It's a hit or miss sometimes but it's local and very easy to get to. I usually get a boneless spare ribs dinner combo, sometimes it's good and other times it's just edible. Their sushi is good, no complaints there. read more

Fabulous once again. Thank you for always serving the best. From the tea to the egg roll and shrimp roll to the pork fried rice and in to dinner everything was great. If I had room I would have had desert but the food is too good to leave room. Maybe next visit. read more

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After years of passing this Chinese restaurant at the Rockaway Mall, yesterday my wife and I finally stopped in for dinner. Friends had told us this was their favorite and I can see why, the food was delicious! It looks like they do lots of takeout, but they do have table service so we dined in. My wife ordered Beef with Broccoli and I had Roast Pork Egg Foo Young. The food was made with quality ingredients and the dishes were excellent! Next time we're shoe shopping or visiting Best Buy, we'll make sure to stop at East Cafe for dinner! read more

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The pork fried was ok except it needed more pork & veggies. They skimped on the meat and veggies, hardly any. The house Special lo mein wasn't special at all. It has a couple of measly pieces of chicken and 2 popcorn shrimp, along with a few small pieces of vegetable. If I wanted plain lo mein (just noodles) I would have ordered it. This was very disappointing, house lo mein is supposed to be packed with chicken, shrimp, pork & veggies, this was all noodles. We will not be going back. read more

Absolutely terrible experience. I would never come back!!!!We ordered our food, and after waiting for a long time, we realized we never got our drinks. We had to remind our waiter before they were finally brought out. The service was slow and disorganized the entire time.After we paid for our meal, the waiter brought back the receipt and pointed out the tip, which made us feel uncomfortable. We decided not to leave a tip because we were unhappy with the service.What happened next was completely unacceptable. My friend and I had already left the restaurant and were standing outside when the waiter suddenly came running after us asking for a tip. It felt like we were being pressured to give him money. We were both teenagers and didn't know how to react, so my friend ended up giving him money just so he would leave us alone. No customer should ever feel chased or pressured into tipping, especially teenagers. It made us feel very uncomfortable, and it completely ruined the experience. Parents should be aware, and if you're a teenager planning to eat here, be careful. Based on our experience, I would not recommend this restaurant. read more

I stopped in because I was driving by. The food was excellent. Low Mein was the best I ever had. Shrimp Garlic Sauce excellent. Waitress was very nice and fast. Very pretty place. Highly recommend a visit. read more

Horrible food, terrible service, even worse atmosphere. I am hard of hearing and the waiter had a heavy accent so I apologetically asked him to repeat what he'd said twice and I got an EYE ROLL. The sushi was so slimy I couldn't even finish what I'd ordered and to top it off they had an inflammatory fake news station on the TV the whole time. So sorry I wasted my time and money. read more

This restaurant: we had Japanese waiter he was weird the whole time me & daughters there for lunch !! They charged $3 for tea so total just tea was almost $9 ‍‍‍ our waiter kept saying we charge extra if you want more tea, so that's fine but he literally asked me to finish my tea before he can bring new fresh one i ordered ‍‍‍‍‍the whole thing about him was very rude!!! Sushi was not that good , my daughter only ate 4 of sushi she ordered 2 different kind, never going back or order take out from this place read more

I have been going here for six years, sometimes three times a week, while I hate to leave negative reviews, the food quality has gone way down and the prices continue to go up, yes food cost has gone up across the country, but their food value does not equal their prices. I have received pork fried rice instead of brown rice, (I am a vegetarian), frozen vegetables with the sushi lunch special, undercooked rice, soup that tasted off and the last straw, chicken mixed in with tofu, I had not eaten meat for 32 years, until now. The staff there are very friendly and apologetic when a mistake happened, but I can longer take a chance. read more

Nice spot for a Chinese food or sushi. Convenient to the local hotel and all the shops. Nice cozy indoor seating and good service. Food was flavorful. The fried dumplings and beef on a stick were great appetizers. The tangerine beef was sweet and spicy delicious. read more

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They served us an extra entree. I told the server that we did not order it when it was served. He shrugged that off and said "a lot of food". I think it was because of a language barrier. I tried to explain we did not order it, but he walked away and was pretty rude tbh. We ate the food and paid the full amount at the end of the meal, but I kind of feel taken advantage of. read more

Their service was a bit slow but the food was very good and if you eat on you get 50% off sushi!!!!!

Just an FYI Stopped at the Cafe for a SMALL white rice to go with my dinner at home. They charged me $4.50 .....robbery!!!! After,I called numerous other places and the price was $2.50. Not right!!!! read more

I thought I'd give this place another try ..the last time I was there they messed up my order big time..they forgot to give me my peanuts in my dish ..gave me a fried dark chicken when I wanted sautéed white chicken .. So when I went in ..the front desk girl was horribly rude.. .. and then was then charging me extra for everything ..she was insinuating I shouldn't order From there ..I never had such rude service in my life ..and I eat out a lot ..I was horrified !!!..when I got home I realize they didn't put celery in my dish..when I ordered it to b in. Portions were very small I walked out of there spending near $50 for 1 dish and 2 apps ..was very unhappy ..don't bother going u will eventually be insulted someway ..I will never return .... read more

Decent sushi and probably the best general tso's chicken I've had. Lunch menu is great and sushi deals at the time are also awesome read more

Decided to give East Cafe' a try an ordered delivery. Because half my family wanted chinese and the other half wanted sushi. Couldn't really find another restaurant that offered both. To begin with, the delivery took two hours! Then when the woman that delivered our food arrived, she was banging on the wrong apartment door and I had to wave her down I wouldn't purchase sushi from here again. Mediocre AT BEST. Not high quality fish and warm. Also over priced. I couldn't eat all my sushi out of fear from what it looked like and didn't want to get sick. The Chinese on the other hand was very good. Portions we're good for their prices. I only gave East Cafe' two stars because the Chinese food would be something I would purchase again. read more

I visited East Cafe on a dumpling recommendation and they were pretty good! It was only my second time trying dumplings and these were definitely better then my first try! I ordered pork and chicken steamed dumplings and I think I liked the chicken more (sauce was good too). As always, I ordered chicken and broccoli with rice and with extra sauce ($1 up-charge). The sauce given was different then the sauce used on the dish but upon asking was able to be accommodated. I thought the flavors were good but some of the broccoli could have been steamed a little more. I do not eat seafood or sushi so I cannot speak on those dishes but for everything else, I would return. read more

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Moving from the city to the suburbs, finding a Chinese food is a MUST! It took a few tries but this place is close to home. The food is always delicious and fresh. The chicken wings are extra juicy but crispy. Oh, don't even get me started on the Singapore noodles. Everything is delicious! read more

Had take out roast pork low main. Tasted ok but had the least amount of meat of several Chinese take out places near by. It is a shame that this nice place is being stingy with the meat. read more

My wife and I ordered Chinese food from here and got a maggot in our food. That's right, a living maggot. I called to complain and was told they'd refund half the dish it most likely came from (the orange chicken), and I said that wasn't enough. After way more back and forth than you'd expect after finding a maggot in your food, they agreed to half my order refunded. I will never again order from there as this was below par by any standards for a takeout mishap. read more

East Cafe - The maggot from my orange chicken - Japanese Near Me - Rockaway, New Jersey

Kung Pao chicken was so salty I couldn't eat it. I sent it back and the server said nothing, no apology or offer for me to try another dish. So I paid for a meal I couldn't eat and then had to go home and make myself lunch. Poor service and poor food. read more

I was in the mood for Chinese/Sushi for lunch so I decided to give this place a try. I was immediately seated and my waiter Andy came right over and took my drink order. I usually get a cup of hot green tea, so it was nice to receive a full pot. I noticed after being seated, up on their walls were 9-10 boards with all kinds of specials posted for dinner and lunch. There was every type of special. What enticed me was their Lunch Maki Special for $9.45 it came with a choice of 2 rolls off their list, soup and salad with ginger dressing. I also ordered steamed chicken, and pork dumplings with dipping sauce. My miso soup was very good and loaded with tofu. My salad had crisp iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and a delicious ginger dressing. (I love ginger dressing.) For my lunch choice I chose Spicy Tuna Roll and Eel and Avocado Roll. Both were good it's basically your typical rolls. I liked the ponzu dipping sauce. What I really enjoyed was the Chicken Steamed Dumplings which came in their own little steamer. These chicken dumplings were very light and flavorful, I could eat these all day long. I also split an order of pork dumplings they were tasty too. ( I know this was a lot of food but I wanted to try several of their dishes. My sister-in-law ordered egg drop for her soup and thought it was good. ( you can't really screw that up.) and for her lunch she ordered Steamed Chicken, Tofu, and Vegetables. She's on a special diet, and East Cafe was very accommodating to her needs. Low to no salt, no soy, no broccoli no seasoning expect duck sauce. They steamed her edamame with no salt. Our waiter Andy was very attentive and anything we wanted like extra crispy noodles or extra duck sauce he got for us. My experience here with our waiter Andy was good one, he wasn't rude.. Andy took the time and extra steps to make sure all the food my sister-in-law couldn't eat, wasn't in her food. The hostess who greeted us was also very nice. I like that East Cafe has a wide variety of dishes they make. Chinese, Japanese and some Thai. There is definitely something for everyone including vegan.. I don't think their dishes are gluten free because of soy sauce. I'm sure if you ordered something plain and steamed it might be fine... I was able to watch the sushi chef make my rolls. East Cafe Chinese/Japanese Restaurant has a 50% off special if you spend $20 on any of their rolls, but you must eat in. It doesn't apply to take out orders... This place is located in the Rockaway Mall, off Mt. Hope Avenue. There is plenty of free parking. There is a good amount of seating, again I came at lunchtime and during the week so I'm sure on weekends and at night this place gets really busy... I ate most of the dumplings and half my lunch. The other half I took home. I will definitely be back to try some of their noodle dishes, and specialty dishes, along with more steamed chicken dumplings. read more

Something has changed at East Cafe in Rockaway. The egg rolls were supper greasy, pu pu platter also was greasy, beef lo mein was off too. Have been going here well over 10+ years. Never had a complaint before. read more

REALLY good [quality] food! Best Chinese food in the area. My fave = beef with broccoli. Always cooked fresh and prepared within a reasonable time frame. Highly recommended and conveniently located by the Rockaway Townsquare. read more

Mediocre food with very high prices. Poor customer service. Was looking forward to the convenience of location but was very disappointed.

I recently discovered east cafe and I absolutley love it. It's a small restaurant tucked in the rockway town square, so it's easy to miss. The staff was welcoming and I loved that there were a lot of different options to choose from. I had a specialty roll (which was half off) along with crab rangoon, and general tso's chicken. Everything was delicious! read more

East Cafe - Crab rangoon - Japanese Near Me - Rockaway, New Jersey

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We used to go here years ago and stopped going because of the poor service. We decided tonight to give it another try. Nothing has changed, unfortunately, except for prices which have insanely gone up. But that's everywhere. They have one poor guy handling all of the tables, so it took a while to order and get our food. But that's not what bothered us either. We realize many businesses are still short handed. What annoyed us was the fact that they are ridiculous about insignificant little extras. The table behind us wanted some more noodles (the crispy noodles you typically get for free with duck sauce while you wait for your meal). The waiter said "It's an extra charge." The people were so upset. They argued with the guy but he said he couldn't or he would get in trouble. These noodles were always free, no matter how many you asked for. I ordered sushi. Three rolls. Not cheap. Plenty of wasabi was given, but not enough ginger. No matter where I go, I can always get another small amount of ginger for free. Not here. I asked for more and the waiter said, "I need to charge you." I was so angry. I didn't even ask how much he wanted because I wouldn't have paid due to the principle of it all. I told him I didn't want it. But seriously... I just got all this sushi, and my family all these other dishes, and you can't give me another little wad of ginger without charging me? I'm sorry. That's petty and not the way you treat customers. Never again. read more

I have taken a prior review down and reevaluated this business. I've been frequenting this business weekly for the last 20+ years. Since they've reopened based on pandemic, the quality of both their food and service have taken a sharp nosedive. A lot of the Chinese food is bought frozen and heated for service. The Sushi is prepared from lesser cuts of fish, and sometimes tastes a little past its prime. The service is abominable. The staff is unfriendly and unhelpful. On my last visit, I had left my wallet at home. I was told that my guest would have to wait until I returned with payment, as if the 20 years of my continuous patronage, I needed to be treated as if they never saw me before. Really? Even if the food was a lot better than it is, I would still expect decent customer service to resolve issues. I will not set foot back into this establishment, and I would suggest that if you are looking for good service and reasonably priced good food, you would do better to select any number of the other local Sino-Japanese restaurants in the area. East Cafe, you not only lost a longstanding customer who also referred others, but you alienated him totally with your cavalier attitude. Summary: mediocre food, poor service. I agree with Gail M. Staff is rude. Regardless, this is a place to avoid. read more

If you are looking for consistently good Chinese food this is the place for you. It is not fancy but the food is always good. The people that take the phone orders are always polite and the order is always correct. The spareribs are delicious the Singapore noodles are excellent and made to your degree of spice. The jumbo shrimp in garlic sauce is excellent. I recommend you stop by and try the food. read more

terrible time here. Me and my boyfriend usually LOVE and rave about this place but this time was unpleasant. I ordered a fancy dragon roll and I barely got ANY eel. read more

East Cafe - fancy dragon roll. - Japanese Near Me - Rockaway, New Jersey

Eating sushi without it eating your wallet is a normally a challenge but not as East Cafe. Located next to Best Buy, it's been one of the best finds for sushi and Chinese food that's affordable and tasty...oh and it's BYOB Food: Everything from sushi (special rolls, maki, sashimi, boats) to Chinese (all the norms) to some Thai (pad thai). General Tso's chicken is good ($1 extra for brown rice) Sushi: all is quite good, only once did we have a weird one (lox on something that did not taste at all pleasant) Small salad:ok, nothing spectacular Miso soup: awesome Chicken dumpling udon noodle soup: awesome Sushi recommendations: green phoenix, green river, rockaway, dynamite, ocean Service: Decent seating with a very casual vibe Sometimes it feels a little rushed...but we've been here quite a few times they remember the small things we ask for (sauce, hot tea, etc). The music they plan in here is a bit funny, random people singing backstreet boys and such but its good for a laugh. Parking is never a problem Tips: Dine in and order more than $20 worth of sushi and you get a 50% discount They have lunch specials (even on weekends!) Dont be a sushi snob and give it a shot :) If you sit at the sushi bar, your sushi plating will go up a notch If you take out, there's a coupon in the Entertainment book read more

Came on a whim and tried their food. I was disappointed. The lemon chicken had no taste and the prices are high, which I don't mind paying for as long as the food is good read more

We come here a lot. The food is tasty, and if you eat in, the sushi is 50% off! I lived in Japan for almost 5 years, so I'm picky about my sushi, and I like this place. The Chinese food is also good and fresh. Very good value for the money! read more

East Cafe - Dining room - Japanese Near Me - Rockaway, New Jersey

My sushi was hard! Also, someone told me there are cockroaches in the place. So it's obviously dirty. Slow delivery. Wouldn't come here,

Three stars because I know they're "trying" during this tough time. BUT, I have to say my food was not edible. I'm not sure what my "chicken" was. See picture. Had to throw the sesame chicken out. read more

East Cafe - Sesame "chicken" - Japanese Near Me - Rockaway, New Jersey

Decided to try some very simple carryout as I already had leftovers from my dinner the night before but not enough for a meal. So I order hot & sour soup, extra crispy noodles and an egg roll This was usually a go to slam dunk. This time the soup was overly seasoned hot so much I couldn't taste anything else about it. It left me a little nauseous, so I threw it out. This was previously my favorite soup there; apparently not anymore. The crispy noodles were either under cooked or stale. I had to reheat them in toaster oven to firm them up. I paid for an extra bag, but they forgot to include them. The egg roll was okay so I generously gave them 2 stars. I will not go back anytime soon read more

this is convenient if someone in your family doesn't like sushi and likes Chinese food. But the Chinese food isn't that great. My sushi was hard too. I don't think it's fresh fish. to the guy that had the maggot in your food, I feel so sorry for you and hope you're okay. read more

Great sushi, half priced and amazing! Such great options with specials every season/month. favorite sushi spot. Huge portions for their chinese food. Have amazing Ramen and great chicken. Best prices for all their food especially for all they give you. Even have take out. Wishing they had delivery lol. My family and I eats there almost every week. amazing. read more

Good takeout food, and no complaints about anything. We stopped in on our way to the city and were seated immediately. Service was attentive and the food was passable, but not outstanding--but it was exactly what we were looking for and wanted. read more

We have been getting takeout from here for years. For the most part the food has been very good. However the last few times it was very hit or miss depending on what was ordered. Last nights dinner was just awful. The chicken wings tasted like boot heels with little to no meat on them, the worst I think I have ever had. The rest of the meal was fair at best. Very disappointing. read more