Mon Jin Lau

Mon Jin Lau is not great food but there’s nothing inherently bad about it either. I’ve never had a meal here that even remotely blew me away, but I’ve never been grossed out either. If you are a foodie and your expectations are high you will probably be disappointed. But if you recognize this place for what it is… a very SAFE (Anglo-​American friendly) Asian-​themed restaurant with a cultural identity crisis… and set your expectations accordingly… you’ll probably enjoy Mon Jin Lau well enough.
Think of Mon Jin Lau as a perfect place to go for a relatively inexpensive business lunch that still feels fancyish enough (and everyone in your party will likely be able to find something safe to eat). It’s also a great place to take a date who says she likes sushi (but really means she likes California Rolls) and says she likes Chinese food, too (but really means she likes Panda Express). She will probably think this place is way fancier even than Olive Garden and you’re sure to get to at least 2^nd base… unless you’re a loser/​asshole, in which case sorry buddy but choice of restaurant can’t help you.
Short summary of the basics:
* Noodles — AOK, Singapore Noodles are recommended
* Soups — Pretty good though I haven’t been able to bring myself to try the Ramen or Udon
* Chinese-​themed dishes — Just alright
* Sushi — Decent
* Booze — lots of fancy cocktails a la PF Changs and if you order a Sapporo with your sushi you’ll look oh-​so-​cool

The Szechuan chicken with brown rice was fantastic!

Had dinner at Mon Jin Lau last night. Complimentary valet, nice! Hostess was very kind and seating was quick and easy with our reservation. Our waitress took our drink order promptly and took great care of us all night, she even had a great sense of humor! Appetizers were tasty, crab rangoons and a spicy shrimp tempura roll. Not my favorite sweet and sour sauce but, no biggie. I ordered the crispy duck, delicious and served with fresh snap peas. My hub had Szechuan green bean and chicken, it was good but not fantastic. He’s been searching for the garlicky green beans and unfortunately didn’t find it here. It was still ok though.
Atmosphere here is gorgeous and elegant. The quick, efficient service is on point and the food is good. We’ll be back.

Often when you eat out you have to choose between great food and great drinks. Here, both are great. I came in for an early dinner at an odd hour (4pm). Unsure what to expect. My pad Thai was just okay, but m husbands sesame chicken, the sweet potato fries, and my sakerita were all outstanding. Our only real gripe was no rice served with sesame chicken. No big deal. Overall, a good place to go for a lunch or dinner.

Usaully a very pleasant experience. I have been coming here for years. This time there was a new bartender. She was very rude. I heard her bad talking about customers very loudly, which is very unprofessional and should not be part of my dining experience. But the food was wonderful as always. I just wouldn’t recommend sitting at the bars anymore.

Excellent food and good drinks. Me and my wife go there frequently for our date nights and usually enjoy happy hour or happy endings. I love Nikki behind the bar and the sushi guys are really friendly and make delicious sushi. My favorites are the hamburger, crispy squid, spicy shrimp tempura roll, and for dessert if there is room I enjoy the Sanders hot fudge ice cream puff!

I love this place. Been going there for years! Great food, great drinks and staff has been there for a really long time and very welcoming and personable. Luv this place!

Party like its 1989 at this joint! We went there a second time for a dinner and were thoroughly disappointed. The yellowtail sushi did not taste fresh and the Mongolian beef/​cashew chicken was uninspiring. The flavors of the main courses are way outdated and the ingredients do not taste very fresh.
The atmosphere is claustrophobic and beware you could smell your neighbor! The tables are spaced extremely close together, to the point you feel like you’re having dinner with strangers.
The place has seen its day.

Mon Jin Lau has been a family favorite for a long time. Typically, once in a blue moon we’ve done take-​out when I’ve been home. Though, I haven’t actually dined in at the restaurant in years. It’s more upscale and you’ll definitely pay more than your average chinese pan-​asian joint. But they go beyond what normal take-​out places typically have to offer.
The setting is swanky. It’s a good spot to grab a drink at their bar area after work I imagine. Or a fine place to host a party as I think I get monthly offers from someone I used to know to check out their place. I live in New York now, so, not really feasible.
The drinks: Limited beer options, decent wine selection but usually $ 8 – 9 a glass, martinis — eh. Most of their mixers for their martinis are made with 7-​up. I skimmed the list and chose the only one that sounded somewhat appealing to me: The saketini. Sake and vodka me up. Straight to the point and subtle in flavor but still packs a punch.
The food is what you come here for really. BEST SCALLION PANCAKES I’ve ever had in my LIFE. I never ordered them from here but was blown away. Spring rolls are also one of the better rolls I’ve had, albeit I think they pre-​make them and heat them up because our order was a little tiny bit cold in the middle. How they taste and are executed is great if they just heated them longer.
The sushi is insanely fresh. Yes, we were gluttons. It was my sister’s birthday so we ordered a huge variety of appetizers and three entrees for four people to split. The tuna and salmon sashimi as well as the Hawaiian roll special: Shrimp tempura, avocado, topped with ham and spicy pineapple sauce, spam and tamago nigiri. Not something that sounds appealing but decadent. Entrees: Crispy mandarin duck: which is insanely sweet but also cooked to perfection and so crispy. Thai peanut chicken curry and Pad Thai noodles that come with a full buffet of shrimp, chicken and tofu. It hits on multiple notes of cuisine. If you are in the mood for Americanized Japanese, Chinese, or Thai, you have it all there.
Only complaints really is that this place comes across as clubby at some points. They were playing untz untz untz music on Christmas Eve at 5pm. I know they do dj Wednesdays and have happy hour specials with clubby music. But seriously, chill. Also, make sure to check out near the entrance the celebrity photographs (kitschy but cool), Bette Midler and Danny DeVito’s donated shoes, as well as iconic Madonna’s corset and cone bra.

One of my favorite restaurants over the years and always a must when I visit Detroit. The food here is always great and the sushi bar they added a few years ago has been a great addition. The staff is always extremely friendly, the portions always worth the money and the experience is always joyous.
The recipes have changed slightly since the son’s took over the business from their parents, but everything is still delicious! This place has an upscale vibe, so works perfect for a date night or a business meeting. It is a wonderful upscale Chinese restaurant that also specializes in Japanese & Thai foods.

Awesome sushi and even better prices during happy hour. I moved here from Las Vegas and I haven’t been able to find good sushi till now.

Had an early dinner there today. The food is always really good. I don’t ever recall ordering a dish that I did not like. Today, I had the kimchi fried rice and it was phenomenal! My son had the General Tso’s chicken. I was pleasantly surprised their version is not deep fried. My son really enjoyed his dish.

Great wine selection, incredible sushi selection, attentive service!
Unfortunately, there were tons of fruit flies and I found a few fish bones in my sushi.
Overall? It was delicious and I’d give it another try.

I used to love Mon Jin Lau, but the past two times I’ve visited have been disappointing. The food is good, but the atmosphere is not. One night we were when there was a huge party in the dining room. My husband and I were seated at a small table for two. Some woman who was with the big party stood up so that her butt was about one inch from our table. Yeah, I really don’t enjoy dinner with some stranger’s buttocks in my rice bowl. I said loudly several times that people might be considerate of others, but she didn’t take the hint. I finally had to jostle the table to get her to move, which she did reluctantly.
That experience was enough to keep us away for a while. Last night, I called to make a reservation and the guy said I didn’t need one. We thought we’d go over for a nice, calm Sunday night out. Well, there was once again a huge party of people in the dining room. Sure enough, we were seated right next to it. OMG, I cannot express how awful this was. We might have well gone to Golden Corral. There were about five little kids running around the table. When they weren’t running around the table and jumping up and down, they were at the table playing video games. You could hear the music all through the dining room. Yeah, I really want to pay $ 65 so I can drink a gin and tonic in Romper Room. These people would not leave. They ordered a bunch of cakes and the waitress brought them out with a big mask of some kind and all the kids gathered right beside our table to sing «Happy Birthday» and jump up and down. One little girl who would not stop running around almost got her braids in my food. I kind of snapped at her, which I feel bad about. But my last nerve was gone.
Eventually, the host came over and apologized. Too little, too late. I’m afraid we’ve gone to Mon Jin Lau for the last time.

Yesterday was my best experience with Mon Jin Lau. Even though the check-​in process is a little rough because I guess there’s so many prior reservations, I enjoyed the half off sushi for ladies night. The mandatory valet is a little annoying because you can’t just walk out — you must wait on the attendants. The chef made some items that weren’t on the menu for me and I felt so special and I will definitely go back all the time for that reason! Overall, I would definitely go back over and over again. I’m learning which dishes that I love too which is even better.

Food: ++
Atmosphere: ++
Service: +++
Comments: a high end Chinese dinning amosphere– with slightly above average fare.
«Just Mama Hoo Hoo»
It’s all about the food for me. If your food has merit, it will stand on it’s own.
At today’s dining experience at MJL, the food was good at best– but not something that blew me away to beg me for seconds.

Writing a review for another Asian place made me think of good old Mon Jin Lau. I’m originally from Michigan’s east side and I’ve eaten here a dozen times. Actually, it was my mom’s favorite Asian place and I threw her a surprise 80^th birthday party here a few years ago. The staff went out of their way to make our party something special and the food and service were really exceptional.
Some folks love to flame a place if it’s not an über-​exclusive place with a famous chef or owner. Personally, I’ve been to some of the best Asian restaurants in NYC, San Francisco, San Diego, etc., and I think this place can really hold its own in comparison to some of those places. I think you would be hard pressed to find a much better Asian restaurant in Michigan and really hard pressed to find better value.
The Hunan Spicy Chicken, Moo Shu Chicken, Chilean Sea Bass and Asian Filet were all my favorites, but the menu is pretty expansive, so there’s lots to try. I’ve never had anything but a great experience here and I have fond memories of how well they always treated my friends and family.

I love it here! we had a party of 15 and everyone of us was taken care of immediately.
We never had to wait for drinks or any items that we may have needed.
Food was great! we had a variety of appetizers including various sushi rolls. All were great!
For the main course I had their filet, which again, was amazing!
For desert we had a cream puff and white chocolate cake which did not disappoint!
ALSO: Complimentary valet!

Mon Jin Lau provides the sushi that I get regularly at Plum Market. It’s always fresh (even at the end of the day) and I love that they make most of the rolls in both white or brown rice options AND brown rice quinoa. Good for your whole grains and daily fiber In particular I’m a big fan of the spicy tuna, the salmon on the beach, and the salmon sashimi. The latter seriously melts in your mouth. SO good! A little on the pricey side but I try and get the daily special to save a few bucks.
Haven’t been to the actual location yet but I’m interested to try the rest of their options. If their premade sushi is that good I anticipate greatness from their restaurant.

I always love coming here for the stellar service, exceptional food and sexy atmosphere.
SORRY THEY DONT TAKE FOOD STAMPS, So pack your baby up and leave!
The fresh sushi is better than most Asian places and Nikki makes a killer martini. The crispy beef and wontons are cooked perfectly and mouthwatering.
They have a well balanced wine list so you won’t go thirsty.
Shanghai Wednesday’s are a blast for a girls night out.
I’d recommend this place for a perfect date and entertaining clients.