China Cafe (Iliff)

This Northeastern Chinese restaurant is truly authentic and delicious! My husband is from Northeast China, and even he gave it his stamp of approval. The Guo Bao Rou is the real deal—sweet and savory just like it should be. The sesame sauce noodles (麻酱拉皮) and the sauerkraut in the pork and pickled cabbage hotpot are very authentic too. The stir-fried green peppers with dry tofu was especially tasty, and the lamb offal soup was incredibly fresh. I loved how the eggplant in the minced pork and eggplant dish was peeled—it made it so flavorful and tender. The owner is also very warm and welcoming, it felt like meeting family. She even gave our dog a big bone, which was such a sweet touch! 🐶💖

The shrimp fried rice is delicious !!! I’m pretty picky about my food and this was actually tasteful and the shrimp tasted “fresh” We also ordered the Dinner Combo for $19 && ended up getting sesame chicken as the main and that one was okay. Both my boyfriend and I enjoyed the shrimp fried rice

China Cafe is my favorite Chinese restaurant in Aroura. They serve authentic northeastern Chinese cuisine in additional to your favorite Chinese restaurant staples. They have a great variety of delicious appetizers like cold clear noddles, dumplings, jelly fish, spicy pig ear and many others. My go to main courses are the iron pot stews, fish and tofu and dishes. I must confess that I like their old fashion noddle dishes very much since they always hit the right spot for me. The dishes are generously portined for me to try them all out on a short business trip,  I invited 7 of my coworkers for dinner so we all can try out more dishes at one time. Needless to say that we ordered many dishes and the owner and the staff are very helpful in accommodating special requests. We had a great time and many had tried something new for the first time. And there were plenty leftovers for everyone who wanted them afterwards. Later on I learned the word got out on the event, so now I'm looking forward to inviting others in the future.

Our new favorite restaurant. The pan fried dumplings are out of this world. Every single thing we’ve had has been amazing! And the Chow Fun is picky baby approved!

Authentic Chinese food in a just off the road, unassuming strip mall location. The restaurant is well put together with attentive service and food so good it felt like your grandmother was making it in the kitchen. The menu also offered a variety of more traditional and less common options not found in other restaurants. Give China Cafe a try and you won't be disappointed!

China Cafe（面面聚道） is a fantastic spot for authentic Northeastern Chinese cuisine. The portions are generous, the dishes are delicious, and the flavors are truly traditional. The owner is also very friendly and welcoming—great service all around. Highly recommended!

I’ve been on the hunt for a delicious beef noodle soup and finally found one! China Cafe’s food, service and calm + relaxing ambiance was just what I needed today. Thank you!!

Love this authentic Dongbei cuisine place!! Everything we ordered was very good. The 锅包肉 was one of the best I ever tried. Large portions great for family and friend gatherings. Will definitely go back!!

struggled to find good Chinese food in Aurora for a long time now and I've been here for 3 years. it's the best out of all of the Chinese food that I've had. The workers were so respectful! Great Food Great service.

I have constantly been on the hunt for the perfect bowl of beef noodle soup. Lo and behold I have found it (I think). I still have a couple places in mind but the day I went to China Cafe I had no expectations. While speaking Mandarin made it easier to navigate the menu, I zero'd in on that one dish. I ended up ordering scallion pancakes and beef noodle soup. The scallion pancakes were ok. Guess I have grown accustomed to making them at home that even some restaurants are a bit off. On the flip side though, the beef noodle soup was amazing! This is a dish I grew up with so there are many nostalgic and specific flavors I actively seek. This order checked off all the boxes and definitely hit the spice level too! Flavor was certainly present but also the temperature of the broth was spot on. I dropped by at 4:30 to a smallish and quaint restaurant. By the end of my meal the entire place was packed with a good mix of people. My recommendation would be to come with a group and order multiple items so everyone can try a little bit of everything. Most of all, enjoy!

China Cafe on iliff is still the champ. It's my favorite Chinese restaurant in 2024. They have 2 menus the American menu and the Chinese menu (with English) so everyone can order their favorites. They speculate NorthEastern 东北 dishes which is known for potstickers and bao buns. Their noodles are hand made 手工 and the artwork on the walls are very tasteful.

Ordered Kung Pao Shrimp and Sesame Chicken, along with pork egg rolls. The shrimp dish was luscious, flavorful, and spicy! In fact, the dish made my nose run, a rarity indeed. The egg rolls were a standout too, and much to my liking. The wrapper was crispy and not too tough. The Sesame Chicken dish was nicely flavored and not too sweet, but the bits of chicken were overcooked rendering the pieces chewy and dry. I will definitely try this place again.

I had lunch on Saturday there. After eating a bit I was full and felt sick. I had to go to the bathroom and I threw up. I have never done this in a restaurant.

Northeast has three typical dishes that most people would prefer to order first: Da-la-pi (Sliced Green Bean Flour Starch Sheet), Guo-bao-rou (Fried Pork in Scoop), and Di-san-xian (Stir Fried Eggplant, Potato and Pepper). If any restaurant can cook the best for this three dishes, it must be authentic. 大拉皮、锅包肉、地三鲜，东北招牌菜！实在是量太大了，只点了後两样。锅巴肉的酸甜味稍微有点太重了，东北有些地方是用比较薄的肉片，再调和一些番茄酱，这样有些暗红的纹理，色彩更好！

I am so happy to have found a place serving traditional Chinese food - including some amazing Ma Po Tofu - right next to my house. Like, walking distance close. The folks that run this place are great, too. The pan friend dumplings are another standout on the menu. Check it out!

The food was amazing I had the General chicken and great customer service. Highly recommended.

China Cafe probably had some of the best tasting and authentic dumplings and noodles in town. The dumpling wraps and noodles were handmade and the texture was chewy. The taste of cabbage and pork stuffing for the dumplings was moist and well balanced, not salty or overly plain. The beef for the braised beef noodle was well cooked, juicy and tender and broth was very flavorful with a hint of spiciness. The beef wraps were quite refreshing and satisfying. Overall, up to expectation and did not disappoint.

Come here if you like authentic Chinese. I had the spicy beef noodle to go and it was fantastic! Can't wait to go back and try some of the other dishes.

We found small rocks in the fried rice, called in to get a refund and they refused. 0/10, would not recommend

Best Chinese in Denver, period!!!! 90% of the patrons were Chinese. That's always a good sign. Trust me, try it!

Lunch special good bang for your buck. Wasn't expecting a 16 oz soft drink. Food was tasty and big portion. Will go back for sure.

I usually like to keep my fave food spots a bit of a secret, as its taken a lot of trial and error over the years to find them. But I would love to see this place get more business. The woman who I always see working here is so sweet and friendly. And their food is so authentic. So homey. So satisfying. Textures and flavors done so perfectly. Would def recommend their short ribs with green beans and potatoes and the chili oil wontons.

10/10 best and authentic Chinese food! We had the brisket noodles, Mongolian beef and Napa cabbage pork steamed dumplings. Everything was so good. Also the inside is deceiving nice compared to the outside. It's definitely a hole in the wall worth coming to.

You have to know what to get here. Get guo bao rou (sweet and sour fried pork) & fish fillet in chili oil. Guo bao rou is AMAZING!! I wish the fish fillet was a little spicier, but it's still GREAT. You just have to know what to get here, start with guo bao rou and you'll thank me!

God this is good food! Service is great and welcoming! The shrimp fried rice is my favorite and the servings are huge!

I came here for a group dinner in, we got the beef noodle soup both spicy and non spicy, the seafood tofu pot, beef roll and the pork and Napa cabbage dumplings. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the dumplings. I eat a lot of dumplings and make them from scratch at home often, but the I love the crispy skin and the flavor of the dumplings for so delicious. I would definitely order these again. The beef roll was delicious also it was very light and I loved the touch of the cucumbers. As for the beef noodle soup I liked the spicy more the the regular, but to be honest they were both a little bland still for my liking and I have had better beef noodle soup around the area. The seafood tofu pot more reminded me of chopsuey, as what my Chinese mom thought that was what it was. For me personally too salty for me, and probably wouldn't get it again. I will be back for the dumplings and other appetizers.

Love this place. Good authentic northern Chinese food. I've always found the service to be great. The ambiance is ok.

Def venture for take out at China Cafe II near BUCKELY and Iliff across from the KingSoopers gas and Good Chemistry. This Shopping center Chinese restaurant makes amazing dumplings, noodles and delicious soups. Very affordable and great quality flavors. Take out only right now. No dine in available. We ordered an assortment to try out the menu. We will be back! All of the items were for tasty and delicious! Their dumplings were so yummy and I highly recommend ordering the beef brisket noodles and the chili oil won tons. My bf was having dental work so we ordered all of their soups. Very rich broths with lots of flavor and definitely a must order. I may even pick up soups to store in the freezer so when I am not feeling well I can enjoy them.

Love love love this place! Probably the only place I know in Denver metro area that has Gua Bao Rou (Chinese sweet & sour pork) which comes with huge chunks of perfectly crispy batter fried pork covered in their yummy sweet & sour sauce. (This isn't your typical neon red Americanized sauce.) The Salt & Pepper fish is also delish and you can't go wrong with any of their homemade dumplings. The owner lady is probably the sweetest person you'll ever meet and the service is beyond amazing.

so good. an every one is so nice. love to eat here or take out. definitely try it once if you haven't and get it again if youve had it once

The stream dumplings, dumplings in chili oil, and cold sesame noodles are consistently delicious! We also got the salt and pepper fish last week (requested non spicy) and it was sooooo good as well.

Really great Chinese food (I think from Dongbei). I was pleasantly surprised to find such delicious Chinese food in Colorado! We ordered a ton of food for our party and I loved: green onion pancake, some dish that was like chives/ground meat stuffed in a green onion pancake (I've never had this before but would highly recommend!!), beef chow fun. The pork fried rice tasted "burnt" according to some people but it was pretty good; I guess if you don't like the burnt taste you should avoid it. I thought the noodles (zazang + tomato beef noodle soup) were just ok. We ordered this sauerkraut stew that I think is a Dongbei speciality (suancai, maybe?) and my family really liked it a lot! I only tried a few small bites and thought it was ok, but I was already stuffed by then. They also have some fruit iced teas that I didn't order but considered (lychee / mango / other iced teas, can add boba for $1).

Who knew??? A hidden Chinese restaurant that serves not only American style Chinese food ie., sesame chicken, lo mien etc but also AUTHENTIC Chinese food, here in Aurora! If you are interested in trying the real deal straight from northern China and Sichuan you have to give it a try. The handmade dumpling aka potstickers were yum so was my spicy chicken Sichuan style. I'll be back often.

I entered the restaurant at 5pm on a Thursday with no one else inside and reviewed the menu. When I asked the hostess to seat us at a larger table (5 people, 4 in wheelchairs), she went in the back to bring out someone else. The new person tried to seat us at a smaller table so I asked why we couldn't sit at the larger table. She replied "we would have to move the chairs out of the area". I simply said that we could put the chairs against the wall but she responded "it would be too tight". I was supremely disappointed that someone would tell a customer they could not sit at a certain table (especially with no one in the restaurant) because they would be inconvenienced.

This place was such a pleasant surprise. I heard of it through a Facebook group I follow and they are rarely wrong when it comes to Asian cuisine. I don't know how this place doesn't have a higher rating on Yelp. Anyways, I had the beef brisket noodle soup which was delicious and the broth was full of flavor. I also had the Mongolian beef. It was arguably the best Mongolian beef I have had in 20 yrs. Highly recommend trying this place out.

Service and food is horrible. They will have you waiting like an hour just to get some boba drinks. I would never recommend this restaurant to anyone. It's a waste of time. Spend your money elsewhere.

The cold noodle dish, beef brisket stew, and salt pepper fish were so good! Must try!

Under seasoned fried rice, ok pork and cabbage dumplings and flavorless szechuan chicken (chicken and vegetables) that was sent instead of the amazing looking sichuan chicken that everyone raves about. With tip, over $50 for rice and dumplings because the chicken went in the trash. Blechhhh

Great authentic Chinese. My favorite go to Beef chow fun and szechuan spicy chicken where fantastic and with generous portions. Store owner helped us and was very kind!

I'm giving this place a 5 star because the food was so good. My usual go to Chinese restaurant was closed so I just happened upon this spot. Had lunch, the Mongolian beef and it was full of flavors and quality. Later that day, I referred a friend who is picky about everything and he said it was really good. I've found my new go to neighborhood Chinese restaurant.

Hands-down the best Chinese food I've had since moving to Aurora. I ordered them through GrubHub and I jump around the entire menu nothing has ever disappointed. The packaging is good too so very rarely are their spells unless it happens by the fault of the driver not the packaging. The spicy chicken is fried chicken pieces and it's absolutely delicious. It's crunchy and spicy and literally the best. The volcano chicken is phenomenal it's fried thinner strips of chicken drenched in a spicy sauce those are my favorite the sesame balls are phenomenal because they're not too greasy with just enough filling. The cream cheese wontons are cooked to perfection perfect crunch of the thicker type of rapper if that's what you like. Just know that the vegetable lo mein vegetables are cut in large pieces rather than small chiffon style cuts. Either way this place is above and beyond and the Boba drinks are all great so far. This is my official go to for Chinese food cravings!

Pretty good most of the time!! Spicy noodle soup and egg fu young are my go to dishes

Mongolian Beef was our favorite dish. It was just spicy enough for a kick but the portion was good and sauce was great to pour over the chicken fried rice

Great food! Great service! I'm so happy this is our local Chinese restaurant. The waitress was so kind and even gave us recommendations for the future.

They never seem to be open when I go to order takeout and when I call the phone number online, it always says wireless customer is unavailable. But the food is good when I have eaten here.

I ordered online for pickup. Had a 55 minute wait. I got there right at 55 and the place only had 2 tables full. My food was bagged and ready on a table waiting. I can tell it was there for awhile. Was barely warm. Food was pretty good but certain main items (like fried rice) were blah. It had no extra ingredients (like egg or carrots). It's hard to decide if I will eat here again considering there's a few better places nearby.

Notice how the bad reviews are by white folks who know absolutely nothing about authentic Chinese cuisine. This place might be the most authentic northeast China restaurant in the state of Colorado. Absolutely phenomenal.

Food comes little slow but understand for a mom pop kind of Chinese restaurant. Recommend the Chinese pickle pork hot pot

Restaurant located in a strip mall. Visiting from out of town. This is definitely not fast-food although interior is diner-like. The cooks bring you the food straight out from the kitchen. Customers are 90% Asian so that tells you they know a good Chinese restaurant and keep coming back for more. I especially enjoyed that the vegetables in the dishes we ordered were chopped larger then you normally see. Strongly recommend.

Finally found the real taste of home, especially Guo Bao Roy is very delicious, and the dumplings are made by them, and spicy beef noodles, noodles are also made by them, I'm not noodle person, but this noodles is really good!But I forgot take a picture this time! I'll be back!

It's my go-to for Chinese take out in Aurora. Chicken wings and the large combination fried rice.

It seems they are under new management as of a few months ago. The menu and decor looks new. I moved to Colorado about 2 years ago and have been searching for good Chinese food. Those who are new to authentic Chinese food, here's some recommendations based on what I've ordered: - Scallion Pancakes - These are most crispy and onion flavored ones I've had in Colorado. Highly recommend a small dish of soy sauce on the side and dip a tiny bit with each bite. - Braised Beef Noodle - The noodles are clearly made in house. I am from Taiwan and I love beef noodle soup. The broth is rich and flavorful. If you like Spicy, you can order the alternative Spicy Beef Noodle. - Fried Dumplings - Pork /w Napa - These are not the regular boiled dumplings. They have a slight crunchy outside and delicious meat inside. We even bought a few frozen. The waitress taught us how we can cook the frozen ones at home! We will definitely check out other dishes when we come again.

Decided to try this place after an article from 5280 talking about the top 10 places for Chinese takeout for Chinese New Year 2021. It was seriously the best Chinese food we have had and this is coming from an Asian. I got the braised beef noodle dish, the salt and pepper fish, the braised egg, the scallion buns, and pork with Napa cabbage dumplings. Called ahead 30 minutes for Chinese New Year's and picked it right up no issues everything was packaged beautifully. Honestly I'm really surprised at some of the old crappy reviews. If you're interested in good authentic Chinese food definitely give this place a shot.

Amazing food! Had their spicy beef noodle and sesame balls. Everything was flavorful, hot, and delicious! Beef was tender and juicy, I will be back!

Awful. Waited an hour and a half for our delivery. Called to check in and was told the driver was not there and they don't have drivers they deliver through door dash. Went to pick up our order even though we paid an extra 12 for delivery. When we picked up food it was obvious our food had been sitting out for who knows how long. Food was cold like had been out for over 40 mins cold. Incredibly disappointed and will never eat here again. Paid $50 for a terrible dinner and experience.

Best traditional Chinese food We order takeout everything was delicious. The best is the spicy chicken... soo good The lady was really sweet. And helpful. We'll definitely come back and support your business. We love it.

Authentic Asian food, fresh ingredients and friendly staff. Take out only during covid.