International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley
love locally, impact globally
This is the most common question I hear from most Chinese students who quickly realize that I-House food will not meet their expectations for an entire year. The list I am about to publish is my opinion only–I cannot guarantee that you will like these restaurants. That being said, we at International Graduate Student Ministry wanted to help you find Chinese restaurants that you will actually like eating at. If you drive to Fremont/Milpitas/South Bay, then you will find plenty of good Chinese food. However, we wanted this list to be relevant and have restaurants closer to the Berkeley campus.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.Restaurant list after the jump!
Highly Recommended
The best Chinese food around Berkeley is definitely China Village Restaurant (1335 Solano Ave, Albany, CA 94706, 510-525-2285), and it is arguably the only good Chinese restaurant within a reasonable distance from the UC Berkeley campus. Their specialty is Sichuan cuisine, and many of the dishes here are very good. Shui Zhu Niu (beef in spicy sauce), Cummin lamb, Beef noodle soup (Niu Rou Mien), and others are all quite good. The only dish that my wife Meowmeow cannot recommend is the double skin (Liang Jiang Pi), which is not that good.
Recommended
I used to highly recommend two good restaurants to people, but I now only highly recommend China Village. This is because many Chinese students have told me that the quality of the dishes at Great China Restaurant (Feng Nian, 2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704, 510-843-7996) has gone down. I agree with this assessment, but still think its the second best place to get Chinese food in Berkeley. They have a website at www.greatchinaberkeley.com, and you can make a judgment for yourself. I still like eating there when I need Chinese food close to campus.
If you are willing to travel to the 99 Ranch Market in Albany, I recommend: Daimo (Hong Kong style food), 168 (Taiwanese style), and Macau Cafe. I don’t consider it close to Berkeley, but if you live at UC Village or are going shopping at 99 Ranch, its a reasonable distance.
Acceptable
People will argue with me that this food should even be considered acceptable to Chinese people, but the list does need to be longer. So here are some others:
Another one I like is Taiwan Restaurant (Taiwan Fan Dian, 2071 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, 510-845-1456), and I thought about putting this up to Recommended, but not everyone seems to like the food here. It’s cheaper than other places, and the quality of certain dishes here is pretty good. I like the Niu Rou Mien (Beef Noodle Soup) and General’s Chicken here particularly, but I think its a good balance between quality and price.
A place that you will pass by a lot on South Side is a Hong Kong style restaurant, Sun Hong Kong (2439 Durant Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, 510-848-4340). The food is okay, some dishes are surprisingly good. I particularly like that they have a happy hour special from 3-6pm, where many special drinks are $1 and dishes are less than $4. It’s probably the cheapest food that you will find in Berkeley that is still good enough quality that you can’t complain at all, though the service can be a little slow if you come in larger groups.
Other places you will probably eat at
And of course, there are some places you will probably end up eating at due to convenience. There are lot of places to avoid (Dollar Chinese at Channing Way, Hunan Restaurant at Shattuck, etc.), but here are two that are okay to survive on. First is King Dong Restaurant (2429 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, 510-841-6196). It has very fast service and they have a dinner rice plate special that’s affordable–under $7. Food is okay.
And second is TC Garden (2507 Hearst Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709, 510-540-1124). I don’t like the food here, but its the only Chinese restaurant near North Side, so most of the Chinese engineering students eat here on a regular basis. (even Chinese professors) It’s cheap as they have $4 lunch combinations, and it’s slightly better than dollar Chinese takeout, but not much better. I am not recommending this one, but I am saying that it’s edible and you will probably end up eating here if you are on north side, especially in EE or CS.
Anyone have any places to share?
International Graduate Student Ministry (IGSM) is an official graduate student group at UC Berkeley. IGSM started in the fall of 2003 with the vision to help all UC Berkeley graduate students from various countries (including students from the United States) find out the true meaning and purpose of their lives through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of us also attend Gracepoint Berkeley, where Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang lead the ministry.
Don’t forget Chang Luang (2517 Durant, in the alley, up the stairs, above Kimchi Garden) 3 dishes for 16.50!
Ok as a non-Chinese, take my opinion about the best chinese food around berkeley with a grain of salt.
I only really think about one dish when I go to Great China, double skin. It is the best. The service is not so great but I think if you speak Mandarin you get dishes off their secret menu.
That said, China Village also has excellent food and better service
When you don’t speak the language, nice waiting staff is key!
In the wake of the downfall of economy, TC Garden seems
the best for me. The Chinese ladies never diappointed me
at least in terms of price!
I like this Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant called Camille on the northside of campus. I enjoy chatting with the owner. And I often cannot finish the portion that they serve. It’s a bit more pricy than TC Garden, but I think they have more variety.
Have you guys ever been to the Mayflower on University/Oxford? It’s a Chinese restaurant that serves Dim Sum everyday but it’s rather hidden. The food and price there is incredible. It’s a gem. Try it out.
Wow, so far Great China is winning. Anyone else want to weigh in? I’ll close the poll and leave results up after this week!