Chen's Garden — Restaurant in Berkeley

Whoa! They have fish maw soup! I'm not used to seeing these kinds of ingredients outside of Chinatowns. I was so happy! The salt and pepper tofu was perfect--crispy on the outside and blisteringly hot on the inside. It wasn't too salty, either. The green beans were crunchy and delicious. My kid couldn't get enough of the seafood and tofu soup, which had some of the wispy bits of egg like egg drop soup except, you know, not dyed yellow. Food was copious for the price. Looking forward to going back!

Earlier, we had the pan fried noodles as a pick-up order and the person on the phone asked if we'd be eating it right away or if we'd be eating it later, so she'd pack it accordingly. We said we'd be eating it later so she put the sauce into a container separate from the pan fried noodles. This was thoughtful, since it ended up being perfectly crispy with the right amount of chewiness when we put it together later.

I really appreciated all the bok choy in the noodles. I'm tired of places that put in a ton of waxy white cabbage and carrots as filler. The number of shrimp wasn't skimpy, and they were juicy and big, not those sad wee ones. I'm looking forward to coming back to try more things!

Google "Chinese restaurants 3.5 rule" if you...

It appears to be one of those Chinese restaurants that have been around for a long while, and it has. I ate here previously a few years ago, and it was because of that experience that I decided to have another go. This experience turned out differently because I ordered something other than what I had intended. Because they had Sambal Oelek and soy sauce as condiments, I noticed they had an old favorite on the menu - BBQ Pork with egg over rice. Let's just say that for me, this is a winning combination, and it worked well in this case. Although this dish is common, many places usually don't have sambal oelek, or chili oil, which can liven up any plain dish. Otherwise, this place is a nice, small Chinese restaurant that...

This is a place you come to for convenience and decent food. It's not one you make a trip from crosstown to eat. The food is cheap and good. I live in the neighborhood and this is the place I go to when I have a craving for Chinese food and don't want to travel far. I usually order the beef chow fun. They have a buffet style display for combination plates. There is seating for Dine-in as well. There isn't much of an atmosphere. It's your hole-in-the-wall kind of decor but it's clean. Street parking is usually available.

There has been a change of ownership and the chef as well,l I assume as the beef chow fun is so much better. That's all I've...