I've tried Chinese restaurants in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.--but the…read moreone I can't stop thinking about is a hidden gem in Redwood City! After eating Chinese food in cities across America, I've come to realize that finding a restaurant that truly captures the soul of Chinese cuisine is not always easy. Some restaurants have big names and fancy interiors, but how many can actually make you fall in love with the food, keep you coming back for more, and even bring back childhood memories with just one bite? For me, that restaurant is Crouching Tiger Restaurant in Redwood City, California! What makes this place special isn't just its classic Sichuan dishes, such as spicy boiled beef, tea-smoked duck, and Dongpo pork. It's also the creative dishes like crispy spicy chicken wings and crispy spicy shrimp that make every visit exciting. But if I could recommend just ONE dish, my answer would be an absolute no-brainer: Twice-Cooked Pork (回鍋肉)! Some dishes are simply delicious. Others take you back in time. Crouching Tiger's twice-cooked pork does exactly that for me. One bite, and I'm reminded of the wonderful days when I was a child, going to Sichuan restaurants with my family. That bold, aromatic Sichuan flavor brings back memories that go far beyond food. It's the taste of home, the warmth of family gatherings, and the joy of those simple moments around the dinner table. Some dishes satisfy your appetite. Others feed your soul. For me, this twice-cooked pork does both. And there's so much more to love about this restaurant! The portions are generous, the prices are reasonable, and the menu offers plenty of delicious options for sharing with family and friends. The staff are warm and attentive, the service is excellent, and the spacious dining area makes it a great place for gatherings. What I appreciate most is that Crouching Tiger manages to preserve the authentic character of Chinese cuisine while making it enjoyable for diners from all backgrounds. The food doesn't lose its soul just to cater to American tastes--that's what makes this place stand out. Crouching Tiger Restaurant | Redwood City, California If you're in the Bay Area or anywhere on the Peninsula, put this place on your must-try list! I've enjoyed Chinese food in many major American cities, but Crouching Tiger remains one of the most memorable Chinese restaurants I've visited. And yes, the twice-cooked pork will ALWAYS be on my order! Great restaurants serve good food. Truly special restaurants serve up memories. Crouching Tiger does both. #CrouchingTigerRestaurant #RedwoodCity #BayAreaEats #SichuanCuisine #TwiceCookedPork #AuthenticChineseFood #BayAreaFoodies #FoodMemories

Clean, modern, and inviting restaurant with very reasonable prices. The chow mein was definitely…read morethe highlight--thick noodles with great texture, and it wasn't overly oily or drenched in sauce like you often find elsewhere. I also ordered the Mongolian beef, which was flavorful and made with good-quality beef that wasn't fatty. My only complaint was the amount of sauce--it was very thick and oily, and enough leaked out of the to-go container to make a mess. The bean paste chicken was also tasty, with fresh vegetables and tender chicken, but again there was a heavy pool of sauce at the bottom of the container. Cutting back on the sauce a bit would make both dishes even better. Overall, the food was flavorful, portions were solid, and the prices are hard to beat. I'd definitely come back when I'm in the area.

Went there for lunch and had a the lunch special. Came with spring roll, soup, 2 entres and rice!…read moreSo much food and so good. Very much recommend

Appears to be closed as of june 21st That's about 10 years…read moreafter opening. Not a great venue,but adequate.

Had Wednesday dinner around 7:15 PM and ended up waiting close to an hour, with 6 parties ahead of…read moreus even though they close at 8:30 PM. The restaurant is tiny, with only about 8-10 tables, so that definitely contributes to the wait. The staff was super friendly and efficient despite being so busy. They even gave us menus to order while we waited, so our food came out really quickly once we were seated! We ordered the Singapore Rice Noodles, House Special Chow Fun, Pepper Clay Pot, and Walnut Shrimp, and everything was delicious! Singapore Rice Noodles: My favorite! The noodles weren't dry, and the curry flavor wasn't overpowering. House Special Chow Fun: Huge portion, packed with meat, and not dry at all. Pepper Clay Pot: Super flavorful, and the crispy rice was AMAZING. They also give you soy sauce to pour over it. Walnut Shrimp: Huge shrimp, a light coating, and the perfect sauce!!! Not overly sweet or too thick. Overall, everything was flavorful, the portions were generous, and each dish had its own unique taste. The wait was long, but the food and friendly service made it worth it. Definitely recommend checking this place out, just be prepared to wait!

*** U P D A T E ***…read more It's been a few years since our first visit to this cozy and casual Chinese eatery, but we still think about Blue Sky every now and then. It's rare that we're in this area, but we made a point to come back from SSF and give them another try. Like our first visit, there was a waitlist! We got here on a weekday at lunchtime around 12:30, and there were 3 parties ahead of us. Thankfully, the wait was only about 15 minutes this time. The owner was friendly and welcoming. Once we sat down, it took us forever to decide what we wanted to order! We ended up placing our order with the owner, but you can also order through the QR code on the table. *** O U R P I C K S *** BEEF CHOW FUN ~ good flavor and wok hei. We really enjoyed this dish! So much so that we ate the rest for dinner too! 5/5 PUMPKIN WITH SALTED EGG YOLK ~ this was a memorable dish for me from our first visit, so I definitely wanted to have it again this time. Still very good! The pumpkin is mildly sweet, while the salted egg yolk adds a little saltiness that balances everything out. 5/5 SWEET AND SOUR PORK ~ something we almost never order, but my partner was craving something sweet and tangy. The meat was nicely fried, so it didn't get too soggy even after being coated in the sauce. Good dish that seems popular among their customers. 4/5 BAKED PORTUGUESE BEEF STEW WITH SPAGHETTI ~ out of all the dishes, this one was bland and our least favorite. The sauce had more of a mild yellow curry flavor with coconut milk. It also didn't really look baked, since there was no browning on top that you'd normally expect from a baked dish. The stew itself was good, but we probably wouldn't order this one again. 3/5 Generous portions for every dish! Two people could easily get away with ordering just one dish and be satisfied. But with so many tempting choices on the menu, it's hard to order just one! Now we have tons of leftovers that'll last us for a few days! Oh, and the owner gave us a sample of their homemade hot chili sauce. It was tasty and savory, but nothing too spicy. My partner enjoyed it so much that he wanted a jar to take home! So we bought one to go for $8. With so many good things on the menu, we'll definitely have to come back again sooner than later. Already thinking about what we'll order next! Can't wait!!

4.5 stars overall…read more My husband loves wontons we wanted to give this place a try and had food to go, we had their Chinese broccoli beef - the broccoli was a bit on the bitter side (deducting half a star( loved their beef chow fun (without the bean sprouts), had their soup dumplings, which are absolutely delicious, tried their wonton soup, which was okay, it's not our flavor profile but it was decent; the food was good, will definitely have it again Can't comment on the service or the ambiance as it was a to go order. My husband says it was clean inside

4.5 stars I was craving some dim sum, but unfortunately…read moreRedwood City does not have very many options. I opted to visit Bao. I parked in the parking garage near the movie theaters (horray for free 1.5 hours parking!). I arrived on a Friday morning, right around opening and we were seated immediately. We were given an iPad to order and after noticing there were none of our (somewhat niche) favorite dishes, we ordered the Combo for 4 people. The combo came with hot and sour soup and baked BBQ pork buns, along with our choice of additional dishes from a set list. We chose the six-piece soup dumplings, tofu eggplant, Chinese broccoli with beef, beef chow fun, and the Portuguese egg tart. I thought that the hot and sour soup was hot and barely sour, but it was loaded with meat, tofu, and wood ear mushrooms. The BBQ pork buns tasted great and were interesting; it was a mix between a pineapple bun and a BBQ pork bun. The Soup Dumplings were good, but annoying to eat. Because they were steamed in their own foil wrappings, we were not given soup spoons. It was hard to peel them out of their wrappers while still preserving all the juice. The dumplings were very tasty and the wrappers were just the right amount of structural integrity. The tofu eggplant dish was much too sweet for our taste buds, but it wasn't terrible. The Chinese broccoli with beef dish was very good. The beef was velveted very nicely and was very tender. My only complaint would be that the Chinese broccoli was barely cut, so be sure to chew if you get this dish. The beef chow fun was a bit of a let down; it was kind of bland, but it did feature the same large chunks of beef that the Chinese broccoli beef featured. Finally, the Portuguese Egg Tarts were silky and very flaky (though they did have a strange fruit surprise in them). Overall, I would return for their lunch combo. It was great value (in this economy) and the dishes tasted good. The staff was very friendly and promptly filled up our waters.

had spicy chicken cold noodles and pork, shrimp chives dumplings w sesame balls and green onion egg…read morepancakes for lunch. very reasonably priced, large noodle portions, and tasted homemade. dumplings were chewy and filling was savory and juicy. didn't blow me out of the water but a good choice for a casual lunch

Looks like prices have gone up since I last visited. About $12 for 12 dumplings. I think the…read moredumplings taste a lot better than their noodle dishes and side dishes, which I guess makes sense since they specialize in dumplings. I'd just get the dumplings next time. They also sell frozen dumplings that you can buy to take home- $15 for 20.

My family and I decided to try brochette on a whim as I'd seen it on yelp and DoorDash for a little…read morewhile now. We came in and the place was clean and pretty quiet. The server got us sat right away and was friendly. We decide to share a bunch of plates including the pan seared baos, different stuffed rice balls, stuffed scallion pancakes, fried wontons, cucumber salad, purple yam chips, chicken & corn dumplings and Mongolian beef potstickers The pan seared baos and the stuffed scallion pancakes were our absolute favorites. The baos were crispy, rich and juicy. The stuffed scallion pancakes were like tacos with the flakiest and most satisfyingly chewy taco shell. The meat inside was well seasoned and tender. These two dishes in particular are going to be must orders anytime I return. The cheesy kimchi rice balls and purple yam chips were both hits at the table as well. The chips they have made and come out in no time so you can start snacking right away. The rice balls were nice and crispy on the outside than soft and gooey on the inside. They had that bright kimchi flavor. The cucumber salad was good too, the main flavor of them was cilantro so if you don't like cilantro then you should skip it. The fried wontons were standard but satisfying. They did their job. Finally the chicken and corn dumplings and the Mongolian beef dumplings were the weakest of what we ordered. They got mixed reviews from the table. Consensus was that both were pretty bland overall and didn't compare to the other dishes we enjoyed so much. As far as the food there was a lot to love and a couple dishes we'd switch out for something else next time. But we also don't go in expecting to love every dish and are happy to have gotten so many dishes that we do love. Especially those stuffed scallion pancakes, they are the biggest reason this review had to be a 5/5. Also because of the good service and peaceful environment

We came for late night dinner a few weekends ago after seeing this around for a few years now…read more Pros: Open late, with lots of seating. Decor is trying to be a nicer place than idumpling or redwood bistro. The food was good (dumplings, scallion pancakes with beef, spicy wontons, lobster skewer) but felt small for the (high) price and unnecessarily grilled? They weren't kidding when they call themselves a grill Cons: Service will take a while. They seem to be a hit on DoorDash or food delivery since there were more orders getting picked up than in-store customers. Interior seems kinda unmaintained? Not really a place to go if you're trying to impress, but also not a total barebones takeout place. The decor is nice but the chairs were mostly old and ripped.

Pork XLB - 6/5 Pork and cabbage dumplings- 6/5…read moreBeijing gravy egg/mushroom noodles - 3/5 Great xlb and dumplings!! Good service and ambiance! I had ordered a dry noodle but it came out with a lot of gravy. Otherwise, overall great! Will visit again!

Came on a Friday in the early evening and this place was completely empty except for one patron,…read morewhich made me nervous that the food wasn't going to be great. Glad that that wasn't the case! Ordered xiao long bao, fried tofu, sheng jian bao, Beijing potstickers, pea shoots, and green curry with rice. - Xiao long bao: quite tasty and probably my favorite in this area. The soup inside was really sweet and savory and there was a lot of it. Meat was tender and the flavor was spot on. The skin was nice and thin, but with enough elasticity that it didn't tear when the dumplings were still hot out of the steamer and being picked up with chopsticks. I wish they would steam on napa cabbage instead of the foil cups though. Towards the end, the dough was trying to stick and that's no bueno. Also, wouldn't cabbage be cheaper? - Fried tofu: favorite dish of the night, surprisingly. Super crispy coating, and the soy sauce they serve it with has enough salt and flavor to really make it shine! Will order this again and again. - Sheng jian bao: I have serious doubts that these are made in-house (though they might be?). They looked like the frozen ones that every restaurant with sheng jian bao on the menu seems to be serving nowadays. Not that they're bad. In fact, they're pretty good, with a good amount of soup inside, but the dough was a little tough. - Beijing potstickers: like regular potstickers, only less good. Didn't like the dough on these, but they were super juicy! Wish I'd known that before I bit into mine and all the juice came shooting out of the opposite end. Don't be like me, eat this with the butt end in your spoon to catch all the liquid. - Pea shoots: I spit out half of these onto my plate because they were so tough that I couldn't chew the woody stems. I haaaaaaate when restaurants do this - the people preparing the food know what a tender pea shoot feels like. If they're not good, don't serve them to customers. It was like $17 for a plate of greens that were almost inedible, and super unenjoyable to eat. Aside from the poor quality of the veggies themselves, the way they prepared them was perfect, and the flavor was so good. Made me sad that I could barely eat them. - Green curry: ok, but not great. There wasn't enough flavor and there was too much heat. I expect Thai curry to be spicy, but not marking this on the menu for someone who is just trying this for the first time feels like a mistake. Also, not letting someone choose their level of spice also feels like a mistake. Speaking to the menu, there are things about it that make it hard to order. Basically, everything is in English, which is fine, but there are dishes that are translated or simplified that make it hard to know what's what. "Pork buns" are sheng jian bao. I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't asked, and to me and most people I know, a pork bun is just another simplified name for a char siu bao. The only reason why I knew they had sheng jiang bao on the menu was because of the photos on Yelp. Maybe just calling it sheng jiang bao or "pan fried dumplings" would be more helpful. Photos or a brief description (or Chinese characters, for those who can read them) would have been even more helpful. Other notes: the waitstaff is friendly enough, and the kitchen is efficient. Wish they had ice water here. Water is served in carafes that appear to get reused without first being washed, with a sprig of some kind of green thing inside. It goes from the kitchen tap into their fridge to cool a bit before being served, but there is no ice. A water filter on that tap would go a long way to make the water taste more palatable. Not sure what the green thing was, but it didn't impart any appreciable flavor. Will ask for ice next time and hope that it's available because at least if the water were actually cold, it would mask the tap flavor. We'll be back to try other things on the menu, and to order the XLB and fried tofu again, but with tempered expectations.

Perfect order and take-out experience. We ordered Zhong's Dumplings, Dry Pot Pork Ribs, and…read moreShredded Pork w/ Green beans. Everything was delicious. This is now our go to spot for Chinese. Yummy!

The menu has quite a great variety of food. one of their recommendations is the wonton soup which…read moreis delicious, packed with various type of ingredients such as veggies and meat inside. The wontons were intact in the soup when served, which was great. Though it was good, it's slightly overpriced considering other offerings in the area Street parking can be difficult to find during busy hours.

First time eating inside this restaurant although I've had their takeout a ton…read more Amazing Wok never disappoints. They are truly amazing. Service was good. Food was hot and delicious. Ambience is nice enough and the price is the best in San Carlos. Woot Woot!

I went to Amazing Wok's website and ordered online, choosing the delivery option. It gives you an…read moreestimated time of delivery, charges you a delivery fee and I added a tip. It indicates you will receive a text when a third party delivery service is on its way. I then received a confirmation email with my order which indicated when my food would be ready. When that time had come and gone I called Amazing Wok, gave my name, and asked if my order was close to be delivered. The woman on the phone stated no delivery and hung up on me. So I called back, indicated that I had placed an order, my credit card had been charged and if they could not deliver, asked how my money would be refunded. I was told your food is here, it's ready, you come and get it. I said no, I was not able to do that at this time and again asked how they would refund my order if they could not deliver. Finally another person got on the phone, I was asked to explain the whole scenario again and again was asked to come pick it up. I again stated I was not able to do so and expected my credit card to be refunded if they were not bringing my food. After a bit of back and forth they agreed to deliver but said I had to show proof of my delivery charge for the owner when my food arrived. I said fine, I had their company's order confirmation ready. (How did you get my order to make my food if you didn't have the transaction I placed showing all the details?) The food was delivered a bit later, and the person said they need to take a picture of my email on my phone as proof, which I provided. All this to say, clearly they don't want to deliver anymore and should change their website to reflect that. I won't be using them as an option again.

Have consistently love the quality of the food and the service…read more My favorite go to dish is Beef Tendon Soup Noodles The ambience is very interesting because of the great mall murals depicting Hong Kong.

It's great to see that they have a restaurant is now located on El Camino--growing from their…read morelocation on Laurel Avenue. I still remember their early start at the food hall in San Mateo. It's so good to find really delicious Hong Kong comfort food outside of San Francisco. I keep coming back because it tastes delicious--it does check the "comfort food" checkbox for me & my taste. The menu has a lot of choices--HK style breakfast, BBQ lunch combos (& lunch combos in general), afternoon tea time snacks (cha-chaan teng). Anytime is the right time to visit for me--breakfast, lunch or dinner. Definitely worth checking out! NOTE: No cash is accepted--card only.