Lao Ching Hing

I have to say, just as the rating, I have experienced better where else.
Maybe that’s why they are out of business?

This place is always excellent. It’s the closest to the food I’ve had in China that I’ve eaten in all of Phoenix. Particular favorite is the preserved egg. If your lucky you can get them to serve it to you sliced like is done in China. Though it’s good in their tofu dish as well.
They used to offer Chinese and Americanized Chinese on the same menu, but, now if you wish the Chinese version of dishes you need to request the Chinese menu.

If you like authentic Chinese food, this is not for you. If you think Panda Express is authentic, then you’ll love this place.
Horrible service. Dropped the check to my table before I was done eating. (I’ve gone there 3 times, and each time this happened. They weren’t even busy).

First of all this is a Chinese restaurant that serves Chinese food, not Chinese American food. It was the best Chinese food I have had since I got back from China earlier this year. We started with salted pork and winter melon soup. It was excellant. The cold dish was spicy beef tendons. Very tasty and a really differant kind of spicy burn. It burned just the front of your tongue. We had pork dumplings, cabbage and a pork and garlic dish. I enjoyed all of them. They tasted like the food in China. The cabbage had small shrimp in it that we were not expecting and it was our least favorite dish. The sevice is typical Chinese. The soup came with the beef tendons. Then the cabbage and pork came out. Finally well into the meal the (appetizer) dumplings came out. If you share with everyone at the table it really doesn’t matter what comes out when. I look forward to returning.
It would have been nice to not have the tvs on. I like to enjoy my dining companions and the food. I can watch tv at home.

I had the Kung Pao chicken, which was surprisingly tasty. The spice and flavor were just right. There was also a good mix of peanuts, celery, carrots, and red peppers in the dish. Fortunately, the sauce was nice and thin, unlike the thick, heavy sauces that drown much of American Chinese food. The soup dumplings, while hard to find at many other places, were not remarkable and did not contain much soup. The hot tea was also not great. The décor is nice, but the service was not very good. The waiters were not able to answer questions and did not know the menu well. The dumplings, our «appetizer,» were served 10 minutes after our main dishes.
While I did enjoy the meal, I probably will not go back. There isn’t much that distinguishes this place from other Chinese restaurants. There isn’t anything that would compel me to visit this place versus trying something new.

The ambiance and service was good, but the food was awful. Between my friends and me we ordered Sesame Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, Kung Pao Beef, Chicken with Snow Peas and Cashew Chicken. The only item that was decent was Cashew Chicken. The Sesame Chicken was similar to the quality of a chicken nugget. I think the food at Panda Express might have more flavor.

Ancient Chinese secret my ass. I know the secret here and it’s my formula for success all through college. You take some meat, add veggies, and make an oyster sauce rue and viola, instant «authentic» Chinese food. We ordered several random dishes here and it was all the same. I was pining for some Panda after this… ugh. Only if this was being cooked by midgets on donkeys in an outdoor kitchen then yes, instant classic.

We had a fairly nice visit to Lao’s the other night. The service was wonderful, they treated us like royalty.
Foodwise, I found it a little mediocre… at least the dish I had. I shared a seafood plate with my husband and I also ordered the family hot pot. The seafood was actually pretty fresh tasting, especially the shrimp, but everything else just seemed a little bland, lacking in a flavor.
I heard some positive comments on the orange chicken from others at the table; and the mongolian beef seemed to be a hit, and everyone was very happy with the shrimp fried rice.
All in all the food was ok, but not necessarily worth the drive (at least from where I am).

I really liked this place. We came with a business group of around 20 for an early dinner and they got everything out correctly and promptly. The beans are great as is their eggplant. The beef skewers were ok, nothing too great but decent. Their noodle dishes are really good and I liked the quality of the food and found it to be very tasty.
My only complaint was that I was really searching for spicy dishes and even the ones that they said were spicy really weren’t. I put their house made hot sauce/​oil on my dishes but it still didn’t really add heat though it did add some good flavor.
I was a little overwhelmed by the menu and am looking forward to coming back and enjoying some more adventurous dishes when I am not with my co-​workers who wanted to share everything and stuck to orange chicken, etc.

As Paul Krendler said to Dr. Hannibal Lecter while drinking drugged broth before Lecter fed him bites of his own brain, «It’s not very good, Buddy.»
Everything we tried tasted kind of old; like it had been sitting out too long. The fried rice was seriously the best part of the meal.
My meal (Shanghai Style Meatballs, meh) arrived a good 10 minutes after my husband’s Kung Pao Chicken. Lame.
We had high hopes for the appetizer, as the menu listed both «steamed dumplings» and «pot stickers» on the menu… still on the lookout for a good Shanghai style dumpling we gave them a shot. They arrived well after the main courses and were nearly inedible. Alas, the hunt for Xiaolongbao continues… I found some frozen options in the Ranch Market next door and I’m hoping for the best!
The staff here was very friendly, but with the so-​so food and clunky service I doubt we’ll be back.

Alex A. was craving some Chinese food, so we headed over to the Chinese Cultural Center and decided on trying Lao Ching Hing. I should first say that I’m from an area that’s saturated with Chinese restaurants, so I have pretty high standards for Chinese food. Lao Ching Hing fell far short of those standards.
At first glance, it seemed like a pretty nice restaurant. They invested a lot in very nice traditional-​looking furniture, which I don’t see often. So I enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the place. We were the only patrons when we went, so I can’t really complain of bad service since we were the only ones being served.
We ordered the stir-​fried string beans (my all-​time favorite dish) and the salt and pepper pork. They were both so bad :(The string beans were under-​seasoned and not really cooked the way it should have been cooked. In that particular dish, the beans should have been dried. It seems like they sort of skipped that step or didn’t complete that step. So instead of nice crunchy beans, we got squeaky beans. The pork chops were worse though. I’m thinking it was at least a day old — you could taste the old oil — and they probably just re-​heated it (we definitely heard a microwave go off). And that old oil taste stayed in my mouth long after dinner was over. Not pleasant.
I think Panda Express has better-​quality food than this place. I will not be returning.

On a recent visit, I noticed the Chinese menu was no longer available. I managed to order one off-​menu item but unfortunately it did not taste like it should have. Found the overall experience disappointing compared to previous visits.

I understand some Asian restaurant don’t really have a good service, but you going to drop the check off in the middle of dinner was just plain rude.
It wasn’t like they were busy, why the rush?
The food was good, but not good enough for me to go back.
You’re better off going Golden Buddha

It’s in the Chinese Cultural Center so we thought it would be more authentic. The sweet and sour pork, shrimp with lobster sauce, eggplant with garlic sauce, and steamed dumplings were all just OK. The fried pork chops were way overcooked and dry.
I overheard the waiter tell a Chinese family that they don’t serve sauteed shrimps since the shrimps aren’t fresh — being in Arizona, not by the sea. At least he was honest with the customer.
Tip: If you want the steamed dumplings, order them while you peruse the menu. We ordered ours with the rest of the food and the dumplings were the last to arrive at the table. We were full already by the time it came.

I stopped in to give the lunch specials a try. Since it was my first visit, I figured I’d go with a nice safe selection — orange chicken. It’s what I typically get when I try a Chinese place for the first time, and gives me a general feel for the food before I try something a little more adventurous.
The lunch special included soup (I went with egg drop), an egg roll, little fried things, and fried rice. The soup was pretty standard — there’s not much to egg drop soup so not much to get right or wrong. The fried rice and the little chip-​type things were just what I’d expect as well.
The chicken was nicely cooked and flavored. The orange flavor was hardly noticeable, but the flavor was nice anyway.
I’m sure I’ll be back reasonably often.

3.75 stars
This is probably my favorite Chinese place in Phoenix. Incredibly authentic, so much so, they’ve got a secret Chinese menu (that’s in Chinese) and a normal menu (for all you White folk… hah). Nice Chinese décor, reasonable prices, and friendly service. A good place to bring some people who have never experienced Chinese food outside of the orange-​chicken/​beef broccoli/​chow mein thing. I’m a fan of the Peking duck, the crispy pan-​fried noodles (on the Chinese menu), the Chinese Broccoli (also on the Chinese menu), and their hot and sour soup. Never a big crowd, but when you see big Chinese families eating here on a Friday night, then you know you’ve picked the right place.

We decided to eat here while at the Moon festival Sat night. I was a little embarrassed that we had a stroller with us but they didn’t bat an eye. They showed us where to put it and we were good to go. My husband and I each had a Tsing Tao (I’m sure I mispelled that), and split an order of crab rangoon, sweet and sour chicken and rice noodles with beef. Everything was decent although not enough to distinguish itself from other Chinese restaurants. Service was great and prices were extremely reasonable. My fave was the rice noodles with beef because it had lots of onions, sprouts and other veggies in it. A little salty for my liking but I liked it nonetheless. I am indifferent if I were to go back. Apparently you can find certificates on
which is cool, too. They also bring you soft, Almond cookies with the bill which is always a nice treat!

really? 4 stars? how? why? is it because i am Chinese or cus i am from California?
food wasn’t ‘hot’, it was warm but not hot… their famous potstickers were dry… soup was tasteless… lots dishes we ordered were too salty…
good décor though and the service was ok… but food. i am a eater and i almost came out of this place ANGRY! we were a group of 15 and were grabbing a quick bite before going to the airport… if i knew there was a ruby tuesday on the other side of the hotel… i would NOT have come here!

This is my parents’ favorite place to eat when they come to Phoenix so we dropped by twice on our family vacation. The owner/​proprietress convinced my mom (in mandarin) to let her pick the dishes for our first dinner so we didn’t even know what would be coming. The cold smoked duck was sooo delish as was the special mountain leafy green with bean curd shreds (all minced fine and not on the regular menu). There was also a shredded pork dish with bamboo (excellent) and a pickled vegetable with fish soup. The soup wasn’t really my thing because it was heavily seasoned with white pepper which I hate but the rest of my family said it was exceptional.
Our second visit was for lunch before heading off to the airport for the return trip. I could have eaten the entire scallion pancake myself as well as the cold spicy pork belly dish. Luckily, we ordered two orders of fried potstickers because those were delicious as well. We also had some tasty steamed pork buns but I was stuffed at that point.
If you really want to experience authentic shanghai food, let the staff order for you, you won’t regret it.

All I can say is thank you, thank you to Helen Y for once again turning me onto another style of Asian cuisine. I had no idea that there were so many places here in our wonderful city for authentic Asian cooking.
At first glance you see the English menu and you see the Chinese menu. tell them to keep the English menu and translate the Chinese menu. The English menu is the typical stuff you’d find at any American Chinese food place. now the Chinese menu is where all the good stuff is. Fortunately Helen speaks and read Chinese so it was a snap. Ive been super excited about trying Shanghainese cooking and this place was no disappointment.
Of course my eyes are bigger than my tummy (really they are) and we ordered a ton of food. Had spicy tendon, water boiled fish, soup dumplings, rice cake (awesome) pork belly with pickled vegetable and some green veggie dish that I’m not sure what it was but very tasty. Here’s the breakdown.
Rice Cake. Off the chain rice noodle disks with shredded meat and sauce
Soup Dumplings. dumplings filled with a meat ball and meaty broth. oh yeah!
Spicy Tendon. yes, that would be cow tendon that has been stewed in a spicy sauce and served cold or room temperature. trust me, a little strange but all about the texture.
Water Boiled Fish. this come in a pot with tons of chile flakes and cilantro. its bold and very saucy, not watery as the translation might have you believe. this one is good times!
Pork Belly with Preserved Veggies. braised pork belly on top of pickled veggies but not like you’d think. the veggies look like mulch but taste much better. The pork belly is really tender and fun to eat!
Avoid the sweet and sour bullshit and go right for the goods!