Angel C.
Yelp
Best Chinese food in Arcadia!
This doesn't really say much as the Chinese food competition in the 626 overall is tight and like my husband, the 626 native says, "almost all regions of China are represented in the 626."
Chang's Garden, specializing in Shanghainese cuisine with some Cantonese stir fries and soups and Taiwanese dishes, has been my husband's family's favorite ever since they opened over 20 years ago. I first visited this restaurant last month with my husband and most of his family. I could tell that my mom/dad-in-law are regulars as a couple servers greeted them loudly! My mother-in-law made reservations. The restaurant looked spacious, bright, and clean! We were served tea and boiled peanuts once we were seated and once we ordered dinner.
Being a large family of regulars and with so many tasty choices, my in-laws ordered in a frenzy, but I was excited! Since we were in a frenzy, I could only happily and quickly take pictures of the food without identifying them. I only found names to dishes weeks after dinner. For seven adults and two kids, we ordered the following dishes, all amazing:
Taiwan's Best Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵)
Madam Sung's Fish Chowder (宋嫂魚羹)
Shanghai Chewy Rice Cake (上海炒年糕)
Fried Crispy Tofu in Spicy Sauce
Signature 8 Treasures Tofu (八珍豆腐)
Some Wood Ear Mushroom Veggie Stirfry
Salty Egg Yolk Fried Bitter Melon (鹹蛋黃炒苦瓜)
My favorites were the fish chowder and Shanghai rice cake. I loved all the dishes except for the bitter melon dish. I don't like bitter melon, period, but according to my in-laws, the salted egg yolk helped mask the melon's bitterness. Servers are attentive, even when cleaning up after parties leave.
As if Chang's Garden needed more reason to be awesome, a future Chi Cha San Chen boba shop will open right next to them. An amazing meal followed by amazing boba? I'm so excited!