Chengdu 23

It pains to have to give this place 2 stars because I totally get why they’re top 100 best Chinese restaurant in the USA. The 2 stars are based upon the full experience– which is low due to the staff. As Kevin hart would say, let me explain…
So my boyfriend and I called a little before 9:00pm and asked when the restaurant closes as they are only 10 minutes from us and Unilocal showed a 10:00pm closing time. Long story short, they close at 10:00pm, as Unilocal shows, but the «kitchen may close a bit early.» We get there at 9:10 and were hounded by server (s). «Kitchen closes 9:30.» Says the frustrated frantic server at us. «Okay… its 9:10 can you give us 2 minutes.» It doesn’t help that my boyfriend is not accustomed to dinning out to Chinese often so he needs a minute to understand the menu… Also, please note there were other tables eating at this time when we walked in; the place was not empty. Before they walked away to give us a second at 9:10, we asked if we can put in an order of soup dumplings because we know they take awhile (from other Chinese restaurant experiences). «THOSE TAKE 15 MINUTES!» Again, it’s 9:10… So I said, «alright, well can you just ask if it is doable? Otherwise that’s fine.» He goes to the kitchen and comes back about 30 – 45 seconds later «OK! GO.» What the H-​E double hockey sticks… So I try and understand, «Can you do the dumplings or???» «YES, go ahead what you want to eat?» um… yikes…thank goodness I checked out some menu items prior on Unilocal reviews and knew what we should get even though I had no time to check to see if anything else was peeking my interest. So anyway, we order and the lamb dish I picked comes out in an absolute FLASH; which concerns me to honest. By flash I mean, he walked away put in the order and came back a merely 90 – 120 seconds later. That means it was pre-​made and the lamb wasn’t very hot, just warm. And I understand some restaurants have pre-​made dishes to accommodate speed and efficiency but at least cook it up to a good temperature before serving. My boyfriends dish came out 5 minutes after and his was hot, which was good (Heavenly chicken– BANGING). To top it all off, over the next 20 minutes 2 – 3 more couples come in and sat down and ordered… All that rushing from the waiter for no reason. I didn’t let it ruin my night. This would of brought them down to 1 star because it was THAT inappropriate of service, but because I understand we were a little on the later side of the restaurant closing, I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt…
Needless to say the food was delicious regardless. The atmosphere was a sure 5 stars. Their tea was perfect. I may come back a bit earlier next time and maybe on a weekend where the wait staff is expected to stay their entire shift. But we’ll see. I know another Chinese places I could go to instead of here and be more respected as a customer. If you’re going to come here, don’t try and come an hour before closing; even if you call. I’d say, be safe and come prime dinning hours.

Picked up lunch today and brought it to my work. The chicken was cooked very well and the sauce was not over powering. The fried rice was tasty and filling. The wonton soup was interesting. It is a clear soup with the dumpling inside. I didn’t try the soup because the chicken filled me up. The food was promptly ready in about 15min and was still warm. Great lunch spot.

Ok. We have gone to this place literally every holiday and or personal event.
Why? The food is delicious and the prices make every Asian mom happy
Food:
The spicy fish filet: generous portions of fresh fish and the fish sauce is delicious. Spicy delicious. Best part is take the sauce to go home and you can make more fish fillets at home
The lamb: reminds me of Beijing lamb skewers. I cried once and thought about my grandma in Beijing Er huan (second ring) and her lamb skewers
Bubble tea. Pretty good
Service:
Friendly staff it’s like cheers where everybody knows your name
We went here for our engagement party, every birthday party and graduation party.

This place is my go to spot whenever I’m craving spicy food. If you’re looking for authentic Szechuan food, this is the spot! Definitely try the San Jiao Ji and sliced lamb sautéed with cumin. Staff is very nice and this place is clean! I always leave satisfied.

This place is the real deal. My grandparents are from Szechuan, and this place is truly authentic. I love that they have a family takeout special of 3 dishes (smaller portions) with rice and soup for only $ 24. It’s a steal and honestly I have no idea how they make money off that special. When we dine in, our favorite dishes are:
CH3 — Dry sauteed diced chicken w/​bamboo, mushrooms, and szechuan peppers (very spicy, insanely good)
C4 — Braised beef in szechuan chili sauce (a classic dish, also spicy)
CH21 — Soft tofu and minced pork w/​hot bean paste sauce (surprise — spicy!)
One day I will stop being a cheapass and order the market price whole fish w/​cheng du spicy bean sauce, and when I do I will update my review.
Beware, the sesame chicken is bad. The pieces were stuck together and fried and mushy, and the chicken quality was horrible — we had one bite and threw it out. So I learned my lesson — ONLY order authentic szechuan food here.

The food is excellent. Very fresh and well presented, and plenty of it… you won’t be hungry when you leave.
THE best Chinese food in the area!

The most AUTHENTIC Chinese food around, by far. As someone who’s traveled to China and specifically Chengdu, living and eating with locals, I can attest to the authentic style and taste of many of their dishes. Although you can play it safe with some American Chinese food, like chicken and broccoli, they have so much more to offer. You can’t find many of their dishes anywhere else around here unless you travel into Chinatown.
The portions are generous (these are dishes you should share and not order individually) and the service is generally fast and efficient. I’d recommend the juice buns (soup dumplings w/​pork), heavenly chicken, crispy scallops, and chow fun. For the more adventurous, take a stab at Ants Climbing a Tree or any of the «odd» and spicy dishes.

Came here on a Sunday afternoon and was seated the moment we got in. I was excited to try Chengdu 23 as it seems like the prior reviews really raved about it but I was kind of disappointed. We didn’t eat anything from the original menu and just decided to take a chance on dim sum. For the most part, the dishes we tried were okay but nothing too out of the ordinary. We tried shrimp/​pork shumai, shrimp dumplings, scallion pancakes, shrimp rice noodles and soup dumplings. From least to greatest I would rate shrimp rice noodle as the lowest because the actual wrapper was soggy and broke apart as soon as I picked it up. Highest I would rate the soup dumplings and scallion pancakes for tie. Soup dumplings had a broth that wasn’t too salty but just the right amount and the scallion pancakes had a great texture.
Overall, I think their dim sum isn’t their forte and I’m sad I didn’t try their restaurant food.
On the upside their service was amazing. Servers cleared plates for table space fast and kept checking up.

After celebrating a special occasion here I think a family member may be expecting my Unilocal review so let me get right to it!
First of all, this place is quite literally a hidden gem. You kind of will need to make an illegal U-​turn by the Willowbrook mall Costco to attempt to find the entrance to this shopping plaza.
The food was really great! The best was the scallion pancakes! These were the best scallion pancakes I’ve had, and believe me I’ve had them everywhere. Crispy, hot, and fresh, good sauce, melts in your mouth.
Egg drop soup was kind of standard, but tasty.
I ordered the Chicken with mushroom, pepper, and bamboo. This dish is SUPER spicy, like ⁸⁄₁₀ spicy so keep that in mind only order it if you can handle say the spicy level at an Indian food joint or authentic hot sauce. Their is fair warning since you will see the pepper symbols on the menu. But keeping that in mind, the dish was super flavorful, I could taste the flavors and seasonings through the spice.
I tried a piece of my mom’s Sesame chicken and it was great! I want to come back and order the sesame chicken. It was crispy and you could taste the real chicken breast. Not like the overcooked, chewy mystery meat I get at takeout joints. The complete opposite, real deal.
I will just take one star off for the service. They are so popular it seems they are overwhelmed. The guy brought wrong dishes to our table a few times and they also forgot one item ordered. Also there was some confusion when asking to bring more water to the table. Maybe just a little communication barrier.
Overall excellent food, one of the better Chinese restaurants in NJ! service could be improved a little bit.

Since my old fav Sichuan place, Chengdu 1, closed I had yet to find a decent replacement. We met up with a few other Peppercorn addicts here last night and it was completely worth driving to the other end of NJ!
First, THEY HAVE SOUP DUMPLINGS! Super good Soup Dumplings! I can never get enough of those!
We ordered a variety of dishes but for me the Star was the Ma Po Tofu. It was silly, Sichuan Peppercorn perfection! I had to fight another diner to lick the plate clean! Another dish I will crave is the Eggplant with Preserved Egg. Talk about #Unami! Omg! Because we went with very experienced frequent flyers we let them choose and we’re happy with that. Stress free! The menu is extensive with options for everyone. Try it! Especially if you are lucky enough to be local. Let me know, I’ll gladly meet you there!

This has become our favorite sechuan restaurant. I am a big fan of «Han Dynasty» in NYC. This really matches up to that standard. Its a huge place with nice ambiance. The service is just great. We were happy with the food that we ordered. My favorite was fish in hot sauce. It was just awesome. One of the best !

The egg drop soup with won tons was the best thing we got. The crab ragoons were just okay. Not traditionally made and they gave us no sweet and sour. Wife said the steamed juice buns were really good. The sesame chicken was gross. Not crunchy, too much batter, not enough flavor. The vegetable fried rice was really good.
For the price, we won’t be back. Will drive to TS Ma in Montclair next time.

Located in a strip mall, this place is one of the authentic Chinese gems of north Jersey. I had spicy chicken poppers, sun roasted pork, and Fu Qi Fei Pian (夫妻肺片), which is beef and beef tripe in a spicy peppery sauce. All classic southern Chinese food, all done perfectly and nowhere near grimy salty takeout. Great staff.

Let’s make it short and sweet! I was there with my family for roughly 20 minutes. Within that time an asian couple came in about 5 minutes after I did, had ordered and their food before the server even looked at us to take our order. Our order included 2 dumpling apps, which for some reason could not come out at the same time. They are dumplings with cook time the same!!!
I felt incredibly alienated in that restaurant. I will never return.

So glad we stumbled upon this place. It’s in a small shopping center next to the Willowbrook Mall (it’s the one with HomeGoods, behind the Starbucks). The food is AWESOME!!! Great lunch specials here! General Tso’s chicken was extra crispy and extra delicious, fried rice was tasty, and they have soup dumplings!!! The soup dumplings were the best we’ve had in this area. They make it fresh for you so it takes about 15 minutes after you place your order… and they are AMAZING! So excited about this restaurant. The servers were attentive and friendly. And they also have DIM SUM on the weekends, which I can’t wait to try. Will definitely be back!!!

Beef Scallions and Soup Dumplings!!! Say it again!!!
We decided to try this place because it was close to the mall we were hungry and wanted to try something new. We were seated immediately and ordered the soup dumplings asap…2 orders of course! The soup dumplings were so awesome especially with the ginger soy sauce. Just poke a hole in the top of the dumpling and pour the soy sauce inside and trust me you will love it.
They provide you with green tea for FREE to help cleanse the palate and help digest the food.
For our entrees we ordered the beef scallion, heavenly chicken, pork fried rice and small side of brown rice. If you do not want spicy these two are good options. My favorites were the beef and pork fried rice. Everything was fresh and seasoned well. I didn’t particularly favor the chicken because I felt like it needed a little something. You can definitely share a meal between 2 people, but if you are a group of 4 people and order 2 meals you can share as well.
The food was filling and satisfying at that the same time. Definitely great for groups. If you around 6 – 6:30pm it will be very crowded and you will have to wait, but worth the wait.
I am glad we don’t have to drive all the way to NYC to get good soup dumplings and great/​fresh Chinese food.

Soup Dumplings???
Don’t mind if I do. It’s a 15 minute wait so be warned or double up on your order like we did! 5 – 6 soup dumplings per order. We enjoyed the soup dumplings, beef with scallions and onions and finally the heavenly chicken! This authentic Chinese establishment is best enjoyed in a group setting. If dining as a couple, be prepared for an amazing doggie bag!
After a long day of shopping mi lady and I needed to refuel our systems. Lemme tell ya, this spot did NOT disappoint. The flavors, presentation and portions are lovely!
Everything is awwweeesome, like they say in the Lego movie! The flavors will leave your taste buds wanting more. If you love spice and spicy, then you’ll love the food here even more. Being our first time we opted for level 1 or 4 spicy, but we know now that we can kick it up a notch. I mean who doesn’t want spicy in their lives right?
I can’t wait to return and enjoy lunch or dinner with the family! To me it’s like the Carmine’s of Chinese food, so a bigger group will definitely be worth while. Thank me later and enjoy the awesome food here people’s! Later!

This small establishment serves outstanding authentic Chinese food. You may not expect this from the modest exterior but inside is a large dining area serving classic Asian dishes. I ordered flounder filet with chili sauce which was very good. Pork dumplings were tasty and crispy, and the Ox noodle soup was delicious.
I’m sure I’ll be coming again in the near future.
Come here for authentic Chinese entrees

Go there and you see things that you don’t want to see when your eating. Two waiters sat at a table toward the kitchen area chopping vegetables without gloves, one man (gray hair, heavier, glasses) coughing on his hands as he continued to chop them. This happened over and over he kept wiping it on his hand when his nose was running too. Other waiters came to the table ate off it as they were still serving tables.
The least of the problems were how rude they are. Our waiter was not willing to make minor changes to dishes like subbing a vegetable for another. He also smoked at some point and came back and that’s all you could smell when he come to our table the last few times. He had a weird smirk on his face the whole time so I didn’t know what he was doing to our food.
There is a ton of oil in their food too. See pictures.
Bottom line, don’t bother eating here unless you don’t mind unsatisfactory service and unsanitary conditions for your food.

The word that best describes this restaurant is authentic. The selection of items on the menu is vast, but each one is prepared with great care. The service is uniformly good quality, attentive, but never intrusive.
One of our family’s favorites is their spicy conch salad. This wonderful seafood offering is lightly marinated in a very spicy sesame oil and flavored delicately with lemongrass. The dressing, in fact, is so good, that we often take the remaining dressing home, to use in our kitchen. Another wonderful offering is their house special mei fun noodles. It’s easy to find this dish in many restaurants, but the way it’s made here, is fresh, clean, and absolutely flavorful. Their crab Rangoon was outstanding. Never greasy or oily, but with that wonderful creamy center, that we all love.
This restaurant is so popular, that it can get a little crowded, and even a bit noisy at times, but the dining experience well exceeds any noise issues. And the staff always goes out of their way to please.
Definitely worth a try, if you haven’t been there yet.