Really solid Cantonese style food. Had the crispy squid - super tender squid and perfectly seasoned. Seafood clay pot - crazy monster portion - seafood cooked to perfection, umami ginger garlicky gravy and perfect tofu. It's so nice to be given a big pot of fresh Jasmine tea - with EVERYTHING costing something these days, I appreciate that some places still understand hospitality, and a pot of fresh tea is still a standard. Service - friendly! The staff were super sweet and food came out in 10 minutes or so after ordering. Tables were clean, floors were swept, definitely a Cantonese comfort food staple. read more

Excellent...Authentic... Accommodating... and outstanding food. Family style and super friendly staff. My go-to place in PDX for Cantonese food. read more

Yan Zi Lou - So good. Couldn't finish Sechuan beef noodle soup. Get Some!!! - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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We had our Christmas Dinner here. Super fresh ingredients. They did a specialist lobster dish for us as well. It was the best meal! Highly recommended for any dinner. read more

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We went again and tried some new things! 1. We got complimentary soup (every table did) but we didn't get it last time so I'm not sure it's a new thing. In the past and in Asia, many times soups are complimentary. It was good! 2. We got a half roasted duck. It was very lean and it had a lot of meat. I wish it had a bit more fat but it really reduced the oiliness and fatness. 3. We also tried their salt and pepper pork. It was super tender, flavorful, and not too salty. There was a good amount of meat, great portions! 4. We encored the tofu and fish claypot. Hearty portions and it was delicious! read more

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Man the broccoli and beef was good put the chow main was dry the customer service was bad the lady's were being very rude never asked us if we wanted water or anything ignored us when we tried to ask for something other from that these 2 plates and spring roles were 45 they were being very racist to us because we're Mexican. Only the two Mexicans in a restaurant the rest were like Chinese people and white people in their are treating them really good except for us. I did not feel comfortable eating here or felt like they wanted us to be there at all because they just brushed us off. Very poor service read more

Yan Zi Lou - Broccoli chicken Chow - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

What makes a good Chinese restaurant- Round tables. Most tables in this restaurant are round, this allows those seated at the same table to share food family style. I don't understand why so many Americans are so against sharing food, or that matter trying different foods. Round tables allow just that especially since there table all have lazy susans incorporated in the middle. I have been to this restaurant twice now. Did not write the address down the first time I went and was distracted as I arrived late in the evening and was rather tired. The first time I dined, I had Singapore noodles and they nicely spiced and had a great variety of meats and seafood. The second time I dines I had a simpler dish: Curry chicken. Curry chicken is not always offered at Chinese restaurants since they are tailored to American tastes. As Americans are eating hotter foods this dish should become more popular. I have had curry chicken since the 80s and I loved it then and love it now. Its hard to find good curry however, they do it right, though I would like to see more chinese vegetable than green peppers and onions do most of the population of this dish. The servers are very happy and the service is good. I will be back soon! read more

Yan Zi Lou - Curry Chicken - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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This is a solid place to get some authentic Cantonese style food. We ordered a good amount of food to share among the table. Some of the standout dishes to me were the beef chow fun as it had a good charred/smoked flavor on the noodles, the pork rib sizzling pot had really good flavors, roast pork, and the sizzling beef. The veggie dishes were a good balance to the meat dishes (it was sad that they ran out of the seasonal veggies). My friends enjoyed the fish and the egg flower soup. The only dish that was mediocre to them was the calamari. read more

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Outstanding food! Fantastic service! We loved the home feel and were surprise at such a fair price for the serving sizes

First thing it DO NOT get the egg rolls. They are horrible and pre made. It always amazing me that places like this make everything from in house including roasting the duck and pork but take shortcuts on egg rolls. What a shame. Well that being said this place is the real deal. Everything in the main dish category we ordered was fabulous, we probably should have ordered one less dish. Clay pot was very hot, those things keep temp and very filing and the noodles dishes were also just what we wanted. We got there at end of lunch and while eating it must have been staff meal time, just watching what they got to eat for lunch make me want to come back and try those other dishes. As others probably have mentioned its a small parking lot and also easy to miss. read more

Yan Zi Lou - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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Finally found the Best Chinese (Cantonese) food here in Portland! YES! had and absolutely recommend their (1) Beef Chow Fun - full of smoky wok flavor.. should have been listed as Chef Special.. full of scallions; (2) Honey Walnut Prawns - perfectly executed.. big, quality, crispy prawns over perfect honey mayo glaze with walnuts; (3) Salted Fish dish.. freaking good and delicious..; (4) Garlic Spare Ribs - full bulbs of garlic.. tasty and tender as hell clean restrooms quite a bit of seating they have great, personable service read more

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Small restaurant - Food very good ! Everything we orders was good ! Parking a little challenging ! read more

Yan Zi Lou - Calamari was tasty and hot coming out ! - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Hey Guys! I'm from Los Angeles and my family is from Hong Kong. I grew up with canton food all my life and this place is Legit! It is so so good and the duck and pork belly is amazing. Plus their dumpling (Wor Tip) is amazing! There is nothing wrong with the customer service it is just a culture shock we need to understand. Not any of the staff speaks English so it's can be hard for them to deliver the same customer service we are use to in the states. Plus they speak an old dialect of Chinese that's super loud but it's the way it's culturally spoken . They are not rude at all more shy to speak English cuz they don't know how to. Please give them a chance cuz I did and it was awesome! Love this place! read more

Friendly service with delicious food. My favorite was the duck and seafood soup. I can't wait to go back.

I had an incredible no-holds-barred feast at Yan Zi Lou today and am excited to post a 5 star review. That said, you do need to know what you are doing (as with all Asian cuisines) and order the right thing as even the best restaurants can't turn a cream cheese ragoon into something a lot more promising then it is. Yan Zi Lou's secret is that they will cook any seafood you bring to them to order. It's not cheap but great food isn't cheap. Today I wanted seafood I can't enjoy (because I live in Colorado, a land-locked state where fresh seafood is challenging to obtain) and that meant a trip first to ABC Seafood Company (on Powell Blvd) where they have incredibly fresh (live) seafood. I picked out a salt water fish (they taste way better than fresh water fish) and a dozen razor clams and headed over to Yan Zi Lou. It helps to speak Cantonese at a Cantonese restaurant but I stuffed my face. The razor clams were prepared (at my request) stir-fried with an XO sauce; the fish was steamed. There is a service charge to bring your own seafood but that's expected (the restaurant still has to clean, prepare, cook and pay its staff). Also enjoyed very properly roasted (Chinese style) pork, pork shoulder meat (also roasted), seasonal vegetable (Chinese cauliflower). It was more than we (5 people) could eat and we had plenty to take home to enjoy later. If you want amazing seafood (remember, that has a price tag to it) bring something live here and enjoy it. I always recommend fish steamed and crabs sampan style. I like clams wok'd (stir-fried) with XO sauce. I didn't have to eat the rest of the day. Totally enjoyed the experience. read more

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They charged me a lot.. and they always scream at me when I asked some questions about Chinese food.. that's why for customer service is not good because they thread bad! Sorry! You need to be nice with anyone! read more

Dare I say the best roast duck in PDX?... shhh don't tell anyone else. LOL I ate here a few times before the pandemic and it was good. It's right next to Fubon and it was dirt cheap back then. Unfortunately the pandemic and inflation have increased their prices although still reasonable. I ordered through Yelp - Grubhub and when I went to pick up they said they wouldn't honor the order because their prices had increased. After some discussion in Cantonese which I am not great at, they fulfilled the order. While I was waiting for my order, I was admiring their roast ducks and watching person after person walking in and buying them. Alright, gave them $26 and watch them cut up my duck. Dang, the most tender juicy duck I have had in a long time. Meaty too not all shriveled and dry like may ducks. They have roast pork too but that's it, no char siu or other BBQ stuff. The roast pork looked like pork belly only. It's take out only which is too bad. The rate at which they were selling, the ducks would probably sell out by 1 PM so get there early. TIP: Their online ordering process has a fraction of their total menu. If you want to order something not on their online menu and you don't speak Cantonese, walk in and point to the dishes on the menu you want. If you are just ordering a duck, use the online ordering to reserve a duck. read more

Very happy to have found this little restaurant. Roast duck combination plate (with rice and bok choy) was a generous portion and each item we fresh and well-prepared. Servers were friendly and helpful. Standout items were the salt and pepper squid and gained lan with garlic sauce. So good. They have barbeque items (duck, ribs) that looked good, also saw steamed whole fish and a lobster dish on other tables. We'll try some next time. Took plenty home in to-go boxes which the server kindly helped fill. They were busy helping customers for take out, even though we were there at an odd late afternoon time. Don't overlook Yan Zi Lou. read more

This is a restaurant my family goes to at least once a week. It's an average Chinese restaurant. They are very accommodating but the food is hit or miss. I feel like 9/10 times, their vegetable dishes are always too soggy for me. If you like your veggies tender, this is definitely the place to go. We have big family lunches here and order a lot of food. Not everything we order is from the menu so don't be alarmed at some of the photos I post. The servers are great. They fill our tea constantly and change our plates whenever they need to be changed. The parking in this little plaza can be pretty horrid when the other restaurants are open too. There's also a little alley next to it where you can park, but don't put too much hope into that either. read more

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This place is a must. Chinatown has moved out of downtown due to homeless problems. The employees speak limited English, but are as sweet as can be. We had clay pot chicken and sizzling rice noodles with cabbage. It was delicious!! Plus they give you real real chop sticks. read more

Yan Zi Lou - My pretty wife enjoying the tea - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Popeyes place a order #610 Sunday about 12noon shrimp combo tried to call with feedback # 503 281 6068 did not have a code to get through. 82nd & Fremont Popeyes - Your Shrimp is like Little Rock's hard like Popcorn it crumbles in your hands. I know you can do better or take it off the menu Please!!!!! Unhappy customer read more

Their menu has changed. I used to get the enoki mushrooms with tofu but it's no longer in the menu. The roast duck is still good.

Authentic Chinese food with varieties. Very pleasantly surprised by the selection of various cuisines. Chaoshan cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Beijing cuisine and more. We ordered stir fried beef wide noodle (can't recall the exact name on the menu as it was written in a dialect), mushroom clay pot, and Chaozhou beef brisket, all excellently done! We even got to try the owner's mother's dessert Ma Ti Gao, and it blew me away. Soooo tasty. Gummy, just the right amount of sweetness and all over perfection. Love it! read more

Warning!! customer don't come here. Yan Zi Lou try to sell me a whole roast duck that, look a day old. The roast duck look like they took out the refrigerator and hung on the warmer rack. Thankfully, I walked out this place without wasting my money. I understand inflation, but your going to scam your customers like this, It's just not how you run a business. read more

Excellent and authentic Cantonese food. Fresh ingredients and very good service. Prices are reasonable.

Stopped by Christmas Eve because I needed roasted pork and my usual places were out of it. Risked coming here because 1] I was less than 5 minutes away already 2] I called and they confirmed they had some available NOW and 3] they were open on Christmas Eve. Parking lot is small but perfect for the location. I walked in, was greeted by the staff and once they knew I called in my order, I had it less than 5 minutes. Fast forward to actually eating the roasted pork. SOOOOOO GOOD! OMG I am so glad I stopped at this location because the roasted pork had so much flavor even WITHOUT the sauce it came with. Would I come back? Yes. I have to try more of their dishes. read more

Lots of tasty food for the price. Roast Duck, chicken chow mien, spicy rice noodles Singapore style was very good.

Ordered Wings again, it still tasted good, but it was minus the stir-fried onions which I wanted to eat from the last time. I'd still order this again but mention the onions The Stuffed Tofu Hotpot, was just ok, not nearly as good as the Shortrib hotpot - wouldn't get again Seafood Chowmein was visually impressive, I liked the noodles, but the flavor was a bit bland, wouldn't get again. didn't get the free soup this time or the orange slices. :( sad day. read more

Yan Zi Lou - Spicy Chicken Wings, or what's left of them! - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Heard this place has good roast duck so curious to try it. Their customer service is horrible. Walked-in to see if they had any roast duck, they were sold out, but said to come back in 45 mins for the next batch. I told them I would be back, 45 mins later went back and told once again to come back 45 mins later they were out again. They did not reserve me one even though I told them I'll be back. They suck balls read more

Amazing spot. We loved the Singapore noodles and kung pow shrimp. Best Chinese I've had. The veggies were fresh, the sauce amazing, and the service was wonderful. I just want to know what the people next to us were having! It looked like a whole fried crab! Can't wait till next time! read more

This is my favorite stir fry place in town. I am chinese and the food here is perfectly cooked. Been here a few dozens of times and never had a bad meal. Free soup and dessert too. Only warning is that it is authentic Cantonese food and not great if you are looking for sugary oily American fast chinese food. Cheers - read more

I've been here before with the bosses' friends and the food was delicious. When I came here as a regular customer, the food tasted great, but the food quality was terrible. The leafy vegetable were very old and the broccoli that comes with the honey walnut shrimp was yellow and gross (they should have been thrown away). We told the waitress about the broccoli and all they did was cut off the yellow part and gave it back to us. She explained that the broccoli was delivered to them like that. The broccoli was more like it's been in the fridge for weeks and they just want to get rid of it. This shouldn't have been served to customers. If you want to visit this place, just don't order the vegetables. read more

Yan Zi Lou - Disgusting gross broccoli - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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So good food and great service ! It's real Chinese food !! Highly recommend and will be back again! ;) read more

Yan Zi Lou - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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We had family and friends from out of town and made reservations a couple of hours ahead of our arrival. We were told the roast duck was already sold out but when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised that the staff had prepared a roast duck for us! We also had amongst other items the Jindo Pork, Enoki and Tofu, Shrimp with Walnuts, and Chow Mein. The service was excellent, the food came out very timely and a good time was had by all. read more

It's really tough to find parking there to begin with and once I did, I took forever to order and then the appetizer took 35 minutes to arrive! When it did, my Salt & Pepper Calamari was hard, tough, super chewy and over battered! When it was delivered, not only did my server not take away the empty cup of complementary cup of soup (it was just alright) but when I asked if the did half orders of soup, that would have been the time to tell me that they serve a coup of soup and I probably wouldn't have ordered the app to start! I was really hungry and had had a very stressful day and expressed that I wanted to started with the app for that reason! Anyways, after munching on the "hard as hell calamari app", I looked around and found that 95% the customers were all Asian and only 3 European American and NO OTHER POCs and I thought to myself, "Huh, not much dyversity happening here, especially with many of the diners giving me that "What did you come here for" look! Anyways, it took another 20 minutes before my main course to arrive and the ratio of Seafood to fried noodles was way off--1 to 5 and the oil must have been old because they tasted burnt-ish! The only saving grace was that the Seafood was Really Fresh, but needed more seasoning or Oyster Sauce! Mind you, all the dishes from each course AND my empty water glass were on the table when they FINALLY CAME BY and picked up my cc, after requesting the check and slipping it in the sleeve immediately! Overall, the service was non existence and the food not worth the time, money or energy spent to circle the parking lot 5 times, in a 15 min time frame for parking! So of course, I won't be going back then and hope that if you do, you have a much better experience than I did! ~E read more

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Every time we fly in and out of Portland, we always stop here for lunch. Though it has changed owners, the food is always tasty. The salted pepper squid is one the best along with green beans, other plus is the helpings are generous. read more

the taste was good, but if you said they are very traditional , i don't think so. The pickle fish they made was weird to me , as in china we never use broccoli an lotus as ingredient in it, we use bean sprouts instead. I should rate them 3.5 stars,but this system only has 3 or 4 to chose,so I choose 4. According to the taste, it is good. read more

Hot and delicious soup and BBQ duck to go for dinner tonight. This is a lovely and comfortable place for lunch on a rainy day. Friendly and attentive service too. read more

Yan Zi Lou - Chinese Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Another typical Chinese restaurant for Portland's new Chinatown. All the usual fare that you would find down the street. Decor and furnishings are a bit nicer than others near by. Size is small which can be an issue on a busy night. A good choice for a traditional Chinese meal. Give it a shot. read more

I'm torn between 2 or 3 stars. 2 1/2 would be fair... 3 stars would be high. The restaurant was very busy when we arrived on Sunday evening. There were only 2 servers so we knew service was going to be lacking. The owner later confirmed that one of the wait staff did not show up for work. Food was tasty...but quality was definitely lacking. We ordered 3 entrees, but I can only recommend one. The spareribs in sizzling clay pot. The stir fried beans were limp and tasteless. Either the beans were not fresh or over cooked. I'm leaning towards the fresh factor. The salt and pepper chicken wing were okay...but I've definitely had better. As I mentioned earlier...flavor was there, quality was not. One major complaint is 2 of the 3 dishes we ordered were not served hot. I understand they were busy, but how long did our food sit around waiting to be served? I guess this place must be good since it was crowded. However, I can't say I will be returning if ever in the area. Definitely would not recommend dining here unless you enjoy room temperature food. read more

One of my favorite Chinese spots in Portland. This place is not American chinese, and I love that. They don't have the super greasy crab puffs, spring rolls, and sesame chicken and such. I always feel awesome after I eat here, I don't see many restaurants that serve bitter Melon and black fungus mushrooms anywhere else. They do still have classic dishes like salt and pepper squid, sweet and sour, orange chicken etc. They are definitely a healthy, low price option and the plates are very big. Service is good too. If you're someone interested in trying things you've never tried before I'd definitely try this place. My fiancée and I especially love the corn egg flower soup (HUGE bowl!), black fungus veggie stir fry, pork rib clay pot, salt and pepper squid, and the Thai king curry chicken. read more