Chang Jiang

Some of the best Chinese I’ve had anywhere! Great service, only take out! My favourite is the sweet and sour pork, Roast Pork fried rice, Crispy Sesame Beef! Its all at a great price too!

My relentless quest for respectable Midwest Chinese food continues to Chang Jiang of Sun Prairie. Let me first say that I have searched many locations nearby, including the House of Mei, and that I have pretty high (but reasonable) standards when it comes to Asian food: Delicious food, fresh ingredients, adequate portion sizes, and (for a huge bonus) something that makes them stand out from the others. I should also note that the dish I judge all of them by is Vegetable Lo Mein (plain, I know, but it levels the playing field). So, I ordered take-​out of the Lo Mein, lunch special (General Tso’s Chicken) and hot and sour soup.
FOOD TASTE/​QUALITY: The overall taste was okay; pretty good. Not bad, but nothing really stood out to me as tremendous. Some of the dishes were better than others. The General Tso’s Chicken was a mix of predominantly dark meat, and the sauce was pretty standard. Some pieces were stuck together, making a clump of meat (not my favorite). The fried rice that came with the chicken was very good. Lo Mein was not bad. The egg noodles were cooked nicely (not overly cooked; firm), but it was a bid too runny for me (i.e, liquid at the bottom of the box). Soup was also pretty good. The vegetables seemed to me a mix of fresh and canned. Again, not my absolute favorite food taste/​quality, but not at all bad for Sun Prairie.
PRESENTATION: Styrofoam boxes and plastic containers for the take-​out (small box for the rice and Lo Mein). But, it was packaged well and tightly put together in a brown paper bag. Everything made it home nicely.
PORTION: This is where Chang Jiang shined. The lunch special was so much food, that I could not finish it in one sitting. It was allot of chicken — perhaps 1 to 1.5 pounds. The Lo Mein comes in two sizes (small and large); the box was packed tightly and came with a nice amount. Overall, I was very impressed with the portions. You will not go away hungry!
PRICES: In short, very reasonable. All of their menu and prices are posted at
, so there are no surprises. As an example, the small Lo Mein was $ 3.55 (large would have been $ 6.25). General Tso’s Combo plate was $ 7.55. Soup was $ 2.15. Considering the monstrous portions, the prices are a HUGE draw. They often have coupons online for an even sweeter deal.
DELIVERY/​TAKE-​OUT EXPERIENCE: This is a classic take-​out place. Pretty small without any real places to dine-​in; think small take-​out window in a strip mall. I ordered online (before they opened for lunch), and they were Johnny-​on-​the-​spot, having everything ready at the exact time I said I would be there. The person I paid was very nice, even honoring a coupon that I forgot at home. They seemed genuinely happy to have my business. That was impressive. Living in the Midwest, though, I would LOVE for them to take up delivery! But with online ordering and easy pick up, it was pretty good.
FINAL NOTES/​IMPRESSIONS (3.5 to 4 stars): As I said, I am admittedly hard on Chinese food take-​out/​delivery, and want food that blows me away with quality and taste. Was Chang Jiang doing all of that? No, not completely. But, the food was good, the portions were fantastic, and the prices were awesome. In the Midwest, that’s not too bad! For me, I will return and would not have a problem recommending it to others.

Really good, fresh take out. The vegetarian food is consistently well made and flavorful. It tastes fresher than the other local options, where the veg dishes tend to be soggy and bland. I’ve been ordering here for years and have yet to be disappointed.

Foods always well prepared and tasty. New online order system is a breeze. Not a place to sit down and eat but the beat for carryout.

I hadn’t eaten from Chang Jiang in yeeeears until recently during a visit home to my parents’ and my mom wanted take out for dinner. Fast, fresh, and tasty, this took me back! Chang Jiang has been in Sun Prairie for eons, and they hold up. Solidly good Chinese take out at a good price. I like it!

I tried the Cottage Grove location as it was closest to where we live when we first moved to Madison. Just tried Sun Prairie after a period of a couple years. Had avoided regularly based on first experience. Same. Consistently mediocre, bordering on bad Chinese food. Both Cottage Grove and Sun Prairie consistent over span of years. Don’t bother.

Love the new Steamed Dumplings! Also the online ordering is great, need to put a time ready in the e-​mail though. We’ve lived in Sun Prairie for over 10 years now and you just keep getting better and better!

I feel compelled to weigh in on this one.
I have ordered from here about four times. It has been very inconsistent. Out of all the things I’ve had the General Tso’s chicken has been consistently good. Granted I have not inspected the chicken closely as it would ruin the experience. It’s got the crunchy/​chewy texture I think the outside of General Tso’s should be like without being mushy and it tastes pretty good, it also reheats well in the microwave. To be fair, I don’t judge Chinese takeout on much more than that.

Chang Jiang is our go-​to Chinese take-​out place in Sun Prairie. It’s not the most amazing Chinese food I’ve ever had but it definitely satisfies a craving.
We like getting their chicken lo mein — spicy and the curry chicken with mixed vegetables added.
No complaints!

The rice and steamed vegetables were good, but that’s about all we could tolerate. We ordered General Tso’s, which is what we always get when we first try a Chinese restaurant. It helps us compare to other places. The quality of the chicken used was awful. The dumplings were flavorless. We will not be returning.

A friend offered to buy Chinese for lunch. So I figured why not try this place out. I have to say the Shrimp Egg roll was good, however the Sesame Chicken was way to breaded in my opinion. Maybe I just expect to much from Chinese food? The inside of this place is full of tacky crap that you can buy from them. Not much of a seating area either. Maybe I just came on a bad day?
Either way I probably won’t eat this again, not even on par with the mediocre Happy Wok.

We plan our monthly menu in advance to make shopping easier, and always allow one Sunday a month for pizza and one Sunday for take out Chinese at Chang Jiang. My wife is Chinese (I am not) and it’s important to understand that the food there is not designed to be «authentic» Chinese, it’s designed to appeal to the American pallet. (I have eaten in China, both at home and at restaurants, and «authentic» Chinese food, with it’s use of familiar spices in overwhelmingly unfamiliar ways, probably isn’t really what you want!)
And so Chang Jiang succeeds in giving us what we want. I’m not a gourmet, but I know what I like, and the food is very tasty.
The reason I only give the Restaurant four stars instead of five is that their designation of what is hot and what is not, is way off. As in, it isn’t really hot. At home when we cook, we always make a separate less spicy plate for my step-​son vs. what my wife and I eat. But he enjoys everything designated as hot at Chang Jiang, with no problem.
We always get the Kung Pao Shrimp, and then our other order varies, sometimes Hunan Shrimp, or Garlic Shrimp. If you really want it hot, you’ll have to ask for extra spicy and see what happenes depending on who is cooking.
We don’t order in advance, we just drop in and it never takes more than 5 or 6 minutes to have it prepared on the spot. While we are waiting we always see others coming in as well to pick up their take-​out orders. It’s not a secret place, lots of folks know about it.
And because we don’t just run in and run out again with our order, we have had the opportunity to interact with both the owner and her husband. Judging from our brief interactions with them, they seem to be very nice people, so that’s a plus too!

We used to go here for our Americanized Chinese food every so often for the last 7 years. However, in the last year the quality of their food has taken a nose dive to unacceptable levels of blech and blah.

Pretty bland for Chinese take out.

Meh. It’s okay when you want something quick. Not overly impressed. Fried rice is good.

The general tso’s and boneless spare ribs are about as good as you’ll find. No lie!

I haven’t had better Crab Rangoon than they serve here. The people who work there are pretty nice, too.

Best chinese I’ve found so far. Hot and sour soup and their won ton soup are fantastic. Sometimes I’ll go and just get the soup.