Republic Cafe and Ming Lounge — Restaurant in Portland

I love the ambience of this place, very retro and reminiscent of a different era which fits as the establishment has been in it's original location over 50 years. The food is delicious and absolutely the best Chinese food in town with a menu of an impressive variety of options to choose from. Some of my favorites are their pork fried rice and egg rolls. The pork chow mein and pepper chicken is also delicious and cooked to perfection.

You will find that this place uses a different style of preparation than some of the other Chinese restaurants around town and the difference really shows in the taste. The cuts of meat and seafood are a superior quality compared to some others and for a fraction of the price of most in the DT Portland area as well. The service is always prompt and friendly, its one of the draws that keeps us coming back as great service is on par with the quality of the food as far as I'm am concerned when dining out. You will not be disappointed when trying this place if you love delicious...

So I wasn't blown away, but I was pleasantly surprised. The place is sketchy AF, some homeless guy taking a bath in the bathroom hassled me for cash while I was trying to piss, after surviving that ordeal I somehow made the bathroom smell worst by turning on the sink and washing my hands. I dunno what kind of soap that is or what's up with the water but GROSS. My hands smelled so bad from washing them.

The crab puffs and spring rolls were pretty good. My entree, pork noodle, was not. It was basically hot brown water with soggy noodles. The garlic green beans were really tasty.

The endless parade of homeless people coming in and out added an aroma that didn't particularly enhance the food or experience, nor did the guy that hit up our table for cash.

The place is definitely a seedy dive bar. It's exactly what you would expect. I'd take some friends here for...

Food Safety Hazard!

Ordered a chicken chop suey and chicken egg foo young.

The chicken was spoiled/rotten and smelled rancid. Didn't notice until taking a bite since it was covered in sauce. Had to spit out because of how sour it was! Tried to salvage the dish by picking out the chicken but realized it was in vain since there were flakes of it already mixed all over. Same problem with the egg foo young. Felt nauseous afterwards and lost my appetite.

I experienced a similar situation before when ordering a scallion beef dish, the texture was slimy and overly velveted, but thought it was a one-off.

I really wish this restaurant the best because I want to love it, there's not many places like this anymore that serves these classic dishes, but unfortunately the food quality control and safety issues really need to...