Even though the Yelp reviews here were mixed, we decided to give this place a try. We were here around 4:30 on a Saturday. At that time, there was only one other couple dining in. The woman who was working the front of the house was very nice. She told us to pick a table and take a seat. Once we had done so, she brought us menus. The place could use some refurbishing as the tables were old and sticky. After looking over the menu, we both ordered hot and sour soup. For my entree, I chose ma po tofu while my husband chose a dish that had scallops and shrimp. To drink, I got a ginger ale. It came in a can, and it was Lidl's house brand. My husband had a beer. As the evening progressed, we noticed that they do a good takeout business. Eventually, a young man came into work, which was no doubt a good thing as the nice lady was getting very busy. As for the food, the hot and sour soup was okay. Not as much stock in it as we would have preferred. The ma po tofu was spicy, but not to the point where the spice overpowered the other flavors. It did contain a spice that we didn't recognize. My husband noticed that same spice in his entree. Please keep in mind that rice incurs an additional cost. We both chose to have brown rice. Their menu has a page that lists Thai and Malaysian dishes. Our feeling is that if we wanted one of those cuisines, we would go to a restaurant that specialized in those foods. Overall, it was an "OK" experience. We appreciated the friendly service. read more

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This used to be one of the best places to get Mapo Tofu, but unfortunately it's gone down. Although the food was hot in temperature, it felt watered down, and it came out so quickly after our order, it makes me believe that it was either readymade or thrown together (with the ingredients not marinated). Also, the hot and sour soup was below average, too. That plus the prices have all around increased; they even charged me .50 cents for hot sauce (dining in)! With the prices up and the quality down, I'd try other places instead. Disappointing. read more

Not sure where I even start with how bad this restaurant is - would give negative stars if that was possible. First off, the girl who took our order mistook twice cooked pork for kung pao chicken...they don't even sound alike! She never confirmed our order. Also, they CHARGE for rice here - unheard of for an American Chinese takeout. Again, didn't inform us or I would have said forget it. The prices are outrageous. $5.45 for hot sour soup? Not to mention the soup had two sad slivers of tofu and was basically vinegar/soy sauce water. The crunchy noodles smelled weeks old. The mu shu chicken came with 4 sad mini tortillas. Any other restaurant gives you 4 regular size pancakes that should go with mu shu. It was pitiful. Last but not least, based on the endless amount of water we're drinking, there was a ton of MSG. Do go somewhere else. read more

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If you're looking for real Sichuan food, not American "Chinese" food, Lakeside Asia Café is the spot. Everything we ordered was amazing. The boiled fish was perfect. Soft fish, full of flavor, floating in spicy chili oil and numbing Sichuan peppercorns. This is the real deal. The spicy chicken was crispy, fiery, and addictive. Not too greasy, just full of heat and taste. We kept going back for more. The pork intestines hot pot was super tasty. Clean, chewy, full of deep flavor. The broth was spicy and rich. The pig brain hot pot sounds wild, but it was so soft and smooth. Like custard, but savory and full of umami. Try it. Trust me. The pork belly? Melt-in-your-mouth, flavorful, just the right amount of fat. Every bite was heaven. This is not the place for orange chicken or sweet-and-sour pork. Don't walk in here expecting Panda Express. You'll embarrass yourself. This is real Chengdu food. It's bold. It's spicy. It's alive. We loved every bite. We'll be back again and again. read more

Great food and great value! The service was very prompt and I felt like I was a guest in someone's home. The dumplings came out piping hot. The filling was very flavorful, the dough was delicate and perfectly fried, and the sauce gave had just the right balance. The pork dish has a beautiful brightness. There was an acidic punch and plenty of ginger flowing through the rich sauce and the earthiness from the mushrooms really helped ground the dish. The Kung Pao (not pictured) was also nice. I could have used a tad more heat, but overall a really nice plate of food. So glad to discover this little gem in our neighborhood and will definitely be back. VERY SOON! read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Fried Dumplings - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

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Food: the food was really tasty and tasted fairly authentic. Definitely would come back and try new dishes. Everything is very pricey though Service: the food came out very quickly, granted we were the only guests there at the time Ambiance: nothing too special about the ambience, like any other regular restaurant read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Sliced Beef and Tripe in Chili Sauce - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

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I was disappointed by the service. Went in to order carryout. Explained I was a first-timer and craved noodles. The woman behind the desk suggested lo mein, and when I inquired about the other lesser known noodle dishes, she dismissed my curiosity completely; insisted I'd like the lo mein. I really disliked how she was unwilling to say a word more about any of the other 5+ traditional noodle dishes on the menu. Learned lunch portions are n/a on weekend and got the pricier dinner order of combo lo mein to go. Despite costing more, it seemed like a lunch portion to me. Not the best lo mein I've had, but certainly not the worst. Solid B rating. In their favor is the fact that the noodles were thicker and tasted like they were made in house - super rare for Chinese takeout in the US. Because the noodles are fresh, I'll consider giving them a second chance and trying a different dish. Hopefully the staff will be more welcoming during my next encounter. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Combination lo mein (carryout, dinner portion) - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

IF YOU DO NOT READ CHINESE, BE AWARE!! They will trick you with dishes that has same Chinese name but priced differently. You think you're getting one thing but if you say it in English, you won't get the same stuff. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - They call this "twice cook pork". Lmao. - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

Shrimp and asparagus for lunch today. Attentive servers. Wonderful dish. Quiet and charming in Southlake Shopping. read more

Came here for Father's Day and was extremely disappointed. There were only two workers in the entire restaurant and about twenty customers, who were clearly overworked. As a result, we were not greeted at the door, nor were any of the customers who came in after us. In addition, there were tables that weren't clean and everything was slow. That's on you management for putting your employees in a terrible position. The food wasn't much better. The portions were small, and the prices were high. The tortillas we got were clearly store bought ones that you get at Safeway or another random grocery store. Disappointed and will not be back. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - $22 for this. Come on man. - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

Terrible and not worth the $60 dollars I spent. This restaurant was much better years ago. My son, who will eat almost everything, said it was terrible. Poor flavor and extra charge for rice. Never going back. read more

This used to be a good restaurant, but has gone down since last year. Food is too salty. Portion is too small. Price is too high.

The food here is great and it's authentic. I go with my parents frequently and they also really enjoy the food. The place is sichuan style though, so most of the stuff is spicy but the spicy dishes are usually their better ones. I really enjoy the mapo tofu, it's basically what I get every time we go. The tofu is soft and the sauce is great. I also enjoy the kung pao chicken, the sauce is also really well done and it's flavorful. My brother really likes the beef noodle soup but it's a little more spicy than the previous two dishes I talked about. We went on a Sunday evening and the restaurant was pretty empty. Service wasn't slow and the food came out relatively quickly but not with everything at once. So the chef was making them one by one. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Mapo tofu - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

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The food here isn't bad. Maybe a little watered down, but the food here is ridiculously overpriced not to mention they charge for rice. Better options elsewhere. Won't be back. read more

Our go to place! The owner is from Sichuan. She and the chef make authentic Chinese Sichuan food. I now go there often for below reasons: 1) the price is very good- after inflations for two years, they didn't increase their prices much; 2) food is delicious- they make authentic Sichuan food such as fired beef & pepper, 水煮肉片 spicy pork and intestines, 口水鸡spicy chicken, 酸菜鱼boiled fish and etc.; 3) the service is great too! They make sure guests are taken care of well. read more

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Not worth the cost. The chicken with cashews was entirely too salty tasting. in addition, the dark brown color, which I have never seen in this dish, made it unappealing. The left overs went into the trash. The other dish we ordered was chicken with broccoli, and it was ok. read more

This was highly recommended by a friend of mine, who cooks well himself and from the Sichuan region. Praised to be the "top-notch" authentic Sichuanese cuisine. First impression wasn't too good, food quality OK, far from top-notch, but slow to bring up the food despite it wasn't a busy night, food portion was small considering the price tag. 2nd visit confirmed my general feeling and it went from OK to straight bad, nothing came out authentic and yet it bears a premium price. Two main courses plus an appetizer, cost me $70 plus for two. Ordered charcoal grilled pig feet, which was nothing like what it was supposed to be. Came out just like a normal braised pig feet with some sweet sauce on top. I had to ask and they confirmed that was their "charcoal grilled). The appetizer's red chili sauce was all charred up and tasted bitter. The other main course's portion was too pathetic that they basically put a few pieces of the meat on top of a pyramid of cabbage... Never again, and I feel bad for Reston folks who want authentic Chinese cuisine. read more

This is a weekly Restuarant for our family. It serves authentic Chinese food. Our favorite dishes are Chong Qing spicy chicken and spicy fish. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - ChongQing spicy chicken - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

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Average food, above average price, and a terrible old women as the waitress/manager. She is so rude and annoying. Once I was just picking up food there and she spoke with me like giving me orders - 'Stand here!'/'Sign!'. Another time I was dining in and she just strikes up meaningless questions while we're eating. And she is also ridiculously slow on everything. Can't you just hire a normal person to serve people?! read more

One of the worst Chinese restaurants in this area, especially for those wanting authentic Chinese food. Not only the food tastes bad, the owner has a very attitude. The prices on their website are NOT the price on the bill, it's 40% higher! read more

Less portion than before Good not as good as it was before the covid Price went up same as other places read more

This was my first time in Reston and I was at the Custom Ink store next door working as usual. I was pretty hungry by the end of the day as I had skipped my lunch. What I do when I am hungry? Yes, I look for restaurants near by on Yelp. This one was literally 0 miles away. My manager and I walk in around 4:30 pm which is an usual time for a meal. So I wasn't surprised that we were the only ones at the restaurant. Host gave us the menu. Menu is just spectacular! With pictures of food on all the pages, nice descriptions and lots of pages to read. So after a long and thorough discussion we decided to order Cinnamon beef stir fry and pork red curry. Both the dishes came with rice. I am not 100% sure that cinnamon beef stir fry was authentic Chinese. Well, our order arrived within 10 minutes of us ordering the food. We started off with some cinnamon beef. It looked very oily but after speaking with our host about it we found out that it was just the water from the steamed veggies that made it look more oily than the usual. Nevertheless, it tasted so delicious! I love the cinnamon taste on anything let alone the beef. It's definitely one of those appetizers you must try. Next came our pork red curry. When we ordered we thought this would be red hot spicy but with a little disappointment we found out it's more like pinkish than red and it was kinda sweet. This is only reason I gave them 4 stars. Otherwise, loved the taste, pork and beef both were very tender and easy on your palate. This was the first time ever I completed the whole meal at a Chinese restaurant. Almost all of my previous times I have had at least some leftovers but this time may I was either too hungry or the food was extremely delicious. I am sure it was the latter. Plenty of parking at this location as this area resembles a strip mall. It's a little pricier than the usual Chinese restaurant. Service is great! read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Pork red curry - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

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verdict: Serving authentic Chinese food if you know what to order. Will def be back for more food: 5/5 - Chili chicken (aka "saliva" chicken): 5/5 - Shredded potatoes: 5/5 service: 4/5 - Generally good. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

My son wanted Chinese for his birthday so we went to Lakeside Asia Cafe. This is easily the best Chinese restaurant in the Reston/Herndon area. The menu and food is authentic and on point and the older woman who runs the place is a very nice lady. We ordered the sticky rice and chicken for our appetizer. This comes steamed and wrapped in leaves. It was delicious. For our entree we got the rice cake with shredded pork stir fried with pickled mustard greens and we also got the pork stew. Both were great and the pork stew was the star. It was stewed pork belly in a savory and just a hint of sweet red sauce. So good with the rice and rice cakes. Overall A for dinner. read more

Dishes became smaller in quantity yet price increased almost twice as much. We stopped going there for a while now. After ordering and found out what used to be $40 is now $80. We tried to talk to the manager only to receive a very aggressive and demanding attitude, and she wanted us to understand it was somehow ok and we shouldn't complain because of covid. She doesn't get it that covid impacts everyone not just your business. But hey, I'm just here to review what happened to me. Whatever she does is her business. I just don't recommend anyone going there. read more

VERY delicious!!! Better than some expensive fancy chinese restaurants. I think most Americans would like LaZiJi (Spicy friend chicken with peanuts). I love LaYü (Spicy fish with bean noodles). That and some Sapporo beer and some tea, and it's a very comfortable and delicious meal. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - LaYü. It's spicy fish with bean sprouts and bean noodles and other vegetables - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

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The food tastes ok, but the service and attitude are really bad. They always wanted to push you to order more. When I told them I would try others next time, both the female waiter and the female manager or boss turned very unhappy and mean, it is really hard to understand their mentality. If you like loose leaf tea, do not order the tea pot from this restaurant as their tea pot uses the teabag with bad tastes and not-free. read more

Been here a few times, food was great and authentic. Service was fast by the old lady. I believed that she was the manager. She was fast and provided us a good service. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

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Food is decent but way too expensive for the portion and ambient. Everything is 20 dollars, even the appetizers are 15. I get that most restaurants are increasing price post covid but none of the other sichuan place we've been to recently are this expensive. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Tofu and fish - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

Update: I came in September2018 for lunch and noticed that: Me and my friends have ordered one lunch special on eggplant dish, and it came in with very good portion and it tasted good. Later on, a waitress came out to our table and very unhappy to tell us that why we haven't noticed that we were eating a dinner size instead of a lunch size...(how we would know that as this was the first time we order it), well, she took away the food we already had eaten and instead, provided us a much smaller size of eggplant. We were feeling that the leftover eggplant might be served to next table whoever ordered it. otherwise you cannot explain what they are gonna do for taking away of it.We were felt bad for next customer. Lunch portion is always smaller, I definitely understand it, but the general rule is if restaurant served with the wrong food and they would not take it back, it made me think they probably will serve it to next table... One more trick here I found after ordering a few times from here: If you order take out food, the quality is different. Believe me, I tried multiple times. read more

Really good! My family and I have gotten food here since 2014. I recently ordered takeout orange chicken and sichuan cold noodles with my boyfriend - both yummy! We'll be ordering these both again in the near future. I've also eaten other chicken dishes here before, all have tasted great. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Eaten sichuan cold noodles. Good spice, has chicken. - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

Ordered the Orange Beef; for lunch $12, I felt like this is something I could have gotten for $7 The beef was tough and chewy, not remotely crispy and not the slightest hint of orange.l; I feel like they gave me the wrong item. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - "Orange Beef?" - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

Verdict: I would give them zero star if I could. Absolutely dishonest business and food gave us poisoning. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM. My family was trying to order Chinese food for a Saturday birthday dinner (7/25/2020). We found Lakeside on Uber eats and was about to order there. Then my boyfriend's dad found a menu from them and suggested we call to order instead, because you get a free General Tso' chicken on an order over $50. We called in and they wouldn't honor the offer. So I said well why don't we order on Uber eats, because there's a $10 off promotion for pick up orders. Lakeside told us they wouldn't deliver anyways even though we only live 5 min away. They over heard us over the phone and begged us not to order over Uber eats because their business has not been good due to COVID and Uber eats charged them a fee, which is totally understandable. I said if you'd honor the free General Tso's chicken we'd order directly since the value of that is probably comparable to the $10 off from Uber eats and we'd support local business. They agreed to it and my boyfriend's father drove to the restaurant. This is where things started to go wrong. He came back with the order. When we looked at the receipts, it costs $98 before tips, whereas the same dishes would have cost $70 before fees in Uber eats and $77 after taxes and fees since I have the Eats pass. Basically they increased the price of each dish by $2-3 compared to the listed price on Uber eats, just because they were going to give us a free General Tso's chicken, which by the way, was half size of the regular size. We thought we were supporting local businesses directly, but feel cheated by the dishonest practice of the restaurant. At least charge the same price as listed on Uber eats. Essentially we could have spent $67 with promotions + tip if we ordered on Uber eats. Instead, we picked up the order from the restaurant for $98 before tip. They were even angry at my boyfriend's dad when he refused to pay tip on $98. And the worst part is, the Fish Fillet with Sichuan-Style Pickled Pepper gave us food poising for the next 2 days. All of us who ate this dish had diarrhea for 2 days straight. The only person who didn't eat this dish was fine. After being overcharged and getting diarrhea, I'm done with this place for good and suggest you do the same. read more

Lakeside Asia Cafe - Uber eats price - Chinese Near Me - Reston, Virginia

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We came recently with a group of 5 and ordered the spicy deep fried intestine, spicy fish in hot chili oil, braised pork trotter, yuxiang eggplant, and snow pea shoots. Overall, the food was above average as far as traditional Chinese food goes, but nothing to get overly excited about. It's a solid option if you live nearby. read more

This restaurant was certainly outside of my radar until a gourmand friend of mine told me about it yesterday. Thank you Keiko-san! So I went here today for lunch to check out some of their Sichuan dishes. First of all, the interior looked quite nice. Clean, woody and Chinese-y. The Chinese man who explained us the menu was very friendly. We liked him a lot. We ordered the following: * Ma Po Tofu with beef * Steamed Pork Belly with Pickled Mustard Green * Shredded Beef with Green Pepper & Dried Tofu Ma Po Tofu was very mild and both Ma and La were weak to my standards. But the tofu was soft tofu and very very soft. It reminded me of the Korean tofu soup. The pork belly however was quite good. It literally melted in my mouth. It tasted so good with rice. The beef was okay. Nothing special. The rice - same as what most Chinese restaurants serve (except for Sichuan Village & China Star) Overall, it didn't exceed my expectations but I will still come back to try other dishes. read more

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We really wanted to like this place, but it fell short in so many ways. The food was bland and the service was chaotic. We had 3 people take our order and there was an obvious breakdown in communication amongst the staff. We had to remind them several times about our drinks. They forgot our soups (eventually arrived at the end of our meal) and our food came out without our ordered rice ( I was surprised they charged extra for that). The staff are nice, but the food wasn't good, and they don't function well as a team. read more

Knocked down a star for service this time out. Two ladies out front just isn't enough staff at 630 as tables started to fill. Food quite tasty. Ask about items on the single page menu. read more

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We have lived in Reston for many years. On a whim, we returned to the Lakeside Asia Cafe because we wanted "Crispy Beef". Not only did they still have it, but, we were presented with a TRUE Chinese menu, just like being back in China (i.e., with lots of colored photos of the main dishes and verbiage in English and Chinese characters). We were seated immediately; drinks ordered and delivered quickly. Food order taken and food served Chinese style (i.e., as it is ready from the kitchen). Reasonable prices and excellent. In Summary: Great to know Reston has a true Chinese restaurant with a Chinese menu (i.e., the Americanized Chinese dishes are in the back for the faint of heart) read more

This is a pretty good spot in a kinda random part of Reston. The place itself is unassuming, kinda typical of a small family owned Asian restaurant. Their menu is quite extensive, they have Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, Polynesian options lol. But personally wouldn't order your typical Chinese takeout from here if that's what you're looking for because there are much better options here! Anywaysss I haven't tried everything, but I'd definitely recommend sticking to their "Signature Dishes" menu. Among my faves are the stir fried cumin beef, the House Special Garlic Ribs, the Chongqing Spicy Chicken, or the Stewed Sliced Fish in Wine Sauce. The flavors are much more traditional based on what I'm familiar with. So if that's what you're looking for, I'd def give this place a try. read more

I can't say enough good things about this place but I'll just put this here: the CHONGPING CHICKEN. Just order it. You won't regret it. Amazing. I am ordering from here twice weekly I can't stay away. Most lovely staff, the kindest hostest/ manager. Always consistent, super authentic. They gave the chongping to us by mistake with one of our first orders and it was the BEST MISTAKE THEY EVER MADE! We've never looked back. Please go support this amazing, Sichuan business! read more