| Spartan Chinese restaurant with a full menu and tasty dishes. |
Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 10/27/2005
Rating: 7
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New Yong Kang was a wishlist request. I am always looking for good local chinese restaurants so was happy to finally get a chance to review it. My sons and I get in a bit before the dinner crowd. We were shown a table and I had an opportunity to scan the place out. The establishment is large but very modestly decorated. Big fishtanks tanks in the back let me know that the seafood here was probably the thing to order.
While looking around, I noticed a sign on the wall CASH ONLY. Bummer. I had the cash thankfully, but would have preferred not to. Oh well.
A bowl of soup was brought out for us immediately. This is great especially when you have hungry kids. You get to start eating even before you look at a menu. The soup had meat in it so I didn't sample it.
Immediately we are inundated with a few flies. It was completely annoying and set me off on a bad mood immediately. The place was clean enough but those damned flies really got to me. They wouldn't go away. Anyway, I place an order for shrimp fried rice and Seafood Pan Fried noodles.
They arrived quickly. I found the rice to be good but perhaps not the most flavorful I have ever had. It was a step below Eastern Winds (down the street) in my opinion. It was completely by the numbers. Which wasn't too bad, but with the flies and cash-only knocks it down a bit.
The seafood pan fried noodles was great. All of the ingredients tasted fresh and the noodles were nice and crispy. The gravy supplied was full of flavor as well.
I ended up paying in cash and taking food home. Overall it was a decent meal (probably better as take out), but with Eastern Winds so close I am not sure if I will be returning.
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 10/28/2005
Rating: 8
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Wow, Jatbar finally reviewed this restaurant. This is one hole in the wall I wanted to recommend for the food and the price but not in terms of service or cleanliness.
I was first introduced to this place a few years back. This restaurant is actually pretty well known among the Chinese locals in Fremont. The portions are huge, the dishes taste great, and the price is cheap. If this place was closer to me Id do take out every weekend here.
New Yong Kang is located right next to a 24 Hour Fitness. Parking is actually difficult to find if you come during peak dinner hours (6:30pm to 8pm). If you come late there is always a line, this place is always cramped in by Asians looking for a good meal at a cheap price.
If there are seats you seat yourself when you first walk in otherwise someone will seat you when your number is called. They bring you the menu, which has like 60 selections. You choose 3 items for $16.50 or each dish for 5.50. Where else can you get a seafood tofu hot pot or salt and pepper calamari or even steamed oysters for that cheap? Well maybe somewhere I havent been to but the portion size is ridiculously large and food taste really good. Must be good if its always packed with Chinese people. This is a good place to bring a group of friends if they dont mind the lack of amenities.
Anyways the tables are usually not the cleanest and the over all feeling of the restaurant is that its not that clean. But my point is youre not here for how clean the restaurant is, but for the cheap and great tasting food. Anyways most people order 3 dishes and get steamed rice, which is 0.50 extra per person but they bring out plenty of rice. They always serve their free soup to every table. The soup consists of some meat, soy beans and veggies. Nothing special but good if youre hungry. So besides the cheap price and large portions they serve, the food tastes good. Their wok beef is tender, their seafood items come with a lot of seafood, and their fish are fresh. They also sell other types of seafood not on the special menu such as crab, lobster, etc and they are usually priced at a good rate, well below the norm. A family meal usually comes to 22.00 after tip.
Service is sometimes lacking as the place is always packed so the waiters are busy. I believe this is a family owned business so the waiters and waitresses have remained the same through the years. They have headsets to communicate with each other and every trip you see someone bringing out dishes. Theres very little time for chit chat or water refills. I suggest getting glasses of water in advance. If you need a take out box just go up and grab one, most people do it. Pay with exact change, when its busy you may not see your change back for a while.
At lunch this place is converted to a noodle house, so this place is actually only open for dinner on the weekdays.
Pluses: Large portions, authentic taste, cheap prices.
Minuses: Feels dirty, cash only, lack of service/lack of man power, hard to find parking during peak hours.
** Update 4/8/2006 ***
My friend and I decided to hit up New Yong Kang as it has been a while since we last ate here. When we drove up around 6:30pm, the place was packed inside. Business here is always good as the portions are big, the taste as equally big, and the prices are cheap compared to most other restaurants. Where else can you get over flowing portions of excellent food for 5.50 a plate?
The parking lot was packed, as half of the customers were there to eat at Yong Kang and the other half was probably working out at 24 Hour Fitness. We decided to go eat else where but drove around for 20 minutes and could not decide on where to eat. We finally ended up at McDonalds and grabbed some ice cream to kill some time and attempt to go back to Yong Kang around 8pm.
We drove back at 8pm. The place was still packed inside but we were able to get a table for two as soon as we walked in. Not more than 20 minutes later, another group of customers came flowing in and many were waiting for a table.
This place is so popular even though it is not very clean and it is cash only. There are items on the menu that are not commonly found in the cheap section at other restaurants. The quality of the ingredients may not be as top notch as the fancy restaurants but the taste is still good and the portions huge (over flowing off the plate most of the time).
We went with the chicken fried rice (steam rice is charged by the person at 0.90 per person), salt and pepper squid, and the seafood clay pot. Our food arrived around 15 minutes later. The chicken fried rice had huge chunks of chicken, plenty of egg, and would satisfy any fried rice lover. The plate was over flowing. The squid had a nice fried crust on the outside and squid was tender on the inside. Clay pot contained braised tofu, shitake mushrooms, prawns, squid (same squid as the ones used to make the salt and pepper version) and cabbage.
We had plenty of leftovers as both of us were stuffed. Final bill came out to be 24.00 with tax and tip plus we ordered two sodas. If this place were not so far away, I would stop by at least once a week if not more for their take out. I could imagine take out could at least feed a family of three or four.
Dishes here are typically found at other restaurants for 6.95 and up. I could easily see myself giving New Yong Kang a 9 if they accept credit cards, were a bit cleaner, and hired some more waiters for better service. This time around, service has improved as our request for some two go boxes was filled within a few minutes.
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Reviewer: Grace
Total Reviews: 42
Reviewed: 11/3/2005
Rating: 7.5
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New Yong Kang is located really close to my parent's house in Fremont, so I end up eating there about once a month. The redeeming factor for the resturant is their 3 dishes for $16.50 as they have a good selection of food for that price. My parents always take me to eat there for any special occasion, so I've sampled a variety of food from their menu.
My favorites are the salt and pepper fried prawns, the seafood clay pot, and this deep fried fish with soysauce and green onions topped on it (I only know the Chinese name for it). They also give you a free soup in the beginning of your meal, which is decent but the ingredients of which vary on each visit.
The downsides to this resturant is that the service isn't very good, the servers run around and do their own thing. I need a lot of water when I eat or I can't finish my meal, and I have to ask a few different servers for a refill before I acutally get one, so what I usually do is ask for 3 glasses of water when I order my food. Although most of the food has an authentic taste to it, some food is a bit too greasy for me. Their utensils aren't always clean, or they are really old. Their free soup comes in a Pho Hoa bowl, and some of their chopsticks are split at the tips. Also there are always a few flies buzzing around while you eat, which takes away from the dining experience, in my opinion.
Other than that, it's a good bite for your buck. It's pretty good Chinese food, and they have a good selection to choose from. Weekends are pretty busy, but portions are big. The food is decent and I'll continue to eat there with my family. |
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