they finally came by our table.
Took 2+ hours for which should have been a 45 minute lunch. The food was fabulous, so delicious, the chicken broth was perfectly seasoned and so flavorful. The spicy side was a little too hot for my liking so I stuck with the chicken broth.
This place deserves 1 star for the horrible service and 5 stars for the food.

I’ve been here about 4 times. During all of those visits, I was completely satisfied with the taste of the food
Pros:
–authentic, delicious Chinese food
–good service
–spacious
–large portions
–good value for your $
Among my favorite dishes were:
–spicy boiled fish (had it twice, each time I was very satisfied
–chef Gao’s special tofu – so good!!! highly recommend you try this if you like tofu – it’s fried and therefore, delicious
–chicken with chile
–eggplant in garlic sauce
–taro pumpkin – light, healthy and delicious
Cons:
–we found hair in our rice once but all was forgiven since the food was so delicious. Perhaps recommend that kitchen staff wear hair nets –this is the only reason it is a 4 stars instead of 5
I’ll definitely be back!