Peking House — Restaurant in Shoreline

I needed to find a restaurant that’s open later than most last night. I’ve driven by this restaurant for many years but something about it didn’t entice me to stop in.

Eventually I did read reviews because I have been looking for a more traditional Chinese restaurant because there’s fewer of them; in general the reviews weren’t favorable but I decided to try it myself due to circumstances.

I forgot to ask for it without MSG, it probably was filled with it. They don’t offer low sodium soy sauce which is very unusual in my experience.

I ordered my usual favorite Chinese dishes: fried wontons and prawns with lobster sauce. I’m uncertain what was inside the wontons but it tasted terrible!! I was hungry but, I only ate a few, and then only ate the part without the mystery meat inside.

The prawns themselves were good but the sauce simply tasted bad; perhaps the MSG was the culprit but the peas and carrots seemed to be from a can instead of fresh but I don’t know for certain.

Additionally, just ordering the fried wontons, prawns with lobster sauce and white rice which wasn’t included cost me almost $40 with tax!!!! I took home the remaining white rice; I ate all the prawns but left everything else because I knew that I would never eat it.

There are positive reviews which surprise me but it depends on what you order; one reviewer mentioned asking not to have MSG on it but I sadly assumed that it’s well known not to use it anymore.

The table I was sitting at had tape on the booth, in general the environment looks old and not taken care of yet not actually uncomfortable.

Well I should have listened to my gut feeling about this place and the bad reviews; it was both the timing and my interest in this type of Chinese food as to why I gave it a chance. BAD IDEA, especially for such a high cost! Food prices have gone up yet I believe that the last time I had Chinese food similar to this, it was 1/3 - 1/2 the cost and tasted good!

I’m extremely busy lately but I decided to write this review to warn people to absolutely ask to not include MSG in the food in case that’s at least part of the problem but whatever was inside those wontons was tasteless with a strange texture too. Oh, and the usual sauce to dip it into had a strange texture yet acceptable taste for sweet and sour sauce.

I usually take pictures of my food but it was late and I was hungry, it actually looked good but obviously looks can be deceiving. Again, the price made this experience even worse….

One more comment is that there were two men talking VERY LOUDLY about seemingly personal issues. Otherwise the noise level was normal. But it was strange that both men who didn’t appear elderly just happened to be talking...

My grandmother was a nut for Chinese restaurants. She was constantly finding and trying new ones all over the area. In her old age, I would often drive her to her Eastern Star meetings and on the way home, we would stop at Peking House as a treat. After she died, I never found a reason to go there. For 30 years, I got my Chinese food at other places. Last Sunday, I asked Google where I should get dinner and Peking House popped up. Why not? I thought. Getting there was easy. I have driven up 175th thousands of times. It felt familiar to turn into the Peking lot just before getting to 15th. The parking lot was half full, so getting a spot was easy. Heading in the door, I was hit with the smells of decades of Chinese food. I detected fried food, steamed vegetables and the faintest hint of cigarette smoke. I needed the men’s room so I stopped there first. I found a whole new smell in there that made me hold my breath while I did my business, washed my hands and unsuccessfully searched for a way to dry them. I stood by the sign that said wait to be seated until I got the attention of the one overworked server. I had hope for good food based on the number of people happily eating away in the dining area. I was seated at a clean, but very well worn table. The menu was a sheet of paper under glass and included a selection of very traditional American Chinese food. I was given a lukewarm pot of tea while I studied the choices. I ended up going for the General Tso’s chicken combination dinner. It was a bit over $20 and included an egg roll, BBQ pork, soup (Wonton or Hot and Sour) and fried rice. All of the food was prepared and presented the way it was 30 years ago when Grandma and I ate there. The egg roll was served with flavorless Sweet and Sour sauce. The BBQ pork came with a little dish of ketchup, mustard and sesame seeds. The fried rice might have been made 30 years ago based on the dried up texture. The General Tso’s chicken was way over breaded and swimming in gloopy sauce. The people at the tables near me all praised the food. One group was full of regulars and promised to be back. All the customers were old and white. The Peking House staff knows their customers, I guess. I paid my bill, enjoyed the fortune cookie (It is time for you to help a friend - In bed)...

The parking lot is cracked and run down. Not very inviting. Weeds were growing between the cracks. The entry is a hallway that hides the dining room, and there's an offshoot that leads to the bathrooms and I assume the billiard tables, so you're not completely sure where you're meant to go. The long counter seemed abandoned and cluttered, it was unlit and no one around it. It had stacks of menus to check before you get seated. We didn't have time to check if we were even interested in anything as our server seated us pretty quickly.

The place is dusty. The ceiling pendant still had a "Made in China" sticker on it. The ceiling panels around the ceiling vent were black, so I question the air quality. No music was playing. The dining area felt like we were in someone's living room. I wondered if we were in the wrong room at first until our server seated us. Our booth was uncomfortably close to the tables in the center of the room, which featured one kid who was fully turned around and staring at me. The place went dead quiet the moment two large families left. It was very uncomfortable for me. I assume this place has many regulars and it felt like we were intruding on the regular's space, too, which I didn't like.

The food? I've never been a fan of "Chinese food" - I say in quotes because food in China is nothing like this - mostly because the standard always seems to be chewy rubbery chicken. The seasoning is good, but the food itself is often dry. This restaurant's food was only a little better than my typical experience. I can't really rate the food just because of my personal preferences, though. I liked that they served us tea. I wish more places treated tea like they treat coffee. This place does tea right.

Overall, I wouldn't ever return. I liked that we were served quickly and food came out of the kitchen fairly fast. I enjoyed the tea and I like it when the server takes your card from your table instead of you having to go up to their register. And points for not feeling like a restaurant that is discriminatory against non-chinese customers. That...