It seems no matter where I've lived, there has never been a shortage of Chinese restaurants to choose from. Hamilton is no different, but I've chosen to review this one, which I've been to several times now.
Every time I go here, my family and I are one of very few customers in the restaurant. I might usually find that suspect, but we've been happy with our food every time. My husband is somewhat of a local legend at this restaurant, having been told that he is the only person who ever orders "Chinese hot" food and then eats it all. So, this place should be on your radar if you actually want really spicy food (not "New Zealand" spicy, but actually properly spicy). The chef actually came out to talk to my husband to confirm, and then to joyfully celebrate his eating of really spicy food. He was also cool enough to write down (in Chinese characters) some of the spice seasoning information for what he uses so that we could get it from the Asian market. My husband has been happily having very spicy food at home now, too.
The decor is nice and the atmosphere is comfortable. We bring our kids here and have no trouble with it. The menus have recently changed and they do have a $10 lunch menu that has about 8 dishes on it to choose from. I had the Ma Po Tofu (which is tofu and mixed vegetables, though it's described as tofu and beans). My husband had the black pepper beef (really, really spicy). I ordered mine medium and I felt like it was properly spiced at that level.
Yesterday, they also brought us out a cold noodle salad with spicy cucumber on top, on the house. Not only was it a nice gesture, it was awesome.
For me, the menu options are a bit limited, but like I said, we've always been happy with all of our meals and they seem to be willing to actually kick up the spice, for real, if you're into that sort of thing :) read more