Chef Zhang — Restaurant in Evesham Township

Chef Zhang - 📍Marlton

Spicy Chinese food, "Oh, I could die for you." There's not many more food delights that I have than getting the lip tingling, mouth numbing sensation from Sichuan peppercorns and other hot chili's. When I walked in and saw Lazy Susan's on some of the tables, I knew I was in for an old school treat.

Chef Zhangs offers some of your Americanized classic Chinese dishes, but they also have items that you aren't going to find at your typical spots. Some of these dishes include stir-fried intestines with hot peppers, spicy stir-fried kidneys, salt and pepper fried frogs, just to name a few.

Those dishes would be a little too adventurous for me to take on all by myself, but if I were to go with someone who has a comfort level eating those, I'd really like to try them and expand my horizons and give them a try! Pictured here are the pork soup dumplings, toothpick lamb with dry red chili, and stir-fried sliced pork with hot pepper. Of course, I asked for everything extra spicy.

Everything was exquisite! The spicy heat levels were on point. I appreciate they took my request seriously. The toothpick lamb, the bite of pepper along with the ginger and garlic, oh my, it was just divine. The sliced pork (they asked if pork belly would be okay and I wasn't going to say no) had at least 3 different types of peppers. I have a high spice tolerance, so I was still able to taste everything and enjoy. This is some of the best Chinese food I may have ever had. It's a spot I know I'm returning to next time I want legit Chinese cuisine.

Also, I have to note that they brew you fresh loose tea and not something from a tea bag. They don't need bonus points from me, but they get it anyway. Lastly, I don't want to overlook our servers who were so kind to answer any of my questions, patient while I overlooked the menu, and overall did a fantastic job. Please put Chef Zhang on your list of places...

I don't usually write google reviews (I'm active on the Beli app instead) but this place deserves kudos.

Food: so good. we got toothpick lamb, salt and pepper jumbo shrimp, stir fried cabbage (vinegar), thin sliced beef (brisket) in golden sour soup, and beef and tripe soup with radish. my favorite was the salt and pepper jumbo shrimp; perfect fry, good but not heavy seasoning, and the shrimps were nicely big, cleaned, and fried hard head-on (shells were crispy enough to eat and you get all the good stuff in the shrimp head). next best would be the thin sliced beef in golden sour soup; not as sour as you'd think (i love sour) but really hearty and satisfying with the beef and enoki mushrooms. the stir fried cabbage is a classic and they did it well (crunchy, flavorful); pork was nicely thin and tender. the toothpick lamb was good, nicely spiced, but didn't wow me; it was fun to eat but not as tender as i'd prefer. the beef and tripe soup with radish was comforting, creamy, nicely opaque and milky, but overall didn't wow me. Food was served in a good amount of time. I'd definitely return for to try their fried fish, soft shell crab, and cumin lamb.

Service: Friendly and communicative. Really attentive with water refills and even transferred one of our half eaten soups into a smalller bowl so our table surface had more space to accomodate dishes.

Atmosphere: Casual, clean, with a good amount of seating. They have a restroom available (I did not enter so I can't comment on the cleanliness or ease of use). Good for groups, for sure.

100% would...

While visiting my friends last year, they mentioned Chef Zhang was a new Szechuan restaurant that had just opened up near them. They wanted to take me to try since they knew I would appreciate it. However, as a native to NY's Flushing (Chinatown), I was a bit skeptical at "how good" and authentic the food would taste because I was already exposed to really good and authentic Chinese food at home.

We ordered a mix of appetizers and main entrees to get a full experience. As soon as the dishes came out (very quickly, I must add), the aroma they emitted signaled to my taste buds that we were in for a treat! Every single dish exceeded my expectations and I was pleasantly surprised! If I was blindfolded and didn't remember that I had driven two hours to visit my friends (LOL), I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the food back at home or from this wonderful restaurant. The service was great and all staff were very quick to assist and did not rush us, even though it was near closing time. Some of my favorite dishes included the XO fried rice and the eggplant with garlic sauce. We pretty much ordered something from each protein category and none had disappointed.

Hungry but cant decide on a place? Let me save you the trouble and make the decision for you before the hanger strikes. See you at Chef Zhang's! Even if you're not a spicy food kind of person, there are still plenty of delicious (non-spicy) options to satisfy...