| Gourmet Chinese restaurant that offers unique dishes and cooking classes |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 12/22/2005
Rating: 7.5
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Chef Chus is home to one of the famous chinese chefs in the bay area. When Terry and I worked in Mountain View, we never had any thoughts about visiting this local favorite. No one ever requested us to review it nor had he heard anything from our coworkers. 4 years later and a didnt city away, we make our trek to a somewhat disappointing visit.
We arrived to a packed parking lot which appeared to signal that we were hitting Chef Chus during the busy lunch rush. Parking is limited surrounding the restaurant but luckily there is a giant parking lot down the street dedicated to Chef Chus customers. The restaurant has an onsite cooking school, full bar, banquet hall, and a unicorn farm...well, maybe not the last item but they have just about everything.
The host was very polite and sat us at our table at our convenience. Looking around the room, I could tell this place was going to be more expensive than the lunch specials at other chinese restaurants. From the designed china to the linen tablecloths. I said, what the heck, Im going to order one of the most expensive lunch dishes. I went with Chef Chu Lovers Prawns.
Ever since Ive eaten the Hot and Sour soup at Hong Fu in Cupertino, Ive become a fan of this soup. I never like it before but I guess it takes a good experience to enjoy. The soup at Chef Chus was a bit different than the others as they loaded up their soup with green onions, egg, bamboo, tofu, mushrooms, and many other goodies. Only thing keeping this thing from being spectacular is the heat, then again, Ive always liked more than the norm.
We waited...
and waited...
and waited some more...
Finally the waiter delivered 2 dishes which appeared to be somebody elses. What a drag, it went to the next table and we arrived a good 10 minutes before they did. They finally bring out Terrys dish and I seemed to have waited eternity for mine to be brought out. I find it quite annoying and Im not just saying this because Im impatient but I can compare this service to literally 500+ documented other restaurants. The wait was too long and I DONT CARE how busy it was.
So the score stands, the soup was a home run, the delivery time is an out, and my main dish is a single. Presentation looked good, tasteed healthier, but Im having problems justifing $15 for this meal. Chef Chus Lovers Prawns are split into 2 sections on the plate. The sutile and delicate light wine sauce prawns versus the hot and spicy red prawns. Boths sides gave an impressive display of flavors with my favorite being the wine based sauce. Prawns were kinda small but plentiful.
With lackluster delivery times and a high priced meal, I cant give flying colors to Chef Chus. If I was having a paid company lunch, I probably would bump this score a half point or so. As with most chinese restaurants, rating a restaurant based on 1 dish when the menu boasts tons of other dishes, its a tough thing to do. I think 7.5 is a fair score and would make a return visit. I would stick to the lunch specials which are significantly lower than my $15 plate.
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 7/11/2006
Rating: 8
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I lost a bet and had to fork it up at Chef Chus. Out of all the Chinese restaurants in the bay area, my friend decided on Chef Chus. Personally, I have never eaten here. My only near encounter with Chef Chus was meeting Mr. Chu for career day back in High School, where he performed a little cooking demonstration and told us stories of his life and business. I have never considered Chef Chus as a Chinese restaurant as the owner caters to non-Asians through presentation, service, taste, and price.
We arrive around 7:30 and had to wait several minutes for a table. As I suspected, there are no Asians eating at the restaurant. Our hostess seats us within close proximity to the table next to us. If you like your space, you probably will not like the seating arrangements here. Our waiter brings water and menus to our table. Tea is nowhere in sight for at least a good 20 minutes. Our waiter did not bring us tea until our main courses arrived. This was strange as every other table had a teapot on their table.
My friend wanted one of their pre-fix dinners, which include soup, salad, two main entrees, tea, rice, and dessert. These pre-fix dinners catering to non-Asians are complete rip offs, so I suggested we order directly from the menu. From experience, the only pre-fix meals worth ordering are from Chinese menus or for large parties.
We order, fried crab and cheese puff (5.20), hot and sour soup (5.95), braised eggplant in garlic sauce (8.95), tangerine chicken (11.95), prawns in lobster sauce (10.95), and 2 bowls of steamed rice (2.40). In terms of the prices, the appetizer priced about right, as appetizers at Chinese restaurants tend to be pricey. Price for soup is about right. Braised eggplant overpriced by at least a dollar. Tangerine chicken is overpriced and a complete rip-off. Prawns in lobster sauce are about right as prawn dishes tend to be pricey.
Our waiter asked us if we preferred bowls of hot and sour soup, I hesitated thinking he was probably thinking out of our best interest since we ordered so much food but a bowl of soup is 2.50 each. The entire soup is only 5.95, which could easily scoop up 2 bowls of soup for us each. I opted to pay the extra 0.95 for the entire soup and turns out, we drank 4.5 bowls of soup between the two of us.
Fried Crab and Cheese puffs: Our waiter evenly divided this appetizer onto two appetizer plates. This is the type of service not typically found within a Chinese restaurant. This service is strictly for show, but a nice gesture nonetheless. The puffs are lightly fried and crispy without the extra oil, probably soaked up from the lettuce from the original plate. There are about a teaspoon or less worth of filling within each puff. The cheese taste a bit like cream cheese consistency with bits of imitation crab and flavoring. The appetizer served with a thick spicy/sweet dipping sauce and a mustard sauce. (8/10)
Hot and Sour soup: Best hot and sour soup I have ever had. They claim it is the best hot and sour soup in town and it truly is. Loaded with ingredients such as shredded pork, shrimp, tofu, bamboo shoots, shitake mushrooms, and egg flower, but none of the items overwhelm the soup. The ingredients are perfectly balanced, not too little but there is something different within every spoon full. Do not expect to get a spicy kick from this soup, because there is no spiciness to this soup. (10/10)
Braised eggplant in garlic sauce: Our entrees served pippin hot from the kitchen. The eggplant nicely braised in a thick sauce with slices of mouth melting eggplants. A little tad salty but went well with steamed rice. (8/10)
Tangerine chicken: The sliced chicken braised with tangerine sauce but the sauce was not sweet but a little salty. I was expecting some type of sweet tangerine sauce as stated on the menu. The sauce tasted like garlic, chili and ginger sauce without the sweetness. The dish was not spicy but did contain some dried chili pads for that spicy kick if you eat the dried chili with the chicken. The chicken on its own was tender but the tangerine peel overpowered the taste of the chicken when eaten together. This selection is not worth the price. (6.5/10)
Prawns in Lobster Sauce: Stir-fried prawns in black bean sauce with chopped onions and egg flowers. The “lobster sauce” bit is misleading as there is no lobster anywhere in the dish. The mention of lobster is strictly the name of the sauce, which combines black bean sauce with onions and egg flower. Again, this dish priced high due to the prawns and mention of lobster. In reality, this dish is nothing more than stir-fried shrimp with thick gravy like sauce that consists of black bean garlic sauce mixed with onions and egg flowers. (7/10)
Service was attentive as someone stopped by every table to refill water and tea, as well as check on how each table is doing. One waitress even stopped by and personally poured tea into our cups. We even saw the owner, Mr. Chu, conversing with a couple in the corner table for several minutes. I also noticed the desserts here for their pre-fix meals are not sweet soups or fruit slices like most Chinese restaurants but more specialized dessert menu items such as almond tofu with canned cocktail fruit.
Overall, some menu items tasted good while others are pricy and not tuned for my pallet. If one picks carefully, they could walk away with a good meal at a good price. The service is fast and hospitable. Do not expect big portions here. Two adults should be satisfied ordering appetizer or soup, and two entrees. The experience at Chef Chus surprised me a bit but the restaurant still caters primarily to a non-Asian population. I do not think I would come back here to eat unless someone else was paying but I did have an enjoyable time. Final bill came to $49.00 pre tip. The only leftover was the braised eggplant.
Pluses: Good service, extensive menu, food served pippin hot.
Minuses: Small parking lot even with extra parking in back is it shared among the businesses. Close proximity style seating. Expensive, Smaller portion sizes.
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