Chinese Homestyle Cooking

[Tarbox]

Where in Confucius' beard is the love for House of Chen and the Chef's Special Chicken?!?!?

 

[sunnysideup]

Is there a better Chinese meal in Ames than the chicken in plum sauce and an order of spicy crab rangoons? I think not.

When I lived in Ames this was my order almost reverytime I went there!

 

[weeterkane]

A Quart of Spicy Combo Lo Mein, Hot & Sour soup (w/crispies) and Pork Egg rolls at Taste of China on Beaver Ave in Des Moines is the way to go.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I could brag about my worldly travels and experiences that qualifies my informed opinion on Asian cuisne.

Ames has a lot of great Asian restaurants. Particularly for a town of it's size.

CHC in particular may be the best Chinese food I've found anywhere. It's phenomenal.

ANGRY CHICKEN.

Angry Chicken at CHC may be the closest I've ever come to for a dish being too spicy for me to eat, but even that didn't hit my threshold. It's an incredible dish.

The Twice Cooked Pork over at that Chinese place over by that west Ames Hy-Vee was also very good.

 

[CyorDie]

The hot braised beef is amazing. I have yet to find anything similar to it in Des Moines.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I would say the fact that you can't tell the difference shows how generic it is. It's also sad that Panda Express in the MU is better than the places I've been.

I've met beer snobs. I've met numerous types of food snobs, however I have never actually met a real life Chinese Food Snob.

 

[RayShimley]

I would say the fact that you can't tell the difference shows how generic it is. It's also sad that Panda Express in the MU is better than the places I've been.

And what are those places? You keep saying "the places I've been", but that really means nothing since you, admittedly, have not even been to one of the best Chinese restaurants in Ames.

And as far as online reviews, both CHC and Lil' Taipei have comparably good ranking on Urban Spoon with a decent sample size (100+ rankings). At least 2 good Chinese restaurants (and several more decent options) in a town of 80,000 (<50,000 in the Summer) is pretty damn good.

 

[RayShimley]

Where in Confucius' beard is the love for House of Chen and the Chef's Special Chicken?!?!?

I've heard really good things about House of Chen, unfortunately its location (E. Lincoln Way) has made it a hard place to get out to for lunch from campus.

 

[Mr Janny]

I've heard really good things about House of Chen, unfortunately its location (E. Lincoln Way) has made it a hard place to get out to for lunch from campus.

HOC is great. Like Tarbox said, the Chef's special chicken/pork is amazing. They really excel at dishes where the meat has a little bit of breading and is in a sauce: General Chicken, sesame chicken, orange chicken, chef's special, etc.

 

[CyBer]

And what are those places? You keep saying "the places I've been", but that really means nothing since you, admittedly, have not even been to one of the best Chinese restaurants in Ames.

And as far as online reviews, both CHC and Lil' Taipei have comparably good ranking on Urban Spoon with a decent sample size (100+ rankings). At least 2 good Chinese restaurants (and several more decent options) in a town of 80,000 (<50,000 in the Summer) is pretty damn good.

Golden Wok, Mandarin, May House, Little Taipei. Out of all of those I liked Little Taipei the best. http://www.littletaipeionline.com/

http://www.mandarinofames.com/

 

[RayShimley]

Golden Wok, Mandarin, May House, Little Taipei. Out of all of those I liked Little Taipei the best.

Ok, well Golden Wok is definitely terrible, I agree with you on that. I haven't been to Mandarin in about 8 years and wasn't that impressed. May house is pretty good, but not as good as Little Taiepei. Oh, and one other thing, the reason that May House and Cocost's food tastes so similar is (I believe this is correct, someone correct me if I'm wrong on the details) they are owned by two former spouses who have since split up.

 

[BCoffClone125]

I've went to CHC once my freshman year and wasn't that impressed. After reading this thread though, I figured I would give it another try. After walking all the way there, I learned they are closed all day on Mondays. Just a forewarning for anybody else that was thinking about going today.

 

[Clonefan32]

This thread inspired me to go grab a mango chicken lunch special from Canton Express on the skywalk in Des Moines. Some seriously good stuff for $4.95.

 

[CyBer]

The Skywalks in Des Moines have some pretty weird places I tell you what.

 

[weeterkane]

This thread inspired me to go grab a mango chicken lunch special from Canton Express on the skywalk in Des Moines. Some seriously good stuff for $4.95.

They have Korean food too. It is pretty good for Skywalk food. Full Korean menu after 1pm.

 

[Clonefan32]

The Skywalks in Des Moines have some pretty weird places I tell you what.

I also love the burrito place down the way from Canton Express-- freaking delicious.

 

[CyBer]

Don't they have a Smokey D's in there?

 

[alarson]

Im thinking this thread may make me order some chinese from Phoenix out by Waukee.

 

[sunnysideup]

This thread inspired me to go grab a mango chicken lunch special from Canton Express on the skywalk in Des Moines. Some seriously good stuff for $4.95.

There used to be a very good Chinese place in the skywalk just south of Coney Island. It closed a couple of years ago however. Too bad because their Kung pao beef was amazing and so were their crab ragoons. I think it was like 5.50 for all you could eat lunch.

 

[RayShimley]

I also love the burrito place down the way from Canton Express-- freaking delicious.

Cuatro? The place next to the Kirkwood Lounge? If so, I agree, that place is awesome.