The soup dumplings were delicious, thin wrapper and yummy broth. The cucumber salad was also super yummy and a little kick that wasn't tongue numbing, also a good portion. The thai rice noodles was super flavorful (I will be coming back to have this). The sesame chicken had big pieces of chicken instead of the usual small pieces most places do. Everything tasted fresh and I don't think we waited that long for our food. Staff was also friendly and attentive. read more

Take out here can be iffy. I just ordered a few dishes and most were good, especially the string beans and pork fried dumplings. However, the salt and pepper shrimp were awful. They were so overcooked that they were mushy when you removed the shell. C'mon guys, you can do better than that. read more

Paper Lantern is the latest Montclair treasure. From the moment you walk in you realize you're in for a treat. The decor and lighting is perfectly curated for a calming dining experience. The waitstaff is super attentive and friendly. Every dish is better than the last. In the 2 times we've been there, we got the fried wontons with chili oil, soup dumplings, BBQ spareribs, Szechuan beef stir fry, chicken and broccoli, and General Tso's chicken. Each one has its own very distinct flavor profile, with spices and flavors that pack a punch without overdoing it. For such amazing quality, the price points are more than reasonable. And I can't wait to branch out to try more dishes. If you've been wanting to try it, go for it. read more

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We ordered 4 twice-cooked Pork for four people. The proportions were absolutely awful. I did order takeout so it could be that you get less with a takeout order, but the amount of meat we got was equivalent to one dish. It was mostly vegetables which isn't terrible but if the dish is advertised as a meat dish you would think there would be more than 3 strips of pork belly. Extremely oily, but it was flavorful. However, even though the flavor was nice, the proportions, lack of meat, abundance of oil takes away from the flavor. Even after the meal, we are still hungry. I will try it one more time dine-in to see if the proportion sizes are better and will change review then. read more

Best food and ambiance!!!! Highly recommend! Attended a lovely bridal shower and they were so attentive and caring!! Truly amazing experience! read more

The Szechuan style dishes are done very well here and make a great addition to the area. Had the cauliflower, string beans, and cumin lamb and enjoyed them all. Contrary to other negative reviews, pricing for this style of food is quite reasonable. If you're looking to order american-chinese staples here, then I'd probably stay away. read more

Delicious food and nice decor! Good service. Good atmosphere. Highly recommend Everything we ordered was good read more

It recently opened and I think I'll need to return to give a fair rating. It was not busy, but the waitstaff seemed overwhelmed. The food was decent. I enjoyed my two dishe. The husband of wife special is a cold dish of beef, tripe, and tendons in chili oil. That was my favorite. It's like a spicy light meat salad. I ordered wanton soup to pair with it. The soup flavor was a bit strong for me but I enjoyed the wantons. However, I did not enjoy that it came in an asymmetrical soup bowl. It makes it difficult to scoop the wantons or hold the bowl of I wanted to. My husband had the general tso chicken with rice. We didn't care much for it because they were big pieces of chicken. Overall filling and for the price and location, it's worth a second try. read more

Paper Lantern - Chinese Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

Ordered delivery. My mistake. $102 take out order was delivered cold and had an incorrect/not as advertised menu item. Regarding the items orders, I do not recommend the pork buns (yuk), house fried rice---mostly rice, no flavor, no protein (very little pork, chicken or shrimp). I've had more sustenance, flavorful house fried rice from my local take out at less than 1/2 the price. There was nothing special about the other four items I ordered. Stick to your local Chinese takeout, you will regret paying for straying. read more

A major disappointment in regard to service! Was there with a party of 16. Appetizers AND entrees all came out at different times. 3 of us got our entrees after everyone else was done eating theres. Food was okay, but not amazing. Atmosphere was hectic and seemingly chaotic on this Sat night. If a large party cannot be accommodated on a Sat night, they shouldn't take the reservation! read more

I took out several dishes from Paper Lantern the other night, and I'd call my experience slightly uneven. The hot & sour soup was tasty but lacked a lot of the texture and ingredients I'm looking for, such as mushrooms. The scallion pancakes were tasty, and thankfully not as greasy as many I've had. The dried string beans were quite good, spicy but way too salty, and were highly overpriced at $18.95. The spare ribs were tasty, albeit a bit overly saucy. The Singapore noodles clearly stole the show. Quite flavorful and teeming with shrimp and other ingredients. Now, my biggest issue. How can a high end Chinese restaurant not have any "real" containers of hot mustard and duck sauce. Just those fairly tasteless plastic pouches that have been sitting around since the Ming Dynasty. Will I order again? Absolutely! But I'll be sure to have plenty of fresh mustard and duck sauce on hand before I do. read more

Just have a waitress/ waiter take care of a set number of tables. It's like everyone is running around, exhausted and super unsafe in a restaurant by the way yet the customer food arrived late for all the table. You are reinventing the wheel of how restaurant should run and it is not working, not for customer and not for the staff! We ended up cancel two of our dishes because it takes forever to arrive and they literally didn't care. read more

5 stars! Delicious meal, every dish we tried was incredible. Loved the black pepper beef (so flavorful and tender), Singapore noodles and duck (which comes with a savory broth made from the duck bones). This has quickly become our new favorite Chinese restaurant in Montclair. read more

My family and I ate there for the first time tonight. The food was terrific, as was the service. I can especially recommend the green beans, the ma po tofu (I asked for it with pork. There's also a vegetarian version.) and the garlic bok choy. Highly recommended. read more

I was excited to try this tonight, but very disappointed in the order I received through Uber Eats. The spring rolls were crisp, but tasteless...there was a mushy filling with no identifiable ingredients (veggies, etc.). The moo shu chicken was relatively bland and the pancakes it came with were very hard to separate. Also, moo shu as I know it is served with sauce (plum/hoisin) but that was not supplied. Not sure whether I would recommend this place. read more

Take-out portions are shockingly small. Everything felt like it was served in miniature. The prices, on the other hand, were shockingly large. read more

We were excited to try Paper Lantern based on the positive reviews. However, we were not very happy with the experience. One of the items we ordered was not included (a refund was issued), one item was wrong (ordered Chow fun and received Vermicelli), the order was a little late (25 mins past original time on Grub Hub), and the sesame chicken was thigh meat and the sauce tasted a little ketchupy. The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. Unfortunately I don't think we will try this place again. read more

So excited for a legit Szechuan restaurant in the heart of town! We got takeout that included Dan Dan (slightly too spicy), Chongqing chicken (numbingly deliciously), string beans, chow fun, and twice cooked pork. Everything was so flavorful! They also own Taste of North China in JC which I enjoyed when I lived there. Wish I took pic of the food before it got devoured. Hope to return many more times! read more

Absolute disaster experience. I called in a takeout order at 7, was told a half hour, showed up on time and waited another half hour until 8 and the order still wasn't ready. The girl kept saying the whole time oh it's coming, it's almost ready, yours is next out. She didn't care. I asked to speak to the manager, he offered 10% off but there was no sense of urgency. He went to go clear a table instead of checking on what was happening in the kitchen with my order. I left and went to another restaurant. read more

Love this new Montclair spot for fresh, authentic Chinese food, wonderful service and relaxing atmosphere. Everything I ordered, from pork soup dumplings to Dan Dan noodles, was delicious. Looking forward to coming back soon to try the rest of the menu! read more

Paper Lantern - Chinese Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

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We really wanted to like this place. Menu looked different from your average Chinese places. Some great reviews so we gave it a try. We ordered through Uber Eats. All the food tasted fresh but overall was very bland. We got the kong pao chicken. No vegetables all chicken and no flavor. The Dan Dan noodles was like spaghetti in a bland light garlic oil. Not good couldn't even eat it. Steamed pork dumplings. Strange flavor and mostly vegetables no pork. Either way not good we were disappointed. read more

Food was delicious and the service was great! Peking duck is a must try! Other highlights included the spicy chicken and the pan fried pork buns! Will be back read more

Overpriced. A shrimp meal is $27.95. Takeout they charge you extra for chopsticks lol Soup dumplings had an embarrassing lack of meat in them., and friend rice has also little to no meat. Unacceptable. Common, if you charge these prices, give a proper amount of the quality ingredient. read more

The food is consistently good, and the flavors are bold. There are a lot of unique it's to choose from.

The service was great and food portion size is good as well. Manager was nice and even gave my son a nice red lantern for souvenir

Great food, loved everything we got, the duck was excellent. The service was fast and a great value. BYOB is a big plus. read more

Paper Lantern - Chinese Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

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Loved Paper Lantern. Excellent hot and sour soup -- best in NJ, and believe me I have tried a LOT. Potstickers (AKA pork fried dumplings) were very good and plentiful - 8 in an order. Chicken with string beans also excellent. Service was good, not rushed but efficient. Ambience was nice and comfortable. Prices were typical for good Chinese in NJ. We have missed Sesame so much and Paper Lantern will be our new go-to for great Chinese. read more

I see lots of good reviews, maybe mine was an off day. Maybe second week growing pains. I don't know. All I know is, my food took forever to be ready, after I had received notification that it was ready. Knowing it was maybe new joint jitters, I expected the service to be bad. But they were all over the place. I thought, at least the food will be good. It unfortunately was not. The fried rice was so bland. And the spare ribs were just not good. And for what I ordered, it wasn't exactly cheap either. I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon, but I hope they get better. read more

Pick up orders take a very long time to be ready after receiving notification that it is available.

The waitstaff was very friendly and attentive. However, it went down hill from there. The food is mediocre at best; could've been from a local Chinese takeout place and I would not know the difference. Vegetable dumplings to start off with were ok. Strange sour tasting ponzu sauce. Chicken and broccoli entree was nothing special. Tasted like happy Ming down the street. The spicy chicken was unfortunately dark meat and almost inedible with the amount of Birds Eye chilis. No actual flavor. Not worth $21 per entree. Just stick to your local takeout Chinese spot because this is nothing special and not worth the prices. read more

paper lantern is the new hot spot in town. we made a reservation for 8 & we came in early & were sat at 7:45. they have wifi readily available to join if needed as the service is spotty. they have soy sauce & chili oil on the table already & the atmosphere is very busy but warm & the lighting is inviting. we ordered pork dumplings - you get 8!, scallion pancakes, & cold sesame noodles. the portions are huge & great for the price. for entrees we ordered dry sautéed string beans, the vegan mushroom fried rice (amazing that the menu lists out if it's vegan or vegetarian), and kung pao chicken. the service was amazing - always quick to be at the table for what we needed, packed up our food quickly when we were finished, very attentive. also byob! they also have great calming music playing - also a speaker in the bathroom which is a nice touch! i hope they continue to see success as they are a great addition to montclair & we'll definitely be back. read more

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The food and service were great! We had the cumin lamb, Mali tofu and green beans. All were fantastic. A good new find in town.

Paper lantern replaced my daughter's favorite restaurant. Today was our first day back to try it- and she really enjoyed it! We'll be back.

Must have been an " off night"... just ordered from Uber eats because of it he lovely reviews... the buy one get one specials of sesame chicken chicken and broccoli fried rice and an order of salt & pepper chicken w/o any peppers etc for the child... ofcourse it had countless slivers of unwanted peppers , onions etc ... toss that along with the chicken and broccoli that I assumed would be white meat... all of it was large, very large pieces of chewy chicken thigh... ugg.. watery brown sauce.. totally unedible... we really wanted this to be good, but not in the dorection its going tonight. read more

Take out was yummy! Tried for the first time. Definitely a step up from many past experiences. Will return again and again!

Food is fantastic! If you want Chinese food in Montclair make sure to go to Paper Lantern. Staff is attentive and the ambience is very relaxing. Must try! read more

Excellent food. It was fresh and perfect balance of heat. Loved the ambiance and staff was great.

Delicious food; nice atmosphere, caring staff. The staff more than made up for one small problem that came up. Will 100 percent return!

Wow wow wow, this is the best, most authentic Chinese restaurant in town, period full stop. We ordered chili oil fish, beef stripe, tan tan noodles, pork ribs, pea shoots, and fried rice. All of them were so delicious, flavorful, and well portioned. The spicy dishes had some real heat and the chilly oil fish had the authentic numbing Sichuan taste. Even the "simple" noodle and fried rice dishes were the best I've had in the area. Finally, Montclair has real authentic Chinese food! (not just the Chinese American style - which you can get at Paper Lantern too). Can't wait to try all the other dishes! read more

So happy to have amazing Szechuan style Chinese food in town. All the food was incredibly flavorful. It was like having a party in my mouth. Favorite dish was the chonqing spicy chicken (fried chicken with peppers). Always get dan dan noodles. Will be going back for sure. read more