Chinatown Cafe — Restaurant in Boston

A bit off off the beaten path, down on Harrison Avenue on the other side of Tufts Medical Center (almost down to the Mass Pike) from the main part of Boston’s Chinatown, Chinatown Cafe ranks really high on our taste-per-dollar scale, and easily worth the 3 extra blocks’ hike to get there. Just about everything they do is excellent, with generous portions for (mostly) reasonable prices. You can dine in, but everything is still sort of in pandemic mode, with the plastic shield still up, and no table service - but there are booths you can tuck into with your to-go order. Their roast duck is easily the best in Boston. Like other Guangzhou-style (Conatonese?) restaurants, duck, chicken and pork roasts hang from hooks, visible from the street. The beef Chow Fun (chow foon?) with broccoli in brown sauce is surpassingly excellent, with fork-tender beef, and (like all the stirfry here), a delightful Wok Hei (wok burn) flavor that marks a skilled kitchen. Everything we’ve had here is excellent. The salt-and-pepper squid stands out, the chicken wings are fantastic (not coated, but crispy outside and juicy inside - the holy grail of chicken wingdom). The only thing I don’t recomment is the special Beef Brisket with Turnip, which is high-priced by comparison with the rest of the menu, despite the toughness of the brisket. Brisket can be tender, but it takes a lot of slow cooking - more than has been done here. and although the dish is tasty, the beef is borderline inedible. The beef in the other noodle and rice plates is way more tender and melts in your mouth. Unfortunately, like many old-style Cantonese places, they don’t give much thought to cleanliness, particularly when it comes to the restroom, although it’s no worse, and maybe better than most old-style Chinese restaurants (this is not one of those new, high-priced places with marble sinks). The seafood congee is particularly special. I say go, but don’t tell your friends… I want to be able...

I was so excited to try this place because the reviews are awesome and prices online looked really affordable! It's cash only and pick up only.

I called to place my order and was told my total was $25. I even repeated it back to her once she told me it was cash only because I wanted to make sure I had enough cash.

Once I got there and handed her the money, she told me it's not enough and showed me the receipt. The total was $35... I told her that doesn't make sense because it doesn't match the prices on their website or what they told me over the phone. She picked up the sesame chicken and told me this isn't $9. It is a huge portion, I'll give them that! But I didn't want $20 worth of sesame chicken! I even showed her the website and their own prices and she told me no. Bad attitude about it too.

I walked out with $36 worth of chinese food when that's not at all what I had planned to spend. Luckily I had an extra $10 in my wallet otherwise I wouldn't have been able to pay for it!

I got home and was excited to try it because if Im gonna spend almost 40 bucks on chinese it better be heaven. I kid you not, mall food chinese is better than this and a quarter of the cost.

Overall I'm so disappointed because I was excited to find a locally owned, hole in the wall that could become my regular chinese takeout to go. After eating about 3 bites it's obvious I won't be coming back.

Chinatown Cafe, please please please update your website with...

Unless you are a Chinese uncle or auntie that knows their staffs, do yourself a favor and walk a couple blocks to HK Eatery or any other restaurants for roasted duck. Service: I called and placed half a roasted duck for pick up, while asking the woman over the phone how much that would be, she hung up on me. Call duration: 20 seconds! Arrived to pick up, I was only person in line, the same woman who hung up on me completely ignored me when I asked to pick up my order. She saw some of her “friends” 3 middle aged Chinese women came in after me and immediately took their orders and had them cut in front of me to pay at the register while I was standing there. Price: she asked for $25 for half a duck, okay that’s more than HK eatery or any restaurants in greater Boston area would charge you. And as I looked at their menu, all of their BBQ items were market price. That’s uncommon at Cantonese restaurants, usually ONLY live seafood and seasonal vegetables are market price. Food: they stuffed bottom half of the box with just duck necks and bones with not much meat on...