Yan's China Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Walnut Creek

This is my go to Chinese place in Walnut Creek, and basically in the entire contra costa county. I have yet to find a better restaurant.

I ordered for this meal:

Hot and Sour Soup - 10 Mongolian Beef - 10 Braised Tofu - 7

Hot and sour soup - I love this soup. It has plenty in it, not like a lot of other places, it has substance and very good flavor. It’s a great balance of sour and spicy.

Mongolian Beef - since Mongolian beef is my favorite dish, I like to order this at every restaurant I go to and judge them this dish. This is my favorite place to eat Mongolian beef. Good tender pieces of beef, the right amount of onions and great flavorful bites. Always a great dish to order here.

Braised tofu - nice mix of vegetables and tofu. There was really not much flavor to this dish. I was expecting a bit more but it turned out to be a watery taste to the sauce. I ended up with raw carrots in my dish so that was not very pleasant.

Atmosphere was good, even if it was very noisy because of the party a few tables away from me. I sat in the bar area - they usually have sports playing. The water was always filled and I was always tended...

Went there for the first time with my brother-in-law and his wife not knowing what to expect. It was around 5 and they were just opening for dinner. Plenty of parking in the back, off the street. Walking in from the back you walk past the galley and see several chefs furiously working their woks, preparing some of the nights features over roaring gas flames. The decor is like you'd expect, somewhat dark, but we were seated in the empty bar station where there was still some daylight sneaking in. Service was prompt and attentive. We ordered some apps and they came in minutes. Our hosts had been before so we let them order for the table. I'm sorry that I can't be specific about what each dish was, but I can say every serving we had seemed better than the one before. I was more than pleasantly surprised. The food was as good as any Chinese food I've ever had. Every bite was singing with flavor and was outstanding....

Update to this review, post pandemic - food is more expensive with smaller portions. Usually, I order take out. The interior does not look inviting esp since the main area is set up for pickup. The worst is that since the staff change , they don't seem to be happy that you decided to spend your money with them and they don't even remember when you are a repeat customer. For these reasons, I choose not to visit this place much.

Previous review: love that they don't use msg. So I don't have an allergic reaction to the food. Just wish the food tasted better. I have not found any place better than SF in the East Bay. This place can tied me over till I can make a trip over there - it is better than the several places I've tried in...