CHANG'AN

This is one of the higher-end, formal Chinese restaurants in Orange County that specializes in Shaanxi cuisine. The interior design is impressive, giving the feeling of dining inside a small museum, and the ambience is definitely noteworthy. The service is attentive, although the server had a naturally loud voice that didn’t quite match the refined atmosphere. It’s not his fault—it’s just the way he speaks. The restaurant offers a wide variety of dishes, not limited to Shaanxi cuisine. However, be aware that this isn’t your typical Panda Express with generous portions that fill your box. If you’re dining with more than three people, you’ll need to be quick with your chopsticks before others finish the food, as the portions are not very large. I recommend the salad—it’s excellent. The pickled fish in broth is also quite good. That said, the prices are steep, and you’re primarily paying a premium for the ambience. This is a great choice if you have important business associates in town or if you’re looking to impress a date. Otherwise, it’s more of a once-a-year type of place due to the high price tag.

So glad we found this place in town although we are not living in the area. Besides the roasted duck , there are a lot of good options from the menu. As a classy reservation only restaurant, all dishes are made from scratch with house recipes. Highly recommend the delicacy Sea Cucumber with Millet. Nice texture with house special stock, light seasoning, very healthy. We don’t see this very often in most Asian restaurants. The crispy beef rolls were delicious. The filling was nice and the super crunchy wrap with a lot of roasted sesame seeds was the best part. Stir fried wild Chilies and sliced beef was on the savory side with nice chili peppers kicks. Service was very good and efficient. Nice ambiance with perfect lighting and interior design. Will definitely be back.

A good attempt to make Chinese food more upscale but way too overpriced for what they offer. Service is good and not intrusive. The Peking duck is by far the most popular choice but the tea smoked duck is pretty good as well, with nice handmade buns. Also the Shanghai smoked fish is good. And yes the ambience is very good as well.

Ok food. Miserable portions. Big prices. Cool design. Delicious cocktail. We ordered the Peking duck. We were told over the phone that the duck will feed 4 to 6 people. 4 of us are still hungry after. We tried to order more duck but they didn't have any. They sold us litteral bones for 20 dollars. Which I kind of enjoyed but the rest of us didn't. Waiter did a bad job explaining his menu which was foreign to us. They had a tip jar while serving us the ducks and later, when we didn't tip, because we didn't enjoy our experience, the waiter was very confrontational. The lychee martini was awesome though. Will not come again and will dispute the transaction

The duck is probably the only dish that is worth a try although interior staging really gives you the feeling of a high end restaurant. Other than that, you can probably get the same quality of food at a much cheaper price in most Chinese restaurants, even in Irvine. Smoked duck meat is really special and the best dish of all. The reason I gave two stars for the service was mainly because the waiter kept telling us that what we ordered was not enough for everyone and pushed us to order more. In the end, we couldn't finish all. Also, one of the veggie dishes he recommended was actually soup. But we already had one soup for everyone, why would we need more soup? It's something he could remind us beforehand. I don't mind paying a mandatory 20% tip but the service is really not on par with what it is charged. For around $80/person, I think there are many more better places in the area.

It is a very expensive place to eat. Come here if you want to impress your friends and out of towners. But if you just want good high-end Chinese food, there are much cheaper and better options. Expect to spend $600-700 for 4 without alcohol. Service is ok but for a high-end restaurant, you definitely always feel rushed! The duck is THE dish to order. You have to order in advance when you place the reservation. They put on a show and carve the duck in front of the table. Very easy to make a reservation nowadays since it's not so crowded.

Enjoyed a fantastic lunch with exquisite Shaanxi dishes!!! Love their duck dishes, prepared the traditional way, with a variety of flavors. Incredibly delicious, esp. the smoke duck😋😋😋 Loved their cold noodle dish with brown sesame sauce and short ribs, perfection!!! Lobster and fish were amazing too! A great place to celebrate any special event or just enjoy food and celebrate life🥳

The small bowl on the right is lamb soup, which you pour into the pita bread on the left. This completes the dish of lamb stew with pita. Two of them cost 97 dollars. The worst restaurant.

This is one of the higher-end, formal Chinese restaurants in Orange County that specializes in Shaanxi cuisine. The interior design is impressive, giving the feeling of dining inside a small museum, and the ambience is definitely noteworthy. The service is attentive, although the server had a naturally loud voice that didn't quite match the refined atmosphere. It's not his fault--it's just the way he speaks. The restaurant offers a wide variety of dishes, not limited to Shaanxi cuisine. However, be aware that this isn't your typical Panda Express with generous portions that fill your box. If you're dining with more than three people, you'll need to be quick with your chopsticks before others finish the food, as the portions are not very large. I recommend the salad--it's excellent. The pickled fish in broth is also quite good. That said, the prices are steep, and you're primarily paying a premium for the ambience. This is a great choice if you have important business associates in town or if you're looking to impress a date. Otherwise, it's more of a once-a-year type of place due to the high price tag.

This place is definitely a break the bank restaurant or a special occasion place unless you're balling. All the entrees are around $40+. We came here for the flaming duck (must make a reservation for it) which is roughly $140. This itself was pretty worth it imo. They light the entire duck on fire for you then they cut it into bite size pieces. They cut half and then they smoke the other half which i thought was really good! Other entrees we ordered crispy squab - 1/5, pretty lackluster compared to the duck. $50 for 1 squab, bits of it were dry. never again. charcoal tofu - 3/5 pretty good but it's just fried tofu that they made black duck wonton soup- 2/5 - soup itself was bland and could only taste the cilantro, the duck wontons were good though green chili chicken w/ hand pulled noodles 4/5 - worth getting again. Good spice on the entree and the noodles had a great que que to it. spicy chicken cubes 3/5 - probably one of the best i've had, the chicken cubes were a lot longer/bigger, but for the price it was not double the quality of other restaurant versions of this. The service was hit and miss during the night. I flagged down two people to order and then right around when our duck was going to be served someone came to take our order. Towards the end of the night it got better and they took our dishes away to box it up for us.

當你走不出去， 家是你的世界，當你踏出去時， 世界就是你的家， 人呀就是需要折騰， 一等二看三落空，樹葉的方向風決定，但你的方向，是自己決定～ 這家非常有名的烤鴨店，三年前來過，也分享過，記得當時有網友上來說他家的裝潢其實是花600 萬美金， 我記得第一次走進去時也是哇哇哇，很美的地方，有機會再來拜訪，當然一定要吃他家的烤鴨，烤鴨需先預訂，鴨子是真的有水準， 好吃，也好香，除了在一旁表演火焰之外， 還有另外一盤是有熏香的，其他菜色我喜歡美女點的牛排， 味道超讚， 做的很棒， 還有最後他們送我們的甜點靖糕，非常有水準， 至於酸辣湯， 對我而言太酸了點， 厚片牛舌，用炸的， 有點可惜， 蝦子跟大豆苗倒是不錯，感謝我大方的美女好友帶我來嚐美食，分享給大家！

Made a reservation once week in advance for 4 people and to reserve 1 Peking duck. With plenty of parking as the restaurant is in a plaza with other stores and restaurants. The restaurant décor is very decadent and majestic. A little romantic ambiance, with white table cloth, etc. The Peking Duck arrived shortly after we got seated and we watched the chef cut the duck and the visuals were entertaining. The duck was very pricy at about $140 for a duck. This restaurant itself is on the pricier side because of the atmosphere and the offerings but I personally think it is overly priced with the portion and taste. The duck was ok, it wasn't the best duck I have ever eaten. It lacked other seasoning to take the duck to the next level.

If you would like a show with your peking duck this is the place, the duck was set on fire! But you need to make sure you call in advance and prebook it, you cannot order it on the spot. The peking duck is Beijing style not Taiwan style that a lot of places in America do. It comes with a few steps, first you watch the chef prepare the duck for you and you eat it normally with all the additives, cucumbers, green onions and sauce. You can always ask for more too. Then they smoke some of them, which had an apple wood flavor, I personally like the unsmoked version though. After that they will take the rest of the duck and prepare another dish with the leftovers. It is definitely on the pricer side but it is hard to find peking duck that is actual Beijing style with the small crepes and not the buns. That all said if you just want normal chinese food there are cheaper places with just as good or better food.

I took my girlfriend here for her birthday dinner. I had initially saw mixed reviews, but decided to come here still due to the decor and presentation. I'd have to say, food presentation and ambiance of the restaurant is 10/10. Service is fast and the waiters were attentive. While the food is good, for the price it could have been better. The best part of the dinner was the roast duck. The order of duck comes a whole show. The cutter starts off by setting the duck a blaze, then cuts the duck into two plates. One of the plates is then smoked. The duck was good but you can get better in Rowland heights although it won't come with a whole show. We also ordered the lychee shrimp. The dish comes with fried lychee and shrimp. The lychee provides a unique pleasant play on a sweet and sour flavor. However the dish is quite small for almost $40. We finished with dessert where we ordered, 'I am peach'. It comes out with dry ice flowing out. It's a gorgeous sight for this gorgeously crafted dessert. However the taste and texture of it wasn't quite as good. The peach dessert is supposed to filled with mousse, but the mousse was firm and jello like.

True 5 star experience!!! This place was such a treat. Pretty pricy but definitely worth it if you get the duck show!!! I felt like got transported to ancient China as royalty! Even the tea was phenomenal I can't have enough of it. The vegetables were ok but yeah the duck is definitely the star of the show here!

I have just dined here for the third time in 2 months and decided the restaurant truly deserves my 5 star review. Chang'an is a low key fine dining Chinese restaurant tucked unassumingly in the back of French-inspired Plaza Lafayette. It is so low key I must have driven by a million times and missed its signage along Newport Blvd. I typically avoid larger scale Chinese restaurants my experience were mostly of smells I'm not fond of and loud patrons in shorts and flip flops screaming over each other in conversations. So I am pleasantly surprised by this gem of a place. Prior to dining here, I was told their menu is overpriced for a Chinese restaurant. Yes, it's true when one wants to compare with the likes of xxx garden/city/harbor where servers bring you ice water with their fingers dipped into the filled glasses or they shout orders to their colleagues on the other end of the restaurant. Chang'an is so quiet it is music to my ears. The interior design and decor definitely sets the tone here. From the traditional Chinese lattice windows hanging from the high ceiling and as room dividers, warm lighting over dining tables set with crisp white table linens and sparkling wine glasses, modern style Quanyi chairs and generous booth seats with silk cushions, and plentiful intimate tables for two, this establishment blew me away. And the fact that it is located in Tustin is my icing on the cake. Sure there are typical big round tables with glass lazy Susans that can seat 8 or more, they are few and strategically placed and not make up the entire restaurant floor like all other Chinese restaurants who just want to herd you through your meals. The terracotta and porcelain artifacts used as decor are interesting and not overdone, hence give off the "museum" vibe many commented. I must add the restaurant's entrance with its height lays the groundwork, not to mention the elegant foyer that greets you when you come through the doors and through the magnificently hand carved traditional wooden gate. The offerings on its 8 page menu is so extensive and some quite exquisite, anyone will find something enticing. Then there's the Peking duck, don't get me started but it's what my dreams are made of as a duck gastronome. From my three visits with family and group of friends, I have sampled a good portion of the menu. The prices are definitely not your typical China Gate or Happy Harbor prices but this restaurant isn't typical. Chang'an does not bring to your table a platter of chow mein spilling over nor chewy stir fried beef on a hot plate or bitter jasmine tea with tea leaves afloat in a chipped grimy porcelain teacup. By the way, their flavored teas start at $28 but it will be the most zestful Chinese teas you've ever had. I would gladly afford the distinctive quality here. Although I must say that some dishes like Mapo tofu can certainly use a makeover in its presentation; although very delectable, it lacks luster in a generic soup pot. The service team deserves mention with their elevated serving style, communication and are frequently checking on you. I hope this place stays classy because I plan to make it my go-to Chinese restaurant in OC.

Service was phenomenal. Don't remember the last time I was in a restaurant where the service was super attentive but also incognito as well. One of the nicest restaurants in terms of ambiance. Very much a good date restaurant with upscale vibes. Food was very tasty and the spice levels were just right. The rack of lamb was super tender and fall off the bone. The crust added a nice crunchy texture. Duck was nice and crispy on the outside and super juicy on the inside. Not sure if the flambé is for show or also for added flavor profile. Smoked duck was also very aromatic with every bite. Beef tongue was super tender to the point where it's amazing it even kept its shape.

Saturday dinner at 7 pm - Roasted duck, matsutake duck wonton soup, crispy beef tongue, spicy stir-field wild mushroom morels with Shanghai's bok-choy, chang'an gourd chicken, shanxi special sour chili biang biang noodles, peppercorn and tangerine peel ice cream, peach green tea Service: super attentive and excellent customer service Ambiance: modern luxury decor, love all the settings except the table was way too small, and the male restroom needs to improve the hygiene especially area around the urinals. Price: pricy Food quality: the duck was excellent, so in loved the duck meat with smoke infuse. The crispy beef tongue and the mushroom morels veggie dishes were phenomenal. In addition, the steam rice, and the ice cream brought me a next level of surprises in Chinese food. Dislike: I will skip the gourd chicken, the wonton soup and the biang biang noodles. The seasoning of the chicken and the noodles may not strong enough to satisfy my taste buds, and the soup was serving in lukewarm, that's extremely unacceptable. Due to the price point, I have a high expectations for this adventure in terms of food quality, service, ambiance and all the minor details. Except some minor issues, it's still a great dining experience. Will come back for other dishes.

Our family has been here for every major Chinese holiday. Of course, that includes the Lunar New Year which we celebrated on 2/1 (Sat) dinner. The food is as usual. Decent but not memorable. However, the service was subpar. With a family of four, we spent ~$550 there. With this much money spent, I expect excellent service esp this is what the restaurant advertised for! Tonight, the server constantly kept us waiting. And, there was no one to refill our water or tea. We only had the cup that was given to us at the beginning of the meal. But after we drank it, that was it! Empty cup for the rest of the night. We had to call our server multiple times to get our needs met. For a restaurant that advertised itself as high end formal dining, it should train its servers up to the standard. Also, btw this is Lunar new year. And traditionally, in Chinese culture, we'd eat red bean rice cake. BUT, the server did NOT warn us that it'd take 30 min to make it, so we must order ahead. So, we ended up cancelling the order and not eating it. The service is really not up to standard. Please please train your serve to at least match your pricing and ambience. I didn't even bother to take a picture of the food tonight due to the poor service along with hard to find server.

So there seems to be a lot of varying reviews here, but I would say that as OC residents, we are lucky to have an upscale Chinese restaurant like Chang'an here in our backyard. It's worth noting that there are also two other locations in Vancouver and in San Gabriel - two cities known for their Chinese food. I'd rather not have to drive over an hour to the SGV to go to a similar restaurant. That aside, I'll start off by saying what is hopefully obvious - this is not your ordinary Chinese restaurant. They're trying to elevate every item on the menu, but still staying within arm's length of tradition. Onto the review though, we had a phenomenal experience for a large group on a Saturday night. Reservation process: I worked with Lin to make our large group reservation and he was professional, patient, accommodating and not pushy at all while I took a few days to decide. My wife and I stopped by the restaurant a week beforehand - Lin gave us a tour and showed us all of the potential spaces where we could have our group seated - both the private rooms and the specific areas in the various dining rooms. Ambiance: The owners spared no expense on this buildout. The restaurant is dimly lit, with traditional Chinese interior design. It feels upscale, but still relaxed. While we had our own room, I would say that the dining room was not overly loud. Sure, there might've been a group or two celebrating and having a good time, but nothing out of hand or out of the ordinary.. Service: Lin also served as the lead server for the evening and he had a dedicated team for our group. He elevated our experience in many ways, from his honest opinions about which items to order to sharing the background of everything from the origins of the tea to details of the multi-day preparation process for items like the roasted duck and the roasted beef short rib (both of which I'd highly recommend). And about the chrysanthemum tea, yes, it was $28, but it's some of the best tea you'll ever taste - no hyperbole. Lin can give you the background and the origins behind that, too. The staff must have refilled our tea 10+ times. Totally worth it. Food: Lin guided us on what to order and also ensured that we didn't over-order any specific dishes, which we really appreciated. We ended up ordering a lot of the popular items, and we also opted for 3 seafood specials of the night. Of course, they brought the live seafood to show us before cooking it. Here's what we ended up ordering: 1) Chang'an Roasted Duck - the duck is prepared 2 different ways and you get a wonton soup. 2) Cold Dressed Okra with house special sauce 3) Crispy Beef Tongue 4) Roasted Beef Short Rib 5) Australian Lobster prepared in the house special fried chili style (seafood special) - you get 2 dishes from this, the 2nd one being a lobster fried rice. 6) Spot Prawns prepared steamed with the house sauce (seafood special) 7) Thornyhead Grouper (seafood special) 8) King Mushroom casserole 9) Crispy Black Tofu with house special sauce 10) Chef Selection Japanese Wagyu Fried Rice 1Seasonal Vegetables We didn't order any dessert items because we brought our own cake, but wouldn't hesitate to try some next time. Our party enjoyed EVERY single dish. OK, maybe the seasonal vegetables were ordinary, but we were just trying to get our veggies in. Everything was delicious, presented beautifully and not greasy/oily at all. I think the standouts were the Australian Lobster, Spot Prawns, Thornyhead Grouper, Beef Short Rib and Crispy Beef Tongue. Summary: If you can appreciate fine Chinese food and are willing to pay a different price point, you'll be rewarded with a memorable dining experience. It's worth bringing a large group here for special occasions, but also great if you just want to treat a smaller group to a nicer meal. It deserves to be mentioned as one of the best restaurants in the OC.

Awesome service , and amazing food . We always wanted to come and try this place . Thanks Ted for your wonderful service, we will definitely come back .

We had company dinner a few weeks ago, and had a really good time! The food was amazing, and our waiter 'Lin' was phenomenal! He was very attentive and kind enough to explain thoroughly about how the food was made and related histories. The private room was so pretty and modern. The most of all, food was so great!

The hype is true about this joint. I am really impressed by their oriental interior. However just remember there's like a $100 duck waiting for you there. The crepes accompanied with the duck is rare as well as the fresh garnishes. The cutlery presentation as well as induction presentation needed more personality but the taste and quality is revered in the plate itself. It might leave you hungry cause it's that good.

As an avid Peking duck enjoyer, I found the experience of dining here to be sublime and a highly necessary experience for any duck enthusiast. The duck they serve is like the wagyu of duck. It was large and plump, perfectly roasted such that the skin was glossy smooth and shatteringly crisp, like the hardened sugar on top of a crème brûlée. Unlike standard roasted ducks, the texture of the skin was entirely even, delicately thin, and not lined with a thick layer of solid rubbery fat-- the fat was beautifully marbled throughout the meat and rendered into the flesh, permeating every piece with rich, melty duck goodness. Yet nothing about it was overly greasy or unctuous. Every piece of the meat itself was uniformly tender and juicy. The waiter took his time extracting every single shard of meat from the duck and presenting it in carefully arranged piles. Half of the meat was meticulously carved into delicate thin slices, while the other half was carved and then smoked in an interesting contraption that imbued the meat with smoky flavor. Certainly a spectacle to behold. The presentation of every dish, the dining accoutrements, and the decorations of the restaurant were all exquisite. The interior was dark and highly atmospheric, resembling a museum displaying artifacts from ancient China's grandest imperial eras. I really loved everything about this restaurant and want to go again (when I save up enough to afford it).

My first time trying Roasted Duck here . So good & tasty , great service , the restaurant is nice clean , beautiful to relax and enjoy food in the same time. Will come back with more friends soon :)

From reading the previous reviews, it seems like there are a lot of people who came to this restaurant without being able to afford this restaurant. That's a shame...

Waiter yelled at my 2 year old daughter for crying during dinner, tried to explain to a crying toddler who can't speak yet that other patrons were trying to eat. Lol. On our way out he told her "don't cry next time." Funny he thinks we'll be back. Food wasn't too bad. Meats were all pretty solid. Bit overpriced and could've been overlooked if service was good.

Highly recommend this place for fine dining experience! Made reservation for Friday dinner. Phone picked up quickly by hostess with nice greetings and confirmed our flavors profiles. Ordered Surf Clam with Green Sichuan Pepper as a starter, it was so delicious, perfect to go with any light wines or cocktails here. And they have a great wine list! They made my customized drink good as requested . Then a light delicacy dish Sea Cucumber with Millet, can't find it anywhere else. Beautiful textured millet with house special stock, very clean and subtle. Sea cucumber was so juicy and bouncy . Main dishes were Stir fried wild chilies and sliced beef, Deep fried eggplant with Spicy Sweet and Sour Sauce. The beef was perfectly prepared with crunchy cilantro and different kinds of chilis. The eggplant was also amazing with light and crispy coating made from scratch, good balance of sweet and sour along with hints of garlic. Finished the meal with made to order red bean cake. It took a while but came out great! Super cute, crispy ,not too sweet but with a few drops of raw honey on the plate. Best dessert ever had in town. Attentive service all along and packed our food with care. A classy upscale restaurant with good food, wines and great service!

I came to taste some new dishes today, and they were all delicious. The interior decoration of the restaurant maintains a simple Chinese style. I like the environment and atmosphere here very much. The waiters are also very friendly and will always help during the meal. I will come back again.

Would not recommend this place for young ones or the elderly, it is not very accessible or safe. I brought my 91 year old grandma here for a special dinner. She is not as mobile as she used to be. While walking in, the aisle to our table was very narrow since there were empty foldable table stands left out. Three servers watched as I supported my grandma toward the table and did not try to make room for us or get out of the way themselves. While bringing large, hot dishes out to our table, they repeatedly served over my grandma's shoulder. We deliberately sat on the side of the table, away from the aisle so it did not make sense for them to come around and serve dishes on her side. She enjoyed the food, particularly pointing out how tender the short rib was, but I was disappointed at the service we received for the price we were paying.

Ok, maybe a bit harsh, but this was a rather strange experience. Visiting friends and family in the area, we were on the hunt for good Peking Duck. This place looked really amazing. It's rather upscale, but they were pleasant even though we were not very dressy. Elegant, dark decor, creates a hushed environment, kind of the opposite of most "duck houses" of my experience. The duck must be preordered and when we were seated, we were told it would be another 30 minutes before it was ready. We ordered beers, no drafts. We went to order the dumplings, but they are not offered, so the waiter suggested potstickers, which we ordered. As we waited for water, needed to ask a few times, they brought an interesting app of bread, a red sauce, ?fremented bean paste?, and a three tiny bowls things, one, fermented beans, the others, something pickled? We added the eggplant and string beans. Lo and behold, the duck arrived, the table side flame was brief, but more than likely helped make it crisp. The chef first carves a plate of skin. That is presented with a bowl of sugar for dipping. Very crispy and flavorful, but very rich with the duck fat. Second plate, skin and meat. The pancakes were in a steamer, thin, a bit stuck, but didn't tear. Sauce, plum, onions, cucumber, and pear slivers. The last two helped deal with the rice duck fat. The server then smoked another pile of duck and skin, kind of like a fancy cocktail. The meat and skin and stuff, was nice, but very rich. And I think my partner was grumpy that the duck alone was $118. The potstickers showed, a tray of think little, dumplings about the size of a finger. Decent. The string bean and eggplant was a small dish, eggplant was little fried sticks. Decent, but not super spicy. No rice just shows up. I guess we were unprepared, but it was not really worth the coin. Lots of pretty decor and ducks everywhere, but an odd experience. (Ok, let's see if I get another random "Oh no" from "Joe T.")

Drinks: JingWei Fu Tea - Drank 4 cups of this as we paid $28 for the pot and I wasn't going to let that go to waste. Was it worth it? Probably not Lychee Lemonade - Super tasty, just not a fan of how expensive non-alcoholic drinks are (not just here but everywhere) Appetizers: Crispy Beef Tongue - I really enjoyed this as it was a unique preparation of beef tongue I hadn't had before. The breading was really tasty and light Honey Grapefruit Spare Ribs - Didn't really taste the grapefruit. Was a good dish, but eventually became too sweet. It sat unfinished at our table for a while Vegetables: Stir Fried Green Bean w/ Eggplant - Probably one of my favorite vegetable dishes of all time. One of our friends noted that this is one of those times where it's not that I don't like eggplant, it's that it was never cooked properly. This really set a bar. Spicy Stir-Fried Wild Mushroom Morels w/ Shanghai Bok Choy - Was okay, not my favorite. Wouldn't recommend getting. Entrees: Roasted Duck - We did the reservation for table service. Value wise, I think the show + the two ways it was prepped was definitely worth it. They do a cherrywood smoke infusion for half the duck slices. I prefer the traditional, but all the BBQ lovers at our table preferred the cherrywood. Both were v tasty. Pan Fried American Wagyu w/ House Special Sauce - This was an okay dish, it came out cooked medium to medium-well. American Wagyu is never anything to write home about. Sea Bass w/ Chili in Stone Pot - A unique and tasty dish. Quickly devoured by our table. They have a 2 hour limit, we came in at 5pm on a Saturday and they pushed us out at 7pm even though the entire restaurant was empty. We had to down our drinks and leave. The food was good, but overall $600+ for 5 people wasn't worthwhile. The table side duck was really good, and some items were unique, but the price tag couldn't be justified.

Bad service I feel unhappy about the service, we haven't finished eating yet but the waiters want to clean up, feel uncomfortable, and stand looking at us, don't feel happy

"You can take the rat out of Hong Kong, but you can't take the Hong Kong out of the rat" If you've got some disposable income, and want to see a really nicely decorated restaurant, some cool electronic name tags, and a burning duck show, then Chang'an is the place to be. Otherwise, there's an abundance of service and attention given to your table, but at times it is awkward and there are some missteps. For example, taking away the drink menu before I've decided to order, leaving finished dishes on the table, and not re-folding napkins when we rise to go to the bathroom (yes, you better believe this is standard expectation at these prices). There were a few items that looked really good, but after $118 on the Duck, I just couldn't do $38 on crispy beef tongue, or Mapo Tofu $32, or ghost pepper fried rice $48. We regretted ordering the Sea Bass with chili in stone pot for $78... it was good - an amazing array of mainly sweet and sour flavors, but the volume of fish was low to justify that charge. The burning duck - Must order in advance! A dedicated chef appears from the kitchen to pour rice wine over then light the fuse for a three second spectacle. It looks cool, and then the chef guy meticulously carves small slices on two plates. We wrap the duck into small rice paper tortillas, scoop on oyster sauce, add leeks, small slivers of celery and pear and voila! a very delicious mini duck roll. I ended up eating four of these. On the second duck plate, they cover it with a cylindrical glass cover, then influse in smoke for an edgier, less gamey flavor. Interesting. Hot Tip: The server asked us whether we would like the duck carcass to be used for bone broth won ton soup, or for something else on rice. An option to not have either wasn't really articulated so we presumed that this was part of the duck show. Upon receiving the bill we realized that a polite nod costed us another $26. Truffle Crystal Prawns with hand made noodles A low flavor dish with noodles that are more sticky and limp than you would expect for a hand-made dish. Truffle is a little imperceptible and overal taste sensations have to search hard for anything strong. Chang Braised Beef thin noodle soup The noodles are thin, but medium wide and beef is tender and falls apart easily. I liked this dish but was getting bloated at the same time. Sauteed Celery with Dried Shredded Tofu Nothing too special by palate or presentation. I've definitely tasted deeper flavors for this combo. Durian special Like a white mousse, topped with exactly three raspberries. Durians not for me, but the flavor is quite subtle so if you're ever going to try this stinky fruit, this may be your best chance. I'm very certain not ever coming back here, well, if someone else foots the bill then okay, ummm.... That's all...

I finally got around to trying Chang'an and was very pleasantly surprised. The food, service, ambiance were all incredible. Yes, it's expensive compared to at typical Chinese food restaurant but this isn't a typical Chinese restaurant. Definitely worth a shot and definitely have to get the duck (which you have to preorder)

Do you love it when restaurant staff treat you like royalty? How about savoring a meal that's visually beautiful? Prefer quality over quantity? Or perhaps you cherish a quiet walk on the beach, savoring a peaceful moment to yourself? If your wallet's not on a diet, then keep reading. Prepare to redefine your perception of Asian dining--think classy, respectful, and oh-so-polite. This isn't your typical Chinese dim sum joint with free rice or $2 bowls, where the staff sounds like they're auditioning for a shouting contest or perfecting the art of dish tossing. Welcome to first class dining, where you'll be treated like a VIP, even if you stroll in wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Oh, and I wasn't so thirsty or sleepy at the end.

Came here with family to celebrate Lunar New Year. We were a large party and had reservations. Great service, we had a few servers for our table and they were all very attentive and also patient with the young ones in our party. I've had the duck before and it is just as good as I remembered. The kids enjoyed the short fire show. We ordered a lot of dishes and they were not bad, and the flavors were good, but they could have cut back on the salt and sauces on most of them. The only dishes that were not too salty were the veggies, wagu, duck, vegetable fried rice and steamed fish. The lobster was good but also too salty. The steamed snapper was supposed to be live and it was the most expensive dish of the night costing over 1/3 of the entire bill, but my dad who has eaten a lot of steamed fish in Asia says the fish tasted frozen. I did think the fish tasted a bit fishy even before my dad's comment. It is a bit hard to find dishes for young kids here. There aren't any relativity plain dishes for kids other than the vegetable fried rice. The kids also liked to eat the plain pancake wraps meant for the duck. All in all we had a mainly enjoyable dinner but it was definitely not worth the extreme price tag. I think I would come back for the duck only.

Strong points for this place are their Beijing duck and their service. You get the combination of the two when the duck is presented tableside: torched to finish off the preparation of the duck with the first plate served with just the crispy skin of the duck, and subsequent plates served of the meat with the skin on. The accompaniments (celery, cucumber, scallions, hoi sin sauce) and pancakes are served with the duck. Since they have this policy of only 1 duck per table, it is best to have no more than 6 at your table so that each person can get ample duck to enjoy. It is one of the best Beijing ducks you can get in the LA/OC. The other dishes were good but not amazing, with the exception of the noodle dish. That one was quite tasty. The service here was excellent, probably the best I've ever experienced at any Chinese restaurant in all of Southern California. If you ever wanted a fine dining experience from a Chinese restaurant, then this one would be it. Our bill came out to $175.00 per person, which included tax and 25% gratuity. Pricey. For us, it won't be a place to dine at on a regular basis, but for special occasions, definitely.

The duck was really good and I had the best sea cucumber ever! But I felt bad for the koi. :(

Bad service, forcing me to eat and finish the plates so they can clean up. Rushing dinner time with my family. 2/4 people at my table threw up from the food..don't know what you guys have in your food. 2/10 , experience servers are very loud with no manners/class

Very great experience at Chang'an! Good quality food and environment, creative dishes. Duck needs reservation but definitely worth it!! Also the golden soup taste very nice, spicy and sour flavored perfectly. Also great for dating / welcoming guest, space is quiet and pretty enough. Would come again!!

Price is exorbitant for peking duck. Many other options elsewhere so won't be coming back. Duck was only mediocre. 2nd half of duck where they smoked it was tasty. Duck Wrapper was good. Lychee prawn was 4 stars. Mapo tofu with fish miao was mediocre. Cold noodles with peanut sauce was good. 4 stars. Review written by husband.

This was a higher-end dining for Chinese cuisine that I don't normally experience much. Chinese fine dining has definitely achieved and taken on the new wave in asian cuisine. Usually we're all used to luxury dining from Japanese or some type of French-mixed fusion. I definitely understood why their location is San Gabriel didn't stand a chance compared to this location. Typically, when you're in a predominant asian area, people aren't willing to spend that type of money on Chinese food when there's a Sam Woo down the street or a Newport Seafood because typically people eat Chinese food for their lower price point. Being in LA, a lot of new flavors has been popping up and everyone has been tryna dip their toes into integrating more Asian flavors into traditional American comfort foods. This is not the case here. Now.. back to the food. I recommend taking your in-laws or family to this place and trust, they won't be disappointed. Originally when I came I was expecting more of a Hong Kong or Shanghai type of meals, but that's my fault for not looking into the restaurant before heading there. If you're a fan of Sichuan flavors, you'll definitely enjoy this place. They don't hold back on that, "mala", which is numbing spice. By the end of the meal, I could barely feel my tongue. The food was all great! They were able to balance the oil ratio properly, so I didn't have that greasy feeling after the meal. My favorite part was the roasted duck and what I believe was sea bass in stone pot. Now that's something. The duck is mandatory, but you have to call in prior to reserve one. They serve it to you as they carve it and another version of them smoking it. It was a nice dinner and show when they lit that duck on fire. They serve you the crunchy duck skin with brown sugar to get you salivating. It's a tease for sure. Then the sliced duck meat. Brought with the wrap and cucumber, hoisin, sliced scallions and pear as condiments to complement your mini Asian duck tacos. I just rolled it up like little egg rolls.

***** for Ambience ** food ** service * value We were pretty excited to come here. The idea of an upscale Chinese restaurant was exciting. And walking in was really encouraging. The restaurant decor was upscale, not your typical Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was busy too. All indications looked good. We rsvp'd the duck as recommended. But it was all downhill from there. Food was... just not good at all. We ordered several dishes and maybe 1 was decent. A lot of it went untouched because it just wasn't good. We were actually wishing we had gone to capital seafood or Panda Express during the meal. The prices were insanse. A pot of tea, min $24. Soda, $5. Bowl of soup min $20. We were willing to try though because we were so excited when we walked in. I'll pay $$$$ if the food is worth it. The service was not what you'd expect for a restaurant where entrees cost on average of $60+. We skipped our favorite part of the meal, dessert because the entire meal was so bad we didn't have any confidence in the dessert menu. The duck presentation was just that, a presentation. I've had better duck at every other Chinese restaurant in socal. Dinner for 8 with tip (2 adult drinks) came out to $1000. I looked around our table and half their plates or more were untouched. Won't come back here again.

If you would like to order the duck/side service duck you must order a day ahead/make reservations. The duck is $118 and it's a good amount. A whole duck was a decent amount for 11 people at our table to share. I think maybe a whole duck would be good for 8 people of course along with other dishes. The duck comes with pancake wrappers, cucumbers, scallions, and duck sauce. The duck table service put on a show for us! Lighting up the duck on fire in front of us and smoking the duck. So you get roasted duck and smoked duck to eat. I thought it was kind of "interesting" that the table service worker had a tip jar, being in a classy upscale restaurant it felt out of place. I hope some of the tip we give on the bill goes over to him. The duck is definitely a must get when coming here, very tender! We ordered multiple dishes as well, such as the crispy beef tongue, vegetable dumplings, prawns and lychee stir fry, Crispy fried chicken fillets, pan fried American wagyu, and tofu soup. Besides the duck I would recommend crispy beef tongue! Juicy and tender! And the lychee prawns! Only because the fried lychee covered in batter and house sauce was so unique and tasty! I would not recommend the crispy chicken fillets, it is mainly batter, fried chicken skin, very little meat. It is also super spicy and will leave your tongue tingling! I also wouldn't recommended the tofu soup, this one was also super spicy and left your tongue feeling itchy. The prices here are definitely on the high end, but the service, presentation, and dishes are pretty good!

I really wanted to love this place! The food is amazing but the service is TERRIBLE! We were sat next to the service door where you could hear everything even the waiter I had was yelling at someone and it was definitely not appropriate. Our waiter also placed the wrong orders for us we ordered the lamb belly and the lamb rack came out we ordered vegetable dumplings the pork dumplings came out and I don't eat pork. I still tipped well because other waiters were food runners helped make it better but our waiter was terrible he should NOT BE A WAITER!

Food Not as good as what we expected, service feel they don't love their job. Environment is ok, space is tight. One sentence to conclude, they charge for Michelin 3 stars price but their servers don't get paid as high so they don't have that passion. Lastly they force you for 18% to 20% tips. Be aware.

I came here to celebrate my birthday and the first thing that cannot be denied is that the space here is very beautiful and cozy. But the food is really not worth what we have to spend. And be careful that if you don't tip 15% or 20%, they will come and ask for more tips. That's what I feel very dissatisfied with. They does not serve well enough to ask for more tips. Will never came back ^^

went here for my moms birthday dinner! called and made a reservation the day of, & upon calling they ask if you want to reserve a pecking duck. reservation was at 7:30, pecking duck was set to be served at 7:45! i would recommend this place for special occasions as it is very pricey! the food was pretty good but i don't think it's be something i'd recommend to friends and family unless they wanted basically a fine dining Chinese restaurant experience. the service was great tho - they served and would refill our teas whenever they saw that the cup was empty. you're definitely paying for the ambience and the representation of some dishes. we did order alot of dishes, but i wish they came out faster just cause they served us our fried rice last and by that time we were too stuffed, the fried rice dishes would've been nice to have with the other dishes we ordered as it would have complimented each other well. - sweet & sour lychee prawns - sautéed long bean and eggplant - wagyu fried rice - ghost pepper fried rice - chef selection wagyu - american style wagyu with black garlic - matsutake mushroom & fish mok soup - chilean sea bass filet - braised beef and thin noodle soup - roasted duck pecking duck - wonton duck soup - long island strawberry green tea - lychee lemonade - passion mango green tea

The service we received was quite disappointing. We had two tables and ordered two ducks along with several other dishes. The servers were unfriendly and rushed us to finish our meals. They brought the check out far too early, yet despite this, I still tipped 25% on a total bill exceeding $1000. It is crucial for the manager to address these issues and provide training for employees to ensure they treat customers with kindness and create a more comfortable dining atmosphere.

We booked a room for a party of 10. It was a minimum spend of $150/person & for a party of 10, they still stick to their 1 duck per table policy. Unfortunately, I didn't think the duck was that great except for you get to see it light on fire! I think Ji Rong and Duck House in SGV are probably better options. We got to try a lot of dishes to hit the minimum $1,500 spend. I would say nothing was really impressive except the potstickers were fried with a great crispy skin. I don't think I'll be revisiting this spot. Save your wallet & go to another restaurant instead.

Overall experience was good, but expected better and consistent service from such a pricey restaurant. Came tonight to celebrate my daughter's 18th birthday. Kids liked most of the dishes except the squid-squid was too chewy. Mutton dumplings a little too salty. The duck was fabulously as well as the sea bass. We also ordered rice but they forgot and brought it out pretty late into the meal. I thought the restaurant would have done a little bowl of noodles or something for her since it was her birthday and they asked what was the occasion. Ambience good though. Not sure if we'll return given the high price .

Went here for my birthday, and they did not disappoint! We ordered ahead the Peking Duck and it was so worth it! The chef lit the duck on fire and then cut pieces for us to eat. The skin was amazing and melted in your mouth like butter. We also ordered this black tofu, which was delicious! They gave me a complimentary noodle soup for my birthday and the noodles were so chewy and the soup tasted amazing! The service was very good, all of the servers kindly answered any questions we had. Would definitely come again for a special dinner!

Omg the best duck ever! So succulent and mouth watering flavor! Excellent service and tea. I highly recommend the short rib its so very tender. Beautiful ambiance and excellent service!

Amazing food and great ambiance! We ordered the duck ahead of time and it was so good. Service was great as well, our server was super sweet.

Chang'An's environment and ambience has always been excellent, one of the best among Chinese restaurants nearby. In the past, besides the Peking duck (its claim to fame), all other dishes were pretty awful. Our recent trip had this all changed. Besides the duck, which was excellent as always, we also ordered stir fry beef with wild pepper and pork rib. Both were very good. The stir fried beef was so good that we asked for a 2nd serving. We also ordered two deserts, picture attached. Both were very tasty. For drinks, we ordered rose black tea, which was refillable, and 2 beers. The total bill was about $360 for 4 people, tips not included.

Been craving Peking duck and was referred to this place by a colleague but my experience was not as pleasant. To start off, all Peking duck will need a reservation in advance which can be made by calling the restaurant directly. It's a plus if you can speak Mandarin. The restaurant will then send you a text the day of the reservation to confirm. We were seated immediately when we got there. The restaurant is pretty spacious. They have a common dining area and then there's a separate side for private dining/ events. We ordered the Peking duck which was our main entree which entails the crisply skin, duck meat thinly sliced into small pieces, served with pancakes wraps, scallions, cucumber and hoisin sauce. The duck it self was good but I was reading other reviews and noted that each whole duck serves about 8-11 people. It was only me and my bf and we noticed that only half of the duck meat was served and the restaurant told us that the other half of the duck was made into duck soup. When They brought out our soups, we only got two small bowls of soup that barely had any duck meat in it. We even asked the server what happened to the rest of our duck but he just smile. For the price that we paid, we were hoping to receive exceptional service. We didn't feel like this was good business ethics. Expect to spend a couple hundred here for a full course of Peking duck. Besides the duck, the service was okay though. The server were pretty nice