Foon Ying — Restaurant in Indianapolis

This is kind of long so please stick with it . I'm soon coming up on having lived 40 years in Indianapolis and I believe this Chinese restaurant was here and operating before I ever arrived. Back in the day, I heard a few mild horror stories about the demeanor of the employees who would handle carry out orders and so I think I just avoided it because, who wants that kind of hassle?

Due to a rather large fire being put out near the street on which I was traveling, I had to make a little detour and ended up going right past this restaurant and I was quite hungry at the time. So I pulled in and place an order. It appears that they are only doing carry out orders these days and who can really blame them? So the dining area, rather than being full of chatty eaters, is now full of boxes of carryout supplies. That would lead me to believe that they are doing a brisk carryout business and it looked that way while I was there as well.

I sat down and waited for my order. I didn't call ahead because I was driving and stayed off my phone. Yes I'm a good boy that way.:-) on the wall there was a giant map of the People's Republic of China and so I spent the time waiting for my food studying the map, looking at provinces and the country's relation to Russia and India and other nearby places.

I ordered the Chicken with Garlic Sauce in a non-spicy version, with some steamed rice. The garlic sauce was like a ginger-based brown sauce and it was delicious. The chicken was very tender -- but not plentiful -- and the majority of the container was full of stir fried vegetables which were great, just in a strange ratio to the amount of chicken. But, everyone is trying to cut corners and keep prices the same because customers will tend to stay around if they don't get sticker shock.

I will definitely stop by again and order something else to see how the variety is. I definitely need to try crab rangoon because the places I've gone previously have closed, so having a new spot for crab rangoon would be fantastic. Not all crab rangoon is the same and anyone who eats it regularly could tell you that it's different everywhere you go.

If there had been more chicken in the Chicken with Garlic Sauce I would have definitely given this five stars.

I forgot to snap any photos of the food because I was properly starved by the...

Foon Ying is arguably in the top 5 Chinese restaurants/take out places in Indy. The service is a bit slow however, they make up for it with quality food and reasonable prices.

I went in around 630pm for take out and we didn't leave until 715pm. Our order was moderately sized so the wait wasnt that bad. Dont bother trying to call ahead as the line is busy 90% of the time. Maybe the delivery services have a better system but the prices are different and I dont mind going to get my own food.

We had Singapore Cho Mei Fun which was good albeit a bit heavy on the curry but still edible. This is one of a few places that even carry this dish so I will remember to ask them to go light on the curry next time. But I would order again. Also, shrimp and vegetable egg rolls which are the best egg rolls I've ever had. Steamed Dumplings were a first from Foon Ying for us and they didn't disappoint! They were delicious. The garlic sauce they come with was a great pairing with the dumplings. General Tso's was good and well sauced. Shrimp fried rice was made to our specs (wife cant eat egg or onions so we omit the vegetables and egg) and was also good.

Overall I would give 5 stars if not for the heavy hand on the curry and the longer than usual wait time. Needless to say, I recommend and will...

Fair warning: I'm probably a little biased, considering I've lived within walking distance of Foon Ying for most of my life... and for this, I consider myself lucky ^^ The staff's all very nice and it's a family-owned joint so you can bet on the food (as well as the service) being consistent and fast. Get used to hearing a cheery, enthusiastic, "Ten minute!" =) If it's your first time eating here, I'd suggest something on the milder side -- sesame chicken, chicken lo mein, crab rangoon etc.; but if, like me, you prefer a spicier fare, I'd go with Hunan chicken, Sichuan chicken, General Tso's or, my personal favorite -- chicken with garlic sauce. You should also absolutely try their beef-fried rice and their egg rolls, which are to die for. The only reason I gave them a four (and believe me, it's still a hard four) is because frankly, the quality of the food has declined somewhat in the past decade or so, but they're still the best Chinese (Cantonese) joint that I've tried on the whole of the east side. Oh, and for those concerned, there's NO MSG, which in itself sets Foon Ying apart from the...