Chinois Asian Bistro

This place was «meh» as the 2 star rating states. We were greeted promptly and seated in the corner by the front door sort of blocked off by a partition – it was just an odd, tucked away spot that felt disconnected from the rest of the restaurant. We waited quite a while to be acknowledged by our server just to start drink orders, let alone food orders. Since it took so long by the time our server got to our table we were ready to place both.
We ordered 2 appetizers – the roti prata and the tuna tartare. Both were not that great – the tuna was about ½ cucumber and the rest tuna, it was clear they skimped on the tuna and stretched it with the vegetable. The tuna quality was just OK, light pink – not the dark red you want to see with quality ahi. The roti prata was extremely greasy and heavy, not like others I’ve had. The pineapple curry sauce made the whole thing taste like a greasy pancake, honestly. Just not that good. Our main courses were the best part of the meal. My partner ordered a beef dish that was very tasty, cooked well and the beef flavorful. I had the lemongrass chicken in lettuce cups – it was good.
Overall just an underwhelming experience with barely average food. Not in a rush to go back with so many other options for Asian cuisine in the county.

One of the best Asian restaurants in the area. Don’t miss it! The place is lovely, food is delicious and the service kind and friendly!!!
Don’t miss the veggie Taro egg rolls. I Absolutely recommend the restaurant

Mee Siam is my favorite dish. We like this place a lot. The are great for gluten free as well!

Delicious and fresh, loved their food.

Friendly environment with pretty good Asian food. The chicken and beef skewers tasted well, but their water was quite unconventional and bad. They took a risk by offering lemon water, but it doesn’t go well with everyone. Overall, not a bad place to eat. I would come here again.

My family and i recently moved closer to windsor so we deceided to try this place on a sat nite. We ordered the leek and shrimp dim sum which were ok. My wife had the chicken curry which was very watery but had good flavor .i had a dish with shrimp and calamari which was very salty and the calamari were so tuff they were non edible. I expressed to the waitress twice about it and she did not offer any substitution or discount. I had high expectations but probably wont be back. Better simmilar food at other restaurants in santa rosa. Too bad nice atmosphere

Came here for lunch on a rainy Friday afternoon around 12:30. It was very busy and loud, making it hard to hear other people at our table. We ordered the duck spring rolls and they were beautiful and tasted great. I ordered the Thai mango prawn salad which was tasty! I ate the whole thing. My dad had the Ahi tuna salad and it was amazing. I will definitely be ordering that next time. My mom’s order of the coconut combination fried rice (think that’s what it was…) was very delicious. I ordered their iced tea which on the menu described it as having citrus and mint in it so I was disappointed that the iced tea came out looking like any other iced tea. I wouldn’t order the iced tea again but everything else was delicious. Service was pretty quick considering how busy it was. Can’t wait to visit again!

Went here for a company lunch and ordered the veggie pad Thai. Reasonable prices, large portions and great service! I plan on coming back soon.

So I’ve had stellar food every time I’ve been here until today. Ordered the Chinois Salad and the Pork Won Ton’s. The salad was pretty tasty, a little sour, but good. As for the Pork Won Ton’s, they were pretty bad, extremely bland and a ton of what I could make out as a soy sauce mixture. I almost wanted to send them back, but decided to finish them up and learn my lesson and not order them again.

Wish I had taken photos. Food here is consistent and very flavorful. Have never had a bad dish. One of the nicer places to go in Windsor. They make some very nice cocktails as well — give it a try for sure.

Loved this place when we lived near. Came back for the long weekend. Since they are closed on Sundays, and we had dinner plans already, we were willing to buy it tonight to savor it tomorrow.
First phone call– 17 mins after they were supposed to be opened, no answer. Never had that happen before.
Second call — no answer (double checked the number)
Third call, a guy put me on hold … after a long, long, Long time I hung up and called back (4^th) an hour later. (on hold again but for short time.
The shrimp pad thai used to be out favorite.. ordered 2 of them. The two combined didn’t even equal to what used to be one. It looked like they put the left overs from someone else’s order in the box. The noodles weren’t long. most short and broken pieces
What happened to the flavor???
I longed to come back and eat their dishes. The seafood dish was way over soy sauced/​salty! I did not take a second bite. The ginger was just thrown in there, not flavoring the dish but just filling the space. My local friends said exactly the same comments as I did when they saw all the dishes we ordered.
Our other dishes were okay. …
I feel so disappointed. I don’t think they will be on the must go list on our next visit. I will take our hard earned Benjamins else where.
So bummed…
Now, I know why they were not on the recommendation list where we’re staying.

My brother and I were in Windsor on business and we thought we’d check out Chinois. Good decision on our part! The place was tastefully decorated and played soft, easy jazz. As soon as we walked in, we thought, «Oh, oh, this is going to be expensive.» But it wasn’t overpriced at all. Most entres were between $ 10-​$ 16. Appetizers were $ 7 – 10 and the dessert was $ 6.
Service was very attentive and they refilled our water glasses constantly.
Now for the food. .. We started off with the pork potstickers which were okay (not great, but not horrible either). Next, we tried the beef lumpia and that was pretty good (although it was only 5 half pieces — there wasn’t a lot of it). The third dish we tried was the barbequed pork noodles which the waitress recommended. My brother thought it was good, but I thought it was only okay. It was very heavy on the soy sauce, so not very appealing to me. Now, here comes the redeeming dishes: The coconut seafood curry noodles! OMG. This was the best dish with crispy scallops, shrimp, and clams. Seriously, I will return to this restaurant just for this dish. It was absolutely great. (Can you tell I liked it? Ha!) For dessert, my brother and I were going to share the coconut crème brûlée, but I must confess, my brother only got one bite before I grabbed the dessert and hogged it all.
So, based on our first three dishes, I thought this place was only okay and would probably not return. But the last two dishes were so good, I bumped up this restaurant’s rating to four star.
If you’re in Windsor, try this restaurant. But do yourself a favor and order that Coconut Curry Seafood Noodle dish. Best thing on the menu.

Very nice. Clean, good environment, friendly service, great food, decent prices. I would love to go again.

Chinois is truly a fusion restaurant. They have a variety of bites that are all delicious.
The restaurant is small but with a classy feel. The dark wood and decorative touches are beautiful. They also have a lovely patio.
They served infused water that was very flavorful.
They had a selection of wines from all over. Our server topped us off the whole time we were there and kept our wine chilled (we were having white wine).
We had a variety of items from the appetizer menu.
The wonton soup was delicious. Savory, meaty, with tangy fresh herb flavors to complement. Delicious.
Their shrimp were cooked to perfect and perfectly breaded.
They had a lamb skewer that had a wonderful smoke flavor.
The duck spring rolls were my favorite, the glass noodles and fresh herb a complement to the fatty duck.
They even had a play on lumpia filled with delicious meat that was seasoned and ground. Our waitress raved on this item and she was so right.
Don’t miss this place. The fusion here works better than any other fusion place I’ve been to. You can fine Chinese, Japanese, and even Filipino inspired items on the menu and they all have a unique Chinois touch.

Southeast Asian fusion done well. Pleasing aesthetics (food porn), inspiring smells and intriguing flavors. The menu will change seasonally. Sometimes, favorites get the axe which blows! (I.e. their wings which were AwEsOmE) I haven’t yet had the occasion to dine in, usually opting for takeout which has occurred during my last few trips to the WC.
I dig the food and like the packaging as well. Recyclable! In Chicago this is still a struggle. There are businesses back home that insist on using styrofoam for everything! the practice irks the «F» out of me.
My only gripe is with their portion sizes and pricing. It’s pricey, like a Benjamin or more to get a few entrees and appetizers. I wouldn’t mind the pricing if the quantities were greater.
Keep up the awesome flavors guys. cheers!

This is my second time coming here and the food is just good.
My table for a couple of apps, but nothing I can remember being super awesome.
This time I ended up getting the garlic prawns with butter. And for what it was, it was okay. Although my Thai iced tea was tasty. To my fellow guest at the table, she asked for some hot sauce, and I think maybe that would have picked up my meal as well. The salad that comes with the linch meal was really tasty though. I liked what ever the crunchy but we’re on top.
I will say the food is presented nicely and the staff are super friendly.

Long time customer. Always the best! Worth a drive for great food, wine, and atmosphere. Super friendly staff. The owner, Debbie is so kind and always wants to make sure all the customers are handled with care. I love the bbq pork egg noodles and chifas tomato filet mignon are my favorites! Amazing wine list as well! Great eating on the patio and great for an evening of hors d’œuvre and a nice night cap. Enjoy and thank you for reading my Unilocal!Cheers!

Nice place, food was a bit hit & miss. I liked the shrimp pad thai, but the other dish of tofu and mung bean sprouts was rather rubbery and lacked flavor. The Asian mojito I got was OK, tasting like a mint soda pop, but for $ 8.50 was expecting something a bit more.
Good service.

This was my daughter’s and my first time here, and really, the first REAL time here for my husband. He’d come years ago when they first opened and were still working out the kinks.
I came for the hot and sour baby scallop soup. It did not disappoint. Husband claims he is not a hot and sour soup fan, but this soup turned him around. Rich, bold flavors, perfect level of sour and spice.
We ordered the duck spring rolls. As always, there could ALWAYS be just a little more duck. They were very tasty though, and the dipping sauce was also good.
Our entrees included the chicken lettuce cups and the garlic chicken fried rice.
The lettuce cups were delicious. Full of flavor (lots of ginger), and had us wishing for more. The fried rice was underwhelming at best. No garlic flavor to be detected.
For the daughter, we ordered steamed tofu and white rice. She’s not into the flavor/​spice thing yet. They served up a king’s ransom in tofu and rice.
I was most unimpressed w/​the wine and beer list. Asian restaurants must really get on board with adding more variety to their offerings. No IPAs, no pale ales, no microbrews at all. And only 2 (or 3?) different chardonnays.
I did like the atmosphere, and the service was friendly. Go figure, the night we go I am unable to make a reservation because no one was answering the phone (I called several times during the day to try to make the rez). We arrived and were able to sit within 5 minutes, but there was a party of 30, and another large party in another part of the restaurant so it was all about being very patient during the first half hour. The owner was gracious, apologetic, and very attentive with letting us know how much longer we could expect to wait for food. That was definitely a good thing.

Restaurant Week 2014 ($ 15/​pp lunch)
Came here originally for the dim sum, and then shockingly didn’t have any! That’s a big surprise to me, given how sparse our options in the Dim Sum arena are in Sonoma County, but I digress…
Chinois is a beautifully appointed «Bistro» in downtown Windsor, just one street away from the Windsor Town Green. Parking I could see being an issue if you were to go there for dinner, or when there is traffic, but the two times I’ve been there for lunch, I found parking on the street right outside the restaurant.
Interior is hip, cozy, and inviting, and the staff are much the same. I was impressed with the selections on the menu, which ranged from homey and comforting to exotic and adventuresome.
My first stop at Chinois I ordered the Lemongrass Crab Cakes appetizer ($ 8), at the suggestion of the waitress over the Ahi Tartare (which I fully intend to try on my next trip). The crab cakes were beautifully plated on a sesame soy vinaigrette-​dressed baby greens salad, and thankfully did not have bell peppers, which is usually my only beef with crab cakes. They were drizzled with a very sweet, sticky sauce, which tasted like maple syrup, and overwhelmed the delicate lemongrass. I believe crab cakes, if made with fresh crab, will naturally be sweet because fresh crab is naturally sweet. The maple/​soy/​sweet sauce was overpowering, and I tried to scrape it off, but it was already pretty much everywhere.
Next was the Singapore Spicy Rocket Prawns ($ 15) with Coconut Rice. I asked the waitress what exactly this dish was, and she gave me a very tentative answer of «It’s like… shrimp… and chili… and LOTS of onions.» I questioned her as to the type of onions, to which she answered «both.» Illuminating… The dish, like the crab cakes, was gorgeously plated, the spices were absolutely on point, and they were generous with the shrimp, to which I cooed with delight. The coconut rice was delightful, lightly perfumed, and slightly textured.
On my return trip during Sonoma County Restaurant Week I had the three course Pre Fix ($ 15) (
), which included a starter salad, which was crisp and flavorful, the Panggang chicken, which was a little charred for my taste, but still quite good, and the salted caramel gelato, which was topped with chocolate sauce, and was much too sweet for me. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to the mango sorbet, which they list as the lunch dessert online, and would have been the perfect refreshing end to a somewhat heavy (but good) lunch. On my second lunch during SCRW, I returned to try the Braised Pork Belly Ramen (char-​su), which was generous in portion, and had wonderful veggies and toasted onions in the stock base, along with four huge slices of Char-​su. Winner.
Overall, my positive experiences at Chinois led me to look into their sister restaurant Ume Bistro, and that is another review all together! Stay tuned–