So look, there are Chinese restaurants in this country and there are American Chinese restaurants. The cuisines are not the same. Really, what most Americans think of as "Chinese food" is American Chinese food and let's just agree that Chinese American food is DELICIOUS. Sing Hee Restaurant in North Haven, CT is solidly Chinese American. They are also a strictly take out spot and they crank out the food here. The menu is EXTENSIVE. Anything you're thinking you might want in the American Chinese cuisine they probably have at Sing Hee. Plenty of options for the meat eaters and the non eaters. All the choices are here. For Vegan you would have to ask since you know, sauces are the backbone of American Chinese food. You need delicious sauces and fresh ingredients. Sing Hee has both those things.
On the menu there the choice of pint or quart sized portions. Being me I thought a pint was just way to small a portion and I ordered quarts of everything for me and my parents. DON'T LISTEN TO ME. I mean unless you want to have plenty of leftovers. Because we did have plenty of leftovers, which I did eat, cold, directly out of the fridge the next day and I'm here to say that Sing Hee's food was just as delicious the next day and cold.
Here's what I did: I was driving down from Vermont to my parents in Branford. I pulled off 91 to look at Sing Hee's menu and call in my order: Shrimp Egg Rolls, Pork Egg Rolls, Shrimp Fried Rice, Shrimp with Chinese Vegetables, Vegetable Lo Mein. Pro Tip: when you order over $35 worth of food you get to add an item (there's a list to choose from). I added a pint of Pork Fried Rice for Dad, since I don't eat pork, but he is a SUPER FAN of Pork Fried Rice.
Let's review: 3 people and I ordered quarts of Vegetable Lo Mein, Shrimp Fried Rice, Shrimp with Chinese Vegetables, plus 2 shrimp egg rolls, 2 pork egg rolls and the pint of Pork Fried Rice. A stupid quantity of food. For a seriously, reasonable price.
Honestly, I hadn't had a shrimp egg roll in years. Legit years. Because I live in Vermont and, somehow, for some bizarre reason, Vermont is an American Chinese Food desert. Well....we do have it, but it's mainly not good. I have to drive an hour for good American Chinese and I have! The Shrimp Egg Rolls from Sing Hee were basically, screaming hot when I picked them up and I ate them both on the drive to my parents' house. They were everything a Shrimp Egg Roll should be: crispy on the outside, hot and flavorful with fully cooked, shredded filling. Would consider picking up some Shrimp Egg Rolls every time I'm driving past on 91...
When I got to Sing Hee (I was using Google Maps and I had looked at pics online) I 100% would have driven right past the entrance if I didn't see the little signs for Sing Hee in the ground beside the entrance. Tricky thing is Sing Hee is located behind a deserted/empty/abandoned CVS or Walgreens or something like that. I got it in my head that Sing Hee was INSIDE that shell of a Walgreens and that maybe I was supposed to pull up to the former Pharmacy drive up to get my food...??? HAHAHAHAHAHA
Which, frankly, would be an AMAZING approach to Chinese take out!
No, Sing Hee is not inside an abandoned CVS. It's behind the abandoned CVS. No drive thru. You park and go in. Once you're in there you can see the entire kitchen, everything, nothing is hidden. Let's all get on the same page about the fact that this is a level of transparency that is not "usual" in the restaurant business. Come on, you know that the vast majority of restaurants hide their kitchens out back behind multiple doors. And you just have to rely on faith when you eat there. Not at Sing Hee, they are preparing everyone's food right where everyone can see it. I love that.
The place runs like a well oiled machine. They know what they're doing. It is SMOOTH. I had to wait a few minutes for my order to be ready. Then I put it in my trunk, drove to Branford, carried my stuff in, carried the food in, arranged it on the counter and that food was still so hot we needed to let it cool a few minutes before we could eat it. Everything was really good. Shrimp with Chinese Vegetables had a crazy number of shrimp. Lo Mein was particularly delicious. The next day I mixed the Lo Mein right in the Shrimp and Vegetable sauce. Cold. Delicious.
Will be back.