April 10th around 12pm went to have lunch at this establishment placed my order and gave the gentleman my credit card and he seem to have ran it like 4 times so I look at my mobile app and see that indeed he's ran it and the money has been taken out of my account. The older gentleman walks over to my table and tells me that my transaction has been declined. I proceeded to show him my mobile app that it has been deducted from my account, he's still saying declined, declined, declined, so I called Bank of America and the customer service representative let the gentleman know that it has not been declined that it has been deducted out of my account. He still proceeds to say declined, declined so I asked the gentleman what do you want me to do? He says pay with another card, I then let him know that I'm not going to pay twice for some food that I've already paid for. Then he says to me , well leave your ID. I told him I can't leave my ID he says use another card. I tell him I will not pay twice for some food, so then he huffs n puffs and walks away. Then he comes back and I ask him may I speak with Management ?He says call them later so now I'm wondering what do I do? I've already paid for the food and so I once again ask him what do you want me to do? He says pay with another card and I told him I refuse to do that because I've already paid. Well, long story short I just left but I felt humiliated. I left the food there which I paid for and now I'm reaching out to Management so that I can discuss with them about this horrible interaction that I had in their establishment . The gentleman was rude And disrespectful. Donna read more

King Yen Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

After coming back over and over again, I'm upgrading my rating! We've only come on weekends. Their hot and sour is still my favorite ever, hands-down. I'm not sure about authenticity, but I love that is full of lots of delicious, chewy items including chicken, tofu, mushrooms, bamboo strips, and bits of egg. Their service lately has always been quick and friendly, which I think we often take for granted. Parking can be a challenge on College, but there are plenty of residential streets you can look for parking. I tried the eggplant again and it was much better! Perhaps they had a different chef working or they had a bad day the last tame, but that tangy, garlicky flavor I was looking for was actually present this time without being over-powering. Not spicy, if you're looking for that. See you again soon! read more

Went by for the first time the other day. This is one of the restaurants closest to our new home - glad it is! Enjoyed the chow mein, a beef dish and a shredded pork dish. The portions were LARGE. We probably could of gotten the pork dish and a side of rice and Been full. Looking forward to going back! read more

We had a large group and everything was great. The food was all delicious and ample. I loved the green beans, the potstickers, the shrimp dishes and the fish. Service was just right, prompt, unobtrusive and nice. We stayed a long time, talking and having a good time. read more

Fantastic food and service - great quality and value - Charles and staff are always kind and helpful... they make you feel like family

The food was Ok. The service was good & we will return there as soon as possible. It's just not as quiet as other Indian restaurauants in that area! read more

I'll be going back for the hot and sour soup & Chow Fun. As much as I've loved this place, and happy they serve Justin Wine. I find somethings a total miss. There price point these days & flavor level don't match. It makes me sad. Again I'll definitely go for the soup and jade chicken. Those are great. read more

Done. We walked down for dinner, arriving 20 minutes before closing. Told we'd need to order to go. Not great, but whatever. Most of the food was inedible at worst, mediocre at best. Threw it out. I've ne get understood the high praise for what has always been fine. Fine service. Fine atmosphere. Fine food. But this experience, ugh. Gross potstickers that tasted spoiled. Bad noodles. Bad rice. Bad. read more

Tried this place for the first time while attending a meeting and wow the food was delicious, fresh and flavorful. I ordered food to take home to my family after the meeting and my family enjoyed it . The service was so attentive, nice servers and good service. I will definitely come back again . read more

Picked up some takeout during their hours for lunch specials and I'm pretty surprised with the amount they give you! It's a pretty decent amount, definitely good for 2-3 people if you aren't a big eater, of course. I ordered their magnolian beef, egg plant with chicken + garlic, Hong Kong style chow mein. The beef and chicken came with rice. And salads were also included with the lunch specials. Everything was tasty but the chow mein and beef did have that too much salt taste. The noodles for the Hong Kong style chow mein was thicker than what I'm used to and needed just a little more sauce. Nonetheless, I'd come back here for Chinese food. They were nice enough to take my order 5 minutes before closing so I am very appreciative of that. Thank you! read more

Generous portions of solid Chinese American food in this neighborhood classic. Nothing unusual or inspired as far as ingredients go. Eggplant with tofu was excellent. Really this is a 4 star review, but service was outstanding, so I added a star. Attractive dining room and clean bathroom are plusses. read more

Good food, attentive service ,and a great location.Green Beans and Tofu and Kung Pao chicken was very nice.

We loved King Yen Restaurant for both the food and the ambiance. They recommended their fish filet special which was indeed delicious. The scallop dish was also excellent. The crispy duck, served Peking duck style, was slightly dry but good. The decor was sophisticated Chinese, a rarity, with lots of natural wood and subdued paintings. The waiters were there when needed but not obtrusive. All in all, a positive experience. We will return. read more

I called to pick something up while I was on my way home, and was in the car so I didn't look at the prices. At pick up was shocked to find they charged $26 for this single, typical, take out carton! They don't even include rice! And while the food was okay (veggies were tasty & fresh, shrimp was rubbery and overcooked), I've had just as good or better takeout at half the price. Plus, shortly after giving my phone number (as requested) I got a call from Beijing, China (didn't pick up) which made me wonder if their POS system had been hacked or something. read more

King Yen Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

The food was delicious! I came here with the family. Parking is hard to find. Excellent customer service. Food arrived on time. A lot of dish to share with family and to go. The place is clean that I can smell Lysol if you were to be seated at the back. Overall my experience here was great! read more

Been here 4-5 times and it's amazing every single time. Food is incredible and the price for the lunch special can't be beat. Mongolian lamb, sweet and sour pork, and Szechuan prawns (in picture) are must tries. Great staff and experience. read more

King Yen Restaurant - Szechuan prawns - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Got chow fun and lemon chicken from here. Not a cheap place, but worth it because the ingredients are high quality. The chow fun noodles were not dried out the next day or the day after and maintained their integrity throughout. The lemon chicken sauce was not syrupy sweet and too reliant on cornstarch-- and the chicken itself was delightfully crisp. Very good quality, not too American-ized, overall good place to get your Chinese fix if you can afford the extra few dollars. read more

My go to place with children in tow. Excellent customer service, our server saw our son had low energy and was hungry he brought out a piece of shrimp for him ahead of our order. Food always hits the spot, large wonton soup, lemon chicken, rice, vegetable egg rolls. Never disappointed when I leave. read more

Great King Yen tofu special - been coming here since I was a kid (20+ years)- happy they're still around!

We had a great meal at King Yen. Not pictured is the Hot and Sour soup which was soooo good too. We will definitely be back read more

See all

I've been going to King Yen for several years now and the food is solid. I can go in and order my favorite dishes knowing they will be consistently good, no surprises. The location has tough parking, but the restaurant is a large size with indoor & some outdoor seating. The staff were always friendly and helpful, the bathrooms were clean. This is all pre pandemic information btw. Recently, post pandemic 1/2022, I planned to order pickup and was looking through the menu to see what I wanted to try this time, that is when it happened, the price per plate! What?? $24.00 for a plate of non seafood, Chinese food...WTF? When did that happen? I decided not to order, because just a few dishes would have been upward of $140 for my family of 3... Used to have good food, probably still do, but I can't get past the sticker shock ...guess I'll be frying my own rice at home for 1/4 of what these guys want to charge me. :( read more

Beware: they lie about pickup times. I ordered pick up and was told on the phone that food would be ready in 25-30 min. So I arrived 30 min later. I had to wait another 30 min for my food to be ready: exactly 1 hour total. My family was waiting in the car the whole time. They said "sorry it's busy". Hard to believe they didn't know this when they told me "25-30 mins". They did give me an extra item to compensate; of course I'd already ordered enough food. At least the food was good. I probably would have enjoyed it more if my kids didn't turn feral while we waited. read more

I love going to king yen family dinners and dinner for myself on the fly always great but, Last night I didn't understand why my broccoli beef smelled like fish sauce and had a faint taste too. I just didn't care for it. This is one of my favorite dishes and have never had that happen before. If they changed cooks please stress "no cross contamination." That make the food Terrible. read more

NASTY. Chow mein NO FLAVOR Mongolian beef just pointless gross beef. I sent it back! What a waste of time. Just a bunch of SLOP. I should have known better to try a Chinese restaurant with recent bad reviews. Either Chinese food is really good or Not, there is no in between in my book, plus it would have cost around $16 for lunch read more

Although my parents and I were the only Chinese diners the night that we visited, I was honestly a little nervous but the food was delicious! The salmon (highly recommended), braised eggplant, and garlic chicken were favorites at our table. Service is very attentive and kind. I would definitely come back again. read more

Great food, excellent range of selections. I usually get takeout here and there always have the order ready promptly. All the food is fairly light. Ambience above average. read more

King Yen is a beautiful, airy restaurant in the heart of the Elmwood District on College Ave in Berkeley, with seating suitable for intimate parties of 2, round. family style table seating 8, or even bigger tables for a large gathering. The service is always friendly and attentive; you will not be kept hungrily waiting. We usually hail the waiter to request they start our order of potstickers, because these always delicious, perfectly crisped treats take some take some time to prepare. I have never had a dish I didn't like in all the years I have eaten at King Yen. Dishes I can heartily recommend are snow white chicken, mushu pancakes with anything, any of the soups, vegetarian or pork potstickers, crispy smoked duck, Mongolian beef, beef with broccoli, sweet and sour pork, chicken with cashew nuts, green onion lamb, Kung Pao fish fillet, dragon and phoenix, and eggplant with garlic (this last being sublime every time). If you have health concerns, your dietary needs will be met. You can order brown rice as well as white, and there are numerous low calorie choices well. I can easily manage my blood sugar by choosing wisely - this morning my levels were below 100mg , even after feasting last night. I don't know many other restaurants where that is possible. King Yen does a robust take out business, but to appreciate the cuisine truly, you should really take a seat, order a pot of jasmine tea and let them regale you with each piping hot dish served as soon as it is ready. Take some friends with you so you can order a lot and enjoy many different tastes. My friend follows a rule of ordering one fewer dish than there are dinner guests so as to avoid leftovers, but I like order one extra dish, so that we CAN have leftovers. I love this place, and I hope you will too. read more

King Yen has been around since I went to Cal in 1969. It has changed over time, sometimes better, sometimes not. The current incarnation is very good. They prepare the food with care and attention to detail. It is not too salty or oily, which is important to me. We usually get takeout, although on the occasional times we eat in the restaurant the service has been good. A good neighborhood restaurant that you can depend on, even on a Monday. read more

BEST CHINESE FOOD, FAVORITE FAMILY RESTAURANT IN THE BAY. Hands-down our favorite restaurant for the past 20 years. We have come here for every graduation, wedding party, special life event, or just any time we can. The staff and owners know our orders by heart and are always so wonderful. Our usual order is chicken fried rice (get extra and eat it for leftovers the next day!), dry cooked chicken garlic string beans, szechuan chicken, honey walnut prawns, and potstickers. Everything is great! read more

We've been going to King Yen for decades, since they were across the street, but it's been going downhill for a while. Today at lunch, my Szechuan Beef was delivered ten minutes after my husband's dish, dry and leathery and clumped up like it had been in the frier the whole time. I ate a bit because I was hungry, but it was mostly awful. We know what it's supposed to be like and this was not it. When I mentioned it, the waiter grunted. I did not want to wait another twenty minutes for a replacement dish and told him so. He took it off our bill. I'm sad, as it's been a fine basic restaurant, but that was a bad experience. read more

I've ate her since I was young and have always loved the kind service and amazing food my favorite dish is the lemon chicken read more

King Yen Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

I've been to King Yen quite a few times. Food and service always very good. Ambiance is pleasant .

I've been going here for years and they are consistently delicious. The ambiance is lovely and the service is excellent. My number one favorite dish is their mushu pork. It's the best and I'm not really a pork person. Especially when it comes to Chinese food but Ive come in just for this dish on more than one occasion. It's flavorful, the meat is tender and not greasy and the pancakes are so good and perfectly thin and ever so slightly sweet. My second favorite is the honey walnut prawns. A lot of times it's got way too much mayo but here, they are exactly right. Light and sweet without being overly creamy or tangy. (I'm not a mayo person AT ALL). Their Szechuan beef and show white chicken are also up near the top of the list and the won ton soup... as I write this I am realizing that I could easily name most of the menu as my favorite thing! So, long story short, you can't go wrong. It's all outstanding. P.s. in case you were wondering, their lunch special menu is also excellent read more

Service and food were great. I've had horrible luck with Chinese restaurants lately, but I was craving Chinese food and thought I'd give this place a shot since it was so close. I'm glad I did. I'll definitely be back. read more

The food was fine. The sweet and sour soup was nice, maybe a tad too peppery. Mu shoo was nice too, but the pancakes were cold and so stuck together that they were hard to peel off. In fact, everything other than soups was like warm rather than hot. We also got won ton soup which came with very thinly sliced zucchini and was very tasty, but sadly the restaurant did not pack it away with our leftovers. :( read more

I love going here the food is so delicious and I've been eating here for years now! The people who work there are also very pleasant.

Really good hot and sour soup, efficient service - good place to make your go-to Chinese spot - a hidden Berkeley gem.

Food and Service always great! Service above all.......Good Vegatable dishes... anything is good

Stopped in for lunch. We shared the veggie mu Shu and braised tofu and vegetables. I appreciated that the fresh veggies and flavors without being too greasy. I'd come back one day to try some more items. read more

I had the treat of visiting King Yen for the first time with my BFF who has loved the restaurant since childhood. The dish I had was absolutely delicious. So delicious that I've been craving King Yen ever since. I had the Chicken & Green beans and my friend had the chicken with wine sauce. Both were extraordinary and I look forward to visiting again as soon as possible. The service was great and the staff were very welcoming and friendly. read more