Chinese adventures in Edison, NJ

I figured I’d start a new thread for China since we have one for India. Not sure if this is preferable to having separate threads but I think this may be more helpful for people looking for destinations.

Starting off with our dinner destination yesterday - Hot Space Grilled Fish!

“Grilled fish” is somehow the name given to a Sichuan style… umm… fish casserole? It’s like a hot pot but with a whole fish in it. I got to try this dish for the first time a while back with @MsBean, but have not had it since. Honestly I was not particularly blown away the first time.

This place has straight 5 star reviews on Yelp and boy did they deliver. I went with a couple of chili heads, we tried to order the dish at maximum spice and the waitress steered us away from in and insisted we get it medium. And she was right, at medium spice it was still painful but in a fun way. If you want more spice you can always ask for some chili oil, which is REALLY spicy.

As an app we ordered grilled squid, it was tasty enough. But definitely the fish was the highlight. We wanted to go for the buffalo fish, which is the best deal, as they give you twice the weight of the other fishes, but the waitress again steered us away from it, saying it is extremely bony and even a lot of Chinese people don’t like eating it. I personally don’t mind sucking on every last fish bone but my fellow diners decided to go with the striped bass, which was excellent.

You get to pick some additions to go into the hot pot, and we added some cabbage. I think something carby like a potato would be good too. We added instant ramen noodles at the end and this was the highlight for just about everyone, I’d say it’s practically mandatory. Oh, and for the sauce base the obvious choice is the spicy tofu. It has a stamp of approval and 2 thumbs up on the menu. :slight_smile: As an added bonus you get tofu for free! Anyway this place is well worth the hype and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s into Sichuan flavors. Amazing flavors, great value (despite the fish dishes starting at 50+$, the three of us ate well and came out with the total tab under 90). Also the staff are incredibly helpful and friendly. One of the highlights for Edison Chinese dining for sure!

Oh you also get a complimentary dessert. The reactions on this one was… mixed. :slight_smile:

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Looks & sounds like my kind of place :+1::+1:

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Looks so good. Who ate the fish eyes?

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I think you already know the answer to that MsBean!! I sucked every face bone clean! :see_no_evil:

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I didn’t want to make any assumptions but I would have guessed you - unless of course The Sprout was there then all bets are off.

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Let me link this thread for Chef Tan in nearby Highland Park:

While the two of us ate rather safe, there was an extensive authentic Chinese menu for anyone looking for an adventure (as described in my review).

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I thought about going there too Greg! That place looks great, it’s definitely on my list! Glad you linked it here. That fish head with peppers in your menu pic looks chef’s kiss.

We had a particularly adventurous guest who really wanted to try something different and blazing hot. :slight_smile:

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Not Chinese, but not lengthy enough for its own thread IMO:

Spent Thursday at Island Spa next to HMart. Had never been to a spa before and it was quite relaxing. Anyway inside they have a full service Asian restaurant. And it was delicious! We did not order anything mind blowing, teriyaki tofu and dumplings, but so goof.

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But I’m sure it was an adventure.

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@NotJrvedivici There’s a bunch of scattered Edison posts on the sub, I dunno if like Greg mentioned some of these places warrant their own post or not.

Also, someone please help me find some decently priced Indian buffets here! Somehow there seem to be more Indian buffets for cheap in Parsippany/Morris Plains than the Indian mecca of Edison. 2 of the places I’m aware of charge 20 for lunch! That’s just too much.

Anyway, some recent stops in the area:

Finally made it to Wonton Guy, thanks to @ycf04 for the rec.

A couple things, the fish balls and wontons are indeed great. I wish there was at least a hint of vegetation in the soup, like a piece of Chinese broccoli but fine. Flavors are good but what pisses me off is that when you add toppings to the soup they charge you more but take away from the existing toppings! The best bang for the buck is to go 1 topping here, and that makes me a bit upset. Their chili oil is crazy hot!!

In Piscataway, I reported this chain earlier from the East Hanover location but it turns out I have one right down the street! I got their most basic soup this time, white broth noodles, comes with beef and fried chicken. This was probably one of my favorite noodle soups I’ve had in a while, and unlike at wonton guy when you pay for extra toppings here they friggin deliver. I love that the soup comes in a piping hot bowl too.

@Ziggy any new places you’ve been to? (This is the other thread in case anyone wants to check Anything good in Edison? - #12 by joonjoon)

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Not in Edison, but if you are in the Matawan area we recently discovered Shanghai Bun. Very decent soup dumplings, and even better beef with string beans.

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7 posts were split to a new topic: Indian Buffets in/near Edison NJ

Glad you enjoyed wonton guy. You made a good point on the extra topping thing, didn’t really notice it until you point it out. I guess we look at it as a combo instead of extra topping like a pizza. :grinning:

I also checked out this place recently - Tonight Kabab in Hmart plaza. It’s interesting. I am not family with the dishes but our party did enjoy it.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/tPJdZQZnSzmi6iMb7?g_st=ic

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Oh cool, looks like’s a lamb bbq skewer place? I love those joints. Have you been to the one diagonally across from Hmart? They’ve been there forever. I hope this place doesn’t shut that one down.

@CurlzNJ Let’s do a lunch buffet ho down!!

@Ziggy Like Curlz mentioned that place is an old favorite! The dumplings aren’t quite up to the new standards but I’ve been going there for, gosh, over 20 years now! Here’s the thread on them in case you’re interested or have any recommendations! Matawan Shanghai Bun

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