China Star Express

Thoroughly disappointed. After waiting over an hour, my food order was wrong, cold and did not taste good. I tried calling but no one would pick up. $ 80 down the drain. Do not eat here

The Fried chicken drumsticks are large and delicious! They are full sized check legs with flavorful batter and aren’t too greasy.

Never again. Our order came in 2 hrs late and the food order was all wrong.

I went there around dinner time and they didn’t have much in the way of food ready at the steam table and they didn’t seem real eager to cook anything for me fresh. What I had was what was left and it wasn’t all that tasty.
However, once again, the day has been saved by their Chinese fried chicken. I think the chicken is first marinaded in some kind of soy sauce. Then its dipped in some kind of thick batter and deep fried. Unbelievably good. Possibly the best fried chicken in Chinatown. I believe they only sell drumsticks and wings, but the drumsticks must be from gigantic force-​fed hormone-​laced chickens. Just huge.

Small corner Spot in Chinatown Oakland. Sure I can get (real) Chinese Food in Chinatown?
Just because it’s made with Chinese hands, does not make it good.
A little scrumpy looking buffet.
I ordered «Wor Wonton Soup». Got home and the very Hot Water
was accompanied with Cauliflower. 3 little lumps of Won Tons with
some sort of pretend meat substance. I hate to play paranoid, but did the
server do this, to keep non-​Chinese out?
Maybe I should go back and try the Chicken Wings that some people
raved about. Some not all. Because the Soup was no more than dirty sock water with noodles and some pretend meat!
I did notice that a worker from the Very Large Restaurant on the Corner was purchasing vegetables from their veggie stand… Strange?

I have had the chicken many of times and it was pretty good at first, lately it has had some weird after taste. I wonder if they have changed the oil. Recently I came for lunch with my son and we ordered the combo. Food is ok, typical hot plate variety, reminds me of Ranch 99 or Marina Foods steam table. Not much of a variety. This time my son ordered a drink and they have a sign talking about refills for 75 cents or something like that. He got up and poured a diet coke and sat down and took one sip. He said it tasted bad so got up and poured it out and started filling it with lemonade. The lady at the counter went ballistic and started yelling about refill cost refill cost. I was like settle down and explained it to her. That was after my son got the chow mein scared out of him by being yelled at by the lady. Funny thing is there are way too many places in Oakland China Town that we can visit next time.

Came here for lunch today. Was not at all impressed. On to the next. won’t be coming back. Thanks!

My go-​to egg roll place for potlucks. They gave me a sample of the fried chicken leg — pretty damn good! Next time…

I’ve eaten here twice, now, and I’m quite pleased. What really makes this place shine is the low prices, and fresh ingredients. For $ 5.50 (including tax), you get one main dish, and two side dishes, loaded onto a standard size three-​section carry-​out container. They pile everything high, so that the container just barely closes, which makes for an awesome value. I get two meals out of this, and I’m a 160 pound bicycle commuter, who burns through a lot of calories.
You can’t tell from the look of the place, but their ingredients are way fresher than most restaurants in the under $ 10 price bracket. I’ve actually found a few bones in my fried orange chicken, which shocked me at first, but then I realized that means they don’t use any mechanically separated and reconstituted chicken; no pink slime here! There’s even some dark meat in their orange chicken. The quality of the meat is far superior to most fast food places. The veggies seem fresh too, and taste like they were never frozen.
The downsides are few. The employees don’t have that great of an English vocabulary, but they know enough to do what they’re doing. There’s hardly any sitting room, with only three small tables (maybe two? I can’t quite remember, except that there weren’t many), so you’re best just getting the food to go. Also, although they do have some vegetarian side dishes, all of their main dishes have some kind of meat in them, so vegetarians and vegans are out of luck. Lastly, I do not approve of their styrofoam containers, and I imagine many of my fellow Oaklanders will similarly frown upon this. If they got rid of the styrofoam, and added more vegetarian options, I’d give them a full five stars.
Overall, this place is one of the best values in Chinatown, and I’ll be recommending it to my friends.

Not good.

I only go here for the Fried Chicken Wings. It’s only 60 cents/​wing pretty damn cheap!
The taste is great and is definitely on the greasier side. If you buy a party tray, I would recommend calling in ahead of time so they can start frying it. Parking sucks around there (it’s in Oakland Chinatown) so make sure to bring a friend to help with pick-​up.

Fried chicken is cheap and good, tasty and crispy

I love the fried chicken legs. We used to go to a Japanese restaurant in Lafayette just for their karaage chicken. Unfortunately, it closed down and we’ve been searching for a karaage chicken replacement ever since.
The fried chicken legs at China Star are a pretty good substitute. They’re only 75 cents each and they’re huge. Nice crunchy crust and very moist on the inside. Not exactly health food, but what the hell; probably no different than any other fried chicken.

Fried chicken drumsticks — HOLLA.
I sometimes order a tray of them for parties.

Another trying day on Jury duty and lunch finally comes. I lead my Jury Posse to China Star Express. I order the Chicken Fried Rice, String Beans and the Dried Fried Ribs all for $ 5.51. What a Deal. The Fried Rice is loaded with Chunks Of Chicken and the Dry Fried Ribs very tasty and the Green Beans were on point. Another relaxing lunch with the troops.
Plus for the Chicken Lovers $.75 Drumsticks. How can you beat that.

China Star Express is alright if you’re hungry and not picky about quality, just sort of so-​so. I ordered a wonton once, waited while they made it fresh, then it was much too hot to eat, and by the time it cool down enough to eat it, the wonton wrappers were overcooked and soggy. Their vegetable items and fried fish fared better.

Saw the $ 3.65 for 2 Items and Steamed Rice so I decided to give it a try to see if this place was any good. Not Bad, Not Great but decent spot. After taxes, the lunch came out to $ 4.01
I had the Black Bean Spareribs and the Sesame Chicken. They gave a good amount on both. The Spareribs were actually not like the ones you get at Dim Sum Houses. Theirs were very meaty and thick spareribs like ribs you might get at a BBQ Joint.
They have a couple specials at off hour times. Before 11:30am or after 1:30pm, they have 1 item over steam rice for $ 1.95 and after 4pm, they don’t charge tax.

DAMMIT! While China Star Express is still relatively inexpensive, they have since raised some of their prices (damn you inflation and cost of living increases). Most folks coming here get the two items over steam rice around lunch time for about $ 4. Portions typically are HUGE. Some of my favorite items from the steam table: bittermelon, eggplant, sesame chicken, black pepper chicken. The same items are available during off-​peak hours (before 11:30am and after 1:30pm) as 1 item over steam rice for about $ 2 — albeit in much smaller portions. Still a great deal for the man on a budget, but there are still places in Oakland’s Chinatown where you can find food for even less!
Haven’t had their $ 0.75 fried chicken drumstick in a while. They’re larger than your avg fast-​food fried chicken drumsticks, but it’s hard for me to justify getting drumsticks from there when Popeyes has 2-​piece Tuesdays for $ 0.99.
Oh, and interior leaves a lot to desire. It’s just a few tables and a sticky floor. But hell, at the price for the food here, you shouldn’t have any problem overlooking those things!

I like this place for a number of reasons:
— lunch and leftovers for less than $ 5
— variety of items
— curry chicken, the vegetables, dried-​fried green beans, lemon chicken, and fried chicken are my favorites.
— very generous portions.
— you’re having a party, the party trays are very reasonable.
I recommend this place as a take-​out.

drumsticks are $.75 and the special is 3.45 for rice and 2 items. rice porridege is 1.65. a special menu offers various veggie, pork & tofu items for 2.45.
your portions depend of who serves you. it’s best to point the items you want to avoid misunderstandings.