Chen’s Good Taste — Restaurant in Vancouver

Edit: This review keeps the original review, followed by our more recent update. Much improved.

Original: My favorite Chinese restaurant, Tang's Wok nearby, was closed on Monday, so we tried this restaurant instead. Very disappointed. Actually, worst Chinese food I can recall, and that's the reason for this review.

BBQ Beef, shaved razor thin, could barely see the little shavers in the sea of noodles. Szechuan beef was so spicy one of my family members almost had a medical event. It contained mostly huge pieces of green peppers, large quantities of whole red Chile peppers and water chestnuts with a few pieces of beef. Pepper Fish Fillet was mostly fish flavored breading. The House Special Chow Fun had the most ingredients, but was still mostly noodles; the overall flavor impression: soy sauce flavored egg noodles.

What I like about Chinese food is the interesting flavor combinations, vegetables, meat, noodle base all complementing each other. This food was boring and strangely concocted. Mostly noodles with the bare complement of ingredients to make it legal. And one dish presented lava level spicy. A disappointment; one star level disappointment.

Edit: I will leave the original review, as it was an honest review for our first visit. However subsequent visits have proved our first impression was in error. Good Taste is our friend’s favorite local Chinese restaurant, so we have returned on occasion when our own favorite (Tang’s Wok) was closed. Good Taste has consistently surpassed our original impression requiring an updated review from 1 Star to 4. The service has always been prompt and friendly. The interior is pleasant. The food has been more as I’d expect - not excellent like our friend’s opinion, but a strong good in our opinion. I think we just had a down-kitchen day on our first review. Definitely, this restaurant is back on our list for good...

I just tried this place for the first time today. They are pretty quick. I did order right after that opened on a Sunday. When I arrived there were at least 3 people waiting for food. I went back out to my car and I called in and asked if they would just call me when the food was ready. It was ready in exactly 30 minutes after I placed the order. When I went back in there was no one else inside waiting. So that was nice. One thing I like about this restaurant compared to other Chinese restaurants in the area is that Good Taste has their ingredients listed on their online menu so I know what will be included. For example, Good Taste lists Tender beef with broccoli, carrot, onion, mushroom sauteed in house brown sauce. Other local Chinese restaurants don't list any ingredients. They just say "Beef and Broccoli". Out of the 10 closes Chinese Restaurants to my home 6 of them give no ingredients. 4 of them give ingredients but Good Taste seems to have more ingredients listed for various items than the other 3 restaurants in the area that do list ingredients. This was important to me today because I'm supposed to be avoiding fiber for the next 3 days for a medical procedure I'm going to be having. I'm not supposed to eat certain listed foods, so I wanted to order from somewhere that I could see the ingredients. Another cool thing about Good Tastes is they make you food to order. I asked them to remove mushroom and bamboo shoots. Bamboo shots are high in fiber. They had no problem making my food fresh to my specific order. They are obviously a popular place if there were 3 people waiting before I got there just 20 minutes after they opened. The food DOES...

From 2003 to 2010 I had an office in downtown San Francisco within walking distance of Chinatown. I'd lived there for years and was used to many varieties of Chinese cuisine, all freshly cooked, mostly for Chinese diners.

When we moved up here, we felt lost because we didn't know where to find high quality, authentic Chinese food. After a few years some friends told us about The Good Taste, and we've never been disappointed. Our favorite dishes include the fish fillet clay pot, hot and sour soup, steamed chicken with ginger and onions, clams with black bean sauce, sauteed bok choy, green beans in garlic sauce.

Every dish is prepared with fresh ingredients. The name of this restaurant says it well, it all tastes very good. The menu is extensive and reasonably priced. We have some health concerns and they cheerfully accommodate our needs.

Fei, the owner, is friendly and cares about his customers' experience. We've gotten to know him and enjoy catching up when eating in his restaurant.

The decor is simple. The seating is comfortable. The place isn't loud. What's not to like? Highly...