China House and Ming Feng are both in Monroe Township, in shopping plazas right next to each other. They are both right by my parents' house, so I always end up going to both at least once when visiting home. I think China House is better overall. Since the two are so close to each other and offer an almost-identical menu, I thought I'd compare and contrast them in this one review.
There are three things you need to know about how I judge a Chinese-American style Chinese restaurant. One, I have a very different set of standards and tastes when it comes to Chinese-American versus authentic Chinese food (and it breaks down further into regional type of cuisine from there). Second, when at a Chinese-American style Chinese restaurant, I always get the same two things first as my litmus test: fried pork dumplings and beef with broccoli. The third thing you need to know is that I will be comparing it to the Chinese-American takeout of my childhood, First Wok in New City, NY.
But not First Wok as it is today. I will be comparing it to the flavor of First Wok food back in the day. Like China House, First Wok is a family-run business. They have been around for decades, and I guess as people have retired/died, the chef-ing reins have been passed down, which probably accounts for the taste of the place slowly changing over the years. First Wok is still my favorite and I will drive the 90 minutes to get my take-out on, but its heyday is the no-longer-attainable ideal to which all Chinese take-out will be unfairly compared.
Oh, I guess you need to know one more thing. Chinese take-out in L.A. tastes totally different to me, so I am constantly on the search for real New York-style Chinese-American food, which to me are typified by thick dumpling skins and smooth-textured pieces of meat, be it pork, beef, chicken, etc., and oily, not-sweet sauce (LA puts far too much sugar in nearly everything as far as I'm concerned). So far, my search for thick-skinned dumplings has not been as fruitful as my search for real New York-style pizza or bagels.
...No, I have not met a carb I did not like, why do you ask? ;)
No pan-fried dumpling in L.A. or its environs compares to the thick-skinned dumpling of my youth, although a few have come close (and all but one, J & J on Valley Blvd in Alhambra, have subsequently closed as of this posting). And so the search continues, but meanwhile when on the east coast I enjoy a glut of thick dumplings to taste and scrutinize, jeweler's loupe poised at the ready.
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With the backstory in place, on with my review:
China House's beef with broccoli's flavor and the smooth texture of the meat is closer to First Wok than even First Wok is anymore. Their fried dumplings' insides are juicy and delicious, but blander than First Wok or Ming Feng, but their NY-style skins, which are my raison d'etre, are thicker and closer to the First Wok of my childhood than First Wok currently does them.
Ming Feng's beef with broccoli is too sweet, and the texture of the meat is not as smooth as China House or First Wok. The fried dumplings' insides are more flavorful and delicious than China House and closer to First Wok, but their skins are too thin and not chewy enough (but still knock the socks off any West Coast dumpling skin).
China House is predominantly take-out. Although there are a couple small tables, be forewarned that children, who are mostly well-behaved, nevertheless often take up those tables themselves and can sometimes be loud or underfoot. Ming Feng is the better choice if you want to sit down and have your meal, but for me the food at China House wins out.
China House's proprietor is nice enough, though he may come across as gruff in his efficiency. I suspect he's one of those prickly-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside kind of men. When we were both coming into the store at the same time, he ran to open and hold the door for me. Ming Feng's proprietor speaks slightly better (or maybe just more) English and is way friendlier to my parents, who speak fluent Chinese, than to me, an ABC with a less-than-ideal grasp of the language.
Finally, China House is way cheaper than Ming Feng, which, as Ming Feng is a full-service sit-down restaurant in addition to doing take-out, is unsurprising. read more
