Taste of China — Restaurant in Des Moines

I've eaten here a lot over the years... as a lot of their loyal customers have. The food is always good and hot. It's a local delivery staple everyone on the north side of Des Moines should know about.

The first few times I had Taste of China it was as dinner delivery when a friend was doing the ordering. I only recall good food (with the best hot and sour soup) and arguing over whether we tipped enough.

More recently I've personally been going for dinner carry out. My experience has been like clock work. I walk in, grab a pen and one of their menus, circle the items I want and add notes like the number of item or if I want something removed or extra added (like broccoli with their Mongolian Beef). When I'm done, I hand the paper to the Cook at the counter and he reviews the order with me, then starts my credit card transaction, and goes off to cook. I sit down and read my book. After a couple of minutes he hands me the receipt to sign and is off again. I put the signed receipt on the counter and after a few more minutes a bag with food is handed to me. Something about describing it reminds me of the old Seinfeld Soup Nazi... maybe because its so good?

My most recent visit was on a Friday night (9-21-2018) at 9:45pm. Except for the fact I was ordering for two, it was my typical carryout experience. I ordered Spring Rolls (1 order comes with 2), Egg Rolls (1 order comes with 1), Crab Ragoon (1 order comes with 6), Broccoli Beef (Combo with an egg roll and fried rice), and Empress Chicken (come with white rice). The food came to something like $28. I left right around 10pm. My partner loves good egg rolls, so based on her enjoyment the spring rolls were a 4.5 and the egg rolls a solid 5. I enjoyed their bulby crag ragoons. 5 stars. We both enjoyed the Broccoli Beef with my partner saying its the best she's ever had. 5 stars. I enjoyed the Empress Chicken but as it was spicy my partner mostly avoided it. 4.5 stars. My partner said we should order from here more often.

I'm thinking the next time, we might just have to try a dine in lunch.

In summation: This restaurant makes really good Chinese food their star attraction and they succeed in...

I've reviewed Taste of China a few years ago, but we've been getting take-out and delivery from them ever since. We love their food, and they've always given us great service, and great food. My wife still prefers her "usual" of Beef and Broccoli (which is excellent). I have tried many of the different dishes they offer, usually with the spicy symbol next to them on the menu. I don't know if I have a favorite. I like the selections with "triple" in the name, that have chicken, beef, and shrimp, or the Phoenix and the Dragon, with chicken and shrimp, but the Mongolian Beef is also a good standby if I can't make up my mind. I've had a lot of Chinese food throughout my life, from many different restaurants and many different cities, so I have some base of knowledge when I say the egg rolls at Taste of China are some of the best. We always order extra, even if we get a meal that comes with them. Their Crab Rangoon are fantastic as well. I think sometimes my wife would be happy to just have them for dinner she loves them so much. We started getting food from Taste of China during the COVID shutdown, so we've never actually eaten in the restaurant (hence the 3 star rating for atmosphere). As far as I know they haven't reopened their dining room since then. We don't live too far from the restaurant, so we order for delivery most times, and they know us pretty well (and we tip well), so we get really fast delivery. At the risk of other people cutting into our fast delivery times, I highly recommend Taste of China if you want good...

I have dined at this restaurant since it was first opened in the original location ( now Casey's)in the 1990s. I have never had a bad experience and the food had always been quality. The kitchen, dinning area, and bathrooms are very clean and the staff is friendly and professional. I have seen reviews about rude behavior people have received while placing orders over the phone and I want to clarify a couple things. The man that takes the orders is almost always answering multiple calls at once and is just trying to get the correct order as fast as possible. You can always hear the other lines ringing in the background when ordering. He also just has a natural tone that people may percieve as rude, but I assure you that he is a VERY nice man! I have watched this restaurant grow in our community from the very begining and I have to say that I am VERY happy it survived the pandemic. The restaurant delivers food over a very large area of the city and has very good deals. A whole family can eat for just over $25. That is hard to come by these days!! I hope this restaurant stays open for many...