China Bistro

I grew up in China so I prefer authentic Chinese food than american Chinese food. This place serves authentic Sichuan food and it’s pretty good. I ordered sweet and sour pork, fish fillet, and Chinese celery. The service and decoration here is also better than most of other Chinese restaurants I have been to. Will definitely come back.

Updated mid 2014 for the new owners serve a Sichuan Chinese food.
This place is not bad but not great.
Interesting when you see other restauranters thinking that they can do a better job than the last one that went out of business!
Green onion pancake was okay, very greasy and very flaky
Tea smoked duck is also okay, not as good as little Szechuan down the block
Yu Shang pork spicy n large portion
Green beans were fine
Calamari fungus Sizzling rice — fun eat it fast while there is crunch dish
Overall better than expected but not great

Have been here about five times since my last review. The quality is very consistent. The seasoning is always right. Stirred fried dishes have good wok qi.
Recommended items include:
— Twice cooked pork (think of spicy stir fried bacon),
— Spicy chicken (‘saliva’ chicken)
— Dan Dan noodles
— Multiflavor chicken
— Spicy dumplings
— Yu Shang eggplant

I’ve lived in and travelled throughout China for two years. This is the best food I’ve had hands down outside of China.

This place is legit for Sichuan flavor! Order the sweet potato cake for dessert! Hands down the best!

I’m here right now and it’s great. We tried 4 different dishes and they were all delicious. My daughter is digging the broccoli chicken. We all enjoyed the wonton soup, the bamboo pork, and the Kung pao chicken.
One warning, the portions are HUGE!
And service was on the ball.
Definitely recommended.

i really hate eating at chinese restaurants these days. they don’t understand the concept of pacing, and they bring all the dishes out at once. you feel super flustered and the need to eat quickly, b/​c otherwise everything gets cold!
that said, the szechwan food here was decent. i would have liked some of the dishes to be spicier, but i did like the fish filet in chili sauce and the green onion pancake.

This place has closed and reopened so many times I’ve lost count. The last two lives it had it was very bland, and I vowed not to go again, but when I saw yet another «Grand Opening» sign, I decided to give it a try.
This version of China Bistro was pretty good. I felt more confident about going when I noticed we were the only non Chinese table. My husband and I dropped in for lunch. He had the fried spicy beef. It was well flavored and crispy, only drawback was some pieces were too big and a little difficult to handle with chopsticks. I had the pork and fresh mushrooms. It looked so anemic when I got it (all shades of beige) I was worried, but it was very good. I think the mushrooms (mostly straw mushrooms) were actually canned, but they were artfully cut in thick strips the same size as the meat. There were some rather large pieces of garlic and ginger. After crunching into a couple, I moved all the others I saw to the side. I think they would have been better in a small mince. The obligatory hot and sour soup was actually very good, and I appreciated the addition a little toasted sesame oil on top.
The prices and selection were great. Service was good, except it took a long time to get the check. I’m in that neighborhood a lot, and will definitely go back.

This place has changed ownership several times within the past year. China Bistro is now an authentic Sichuan restaurant. Upon entering the restaurant, there was a sign posted on their glass window as they’re looking to hire: waiter, bus boy, and a few other positions. If you’re looking for a job, inquire within.
The restaurant looks more upscale and modern as it’s been remodeled. Depending on where you sit in the dining area, there’s a flat screen TV you can watch. Also, in the back of the dining area, there’s a round table secluded in the back for parties.
Currently, they offer several rice plates for $ 6.95 as part of their daily lunch special. There’s also a paper-​bound menu (guess they haven’t figured out which items to nix to have real ones printed), which is quite extensive.
Before I talk about the food, let’s talk about how long it took for our food to arrive. I arrived at the restaurant close to noon and there were two big tables, and one other table with a party of two. The two large parties were half way done eating when we arrived. However, our food took extremely long to come out. On top of that, 4 of the 7 dishes we ordered were from the appetizer section. Why our food took so long to come out? I haven’t got a clue!
We ordered:
Green Onion Pancake — The portion of the green onion pancake was very generous. I believe it was around $ 5 and we got about 12 pieces. Too bad it came out visually unappealing. When I bit into it, all I could taste was grease. There was no onion flavor and it seemed under cooked.
Smoked Fish ($ 6.95) — It reminded me of fish jerky and was more sweet than smokey. Also, if you’re not a fan of eating fish because of the «fish» taste, you will not like this.
Pot Stickers ($ 6.50) — The pot stickers were pan fried nicely. It was the only dish that was visually presentable. Too bad the meat was under seasoned.
Dan Dan Noodle ($ 8.50) — I’m a big fan of dan dan noodles, but didn’t care for the flavors of this particular dish. They used the numbing spice, which I’m not a fan of.
Sweet & Sour Spareribs Shanghai Style ($ 8.95) — The spareribs was on the sweeter side. It was also too dry as if it’s been sitting there for days.
Cold Cucumber — This tasted okay as the sauce had a bit of peanut butter and sesame oil.
Vegetable Chow Mein — Extremely salty, but otherwise, it was okay.
There was a particular chicken dish I wanted to order. However, when I asked for it, the waiter said they didn’t make it. I showed him a picture from Unilocal and he said it was from the previous restaurant’s menu. Funny, I was able to find it on their menu. China Bistro needs to train their staff better in terms of knowing the menu.
As I found the food to be mostly unsatisfying, I don’t plan to return.

This restaurant is great! It has authentic Sichuan food! The design and environment is best among all the Chinese restaurants I have visited in San Francisco. I’ve been SF for a week, but this place is my fave

Very authentic Sichuan food. Unlike most chinese restaurants, the service, décor, and the bathrooms are very well appointed and designed with care in mind. We tried the Dan Dan noodles, and the Pickled veggie fish soup. Both was perfectly executed.
The restaurant has not officially opened, so it has only been tested during the soft opening. Also, they don’t currently have the ability to take credit cards yet, so bring cash. Try this place before it opens and becomes too busy.
always ask for msg to be withheld

Meep, this place was the epitome of mediocre. The experience begins with a shabby menu that made me want to wash my hands. Then I open the menu and I see a picture of the noodles I want. But then, weirdly, the menu doesn’t say what KIND of noodles they are. The menu has lots of these strange inconsistencies.
When the noodles finally came, they were adequate. Just adequate. And the only reason I’m not being more brutal is that there were just sooooo many noodles I got three meals out of it. So if you have no standards but are terribly hungry, head here!

nice large open-​space interiors… quite polished and modern… late weekend lunch hours and quite empty… food pick-​up and delivery for the sick… order of the chicken porridge $six.fifty exact… about five minutes of waiting… large plastic tub filled and bagged… finding the quantity large… enough to fill a large noodle bowl… watery consistency and lighter… seasoned perfectly… chicken shredded fine… soupy porridge perfect for the sour throat suffering…

I feel bad from reading all the reviews i really do because i’ve only had good things to say about this place?
I came here on a sunday and after work, I wasn’t starving but i could just use some comfort food and well i forget that places usually closes in between hours from 2−5pm. This place was oddly i feel big but all the pictures really did work in attracting me in. This place was nice enough to stay open for my friend and I even though we walked in super late. Got us seated, served us tea, gave us clean menus. plus one star.
As we ordered the waiter was nice enough to take his time with me, i thought it was weird because he wore an apron only to realize he was actually the chef; but that would explain why picky eater i am he was able to describe how everything was made and prepped so intensely. They might have lucked out on this one but i can plus one to this gesture.
I ordered some braised tofu with shitake mushroom, and beef tendon noodle soup and the shanghai dumplings just because the waiter insisted i should try them.
first the tofu, that was good is all i had to say. I enjoyed it very much and honestly wanted to order another plate of it. It was off the lunch menu and it’s kind of like small eats. The tofu was very moist and with every bite the flavors from the juice it’s been braised in seeps out and dances on your tongue. Usually i dont like shitake mushroom, but this one was bearable, good even because i ate most of it. It also had from steamed and then fried peanuts and bamboo shoots which were crunchy and pretty delicious.
Then came the beef tendon soup. Fresh noodles (and i mean like fresh hand made noodles) which were soft and chewy, nice pipping hot soup with spinach floating around and an abundance of beef tendon and i mean plentiful. usually places would give maybe 5 pieces max but this place, my friend and i shared the noodle soup and we both wasn’t exactly able to finish the tendons. The soup had a nice flavor to it, with beef broth and it seems it was infused with the hint of chinese 5 spice from the been tendon that infused together quite nicely. I usually dont like tendon and i still don’t actually but this place made it exception, it was very soft and easy to eat and the flavors were just too delicious to pass upon. Again this bowl was a big portion shared between my friend and i.
Last but not least the shanghai dumplings, apple cider vinegar, some sugar, fresh ginger as the sauce and the dumplings soft textured skin, pipping hot soup pouring out as you take a bite of it and the it seems they used two types of meat because as you look at it from a bite it looks very packed like lean meat but when you chew on it the fat mixes with the soup makes your mouth water. The dumplings were a bigger order than i expected but it was very very very delicious. All the food plus another star.
They were super nice to us, they were very patient with us and they were helpful. I felt bad because i didn’t know they were closed when i walked in but im glad they’ve showed us such hospitality. Make this the final star given.
i definitely will come back to update this place.

It was sort of funny when we came into this place. Most of the restaurant was taken over by old Chinese people, as if they were here for some special occasion. They could be tourists, but then, what sort of tourist visit San Mateo? Curious…
The fact that Chinese people visit this place didn’t make the food magically good, it seems. My friend and I just ordered from the lunch menu, but the food was just ok. I didn’t hate it, but I could easily cook better myself.
Mediocre Chinese food + not so great service = meh.

Passed by this place several times before and thought I’d give it a try for lunch today. I was mostly lured in by the shiny new posters of the food on their front window. From the outside, it looked promising.
Inside is newly remodeled and the décor is nice and modern. Despite that the restaurant had an overall clean and polished look on the surface, once seated, we noticed that our plates had oily smear marks and the bowls had dry food stuck on it. Also, the condiment bottles were all sticky. Not impressed with the cleanliness.
Onto the food. Tried the cucumber salad, shanghai fried noodles, sliced beef porridge and the «yau tiao» (Chinese fried donut to go with the porridge). Nothing stands out here. The best dish we tried was the shanghai fried noodles which is the only thing I would order again. The porridge was bland and watery. The yau tiao was so oily that you can see oil collected in the craters of the dough.
I am not sure that I will be back especially with so many other similar Chinese eateries in downtown San Mateo. Felt a little let down since I had such high hopes for this place from the outside. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a case of «Good from far, far from good».

The service here is consistently bad since the renovation. Expect to have to wait or wave a worker down to get any sort of help. Don’t expect any recommendations or help ordering. The lady worker in the front always seems to be asleep with eyes open.
That said, the food is not bad, but not good either. The one item I’ve liked is the Shanghai Steamed Dumpling.
With all the choices in San Mateo, I recommend going somewhere else.

Truth be told, I had no plan to come here. On a quiet Sunday, my octogenarian dad was planning for us to have dim sum at Champagne Seafood across 4^th Street, but the place was beyond packed. Not wanting him to wait unnecessarily, I took out the Unilocal app to see what else was open and landed on a Japanese place, but they told us it would be 45 minutes. As we were strolling on 4^th, I pointed to China Bistro since it didn’t look crowded, and upon blind faith, we entered the premises. A more modern space than I expected (see photo), I could tell we landed in a Shanghainese place from the comprehensive two-​part menu that felt like a phone book.
Now what was Joan Rivers’ old joke (as if there’s any other kind)? She had more Chins than a Chinese phone book? Yeah, that’s how I felt reading the menu. I could feel my chins multiplying from all the food I was considering. I decided we could start with the $ 7.95 Steamed Pork Dumplings which sounded harmless enough. When it arrived, it came in a huge bamboo steamer with eight dumplings inside (see photo). Gee, there were only two of us, for Mao’s sake. They were pretty good but awfully squirty. Grabbing them with my chopsticks, I felt like I was in a Three Stooges skit and that the dumpling was taking revenge on me by giving me the raspberry.
The boiling water in the pouch of the wrappers kept shooting me in the face and on my shirt. The restaurant should really offer a swim mask and a bib. I was downright relieved when the more straightforward $ 9.50 Seafood with Pan Fried Noodle arrived. It was really more of a combination chow mein since there were pieces of sauteed beef, broccoli and mushrooms mixed in with the shrimp and scallops (see photo). It was too brown-​saucy for me, but my dad seemed satisfied, so that was enough for me. The last dish was so me, the $ 14.95 Steamed Salt Pork with Bamboo.
The description sounds harmless, but it actually consisted of hefty slices of fatty pork that had obviously brined in salt like an Easter ham as they covered strands of bamboo shoots that were obviously meant to evoke pasta noodles (see photo). It was a greasy pile, but I have to admit I kinda liked it. It was a bit like a very salty pork belly with a chewy pasta that obviously was not as carb-​intensive. We totally misjudged the amount of food we were getting, something I think the waitstaff should have told us even if it meant less revenue for them. Alas, all was not lost since my dad had leftovers for dinner.
FOOD — 3 stars… passable Shanghainese fare, bring an appetite
AMBIANCE — 3.5 stars… contemporary décor, but the unwieldy dim sum carts kept banging against the back of my chair
SERVICE — 2.5 stars… like a blitzkrieg, not much on guidance
TOTAL — 3 stars… not a standout, just serviceable

This restaurant space has probably the most interesting feng shui in all of downtown San Mateo.
Need proof?
15 to 20 years ago, the anchor tenant was Fung Shang Café (American Chinese and hand pulled noodles)
Then it went through several iterations since the late 1990s. One of them a Cantonese restaurant called Iron Chef, then it turned into a Malaysian restaurant. And when the SE Asia theme folded, it reconverted back to a short lived Cantonese restaurant (one visit gave me the runs… really bad feng shui that night!). Then it became Chef Wai which was the best iteration of the lot. Unfortunately Chef Wai shuttered due to horrible business partners, then HK Causeway Bay took it over. Then something happened to them, and China Bistro (former tenant) took over… Mainland Chinese owners trying their hand at HK dim sum, regional Chinese, and Cantonese seafood dining. Then as of late last year, remodeling mode.
And now… China Bistro, again.
Again?
Well it’s not that hard. New owners, new décor. It probably costs more money to change the English name for county records and forms, so all they did was the interior (and very nicely done) and change the Chinese name. So when that happens, there should be a new listing, but 1) I’m too lazy and 2) most restaurants with new ownership, new management, new chef, but keep the same English name, get the typical Unilocal treatment anyway.
There are three menus… one focusing more on specialty «dien xin», one menu suited for Chinese expat types, and a menu more suited to Americans (e.g. fried crab & cheese wontons, mu shu poo poo doo doo).
So it turns out the owners also run Shanghai Bistro in Millbrae, which some of you might remember as the former Shanghai East when it was up the street on W 25^th Ave in San Mateo (now occupied by Spicy Empire). Yep, feng shui, and drama.
Shanghai Style. By the way, Jiangnan in Mandarin Chinese, when written out, translates to Gangnam (Gong Nam in Cantonese). Psy tastic indeed.
For you hipsters out there (American and expat), yes they have Xiao Long Bao here!
Pork and cabbage dumplings — mediocre. The pork and cabbage seasoning was not very interesting. More used to the homey grandma made tasting style found at the likes of Town of Dumpling. Trust the Jiaocoholic (Jiaozi Lover) on this one.
Stir fried garlic large pea sprouts (dou miao) — A bit lacking in the stir fry department. Good, but not as tasty as say, Chef Zhao in Mountain View. A tad salty even though we requested less salt, less oil…
Sa Guo Yu Tou Tang — this is listed until their specials/​recommended items. Whole (big) fish head soup, served in a large gas heated tin container (the irony is that this should have been a claypot, but instead a heated large tin soup holder). Creamy white soup with liang pi style bean noodles (similar to the noodles you find at Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot if you get the sour cabbage broth), woodear, goji berries. Decent fish head. At $ 20.95, a mondo sized portion fit for 5 to 6 people at least.
Granted this is not exactly the best sample, but it gives some idea of what the kitchen can do. I feel they could do more and better, hopefully as time goes by. We shall see. Let’s hope they hired a feng shui master and exorcised all the bad chit that plagued the previous businesses.
Packed on the first day of the Snake. They managed to keep up with the flow but probably need more time to find their mark.

I don’t remember what this place used to be when I lived in the Bay Area — just know that a lot of places have changed names since I was last in the area just to visit.
I do know that friends spoke highly of this place so we ended up here for dinner on my most recent trip to visit.
Parking is on 4^th street — there are the structures as well as street parking but if you live in the area or know the down town area well, you know that finding parking right in front of the establishment you’re going is is almost unheard of. We lucked out though.
The restaurant had a few diners but it got busy in a hurry. We beat the rush which included two busloads of tourists. Service was good and there was no wavering when the rush hit. They were pretty much right on the ball.
The food, however was ok. There was a couple of dishes I enjoyed, a few I didn’t. A few of the meat dishes were too well done or was lacking in flavor. The vegetable dishes were great though — Fried tofu, beans … yes, I know that’s weird coming from me, of all people but I could have passed on the meat dishes and had seconds and thirds of the healthy stuff.
The place can accommodate large parties and the prices are pretty decent. Parking and the lack of kick in the meat dishes though, have me feeling that this place is just ok.