New China Delight

The dishes I’ve tried here before were lacking to say the least, but tonight that has finally changed. The guy who works the register with the eyebrow ring made my night. I basically stared at the menu for a few moments before just looking at him and saying, «I really don’t know what I want, dan shi wo xiang yao dian cai you di dao you hao la…» Sorry, but that’s essentially what happened – our conversation was quite the mix of Chinese and English. Essentially I asked him for something authentic and spicy. He made a couple of recommendations and I finally settled on the shui zhu niu rou (boiled spicy beef) and pon pon chicken (cold cuts of spicy chicken). After ordering he offered me tea or water to drink while I waited. It took less than 10 minutes to prepare since the restaurant wasn’t busy, and I heard him ask them to make it a little spicier for me, too. Like I said, super nice guy.
When I got home, I tore into the pon pon chicken. The stuff is amazing! It has the perfect spicy flavor one expects sans the numbing or burning sensation. You can think of it as a better version of cold BBQ chicken. The major plus to ordering this is it won’t get cold on your drive home because it already is cold, just like it’s supposed to be.
The shui zhu beef is good, but missing something. It’s not that it isn’t authentic, it just isn’t my most favorite dish. It was really spicy though, so that helped make up for me. I suppose that’s the reason I’m giving them four-​stars. This place is slowly becoming one of my more favorite spots to hit up that is local since I’ve been looking for more places than just Hong Kong Bistro. :-) If you haven’t been here, check it out. The prices are fair, and if you ask for recommendations, I’m sure you’ll get something you like. If you don’t feel comfortable asking, then at least get the pon pon chicken!!!

The general chicken is good but the service is somewhat poor. They don’t take time to listen to what you are ordering. All and all it’s a good experience once the food comes.

I’ve been here twice and each time it was for some authentic spicy dishes. I had the boiled tofu with spicy sauce and the same dish made with fish instead of tofu. Those dishes have some cabbage-​type veggie in it as well but the sauce is what it’s all about. Spicy and numbing at the same time. You eat this stuff and your eyes water, your nose runs, and the whole mouth gets tingly inside. It’s a glorious experience. I also had the braised eggplant and tofu dish which was tasty but not so high up on the spiciness Richter scale. I’ve heard that lunch is pretty bland but haven’t been for myself.

Came here twice with other friends.
The food was ok. Nothing surprising. But they can cook authentic Chiense dishes. Customer service can be good and bad. They don’t seem to be trying to make it good though.

Nicole and I were hungry after a charity event that we had just attended, and this restaurant was the first one we saw that was still open! It doesn’t close until late. Woot. Everyone knows after having a blast dancing and being at a nightclub that food is heaven when you need to sober up. Like old times, we walked in and the waiter was very friendly. I should have gotten his name, but I didn’t. =(Anyhow, we ordered hot and sour soup (delicious), combination noodles (delicious), and lemon chicken (loved the sauce), and crab and cream puffs for appetizer. Everything that was served to us was delicious and we had plenty to take home. Nicole and I had a great time conversing and just reflecting back on the good old days. The waiter was well-​mannered and laid back. He provided excellent service. Thank you!

This is one of the better Chinese restaurants on Castro Street. We usually order the Shanghai fried noodles, zhong dumplings and the «live fish» (this is my nickname for the restaurant). The live fish is a whole tilapia that is fried in a garlic sauce with little pieces of minced pork and chiles. Sounds strange but tastes great. Their Shanghai soup dumplings are pretty good as well.
Service is friendly and efficient. The only drawback is the lackluster ambiance.

Went back for lunch and had a much better experience. The service was much improved, but the food stepped back just a bit. I had the BBQ pork Chow Fun and the onions were under-​cooked, which led to that being the only thing I tasted. I loved the mouthfeel of the chow fun noodles, and the BBQ pork was very tender, but it was over-​powered.
I also very much enjoyed the Crab Rangoon. Why doesn’t anyone on this coast call it that?

We have been here many times and it is always reliable and delicious. Everyone is very friendly and its clean and comfortable. Some of the best dishes are zhong dumplings, ma-​po tofu and eggplant with spicy garlic sauce. The tofu dish contains meat but can be made vegetarian Add a nice bowl of fluffy rice and you’ll be very satisfied. I have enjoyed every shrimp dish they serve. This includes their wonderful shrimp dumplings.

When you order here, PLEASE don’t order egg rolls, or General Tso’s chicken. Or whatever Americans order.
This place isn’t for the faint of heart. Extremely spicy, yet the seasonings on the food can not be replicated.
The spicy fish fillet (Chingxong style? spelling?) is to die for. With about 50 chilies, garlic, ginger, and the best fried fish you’ll ever taste, you’ll need a gallon of water to tame the heat. I have never tasted anything so good!
We’ve also tried the wontons in spicy chili sauce, twice cooked lamb, and the shanghai shrimp. Authentic and delectable.
Service is AWESOME as well, they are very accommodating and I always end up giving them a GREAT tip. Wonderful business you guys run!
Perhaps the restaurant needs a facelift, but don’t most chinese restaurants? I think it’s part of the tradition. =o)
Will see you guys again!

I went there last night with another couple along with my g/​f. We ordered some won ton soup, which was pretty good. Nothing to blow you away but it was fine
–we were going to either order the kung pao chicken or cashew chicken but wanted more vegetables. the waiter suggested that he could substitute one of the beef entrees and add chicken so that we could get more vegetables. it seemed like a good idea at the time
–unfortunately, the chicken dish with vegetables was prepared completely different than the kung pao or cashew chicken. I was honestly quite disappointed that we ordered this dish based on the waiter’s suggestion.
–granted, he had good intent but if he’s going to do that, he should understand that the dish tastes nothing like one of the dishes we were going to pick. overall, poor judgement as a waiter
–we also didn’t receive any fortune cookies; not sure if they ran out or just didn’t care. the waiter himself was attentive but the hostess didn’t seem to crack a smile at all
–i’d give it 2 ½ stars if I could

The ChongQuing Chicken dish is still my favorite, but their service can be a little shaky at times.
Remember — hot in, hot out.
The spice goes really nicely with a good zin or a dry chard. Bring your own wine, their list is pretty slim.

Walked in with six friends on a whim and ordered a few plates. Our server who didn’t speak much english definitely did not let the language barrier be a factor in the service he offered, he was very friendly and constantly started conversations with us as well as recommended us on different food items. I forget the name be we got a fried fish filet dish covered with jalapeos and it was delicious, not too spicy (despite the intimidating looks). The beef chowfun was also very good. Not too greasy and the meat was quite tender. The frog plate was also good, but beware the bones can be sharp and cut your mouth.
Ironically though the walnut shrimp was quite disappointing (seeing as it is almost a basic at most chinese restaurants.) However, i wouldn’t mind coming back to NCD next time i’m back in my hometown.

Tonight, A and I were lucky enough to meet-​up with a group of Unilocalers for a Smuin ballet in Mountain View. Afterwards, a few of us were hungry so we walked down Castro until we found something that was open after 10pm. Our options were limited so we landed at… at New China Delight.
Honestly, because of the low Unilocal reviews we wouldn’t have stayed if we’d have known of other options but in the end, it was ok food. Nothing special, nothing terrible… a late-​night ‘nothingelseisopen’ restaurant. It was made better by the great Unilocaler company!
The mushroom and tofu in black bean sauce and the boneless ginger duck were pretty good. The other dishes, beef with green beans and walnut shrimp, were not bad. The service was odd, but no worse than other authentic Asian joints I’ve been to.
Haha. How’s that for mediocre? I wouldn’t search it out during normal business hours and would rather hit McCarthy’s Ulfert’s plaza for late night but if I had to go there again, that’d be ok too. *shrug*

Usually when I’m hungry, I’m not too picky about what I eat as long as its edible. However, by the end of the meal, I was SO pissed off. First of all, the waitress had started taking our order and when my parents paused for a few seconds to think about the next dish to order, without asking, she put down our order pad and skipped over to the other table to take THEIR order.
Anyways, when the waitress finally came back and proceeded to take our order, the next two items we named off had already been sold out for the day. It was only 12:30 PM at the time. The waitress said in a haughty sort of way that «their business was very good». There were only about 4 other tables of people besides me and my family.
I will admit, the food came pretty quickly but none of it was satisfactory. The salt and pepper pork was undercooked and not flavorful, the tea was bland, and we were not even offered refills for water until RIGHT BEFORE we paid for our meal.
So I’m warning you, DO NOT go to this place. The prices are actually quite cheap but there is no reason to pay a little more for a LOT better quality.

I’ve got no complaints about this place. The menu is huge and whenever I go there with people they seem happy. I’m vegan so the dishes I’ve tried are more limited but they’ve got some great veggie dishes that I never saw anywhere else. I’d quickly recommend the «tofu sheets with bamboo shoots» and the «black mushroom with gluten.» I’ve never been disappointed. I’ve never been let down by the service either. The (I presume) owner is always smiling and friendly.
If you like spicy they can do spicy. I made the mistake of smiling too much when ordering a spicy mapo tofu and it was painfully hot (but that is why we who love mapo tofu love mapo tofu, right?)

AAAAAAaaaaah! ~China Delight?~ cold and drab, this place was the furthest from a delightful place to be.
i got frustrated eating in here the other day. the waitress was cold and had a psycho-​killer vibe to her (read: Audition-​psycho). the «tea» pot was filled with hot water — sans tea. and waters were served with no option for refills — which was cruel because we ordered the Changqiun (perdon my misspellings) fish fillet, which was marked on the menu with four chili peppers indicating it’s level of spice.
the fish was hella-​spicy good, all discomforts aside. the mandrin chicken was one-​chili pepper spicy and also very tasty. i would order out from China Delight, but i won’t place so much as a cheek in their chairs again.

This place is definitely more ShangHai than Si Chuan flavor. I’ve been to this place at least 5 times but never passed the couple of dishes that I order every time.
1. Dou Ban quan yu. — whole fish in chili bean sauce 4 stars ($ 18.95). Its not spicy and definitely on the sweeter side. By the 3^rd time I requested less sweet but it still came out overly sweet. Regardless the sauce is above average and the fish always had the perfect tenderness!
2. Yellow Chives Frog Legs — 4.5 stars (12.95). the 4^th time that i ordered this it came out too salty and vinegary so minus that ½ star for lack of consistency. All the other times it came out perfect. This is a non spicy dish with a little touch of vinegar that gives it extra flavor.
3. Julienne Jiaobai with pork — 5 stars ($ 8.95). Jiaobai is not always in season and its not found on many menus. Its another simple dish but I love the taste of Jiaobai so I love this simple dish!
Other dish I’ve tried:
Ma La Tu Ding– Spicy diced rabbit. — not a fan. Sauce is too DRY, not enough red chili oil for something that is Sichuan flavor. 1 stars.
Sliced Kidney in Pepper Sauce. 3 stars. Average tenderness in that green sauce which is really just salty than anything.

After you have been drinking $ 1 beer at the races all night, this is a great place… well not many other choices to grab a late night snack of greasy chinese food before crashing or crashing at the table.
Our waiter was very nice and polite and apparently doesn’t break dance anymore
Question from the table next to us to our waiter. «Do you break dance?»
We figure that must be a great opening line to get someone’s attention.
We got mao po tofu and chow mein and pot stickers. The noodles were fat, i like skinny; the tofu was good and spicy but a little greasy even though i was looking for that.
Great service, average food but not many other options. Only going here when the rest of castro is closed for the night.

When this restaurant took over Man Bo F*ck…I mean Duck… this place appeared to have some potential. I remember going once and had a decent beef noodle soup that had a very spicy kick to it. MBD wasn’t a great place to begin with either, so no loss lamented.
Today I went with a bunch of former coworkers, who all left rather upset and lemon faced, although some seemed to have held it in like while having the runs during walking a mile back home and trying to find the bog (toilet).
Even I was gabberflasted with their rendition of dan dan noodles in soup. It was a very watery and somewhat tasteless broth with minced meat piled on top, no semblance of peanut and sesame paste flavor, in a mess of rather soggy prepackaged dry noodles. Cheap at $ 4.95, but that money could be better spent elsewhere. The previous chef must have left or something. Maybe this place does have «authentic» dishes on the menu, but that’s on paper only. How can a Sichuan restaurant screw up dan dan mein/​noodles and still live to tell about it? How does one say «doh» in Sichuanese?
And there were no more than 3 tables during 12:30 pm today. Should have been a screaming warning to not come here when there were only 2 tables.
Chinese restaurants just plain suck ass in MV, period. Queen House may be ok but they aren’t honestly that great except for a cheap quickie slam bam thank you m’am (unless A&Js from Cupertino opens up in MV then that will be more worthy for the beef noodle soup alone).

Another excellent AUTHENTIC hard core, Chinese establishment on Castro St.
Similar to Hunan Chili, I’ve frequented this place several times. The restaurant specializes in Szechuan and Shanghainese food… for those in the know, this is like specializing in Texas BBQ and California style cuisine… two seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum.
Shanghainese food is delicate, light, and at times sweet with vinegar hints. Szechuan style food is hard core, chinese chili-​o-​rama… a spicy tour de force that, at times, can numb your face.
To specialize in these two cuisines is tough, but they pull it off. The Sichuan specialties are authentic and EXCELLENT… my first trip here left me with a pile of paper towels used on my head and face… I felt like a ran a marathon — now that’s spicy! Yee HAAAAWWWW!!! Try the chicken dishes as well as the water cooked fish (swei-​tzu yu).
The Shanghainese dishes are very good… the shanghai vegetable soup dish is much like the soups I had in Shanghai with my peeps in the motherland. They’re savory soups with delicate tastes… the West Lake soup is also excellent and authentic.
All in all, the service is nice, though not quite as nice as Hunan Chili (that’s hard to top) down the street, but still much nicer than your avg chinese restaurant. I’d give the Szechuan dishes 4.5 stars here and the Shanghainese dishes 3.5 stars.
The prices are good, but again, slightly higher than Hunan Chili down the street. Still worth a look… Try the Szechuan water-​cooked fish… you won’t be sorry. Just prophylax with a couple of Tums!