New Peking Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Crystal Lake

Stopped in tonight to try a new place in the area, I have been living around here for about 3 years now and I am wondering why I have never stopped by to try this place as I am alway on the hunt for a good chinese place. Look no further as I'd have to say they did a great job.

Service 5/5: As the only people dining in at the time service was great, with a just the right amount of attentiveness we were served promptly and did not have to wait too long for anything. Very friendly and nice waitress I would assume to be the manager or owner did an excellent job.

Food 4/5: Food was good, and we def left happy. We ended up ordering 2 appetizers and 3 main dishes between my fiance and I. He enjoyed the thicker cut on the beef sticks, some were tender others were a bit tough, but I always make the joke if the meat on a stick isnt a bit like jerky are you really at a chinese restraunt? The potstickers were the nice doughy kind, they came fried and we asked for chili oil on the side which tasted great a nice little kick to add to them.

The pineapple chicken fried rice had chicken in every bite and the subtle pineapple sweetness, if it were up to me I would have added more pineapple but I love that warm "grilled" taste it has. The fiance couldn't stop eating the sesame chicken as it was tasty, he asked for me to take it away from him or he would have finished it all and been over stuffed. The broccoli came as nice big florets that were steamed to have a nice crunch but not be raw. Last, I ordered ma po tofu which was great. Big soft pieces of tofu in that typical brown gravy.

Overall, only downside it was a bit pricy for portion sizes, however, food mark up during covid has been awful for the industry, (meats are up by 2-5x the normal price) so we really didn't mind as we felt quality was decent. We have marked this down as one of our favorite Chinese places in the area. We will be back for more at...

I do not complain about restaurants-but in this case, I have to. New Peking in Crystal lake was at best-disappointing. I will explain.

1. The take out menu for New Peking Crystal lake has different pricing. Example-I looked up New Peking crystal lake on my Android phone and the price of the egg rolls was $2.70 for 2. Also, the Beef Fried Rice large was $6.85 . After we picked up our take count order- the prices were different. We did not notice this until we got home. The Egg rolls were $3.25 for 2 and the Beef fried rice large was $7.95. This was a bit disturbing but as I had stated, I do not complain...Then, we tasted the food.
2. The egg rolls were oily and the brown filling inside the egg rolls was inedible. I am not sure what the filling was-perhaps the restaurant pureed some old beef and used it up in this fashion-it was not tasty at all.
3. The Beef fried rice was oily and had a bad aftertaste -honestly-it smelled funky-
4. The lady at the desk could not get my debit card to go though their reader. The debit card should have gone through-however-I had to pay cash-make me wonder. Needless to say, New Peking restaurant in Crystal Lake will not warrant a return visit from us. Simply stated-it was a waste of money.and time. It was very very disappointing. Really, find a different restaurant to...

My wife and I went there last night to do carry out (you have no choice, they have no seating). First off, the prices are really low. Much lower than any other Chinese place around. For $6, I got a HUGE helping of fried rice with pork, a large eggroll, and a HUGE helping of Generals Chicken. This was around dinner time as well, this wasn't some lunch special. My wife got a small sweet and sour chicken for around $5.

As for the actual food, it is really good. I was really impressed with the Generals Chicken. If they buy the chicken in bulk and fry it, they fooled me. It tasted "home made" or damn near close to it. The fried rice was really good as well. My wife enjoyed her sweet and sour chicken but barely finished it due to the amount they gave her (I didn't finish mine either, got way too full but now I have lunch for the next day). We also ordered a Banana tapioca and Strawberry tapioca drink. I think they are the only place in town who has these.

The woman who helped us was really nice, held the door for us when we left since our hands were full from our order.

Chen's Kings Wok (Rt. 14 and Main) used to be my go to Chinese place. New Peking has replaced them. Closer to my house, prices are much cheaper and you get better food...