CF Cheng Chinese Cuisine — Restaurant in Sacramento

Friendly, but non-transparent staff. Mediocre food. Clean appearance. Avoid the Kung Pao Chicken. Great fried rice.

I called in a pick-up lunch order. Before ordering I inquired on the price of the items I was ordering. While placing the order, the person on the other end of the line was friendly, knowledgeable and repeated my order back thoroughly ending by telling me my total due upon pick up.

Once arriving to the restaurant I paid for my to-go order and sat looking over their menu while my order was completed. To my surprise, every single entree of mine was over quoted over the phone, was overcharged on the total and each were listed at a completely different rate on the menu. Though slightly uncomfortable with what had happened, I chose NOT to bring it up. If my food was delicious, I'd overlook this small but significant detail in my experience.

Upon arriving home, I realized that the egg rolls I paid extra for in my order were not egg rolls at all, but we're replaced with mini spring rolls. Again, though slightly irritated I let it go and simply decided on my next visit, I'd avoid the upsell for egg rolls. I ordered 5 entrees and four soups. All of which were very mediocre and slightly bland. Not what I had hoped for, but it was edible nonetheless. Excluding the Kung Pao chicken which had a horrible, strange and almost rancid taste. It was not edible, and frankly I was afraid to eat it. At this point, I called the restaurant, informed them of the situation with the Kung Pao chicken, and simply asked for an alternate menu item at equal price to replace it. At this point I was told that the chef required my Kung Pao (which I had previously offered to bring back) and once the chef received the meal we would discuss me getting another plate.This response was off putting when I considered how many miles I'd drive back, and the fact that my dinner and movie were completely disrupted over the non-edible plate, as was my families evening. A simple acknowledgement would have been appreciated and sufficient for me to overlook the incident entirely. Nonetheless, I thanked them and got in my car to drive several miles back to the restaurant.

Upon arrival, the person at the front counter took the entree and the chef came out to inspect the food. Though the front of house was pleasant, the chef was visibly irritated. He and the person who originally took my order proceeded to have an inaudible conversation about the matter going back and forth for a bit. Eventually, I was handed a menu and asked what equivalent item I wanted. I chose the chicken with vegetables. I was asked by the front of house did I prefer fried rice or white rice. I chose fried rice. This was the only part of the meal that had tasted delicious. She returned my order to the cook, who then came out and refused to allow the fried rice she offered because my Kung Pao in my original order had white rice.

No acknowledgement, apologies or consideration of the gas, hour long time, the interruption to my meal and evening, or the fact I had called ahead to have the situation rectified and somehow was still sitting in the establishment waiting on the order, this nor underwhelming experience I had encountered by chosing to order meals through them was managements or the chefs priority. This was not the highest concern to them. The fried rice took greater priority.

I was offered a water while I waited, and the person in front of house was kind. The fried rice was delicious and the chicken and vegetables were enjoyable.

Being treated like I was trying to get one over on them (as if I have nothing better to do that play games over one entree) even after I had overlooked so many issues throughput the experience, the blatant disregard for customer service, price transparency, and otherwise underwhelming food is why I will personally not be returning.

If you do happen by, avoid the Kung Pao chicken and order the chicken and vegetables with fried rice. Both of which are really the best items...

A gem of a restaurant. This is an independent Chinese restaurant located in the Natomas area.

Small by most standards, but it is a popular restaurant with locals and business people. I watched as there was a steady stream of take out orders. They have two menus, one that emphasizes hong king style cooking and recipes and a standard Americanized menu. Hong Kong style Chinese is a fusion of usually, British, Cantonese and other south east asian cooking styles.

Be advised that the dishes are huge, and also before you know it 5-6 dishes can be almost 100.00 in cost.

We ordered hot and sour soup, crab cheese rangoons, Chinese mustard greens with black mushrooms and spare ribs with bittermelon cooked in black bean sauce. Just water to wash down the food. It was like 110 degrees outside. Sheesh.

First the hot and sour soup was perfect with lots of tofu and pork. The soup was tangy and thick, the way we like it cooked. The crab rangoons, were filled with crab with a hint of melted cheese. They went well with the sweet and sour dipping sauce.

The pork ribs with bittermelon were cooked in wok fry with black bean sauce and garlic. The pork ribs were moist and the meat fell off the bone. My only complaint was that the ribs were cut too small. The Chinese mustard greens and black mushrooms were cooked in a saute style with soy sauce and oyster sauce base. The mustard greens were crunchy to the bite, but retained the flavor of the sauce. The black mushrooms were huge and meaty. When cooked in this manner, in my opinion they taste just like meat. Delicious!

In our opinion this is a great Chinese restaurant that rivals Chinese restaurants in Oakland and San Francisco Chinatowns in the...

We’ve frequented CF Cheng over the span of more than 12 years, and as someone of Hong Kong cultural heritage, this place is all about cozy comfort food. If you’re not used to Cantonese style food, some of these 2 star reviews might be confusing, so keep reading.

1. This food is flavorful, and it’s fresh. The notion that this food is bland is borderline crazy and might be a case of Covid taste loss. Even the most simple dish we had (garlic pea shoots) was delicious and full of garlicky goodness.

2. the wait time for the dishes is real. The waiting time is a trade off for the freshness and wok hei. You can hear them cooking the dishes in the wok in the back. If this is a concern, start by ordering some soup and appetizer style dishes.

3. You can get dishes here that are hard to find elsewhere like the hand shredded chicken and the clay pot rice dishes (read the captions for tips). These are traditional Cantonese dishes that you likely won’t find at the bigger banquet style restaurants. They are great! Sometimes people expect food to be exactly like when you’ve had it in its place of origin, and I don’t know if that’s reasonable. With that said, this restaurant is in the top 3 Cantonese restaurants in all of Sactown.

It’s worth repeating. CF Cheng is a staple for Chinese (Cantonese) Food in Sac. I’ve got no financial interest, nor am I related to anyone who owns this gem. If you’re looking to expand your palate for authentic Chinese food, support this Mom & Pop local business. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. This review mainly focuses on their dinner menu; it’s been a while since I’ve had the...