Ching Yen — Restaurant in Bakersfield

Edit: Its covid-19 and I had to get takeout and I'm stuck in Bakersfield. This is why I was looking for authentic Chinese cuisine.

I am Chinese and college student in Bakersfield. I have been missing authentic Chinese food since I lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco. This review is solely about the food. This food is not right at all. They have authentic named dishes on their menu but they are made non authentic and cheap. My mom warned me about these restaurants that uses cheaper ingredients. I feel cheated and wronged. If you are Chinese and want real Szechuan food then this is not the place. I chose staple, famous dishes that every Chinese knows about and these dishes are never on Americanized Chinese menus.

Twice cooked pork (Hui Guo Rou) - This dish is simple and the name refers to the cooking style. It is suppose to have fatty pork meat (pork belly)that is boiled and fried (twice cooked). The meat they give is lean thin strips of meat, mainly used for other dishes. The dish is drenched in a weird black sauce and they use cheap cabbage and carrots. I understand the use of cheap ingredients but the taste is not correct at all. Cabbage makes it a little bitter. There was not one leek or green onion.

Hot Pepper Diced Chicken (La Zi Ji) - Usually pan fried, dry, and covered with hot red peppers. What I got was sauced chicken with no peppers, it had melon or cucumber, cabbage, carrots etc. There was way too much sauce and it was not spicy.

Pork Chow Fun - The only dish they did correctly. Flavor was good. Noodles were the nice flat noodles, with a good chew to them. Great job. Had green onions and correct vegetables.

The problem is that they claim they are authentic. They claim to be szechuan and Hunan. I've eaten the real dishes and these are not the same, not even close. Bakersfield is full of Americanized Chinese food and they know they aren't authentic but this place claims it is. This place has a sign saying authentic cuisine. That's my issue with it. Look at all these reviews saying best Chinese food but show orange chicken and non szechuan food as the best. I wanted authentic Szechuan and I was willing to pay for a decent meal.

But can you imagine how disappointed I got when I received my food? Can you imagine paying 40 dollars for food that is completely americanized, and misrepresents your culture? If I'm paying 14 dollars a dish, why are they using so much cabbage, no leeks or green onion, so much carrots and broccoli, no pork belly?? I've bought pork belly in Bakersfield to cook for myself so I know you can still get it. I know there's hardly any Chinese in Bakersfield but it's a little sad. I understand changing for local tastes but don't put the real dish on the menu if you don't make it the same.

Service was okay and owner and waitress spoke Mandarin. They give...

Went in lady was welcoming, cant complain on the service too much. As for the food not the best in my opinion started with the crab ragoon it was too salty couldn't finish eating it which was disappointing since it looked great. I got the mushu pork and after the first bite could not finish it, idk if it was the sauce or who knows what but couldn't do it and still wonder why it was wrapped ina cold tortilla. Someone with me got the Mongolian beef, idk if it was meant to be that way but the noodles were crunchy and beef was cold. chow mein was aight, where they got off was on their fried rice. We had got some Pepsi it was flat, didnt like that we had to use the same plates for everything. Didn't like how lady said we should of asked for recommendations on what to eat after she saw that I couldn't finish my dish, I dont believe you should ask whats good when going out to eat, everything should be edible. I would say it give it a try, if you'd like, everyones experience may be...

Well, the owner was nice and friendly and her service was great. The food on the other hand was not fresh. The shrimp tasted rotten, the mu-shi pork was cold and over sauced wrapped in a too large and too thick shell. The shrimp dish that was supposed to be spicy was not at all. The shrimp fried rice had a good taste but like I said most of the shrimp tasted rotten. I think they used some old shrimp. The chow mein was OK my grandchildren ate it and they ate the shrimp fried rice. The sizzling rice soup was good.The pink lemonade tasted like it came out of a jug from Foodmaxx. The restaurant is not clean and the smell of raid roach spray is still in my nostrils. I had been wanting to try this place and I did. They need help to clean the place up. I was kinda scared I was going to have food poisoning after I ate but it has been 9 hours and I am fine other than the smell of pesticides lingering in my nostrils and throat. The truth is just the truth and maybe...