Any Good Chinese Restaurants in Monmouth County?

Mark says Shanghai Bun is authentic in another way–in the winter it’s as cold as the restaurants we went to in the Beijing area in October 1982.

The big problem, of course, is no vestibule. We’re really big on vestibules. :slight_smile:

Yes, this is why we don’t eat there on cold days. Even with a hot bowl of noodle soup, that ice breeze is awful.

Vestibules are good, but on cold days like that…there’s always take out. :wink:

Holy crap. I just went to the China palace. I don’t even know what to say. How this place is in business is beyond me. I’m going to take a shower and have a few drinks. I might be ready to report back after that lol

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I am really looking forward to this write-up!!!

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So let me start off by saying I’m a total idiot.

I pull up around 6:30 I believe and let’s start with the positive. If you have a lambo, you’ll have a giant parking lot to take advantage of lol.

So a guy pulls up next to me and heads inside alone. I make a call and head in a minute or two later flying solo. The whole “Chinese food in a bowling alley” thing probably should have tipped me off but I felt the need to try this joint.

So I walk in and to the right is a door that leads to the restaurant. Wrong…it is locked.

So I head left and walk into the entrance where I find a bar with not a single person sitting. For some reason I decide it is a good idea to take a seat and not go down 200 yards to houlihans or that steak joint on the other side of the highway.

I sit down and there are two couples at booths along with the guy from the parking lot dining alone. So yeah, two tables on a saturday night. Did I mention I’m a moron? So I grab a menu and sit alone. I saw “braised chunk beef soup” hoping it was fatty short rib soup. Strike one…they are out. So I decide to try some other beef soup to start, after asking the bartender for a few minutes to look over the menu.

Well I put the menu down. I take in the “scenery” and I look over toward the liquor selection. The ENTIRE BAR bottle display is covered in thick dust! We are talking about dust that would take weeks to accumulate. I couldn’t believe it. It was almost like someone intentionally sprayed down the bar with a crop duster. So at this point I said I’d pass on a drink and I’m so hungry I decide to try the aforementioned beef soup and an ice water. Oh yeah, the big mirror behind the bar is covered in smudge marks. It is so high and behind several feet of bottles that I’m left baffled how the marks even got up that high in the first place. Quite intriguing lol

I get my water in one of those old school cocacola glasses and it has this white filmy residue on it. :confused:

After 3 or 4 strikes I continue to take it all in. I quickly get my soup and the bartender sits down right in front of me. It smells good and is a decently large bowl. The broth flavor is pretty bold and then I decide to sample the beef. I bite into a disastrous piece of beef filled with incredibly tough “seams” of fat…gross! I love fatty beef like ribeye, short ribs and brisket. I don’t feel like eating Gary carter’s catchers mitt. I could barely eat it and and stomached a piece since she was right in front of me. That was my only piece. What a mess. I ate some noodles and some broth. I left this and drove off. Note the huge seams of tough fat

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Needless to say, I’m done here.

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Definitely worthy of a HOdown.

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Now we know what they do with their old bowling shoes!!

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It was horrific. I never tear places up publicly but this place is a shuttle wreck. There were lots of other things wrong but I think I got my point across.

@marlboroman feel lucky you have Sichuan cottage nearby. That place is really a great spot.

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We got delivery from the Oriental tonight. Everything was ok - nothing was exceptional. I’ll have to try a few more things before I render an opinion.

They are also worth a try for Dim Sum (weekends only I think). There are no rolling carts, but you order off a menu.

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Yes - Saturday & Sunday 11 - 3 for Dim Sum - according to the menu.

I am sorry for suggesting the place… :worried:
I will place blame on the people that told me this place at the first place. :grimacing:

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I also had at least neutral comments. But restaurants change over time–we haven’t been there for several years because of their hours.

It’s ok. I usually never write off a place based on a single dish, but it was just too much to overcome. No hard feelings :slight_smile: This is probaby the only place I can think of where I didn’t have a decent experience based on this board’s recommendations.

Has anyone been to the house of chong lately? I haven’t been in a long time. It has some decent Americanized Chinese food…or used to at least.

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God CJ I’m dying right now. So happy you went there and wrote this report. One of my Taiwanese acquaintances told me the place was pretty good and authentic, I just didn’t realize how authentic! :joy: Usually to me a shitty looking Chinese restaurant is the first mark of tasty food… but the fact that they always seem empty is definitely a red flag.

BTW the cut of beef you have pictured is the same standard piece of beef they always use in beef noodle soup, it’s the shank which has those characteristic bands going through it.

I think a HOdown is definitely in order!!

@Dlewnj - If you go to Sichuan cottage keep in mind they are Sichuan, if you don’t know what you’re expecting it can get pretty intimidating. The best place for what most people would consider “standard” authentic Chinese fare (Cantonese based pan-Chinese food), West Lake is definitely your best bet.

How was the Korean Fried Chicken?

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I am not surprised they are mostly empty–they have a non-descript sign under the bowling alley sign, their name is a generic Chinese restaurant name, and no one choosing a Chinese restaurant at random will pick one attached to a bowling alley.

It seems to me when we’ve been there for lunch (admittedly a couple of years ago), there were at least two or three other tables occupied.

Now, if they renamed themselves “Taiwan Taste” or something, that could possibly help.

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Joon they very well could have some good food but this place was just too weird for me. I don’t like to dismiss a place after a single visit but this place didn’t do it for me. I’ll drive 15 more minutes and go to Sichuan cottage

I was never a fan of Crown Palace, but you have to take what you can get in terms of the old fashioned sit down Chinese restaurant, which are few and far between. Not “Asian Fusion”, but strictly Chinese.

For authentic Chinese food, I love Shanghai Bun. I’m talking Jellyfish, ox tail, shredded stomach. You order chicken and broccoli here and you will get stares. They have two menus: one for the adventurous, one for the lost and confused. Additional reading here: https://eatingnewjersey.net/2016/09/18/restaurant-review-shanghai-bun-matawan-nj/

For that 1980’s, “old school” feel, Little Szechuan in Little Silver. The closest I have found to my dearly dearly departed Ruby Palace in Holmdel. AMAZING orange flavor beef and dumplings/wontons. Best I’ve had since a visit to Chinatown. I was there two weeks ago. Have not yet blogged my full review yet. I will say that the orange beef was whole slices of steak, not just bits of fried fat like most takeout places do around here.

Sunny Palace in East Brunswick is much like the above. Nostalgic, but expensive. They have a bar. Might as well order a Tsing Tao.

Then there’s Zhang’s Grill in Holmdel if you’re taking someone out on a date who you can’t stand…

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