En Lai Chinese Kitchen

My late grandfather, a Chinese chef, used to complain about restaurants that would put one wonton in a pint of wonton soup. It’s a way for restaurants to cut costs but obviously this method affects the quality of the food. This is one of those restaurants.
I ordered the chicken and broccoli w/​pork fried rice lunch special and paid an extra dollar to add on small wonton soup. Good deal, right?
Wrong.
To start off, the wonton soup consisted mostly of broth with 2 very small wonton noodles, the size of mini-​raviolis, wrapped around slivers of meat that were about the size of your average chicken piece found in canned soup. There were no additional ingredients in the soup. Not even strips of roast pork or scallions that is common in the cuisine.
Then I moved onto the lunch special. Three quarters of the container that held the lunch special was filled with pork fried rice versus the one quarter part had chicken with broccoli. This would have been more appropriately advertised as the pork fried rice special with a small portion of chicken with broccoli.
Except the pork fried rice wasn’t even really pork fried rice because it consisted mostly of browned rice with a few shavings of pork. Here as well, there were a lack of additional ingredients that gives pork fried rice it’s flavoring.
My suggestion? Go somewhere else.

En-​lai is the go-​to Chinese food shop in our office.
The food is generally ok and while it’s not impressive for the most part, there are some shining stars on the menu.
Specifically the sauce given with the dumplings. Seriously it’s to die for.
I used to be able to eat the beef there, and LOVED their pepper steak, however a couple of times we’ve ordered before… let’s just say the beef didn’t agree with me, so I have been avoiding ordering meat dishes.
Their eggrolls are also spectacular, but their fried rice leaves a lot to be desires (the fried rice that comes with the combos is literally just fried rice, no veggies in it whatsoever).
I’m personally a fan of China Wok in Troy, and used to LOVE ollie’s when I lived in NYC.

Solid Chinese take-​out. Food is consistent and actually, now that I think about it, so is the staff. I’ve been going there for years during my time at SUNY and now it is close to my house.
Service is quick for pick up and delivery. Prices are reasonable. My favorite order is pork egg foo young.

En Lai Chinese Kitchen in Westgate Plaza has been one of my go to places for Chinese food for many years. The food here IMO is very tasty and reasonably priced.
My Dad used to eat lunch here every week when he worked in the area. I also took several of my lunch breaks here when I worked a few miles from here back in the 1990s. Back in the 1990s, they used to offer an All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet with fountain drinks for under $ 5¸which is no more today. However, they offer 53 Lunch Specials (until 3PM) for $ 4.50 served with pork fried rice or white rice and you can add soup, egg roll, or soda for 75 cents more. They also offer 37 Special Combination Plates served with pork fried rice or white rice & egg roll. Most dishes are priced under $ 10.
I was in here recently for lunch takeout. I ordered the L38 Eggplant with Shrimp in Garlic Sauce ($ 4.50) with pork fried rice and added a cup of Chicken Noodle Soup ($ 0.75). The food was cooked to order in the open kitchen and ready to go in under 10 minutes. Served in a round foil container, the good lunch portion of food was very good. The Chinese eggplant pieces were very soft and the jumbo shrimp (cleaned) were tender in a semi sweet garlic sauce. The fried rice had a firm texture with a mix of roast pork pieces and onions. The chicken noodle soup had firm lo mein noodles and tender pieces of boneless chicken in a light chicken broth.
Once again, En Lai Chinese Kitchen will be back on my regular rotation for Chinese restaurants in the Albany area.

I work in Albany but live nearly 3 hours away so unfortunately I end up ordering in on a semi regular basis. After trying a half dozen Chinese take out places, En Lai is the first one I ever ordered from a second and third and fourth time etc. The food has been consistently good and the delivery time in normally right around 15 – 20 minutes. The General Tso and mixed vegetable combos are the best! And the prices are extremely reasonable… A general Tso combo and a pint of wonton soup is only $ 11… Eat here!

I did not like the food at all– zero stars if I could

Hands down, one of the worst Chinese food places I’ve ever eaten at in my entire life. My coworker recommended it because it was so close to where we worked that it made sense. I insisted on Shining Rainbow but the people I worked with aren’t used to real Chinese food I guess because they enjoyed it and I had to go to the bathroom to try to make myself throw up eight times so I didn’t barf during a conference call.
The food was average. There was no exceptional flavorings or spices put into anything. There wasn’t even an option for me to flavor my food with duck sauce or soy sauce because it wasn’t provided. Also, the pork and beef had the consistency of gelatin. That is not normal. I eat pork on a semi-​regular basis and that’s never came up. It wasn’t even a fatty piece. I was horrified. I will never recommend this place. The delivery man was nice but it doesn’t matter if you’re nice if you don’t make good food.

Ordered delivery and it came within 30 minutes. Usually people have trouble finding our apartment and the delivery guy called immediately and we met outside and he was nice and apologetic.
The food was really good. I always like a free egg roll (with minimum $ 10 order or something) and this one was good. I really enjoyed my shrimp lo mein and my boyfriend’s Gen. Tso’s chicken was SO good. I’d get that next time or try something totally different.
Like Val says, the beef leaves a bit to be desired. Our beef fried rice had tough little pieces of beef in it. I’d try chicken or pork instead.

En Lai is the place to go for Chinese delivery in Albany. When I’ve gone in for take-​out the same staff has been there for probably 10 years. Their food is consistently consistent. Some is good, some is not. Over time, you figure out what to avoid and you’ll usually have a good dining experience.
The good:
egg rolls
crab rangoon
FRIED CHICKEN WINGS (they’re the best, Jerry!)
Pork lo mein
Pu pu platter is usually a good bet if you’re craving fried foods
Green beans and broccoli
won ton soup
General Tso’s Chicken — on a good day it’s crispy and quite good… on a bad day it’s not.
The bad
Beef — avoid it unless it’s on a stick… the beef in the meals is spongy and is what I think that meat made in a vat would taste like
Steamed dumpling (the dough is way too thick)
I realize that this review isn’t overly positive and yet I’m giving it four stars — but that’s because it’s one of the few Chinese delivery places I trust to be consistently consistent — and hey, isn’t that what you’re going for with take out?

Quality, reasonably priced chinese food. I’ve never had anything bad. I’ve only requested food that is actively bad for me.
The end.