Oak Tree Inn — Restaurant in South Pasadena

2025: This used to be one of our favorite Chinese restaurants. Obviously, it does not compare to Mr. Chow's, but we enjoyed Chinese classics at a bargain price. Service was (and still is) always nice - the ambiance reflects the price point they have.

Over the years, my wife and I have surely been 50+ times, and I have awarded five stars almost every time we've gone. Sadly, we watch the quality constantly decline. It's still "not bad" - particularly considering their fantastic lunch menu prices - but not bad is ... not bad. We are now at a point where my wife and I would favour the Express fast food place with the Chinese bear ;-) over having lunch here. A shame, really.

Before 2024: The best Chinese food I had in a long long time. We have been with six, sharing different dishes - a blast. Share the soup! Highly recommended.

Thanks for reading my comment. Now, if you are curious enough about my "rating scheme", here's "the moment of truth. I am a music photographer who has traveled the world with the world's greatest musical talents (Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Rolling Stones, and Rammstein, to name a few) for almost 40 years. When being asked "Where do you live" I tended to ask "in hotels". At my peak, I "shot" 250 shows a year. Will say: been there, saw and tasted it, and a lot, as I may say, and much to the dismay of my doctor who is in my back to lose a few pounds. Quite a few, as I may add, which is why my wife and I walk ten thousand steps per day, where- and whenever we can - and explore a lot of new exciting places - places you may oversee when just driving by.

While I love to share my experience with others, I am sometimes shocked at how people use their "power of the word" to down-rate amazing places because of minor incidents (in my all-time favorite​ restaurant Le Petit Four on Sunset Plaza the owner was even called a racist as he refused to toast the (free) bread in his packed restaurant - they simply do not offer toasted bread, as no French​ place does, as I may add). Or I just read "Chicken piccata so over-salted I hope the dog enjoys the leftovers tomorrow, I brought home most of the dish." Did they speak to their service? How could the restaurant learn that something was wrong when patrons even have their leftovers​ boxed to take home? As a dog owner,​ I want to take the writer and shake him or her really bad and say "You give over-salted food to your dog? Anyone with a bit of brain understands this is a horrible idea...​ I hope you agree.

So If I had a say on this portal, I would offer just to see the ratings of my friends. So I would see what the ratings were by like-minded people. Sadly, I have no say. I try not to compare apples with oranges. A place like this does not correspond to "The Ritz". At first,​ I assume that a restaurant is clean, they do not greet you with a gun - and they deliver whatever they promise. I do not give stars for things that are expected. In my rating scheme, three or more stars are awarded if they actually exceed my expectations. Four, if I am sure I will come back. To achieve five stars, I must be willing to take a detour of thirty minutes or more to go again.

Thank you for...

Lobster on par with Boston lobster. Two of the best in south California. Egg yolks fried crab is an interesting idea but not quite pulled it off compared to classic styles like ginger and green onions. Regarding the remaining dishes, the Cantonese style diced fillet mignon is excellent, and recommended. Something Luna Asia should learn from. Fried oysters good to very good, oil temperature a little high made the batter a hair too dark. Fried rice is above average, except I prefer it without diced carrots. Steamed fish has exacting temperature control so texture is excellent, if the flavoring of the sauce is better, it would be a home run. Young bean plant is excellent, enough garlic and I can't find fault anywhere. The stuffed chicken skin was a slight backward step, and was not as good as the bomb pre-covid. The shrimp paste recipe changed both in texture and flavouring, slightly gummy and bland, but on the whole still is good to fair. Recommended for novelty appeal because nobody else I know do this dish.

Overall firmly recommended. Much better than Luna Asia, and slightly cheaper than...

My wife and I and including our friends decided to have Chinese meal then our friends tell us about the Chinese restaurants in South Pasadena called the Oak Tree Inn. My wife and I surprised there's a Chinese restaurant in that location we throught it was a motel for years but it was a restaurant. Our friends say they never been there but other family members been there and they say the food is really good. We step in the restaurant we were surprise how nice inside the restaurant is then the hostess show us to the table and hand each of us a menu then we order our drinks.

We were at the menu and what we like to order then we decided order we order orange chicken and walnut shrimp and BBQ pork fried rice and crispy beef, and other items. The food is really amazing good big portions and why we share. I really enjoy the walnut shrimp and BBQ pork fried rice and other dishes were delicious my wife and our friends love it. We need...