Clark C.
Yelp
It's tough to find good Chinese food in Palm Springs, but friends told us there is a very good chef at China King, a place we would drive past but never ventured into. Are we ever glad we decided to eat there on a recent Saturday night!
This is not a fancy place at all -- very modest, almost stuck in time, and the interior probably hasn't changed much since the Sixties. But don't judge a book by its cover or a restaurant by its lack of fancy decor. The food is DELICIOUS, beautifully prepared and the servings are enormous. And the bill? Incredibly reasonable!
I judge a Chinese restaurant by their Singapore noodles. These were the best! Thankfully, they don't have pork which I don't eat or like but they did have plenty of big, succulent shrimp and lots of tender, juicy, thinly sliced chunks of chicken. Some places mix into many noodles but the ratio of protein and vegetables to rice noodles is just perfect and it was beautifully spiced -- just enough curry to give it a little heat and some rich flavors. Scrumptious!
To fulfill our daily requirement for vegetables, we ordered the Vegetable Delight and were served a platter of fresh vegetables including broccoli, carrots, white and green onions and water chestnuts. These were fresh vegetables, bright in color and beautifully, carefully chopped to make them appealing and bite sized. They were served in a subtle white sauce that allowed the taste of the vegetables to come through and they were cooked just right -- neither mushy from overcooking or raw from undercooking. It was a family sized platter of vegetables.
The third dish was fish fillet served in black bean sauce -- another total winner! Fish was lightly powdered (maybe in corn starch?) and NOT battered. It was perfectly cooked fish, tender and flavorful. And mixed into the dish were some chopped red and green bell peppers and other vegetables to give it color and visual appeal. The amount of sauce was just right, neither skimping nor drowning the fish and vegetables. All three dishes were attractive and appetizing.
Service is friendly and efficient at this family run operation. They brought us some bowls of free brown rice which we didn't need. And then we were astonished by the check, a mere $53.00 for such excellent food. Again, I can't emphasize the generosity of the portions here -- they are family sized portions, so bring friends and family. We could not possibly have eaten all they brought to two people but they were glad to package up the leftovers which we ate for an excellent lunch the following day.
This very traditional, modestly appointed restaurant reminded me of the Chinese restaurants of my youth in the Chinatowns of Los Angeles and New York City which makes it the perfect accompaniment to visitors to Palm Springs looking for a nostalgic Mid-Century experience.
Let those corporate Chinese food places be damned! We can't wait to go back and try everything else and spend less money to enjoy it!
