Peking Chef Restaurant — Restaurant in Burke

This used to be a pretty good, dependable Chinese restaurant. We noticed a couple of years ago that it started going down hill. The food had gone from pretty good to slightly below average. But it was convenient.

We did takeout tonight and the entire experience was bad. As far as food, we had lo mein and kung pao chicken. The lo mein was adequate. Marginal but edible. The kung pao was bad. The chicken tasted off, and its texture was . . . odd. Plus, it had way too much sugar--yes, sugar--added. It wasn't what anyone would consider kung pao, and it's not what they'd served in past years.

The service was bizarre. We'd called at 9:50 pm for carryout. Their posted closing time said 10:30. Yet we were informed that the credit card machine was already shut down. (That's our usual payment method.) My wife was scolded for calling so late--40 minutes before their stated closing time. If we wanted the food, we had to pick it up quickly. Immediately. We live about 10 minutes away. I got in my car and drove straight there, arriving about 10:05. The food was waiting, although most of the lights in the place had been turned off.

I went to the counter to pick up the food and pay and got multiple nasty lectures from the guy I assume is the owner. Why did we call so late? I thanked him very much for preparing the food and having it ready. Why hadn't we picked it up earlier? It was only 15 minutes after ordering, and I politely explained that I'd driven straight there.

The owner pointed out that most of the other stores in the place had closed (an auto parts store, a gym, a U.S. Post Office, a tobacco shop, etc.) so he aggressively asked why we'd expect him to be open if no one else was. (Maybe because their posted closing time was 10:30? That reminded me why we usually order from Pizza Boli's in the same shopping center.) Thanking him hadn't eased the situation, so I apologized. (For ordering food and picking it up 20 minutes before closing time?) But the owner wanted to vent. He went on and on about how late it was, and why were we expecting food at that hour? On and on.

I thanked him again and beat a hasty retreat.

Even if it were just the food, we wouldn't return. The lo mein wasn't good and there was definitely something wrong with the kung pao. But the attitude and antagonism from the owner was inexcusable.

Like I said, there's a pizza place in the same shopping center and a number of other places just across the street. That's where we'll be getting our carryout from now on . . . and I'd recommend you consider...

My first time experience. I was greeted properly. The cook was a nice and respectful guy. I asked the lady that took my order if she could make a salt & pepper tofu and if the tofu would be breaded and fried. She said it would. I ordered a General Tso tofu which she said would be fried but not breaded. I also order a dried cauliflower dish to try. The cook was nice enough to ask me if I like spicy food and I said yes. Our order was for carry out, so I could not judge the food until I arrived home. Since the cook was interested in my feedback, I am offering up some advice out of respect for the cook and hope you will take my advice to improve because I believe this restaurant has potential to do much better. My rating is due to the flavor profile of all three dishes. None of them suited my taste. The spice level was fine. No issues there. I would have preferred even more peppers in the salt and pepper tofu. Starting the with the salt and pepper tofu, the tofu was not breaded, only deep fried and most likely the oil was previously used to cook meat products so it was not vegetarian friendly. The taste was less than desirable. To improve this dish, I suggest that you dip the damp tofu in a mixture of corn starch mixed with corn flour (no egg required). Fry it until crispy. Add large slices of jalapeno, onion and garlic and top it off with a seasoning mixture of black pepper, salt, and a little bit of Chinese five-spice. This dish had little to no jalapeno or garlic and the salt was a bit chunky in certain spots. The appearance/presentation of the dish was not enticing. Now for the General Tso tofu, the price was too high. Should reduce by $3. The size of the tofu chunks was acceptable. The breading around the tofu was acceptable. The sauce was sub-par. Please invest in a better sauce and you will have more customers. Lastly, the dried cauliflower was lacking taste and presentation. Suggest that you dampen the cauliflower in a spicy/tangy sauce and then bread it or dip into the same corn starch/corn flour mixture I described above, then deep fry and top off with more quality red spicy sauce. If you experiment with this, I am sure you will see better fortune and reviews. ...

In the dearth of decent Chinese in the area, Peking Chef is excellent for what it is-- Chinese American Takeout. The Singapore noodles are generous and not too greasy, the string beans are "dry cooked" and don't come in a pool of brown sauce, the peking duck has decent skin and good enough pancakes, and the Szechuan Steamed Fish is excellent-- flavorful and fragrant. It is a little more authentic than other places, which is a great find.

Of course, my asian mother is the final ruling for a joint like this. And though we have high standards for places like Mama Chang's, this place is excellent without being overpriced-- and she gave her seal of approval. I think the fact that it can straddle the being affordable and delicious is important in these times and I've been impressed by it, as takeout is basically our only splurge right now. They recently updated their website (and likewise their prices) but I think if you call over the phone the prices might be true to their takeout flier. But order online if you have issues like the other guy about the "bad English" (AKA excellent Chinese food.)

This is currently our favorite Chinese takeout place. It gets busy sometimes so there is a wait on occasion, but it's totally worth it. And if there is a wait-- you can see the owner's bickering in Chinese, which is so comforting from this native...