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Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: Oakland Chinatown
70 reviews
Neighborhood: Jack London Square
"Super food, super wine, super atmosphere. Very romantic and not too loud so you can have a nice conversation and look into eachother's eyes…" read more »
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I came here quite often with my family many years ago. What happened? I recall that this place was pretty yummy. The prices are still inexpensive, but the food was awful. The Chinese donuts were a day old. They refried it so it was extra oily. The pork in my porridge was super fatty. I doubt I would be coming back again.
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My daughter and I were craving won ton soup and we both thought let's drive all the way to King Wah and have some. They don't give you alot of broth but we get the King Wah Won Ton soup and ask for extra broth.
We will keep coming back for the soup and their fried won ton's with meat. We just can't get enough. We'll be so sad if this place closes.
Other things we've tried and enjoyed:
sauted chinese broccoli with oyster sauce
bbq beef chow mein
pan fried prawns in the shell
Our last few batches of pot stickers were just too thick on the wrapper so we'll be skipping that from now on.
This is by far our favorite Chinese food!!!!!!!!!!!
Memories ... what memories.
This is the FIRST place that I had my favorite Chinese noodle dish - tomato beef chow mein! I fell in love with it here, and I still love the dish to this day. This place made it almost as good as my grandmother's. Make sure you get the pan-fried (gee mein) crispy noodles. Another great dish is the mun yee won ton - crispy won ton served with a savory sauce. Mmmmm. Even good the day after!
King Wah is very worn, but its appeal is still all about the food. Don't expect frills or to be treated very well - just expect good food.
Now, i hope this is just a rumor but i heard this place may close this year! My co-workers and I have been going here for years...the food is simple, inexpensive and tasty...yeah, you're definitely not going there for the atmopshere....All i can say is if they close, i don't know what we'll do...their braised rock cod, black bean chow fun, dried fried ribs, almond duck, bbq pork won ton is a favorite with all of us!
Until we hear otherwise, we plan on eating here until the rumor has been confirmed and we're all be pleasantly plump BUT King Wah satisfied
Since I moved from Oakland 2 years ago, this is the place i think I miss the most. They have dishes that no one else has, like steamed chicken with ham, which is an old fashioned cantonese dish that is a favorite of my husband's childhood, and pork hash with salt egg that is a steamed pork and egg custardy thing that is delicious. Their pot stickers are the best ever and the waiters will show you how to mix your prefect dipping sauce of soy and vinegar with a bit of chili oil. I love the noodle dishes -- the house chow mein and chow fun are great, as is the wonton soup and some dishes with won tons and gravy. This used to be my Chinese mother-in-law's typical first choice for casual lunch out with us.
If you like traditional, they have plenty of that and they have daily specials which are absurdly inexpensive and include lots of fresh fish.
oh - it looks like a total dive, but it feels like a home-cooking kind of place. When my husband goes back to Oakland for business trips, he calls me from there and taunts me with what he is eating. Bastard.
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This place has not changed since the first time I came here, which was (literally) when I was six years old---so thirty years ago! The red carpet is a bit dingier now and the faux wood paneling on the walls could use some replacing here and there, but the food is just as good and super-consistent. Believe me, I've been coming here regularly for thirty years and there's only been ONE time out of all those dozens and dozens of times that I've come here that the food has not been good (I did get sick that one time, from some bad fish I think, but I figure, one time out of thirty years ain't so bad).
My fave dishes are any of their chow meins (the house special is especially good), which taste as if they've been cooked in a wok that's been seasoned so perfectly that it doesn't even need any soy sauce or cooking oil, as well as their beef won ton, which is the best comfort food on a cold and rainy day (like today). The fiance turned me on to their rock cod with chinese greens, but their braised rock cod clay pot is better.
The waitstaff here are also really nice. There's one woman there who knows us pretty well by now (we eat there at least twice a month) and she's even offered to look up the best date for me and my fiance's wedding to happen according to Chinese astrology! You can't beat that service, man.
A little on the greasy side, but who cares? This is Chinese-American comfort food at its best. And at $15 or less for a hearty meal for two, what's to lose?
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This is one of my favorite restaurants in Oakland Chinatown. It's nothing fancy, but it's consistent and it's really good. They serve standard Cantonese cuisine. I've been eating here since I was in a highchair and I still can't get enough. Yes, Courtney P., that fried won ton soup is what it's all about. Except I get the one with the diced roasted duck. Yum. The cha siu chow fun and the fried rice are excellent. Yep, I love all the tourist food but it's good! My high school classmate's father has been running this place since I can remember and I think a lot of the draw here is sentimental but as long as they're there, I'll be slurping up that soup.
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An old classic restaurant with Chinese Food cooked how it's supposed to be cooked. Their chow mein and chow fun is cooked with a charred flavor to it. As some of you may know, "wok hay" is what this place definitely has! Some places have it and some places don't... Actually, almost no places have it now....
Their wontons are also good. Basically, this restaurant is one of those places that opened a long while back and their decor was probably modern at the time it opened, not now but the food has been standouts for as long as anyone can remember....
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King Wah is another place I've been frequenting in Oakland Chinatown since I was a wee one.
What keeps me coming back? The Diced Chicken Yee Wonton Soup. I can't tell you too much about the rest of the food, although it is decent Chinese food for a cheap price. They're also super quick on the draw, so if you're super hungry, you can be eating in less than 10 minutes.
The tomato beef chow mein is quite good, but didn't really hold up well to reheating.
But the Diced Chicken soup? We craves it. Often.
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Reading all the 4 and 5 star reviews of this place I expected great things, but what we got was: good decent average Chinese food. The elderly hostess was very friendly, the waitress preoccupied with something other than customers, the teapot filled with a teabag (I've always heard that one indication of a better versus not so hot Chinese restaurant is if they have loose tea or teabags in the pot), I had to go scrounging for four spoons to dish out the food after it came as the waitress just dumped the plates and ran off neglecting to leave silverware, and the food was okay but unmemorable (and not spicy as requested, but bland)...I've had better in Vallejo, and that tells you something. So if you're in the neighborhood go here and it will fill you up, but for those who value sho nuff good eatin',...search on.
We go here all the time, so I wanted to contribute a nice word for this place. We go here becuase its low key, the food is on par with most other larger chinese resturants in the area, but the price is sooo cheap. I forget if they still do this, but there are a list of entree items on the menu that are $5.50. So you pick 2 or 3 for a party of 3-4 and the bill is less than $20! We had beef brocolli, honey walnut shrimp and peking spare ribs for 3 of us, and i think it could easily feed 4. this is why we come here over and over again. I didnt give it 5 stars because noodle soup dishes seem to be one of of the staple items here, and sometimes the soup is not consistent. But the noodles - i have no complaint, it is always fresh and chewy, not mushy.
Suggestion, dont go here with someone you want to impress, the decor and 'ambiance' if you can even call it that is non existant. ppl come here to eat lunch or dinner then move one with the rest of their day or evening plans.
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I eat here for lunch or dinner. Food is consistently good and cheap. You can easily eat for two for around 12 bucks! I see it as comfort food. My absolute favorite dish is the Rock Cod with Chinese Green (Bok Choy). If you're in the mood for something a little greasier, try the dry fried ribs. Certainlly a treat once in a blue moon. Last night I tried the fried wonton chicken soup recommended by another customer and I was truly satisfied. Lots of old repeat customers. Service is mostly friendly, sometimes a bit pushy, but I never really get put off by that.
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This is my favorite place! My family used to go here all the time before they moved. I LOVE the chicken yee wonton! I can't find it anywhere else and the one time I did it was not nearly as good. I will drive a reasonable distance just for the chicken yee wonton and it's always in a nice big bowl for everyone. The service is not great...one guy that worked there farted in front of my ex-boyfriend. I don't go for the service, I go for the food!
Hello Everyone ! This is a good Chinese Restaurant ! Lots of room, fast service, tasty foods.
this place makes me jizz. not a single or couple place, try to bring more people for family style eating
as someone else noted, the waiters are pretty snappy and speak broken english, but it's cheap and very very tasty. been a customer for over a decade and certainly haven't lost my business.
recommended: wonton soup, sweet and sour pork
Delicious barbecued pork won ton soup. I also love the tomato beef chow mein. It's true the atmosphere there is sort of depressing, and some of the food is a bit too greasy for my liking. I love that soup so much though, and that's why I keep going back.
In the interest of full honesty, I should mention that twice I found some little spider-like bugs in my soup, but the fact that I continue to go back even after that should be a testament to how fucking good that soup is.
Also get the fried won tons with meat inside. Super good!
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Very little atmosphere, but decent chinese food that's affordable. The service was good, and they even let us sit at the table for an hour after we ate so that we could finish our conversation. No bums rush. I really enjoyed the potstickers, the war won ton soup, and the prawns in lobster sauce. I'd go here again, but probably not out of my way. I was on my way to Jade Villa, but they look closed for good.
Oh, also... the waiter sneezed into his hand right before pouring tea for my friend's grandmother :D
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I was practically born and raised at King Wah, we've even had Red Egg & Ginger parties within my fam here growing up. This is the closest home style chinese cooking I can think of offered in a restaurant (that's actually just like grandma's). We still come here every week for family dinners and even order take out occasionaly. It's not a fancy or modern establishment but that's what keeps it so homey and comfy. You don't have to worry about getting stares if your kids or party are getting too loud. Always pretty easy going customers with the familiar fam friends or even members of the OPD and BART police enjoying meals too. They're the only place I know that still serves pressed duck! Our usuals are common chinese dishes: pork hash w/salted fish or salted egg, pressed duck, twiced cooked pork with taro, oxtail, STUFFED CHICKEN WINGS!!! Everyone I have brought here to try the stuffed chicken wings still come back specifically for that dish. After all these years it still puzzles me on how they do it. Jimmy the owner and long time friend of my dad is the best in the kitchen. The family runs this place and they are the sweetest. Haven't really tried the noodle soups or the more americanized dishes but they must be good looking at the reviews.
I'm excited to try this place bc of the ratings. Cheap and good? Yay, I'm down. Yelp has usually been pretty good about ratings, and so I decide to check this place out. I like little hole in the wall type places, and it sounds pretty good.
Maybe I came on an off day. Maybe it does help to be a regular, bc the waitress (looks like 40's with short hair) is straight rude to us. Pushy when we are ordering, and she barks out a " NO" when we asked if a soup comes with wonton.
But when someone she knows walks in, wow, her face cracks into a smile and a " HALLO!!! come come!". What, a greeting and a smile for them? They must be special peoples. Then she plunks down for me a glass with magenta lipstick crusted on the rim. I politely ask for another glass and no apologies, it's whisked away and another glass plonked down as she walks away in silence. daaaang . I'm sorry.
I'm still trying to give this place the benefit of the doubt, so maybe it was just that day that the beef chow fun was overcooked and super salty, and the wings were nasty. Our vegetable dish was, well..limp vegetables with an overenthusiastic dousing of, yes, salt. They brought us the wrong dish two times. So maybe it was just that day the service and food was dismal, or maybe we just didn't know what to order, or maybe that lady was just having a bad day, or, maybe I just won't go there anymore.
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King Wah serves authentic Chinese Village Food...like mom is in the back cooking. The menu has a daily 5 items for $20 SPECIAL that can feed up to 4 people and is highly recommended if you are not a picky eater. Includes complimentary soup too.
Can't go wrong with King Wah. It's cheap. It's tasty. It taste like good ol' home cookin'.
Aside from the fact that we live 4 blocks away and don't have to deal with the parking in Chinatown... I always have to get my order in before that 9pm deadline.
Love the:
War Wonton Soup
Tomato Beef Chow Mein
Beef w/ Green Beans
I never order anything else because those are my favs and I just don't have enough belly room to try anything else.
Oh, and ask for NO MSG... it will make it taste better!
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When I used to work at UCOP, my mom and I would come on our lunch breaks to eat a King Wah, I absolutely loved their Chicken Won Ton soup! I swear I could eat that stuff days in a row it was that good!
My mom and I went there so much we befriended one of the waiters there, a Chinese guy named King(we weren't sure if he was serious, but are we actually going to doubt him?) who was from Costa Rica and could speak to my mom and I in Spanish. I wonder if he's still there as this was a few years ago...
Soooo...we went to Chinatown the other day in search of fresh fish (check the next review) and some other things we may need to move (check the next, next review). Famished, we searched for eateries which MAY offer a vegetarian or fish dish...cos you know, if you're a veggie those trademark ducks & chickens in the windows may turn you off.
So we saunter around looking for a place to get an immediate nutriant fix, and King Wah's menu looked better than the place next door to it.
Surprise! It had the prototypical funky 70's decor you find in alot of established Chinese places, which many times equates to food which has been recycled since the 1970s or earlier. Fortunately, this was not the case with King Wah...I ordered a cod dish which melted in my mouth. The wife broke her vegetarian fast long enough to order duck, which she deemed esquisite, but then felt guilty enough to feed the leftovers to my needy father. Vegetable chow mein on the side, instead of rice.
Yeah! Chow mein: second only to egg foo yung as the most stereotype-ridden of Chinese foods...yet sooo good when prepared properly, as was the case here.
Extra points for the extra-friendly ladies who served us...I think they would've even wiped my bum if I had asked. On our way out I picked up a paper menu, and one lady offered me a religious pamphlet with it. Lucky for her, I just started believing in God again....otherwise I would've been miffed in that dont-condescend-me-Im-too-personally-enlightened, Bay Area sorta way.
Chinese Christian radio....cmon, you know you're curious!
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This hole in the wall place makes me cringe. The decor was hideous, service was rude, and the food was horrible. Usually, you only go to these places when the food deserves a visit. However, in this place, our random picking to explore a new restaurant in Oakland Chinatown failed us. The worst honey prawns I've ever had. For $12, you'd think they can afford some decent size shrimp and serve it to you hot. And my $16, ginger and scallion rockcod tasted pretty unfresh. To top it off, the waitresses starting bickering at each other in public and trying to involve the customers. Sigh... another place I am forever marking off my list.
"Mos def" my favorite Chinese food place in the Bay Area. Maybe I am a bit biased because I have been going here since I was 5 or 6. The same couple own it... they have some of the same wait-staff (don't mind the cranky old waiter...he's always been like that).
My favorites are... Beef Won Ton soup, Chow Fun (add black bean sauce if you are feeling daring), Chow Mein (Hong Kong style if you need something different), and the Mongolian beef. My parents really like a crab dish whose name I can't recall, but I haven't tasted it.
Good food at a good price. And if you eat it there...it's about 5x better than takeout.
there's nothing wrong with the food here, nicely prepared to classic cantonese traditions.
it's just too sallty for my taste.
This little hole in the wall always has a ton of great things to choose from on its menu. The dinner specials are relatively cheap and the staff are pretty friendly. It helps that my family are regulars here, but still...go and try something here. If you go before 5pm, you're guaranteed pretty fast service because the crowds don't pick up until later.
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My family and I have eaten here many times over many years. The food has always been consistantly good. Not expensive, good house chow mein and sweet and sour rock cod!!
This is the best Chinese restaurant ever. My family has been eating at this restaurant for more almost two decades. My dad says that the cook Jim makes food "the old Chinese way." This is really hard to find! It's classic Cantonese style cooking. Order the pork hash with egg, it's the best. However, you will not be disappointed with any order. Even the soup is awesome. The owners, owners' kids and servers are outstanding. I love this place. I hope you will too.
this is my favorite chinese restraunt. the prices have remained the same somehow through the last 10 years. another restraunt that ive continued the tradition with my friends. my family and i used to eat here at least once a week. the specials are a traight deal !!! i'm craving the STUFFED CHICKEN wings as i write this. check it out folks. orker take out for a night in. it's just as good .
this is my hands down fav chinese restaurant.
let me tell you why....
- it's like home cooking, comfort food. EVERY TIME i came home from college i would go to king wah and bring back left overs.
- i love the wah choy, aka the blue plate special of the day on the front page of the menu. its like $15 for 3 dishes incl. soup or $3 more for each add'l dish. there are usually 5 featured dishes.
- fav dish is king wah mon yee won ton. its like fried won ton with sauce (not soup) with veggies, shrimp, chicken, and chau seu. big heaping plate full!
- other fav dishes: green beans and chicken (good sauce, fresh beans, never a bad one) and tomato beef chow mein
- it can be a little greasy but come on, what chinese food isn't?
- ditto rox on consistently good food, we have had many family dinners here over the years
- it must be good and safe, the oak cops are frequent dinners
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YUM is all I gotta say..
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