Mary Chung Restaurant

I was in Cambridge visiting my family. My dad wanted some egg foo young which he hadn’t had for awhile. I tried a few restaurants before Mary Chung’s said they could make it. When I picked up my order, I was asked how I knew they had egg foo young since it’s not on the menu…also that their chef can make anything he’s that talented. Guess what? It was the best I’ve ever had and that’s saying a lot. I will definitely return.

Disclaimer: I went to MIT in the 90s but never ate there. Now I know why. It wasn't that great. Don't get me wrong, it's OK. One day when you graduate MIT and land that big job in a big city or in Asia, you will know why. This place is a solid 3, and gentleman's C. Most college students don't know what's a solid C due to grade inflation. So either stick to the usual like sweet and sour or fried rice or noodles OR go bold and spicy. They do have some interesting vegetarian dishes that use egg white and tofu (mock duck!) You always wonder why they are cash only? Old school? Someone at MIT loves this place coz MIT is the landlord!

🚨 CLOSING SOON (12/31/2022) 🚨 They've been a Cambridge Central Square staple for decades but are unfortunately closing shop at the end of 2022. They never reopened for dine in after COVID. I went to check them out, knowing that pretty soon the opportunity would be gone, and I was astonished to hear that the average wait time for orders was upwards of 2 hours. Their kitchen has been incredibly backed up and they don't take orders online or over the phone. I'm not sure if the massive wait is because everyone is trying to eat there before they close, or if this issue has been ongoing throughout the pandemic, but party after party left upon hearing the estimated wait time. I ordered the scallion pancakes. Since it was a simple appetizer, it was ready within the hour. It was indeed pretty good, and it was paired with a very tasty soy sauce. I hadn't had that particular combination before but quite enjoyed it.

Although it’s not on the menu, they did lunch special for us ($14 for 1 meat, 1 vege, 1 appetizer, and rice). Remember to dip spring roll into the sweet sauce!

There are lot of good places to eat in Cambridge. The problem is most of them have a long wait. That's when I come here. The food is great, the service is great and best of all, I've never had to wait.

Always great food and lovely people! I would highly recommend the Kung Pao beef, order it extra spicy to get authentic levels of heat. The dun dun noodles and the sun late chow sow are also top notch!

$14 lunch special for one meat dish, one vegetable dish, appetizer, and rice. Even though it looks like a lot of rice, it's actually a lot of meat and vegetables as well. The potstickers and spring rolls are quite good and large. Overall it's a pretty worth meal. This place is not cash only, they do take card

ETA: I’m so sad to hear you’ll be closing down. I will miss you and you will hold a special place in my heart always. Mary Chungs used to be my goto and favorite place in Central. They must've changed a chef or recipes because it's just not the same. I've gotten sesame tofu twice now, hoping it would be better, only to get an extremely watery and oversweet sauce.

Darling nails the trickiest thing to get right in a high concept bar: having terrific food AND ambitious cocktails ... and having them complement each other in a space that matches their vibe. It's a fully realized experience that shows that the team really thought through how to honor the location's culinary history (the dishes we ordered could have been made by my mother ....well, IF she was inspired by "The Bear" and modernized our family's Chinese classics, hahaha) while creating a menu of gorgeous cocktails that really work with the food, and then delivering them in a sleek yet urban environment. They preserved a really cool mural on a brick wall that they discovered when renovating - a nice touch that's right on point with the theme of the bar. Highly recommend the baos (the enoki mushroom in particular), the stir fried wheat noodles and the charred Chinese broccoli. The cocktail menu is expected to change frequently (yikes!) but the Revolver spin was luxurious and rich and the sherry/vermouth martini is a must if you're looking for something savory and bracing. The Old Fashioned variation on the menu was too syrupy (so much so that we weren't sure it was made to spec?) but when we ordered a classic Old Fashioned it was perfectly rendered. Like any brand new spot there were a few minor hiccups in service (the place was slammed by 6 pm on Sunday) but the friendly staff really hustled to make up for them - we didn't even complain but the manager proactively came over to apologize for one dish coming out late which he comped. With multiple servers working as a coordinated team it's clear that Darling is aiming for a high level of service - and judging by how much they've already accomplished it should be just a matter of time before they get there.

My fiancee and I went on their grand opening weekend w a reservation (definitely recommend one anytime soon as it was quite busy when we went on a Sunday evening ~545pm). Atmosphere: It is beautiful inside, very dive bar-y w sparce but tasteful decorations. However I will say the music is far too loud and maybe it was the sound system or the particular songs but periodically over the speakers it just sounded like feedback for like 10 seconds straight? It wasn't easy having a conversation with someone who was literally across a small 2 top table from me. Also it is quite dark in there; I had to angle my menu to the bar lighting or the lighting behind the table to glance at the menu and someone in the table adjacent to us lit up a good portion of our area when he whipped out the flashlight on his phone to illuminate the menu. There's a lot of bar seating and tables but they crammed a lot of 2 top tables into the space, I think it'd be much more comfortable if they removed just 1 table and gave everyone a few inches back (someone's butt will be in your face when they try to shimmy their way out if you're in the booth). Drinks: I got the gorgeous and arrogant (akin to a strawberry margarita) and it was very good, just enough alcohol in it with a clean strawberry taste) and my fiancee got the common trope (milk washed vodka, jasmine, lychee, black rice sake, and cucumber) and it was also very good, clean and cucumber-y refreshment on a hot Summer evening. There were no desserts available yet on the menu but our server recommended the Hong Kong french toast cocktail (cognac, peanut butter, condensed milk, and other stuff) which was very interesting (I often abhor cognac but this just tasted like a slightly alcoholic creamy peanut butter). Food: As an Asian American who grew up in NYC, I had a certain idea of what kind of food there would be here and the lack of menu on any sort of social media wasn't very helpful; all I could see advertised was dim sum with the chef's twist. We got the vegetarian options of the soy sauce noodles (akin to Hong Kong style chow mein but no gravy and very few veggies in it, which was disappointing, 95% noodles and 5% veggies), charred Chinese broccoli (was extremely lemon forward which is not common in Chinese dishes but the sesame seeds were a nice touch), and fried enoki bao (delicious and fried to a great crunch with no greasy aftertaste). The only meat option I got was the filet o fish bao, very gimmicky but I had to try it. Like the fried enoki, the fried fish (cod) was also fried to a great crunch with no greasy aftertaste but if you closed your eyes, it did taste like a filet o fish, though I would've hoped that the chef's would've made some sort of in house cheese sauce instead of the seemingly slice of American cheese that was put in it (both bao orders came with two baos). The food was different but I think if I did come back for any food, I'd probably get two orders each of the baos. Service: We had reservations for 6pm but the host was kind and seated us early ~540pm. Our server was extremely nice but was probably juggling at least 5 different tables so she got around to us when she could but couldn't be found when it was time for the check so when the host was bopping around I asked if he would be able to get us the bill and he said yes. Eventually our server came back and apologized for the wait and comp'd the french toast cocktail which was a nice plus. Won't knock her / my review for the service, I'm sure opening weekend is bananas. Before writing this review, I definitely knew I would be interested in returning for different cocktails but was unsure about whether or not I'd come back strictly for food. However now I find myself longing for both of those baos and would come back for those for sure.

I grabbed a drink here and really liked it! The spaces is very small so they don't have standing area or even walk up seats at the bar. I waited 45 min on a waitlist to get 3 bar seats but it was worth it! The drinks are so cute and thoughtfully crafted. I got the lychee drink and really liked it. Such a bonus that this is on inKind for dining rewards

Lovely and classy, an absolutely "darling" of a place. We came late so we only got to try the drinks. Loved the intimate interior and the sassy drink names. Bartenders were very experienced and our drinks were phenomenal. Highly rec the gorgeous and arrogant and the common trope. 10/10!!!

Upon arrival at opening, the host seated us directly next to another table of two. The tables were so close that we felt we were eating with them! They only gave us one menu for two people. They did this for everyone because the table next to us asked for a second as well. The food and drink were not great either. The noodles had no taste, the shrimp toast was soaked in oil, the cucumbers needed seasoning, the fish bao was cooked well but boring. The Common Trope (a lychee martini) tasted like bad pickle juice. Also, the menu was heavily focused on pork, offering no chicken or beef options for those wanting more protein in their meal. The restaurant finally started to fill up after about an hour, and when it did, it was very loud. I'll say that our server was very nice and attentive. The broccoli stood out over the other items.

4 out of 5 stars. Great drinks at Darling! Based on the variety of cocktails available compared to food, I get the feeling that Darling is more of a cocktail lounge vs a restaurant. I really liked how the drink menu shows how the drink is served and how there is a high level description of what each drink is. I felt the food was a little heavier than I expected and would have loved some lighter options but the bao and wontons were excellent. I also felt the music was a little loud. The service was good, some of the leadership asked about our experience at the end and told us a little bit about Darling's story which was nice to hear.

Bartender was not very forthcoming. I requested a milk punch. She said they were sold out, so it was no longer on the menu. A few minutes later she changed her mind and took some out of the fridge and poured one for me. So they had some but she was saving it for the "cool" customers, or something. I asked her about the ingredients but she seemed very evasive and vague about it. I then asked about a vodka drink that was listed as milk-washed on the menu and whether it was a milk punch. She said that it was not clarified. Later on she said that it was clarified. I asked her to make me one. She didn't make it. After a while I asked her about whether she was making it. She said she was waiting for me to finish my first drink (which I was not finishing because I wasn't too keen about the taro flavor.) After a while I asked her to change my order to the Sweep the Leg drink (which I enjoyed). I asked her what vermouth they used for that. She apparently didn't know so she made up an answer which I later found out was not accurate. Food wise, I felt the dumplings should have been more al dente, and the shrimp toast was not at all crispy like your traditional deep fried shrimp toast (and had minimal shrimp). Neither dish met my expectations, at least in their current incarnation, and I would not order them again. Ymmv.