Chen Express — Restaurant in Mountain Brook

Chen Express is the best Chinese take out restaurant in the history of Chinese take out. I used to think all Chinese take out was the same, and that all Chinese take out was just okay. Not true. Everything I've ever had from Chen Express is amazing. I haven't had one experience ordering with them that was less than spectacular. When my ex moved into her new apartment and realized she was out of Chen Express's delivery area I laughed and laughed and sent her pictures of me enjoying my delicious Chen Express meals. Don't feel bad for her. She's terrible. But back to their delivery, it is inhumanly fast. In fact the reason I'm writing this review is that I ordered tonight and I timed it and it took 15 minutes. It came to me piping hot and fresh. I live 3 miles away and it was during 5 o clock traffic. I seriously have no idea how they did that. Which brings me to my only complaint about Chen Express, and it barely qualifies, is that it is 3 miles away. There is a perfectly good place for it just 5 blocks from my apartment, but it is occupied by China Moon. China Moon is the exact opposite of Chen Express. I've given them plenty of chances because I so want them to be good because they're so close to me, but everything I've ever ordered from China Moon tastes like I was eating a plate of warm garbage. Never eat at China Moon. Unless you're my ex. Then you deserve to eat...

Food – my wife and I ordered three meals for us to split between ourselves and our children. We had the Mongolian beef, Moo shu pork, and chicken with sizzling Rice. In spite of the above average portion size, this was the first time in my memory we have ever finished so much Chinese food. It was delicious! I highly recommend this restaurant

Service – honestly, this was the first and most important positive about the restaurant. The moment we walked in (4 adults and 7 children), we were greeted with a smile and friendly assistance to make accommodations for a large and somewhat unwieldy party by the woman who I presumed to be the manager/ proprietor. She and her waitress continued to be very pleasant, friendly, and helpful throughout the course of the meal, attending to us frequently.

Ambience – Nice ambience with drawings of dragons done by children adorning the walls. A cozy feel. The one slightly off-putting aspect was that the women were serving and attending to the patrons while 2 men (who appear to work there) were playing on their phones at a side table throughout our whole meal.

Overall – excellent food with great service; I will definitely be a...

I ordered food to go from this establishment. The Hot and Sour soup tasted what sewage smells like. Completely inedible. Got Vegetable fried rice but it was like ‘Where’s Waldo’ to find a few broccoli florets, 4-5 tiny snow peas and about 1/4 of a scrambled egg. The Kung Pau shrimp was a 2 - 3 out of 10. And I had to pay extra sauce. I have never ever paid for extra sauce, hot mustard and tiny packets of soy sauce. But I spent almost $7 for the sauces, which ended up being only 1/2 of what I ordered. The best thing was the sticky white rice. It is a HUGE chain. It was the worst Chinese food that I have ever had. I wonder if the people who like it so much have weak senses of taste. And, lastly, they are ripping diners off, as everything is way over priced because of...