Number 1 Taste Chinese Food Watertown

No. 1 Taste in Watertown has been me and my mom’s go-to Chinese restaurant for years, and somehow it seems to get better every time we visit. The food is always fresh, flavorful, and consistently delicious—exactly what you want from a neighborhood favorite. What really makes this place special, though, is the warm hospitality. The woman who runs the restaurant always greets us with a smile and makes everyone feel genuinely welcome. It has that rare combination of great food and a personal, friendly atmosphere that keeps you coming back. If you're looking for reliable, tasty Chinese food in Watertown, this spot is a true local gem.

5 star experience at Number 1 Taste. I continue getting pork dumpling content in my TikTok feed, where I was ready to drive to Chinatown to go on a dumpling tour. I read a positive review for Number 1 Taste that their dumplings were delicious, where I decided to stay local. They were absolutely right! Maybe the best fried peking ravioli pork dumplings I have ever had. Fresh, great size, and mouthwatering. Also a very clean restaurant, and friendly staff. Looking forward to my next dumpling craving, and also trying more options on their menu.

I wanted to like the food. But the soup was too watery (egg drop soup), and there was too much cinnamon in the egg rolls. But the staff was super nice and I like to think it was made with love! The lo mein wasn’t too bad. Little dry. I see great potential here.

Standard Americanized Chinese takeout... So the 4 stars are strictly with that context. If you like American Chinese food.... Check it out. Quick service. Hearty portions. Very affordable. Very very oily food... Like dripping in it. They do have a "healthy and simple" option on their menu though. I liked the hot and sour soup. Noodles were soft and fluffy.

More food than we expected and at a good price. Nice and hot, tasted fresh. It was enough for two meals. Plenty of options. Take out only, but that worked for us. Travels well also. Nice staff. Kids liked that they could peek through the door to the kitchen to watch the food prepared.

Stay away. I have been going here for years. Never had a problem until today. David behind the counter was completely disrespectful and rude both on the phone and in person. Go to New Ginza instead, it’s only a couple doors down. They just lost many loyal customers.

Excellent Chinese food! Not too greasy. Fresh ingredients. Loved the orange chicken and Veggie Moo Shi. Looking forward to trying more items.

Was excited to try this place out as it is very convenient location wise. Unfortunately the food was a major let down. We got the orange chicken, chicken chow-mein, egg rolls, and kung pao chicken.. The orange chicken & eggroll were pretty good and delivery was quick & affordable, but the chicken chow-mein was a MAJOR disappintment. The entire container was sprouts and sad looking boiled chicken- we did not eat it. We could not find any noodles :/ ended up throwing it out because it was not good (pictured here).

The past few years this was our go to chinese restaurant . They do their own delivery and listen to notes of allergies etc. Today my friend got a lunch special with shrimp and lobster sauce with no shrimp in it, and chicken fingers. He pulled off one end and a long black hair came out oc it. I was told the lobster sauce was very salty. Sorry to say they lost 3 customers today . Also when delivered, my friend went down stairs to get food from the front door and the delivery person said "That's not yours" ignorant! If the driver was so concerned , why don't you take his lazy ass upstairs and deliver the food face-to-face, iIstead of insulting my friend. That was the last straw on the camels back.

I ordered the takeout lunch special and it's one of the best value lunch specials in the Boston area. For just $12.95, I was able to get fried rice, a main course, a soup, and an appetizer. Most other places I looked at averaged about $15 or so for a lunch special and didn't come with soup, so the fact that this one gives extra food for a lower price is amazing. As far as the quality, the food was decent and I'd definitely order from here again: Luncheon special ($12.95) - Pork fried rice, Shrimp with lobster sauce, Crab rangoon, and egg drop soup Pork fried rice - This was not bad, but nothing too special. The rice had okay flavor and very very little egg in it. The meat was in large chunks, but there was not too much as well, but it was a good staple to have to absorb some of my main dish. Shrimp with lobster sauce - This was quite good - thick and dark, with about 4 pieces of shrimp in it, which is pretty standard for a lunch special. The shrimp with lobster sauce also for some reason was the same price as the lobster sauce without shrimp, so that was a nice surprise. There was a lot of black bean flavor in this, and it really added another dimension to the relatively plain fried rice. Crab rangoon - These were great - they were big and stuffed fat with cream cheese and imitation crab meat. A lot of places have very little imitation crab, but these ones had large enough chunks in the cream cheese that you could taste them and feel the texture as you are them. A pretty solid crab rangoon, and the special came with 3 of them. The duck sauce was also the nice brown sauce and not the strange orange stuff some places give. Egg drop soup - The egg in this was nice and silky, but the flavor wasn't too deep. Still, most specials don't come with soup, so I was very happy to have this as an addition to the meal. You could also have other soups or get a drink instead. All in all, this one of the best values for lunch specials in the area. For just $12.95, I was able to be completely full on lunch and still have some fried rice and lobster sauce to spare for leftovers. The quality is fair, but the price is really great - I'd absolutely order from here again.

I stopped by for first time the other day, the girl at desk was very cool, helped me what I wanted. I have been checking Yang Chow Fried Rice and Fried Tofu Dish at all Chinese places I go.... This place looks they take care of take out only, I did not see any sitting table set up there. I ordered Tofu with Vegetable Lg size Yang Chow Fried Rice Yang Chow Fried Rice was very simple and Chinese Sausage was dominating whole thing Tofu with Vegetable was also very simple tasting and enjoyable for to go meal, this made me want to try their other Tofu dishes like ; Family Style Tofu Kung Pow Tofu Looking forward to do take out again

I have a couple of dishes I enjoy here and order them all the time. So I can comment on those. I order fried tofu chow fun. It's not exactly on the menu but they know I like it. If I don't order that it's veggies and tofu in the brown sauce or garlic sauce. Both of those choices work for me. If you're plant based and like those then go for it. The food is Americanized Chinese so be aware of that. Enjoy!

Food is fast and delicious. It fulfills the purpose of a low-end Chinese restaurant. I had the pork fried dumpling.

We just moved to Watertown after living in Cambridge for years and years. We are trying to round up our go to's, and NUMBER ONE TASTE is on top of that list. For American style Chinese food, including spare ribs on the bone, it doesn't get any better than this

Friendly service, great price! Food is tasty. Easy pick up or delivery. Best Chinese food in Watertown.

Delicious Crab Rangoon and beef teriyaki. The price is extremely reasonable. I only wish they would add bean sprouts to the rice. I made an online order in which I requested bean sprouts in the rice. When I picked it up , no bean sprouts were added to the rice. Other than that, the food and service are greatttt!

Quick, great price, good quality & delicious! My partner and I rarely eat American Chinese food, but we're in the mood for it the other night. We ordered 2 combos, 1 Beef Kung Pow & 1 General Gau's Chicken. Both came with pork fried rice & crab Rangoon (3 pieces). We got 1 small beef lo mein, 1 small egg roll (1 piece). Since we spent over $30, they gave us a small order of spring rolls (2 pieces). The portions were massive. From the combos alone, we both had 2 meals from them. I ended up throwing out some rice because it was too much. The combos came with a small appetizer which we opted for crab Rangoon and they give you 3 full pieces! We both enjoyed our combos. The chicken was white meat and good quality too! The beef was tasty, and I asked for extra spicy but it was not so maybe I'll have to ask for extra extra extra spicy next time! I am so glad I ordered the small Lo mein because it was massive! We ate this for 4 meals. The egg roll was tasty, but the spring rolls were just okay.The big winner is the duck sauce!! It's so delicious! Overall: Food: 8/10 Price: 8/10 (we spent $40 with tip) Portions: 10/10 (massive) Things I'd order again: Beef Kung Pow combo, General Gaus chicken combo, egg roll. I'm not big on Lo mein, but wanted to try it here. Overall, I would not buy it again but maybe if you really like Lo mein you'd appreciate it more. Also the spring rolls were just okay, I wouldn't go out of my way for them. Awesome job! Keep it up!

The owner is always so warm and enthusiastic. We always get the takeout and we are always pleased.

We ordered at 4:30pm for delivery at 5:30pm. Three different times between 5:30 and 6:30, we called to check up on the status of the order and they assured us that the driver was "on the way." (We live about 8-10 minutes' drive from the restaurant.) At 6:30, still no dinner, we called and demanded a refund. Will never order from here again.

The food is good, specifically The Crab Rangoon and Beef Teriyaki were delicious. My only issue is I never get the bean sprouts in the rice which I always request. I miss Lilly's Restaurant.

Maybe mall Chinese food quality? But worse service, inconsistent food quality, and issues with every order that they argue about. Not a great experience.

We've been getting food from this place for awhile but I'm done. The quality is very inconsistent, as is the service. Today there was an eggshell in my hot and sour soup, and the Ma Po Tofu was completely flavorless and had sliced jalapeño peppers in it, but no pork. it was as if they took some of the broth from the hot and sour soup, watered it down and added tofu and jalapeños. They also aren't great about including sauces (Hoisin for the roast pork, for example). I've ordered my last meal from them.

Beef and peppers lunch. Comes with fried rice, spring roll, egg Egg Drop Soup, fortune cookie. Very tasty and very large portion! (What you see is what you get...see pic)

I got takeout from here. I ordered the chicken fried rice and it was the driest, most bland fried rice I've ever had. Disappointing :(

I Ordered for the first time here today New Years eve I usually order from Belmont location I should have this time I spent 150 bucks and food came wicked cold mushy rice under cooked fingers and much more it definitely was pre-cooked and sat all day never gonna order again Belmont location rocks I will stick with what I know from now on

I ordered food Sunday , August 20 ,2024 , the Jumbo Fried Shrimp was abso disgusting. As hard as a rock , over fried and inedible. The chicken fingers weren't quite as burnt and overcooked but dry and horrible too . The crab Rangoon were burnt on the edges and the dough , wonton wraps were raw in the middle . The pork Fried rice tasted as if it was a week old reheated and so salty we couldn't eat that either . I wouldn't go there again . The biggest waste of 40.00 bucks ever .

Don't let the cheesy name fool you, they serve good food and massive portions! Must say, hot and sour soup, lo mien, roast pork, and char siu (they call it boneless ribs) were really good. No need to go to Chinatown anymore to get proper Chinese bbq.

There is a serious lack of good Chinese in Newton so tried this place and was very happy with the quality and taste! The portions are also very good sized. Definitely will be back for take out sm Newton

Ordered takeout and spent $60 on beef and pea pods house lo mein large hot and sour soup and a Poopoo platter for one they overcooked all the vegetables and Poopoo platter was dry and distasteful the hot and sour soup was good that's why I gave you one star

They forgot one of the meals we ordered. We called them. They gave us a refund for the forgotten meal, but couldn't send a replacement out. Family argument ensued, and in the end one person sat there without a meal to eat. :(

Solid choice for Americanized Chinese food! I've been on the hunt for a good lo mein and I've finally found the place. Don't expect a lot of authentic dishes but they def do the Americanized food well! I've had their shrimp lo mein, hot and sour soup, spring rolls and fish w/tofu. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is the fish and tofu. It was pretty disappointing. The fish was breaded thick and the breading tasted stale. Everything else was delicious though! Looking forward to trying some other dishes.

Great food! Reasonable size servings for the price. The best lo mein I have had in a long time - perfectly cooked, not soggy, amazing flavor. Chicken was good as well. Delivery fee was very reasonable and food came within the hour. Will be ordering from here again.

Each time I visit the portions are large which is great to see. The food also is prepared very quickly too, and my delivery arrived in 20 minutes. My only request is for more vegetarian options.

Great food, I've been looking for an enjoyable pork lo mein and it hit the spot. Also the fried chicken and sauce was great, definitely recommend and definitely coming back!

I was a bit skeptical about trying a new Chinese food place, but the reviews looked good, so I wanted to see if it lived up to the potential. We ordered delivery and got a bunch of dishes including Singapore rice noodles, salt & pepper pork chop,  honey walnut shrimp, pork moo shu - (w/ 5 wraps), and boneless ribs. This was a lot of food for two people and we had leftovers for a few days after. Our order also contained a free box of white rice, which was unexpected, but nice because we just thought we'd make our own rice with all of the hearty meat dishes. The salt and pepper pork chop tasted exactly like your usual salt and pepper squid with the same seasonings and breading. The honey walnut shrimp was good, pretty big sized shrimp and had the right consistency of the sauce. Although, I wish it also had pineapple in the dish as well. The candied walnuts were a great crunch that added extra flavor to the dish. The boneless ribs were alright and even though it wasn't the best cha siu I've had, it satisfied my craving. The pork moo shu is a giant portion and even with the 5 wraps that it comes with, there is A LOT more to use or mix with other stuff you'd like to eat. The Singapore rice noodles were alright, nothing too special about them. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the food we ordered and will definitely be back to try out other dishes in the future.

Any Chinese food restaurant that has white rice that is still delish the next day gets 5 stars from me. I ordered the beef and broccoli combo and chose the crab rangoon as my side. Both were really good, the Rangoon filling was great and the brown sauce on the beef and broccoli was super flavorful. I also got the Singapore rice noodles, I wished they were more spicy and had a little extra curry flavor, but that didn't stop me from shoveling them into my face. Nothing that I ordered was very oily (which is something I always look out for) so the entire meal was extremely enjoyable. I am 100% recommending eating here- I will be going back to try more of their menu!

Great Chinese food. Fresh and tasty anytime of the day or night. Would recommend them to all.

The name was off putting, but it's the best standard, no BS chinese takeout when you just want some good crab rangoons, fried rice and teriyaki chicken on a stick.

I have ordered takeout from here several times and it's the best I have had in the area. Good quality is excellent, prices are very reasonable. I highly recommend!

I got delivery from them. Food was hot and good. The sweet and sour soup was exactly what I needed. The string beans were really good too. I recommend those two dishes in particular. Prices reasonable.

Quality take out, prices are a bit higher but the taste really is much better than the competition. It's not on the menu or displayed yet but get a pound of crispy pig belly.

I really liked the food here. It had a smoky flavor to it, which I loved! I had made a mistake in my order but I called them and they helped me rectify it. I had ordered the sichuan chicken, chicken with vegetables and chicken fried rice. Highly recommend!

Ordered the pupu platter, an assortment of noodles, peking ravioli and salt and pepper calamari. My family was really excited to try this place out as it came recommended. Unfortunately, nothing tasted very fresh. The egg rolls were stale and smelled pretty "unfresh". Peking ravioli tasted great but wasn't fully cooked through. The salt and pepper calamari tasted old and unfresh and smelled unlike calamari. The only good things were the noodles and crab rangoons. I wanted to be fair too, sorry!

If you want Chinese delivery food like lo mein, scallion pancakes, dumplings, etc, this is a good place to try. We have been getting delivery from a different location of number 1 taste chinese for a good while now, so we were excited to see this open up so close by! Everything was just like we would have had it from the other location we used to order from, which is a good thing.

At first I was surprised that I had to pay an extra $2 if I wanted rice with any combo plate. I've never known of a a Chinese restaurant that didn't have fried rice automatically so I ordered a fried rice separately unfortunately it was aweful. It was overcooked broken up in tiny pieces and really dry. It was more like old white rice. Shame. This is not my first time trying this establishment. The last time we ordered chicken fingers and got imitation crab meat meat deep fried. Guess they ran out of chicken.

Was really excited to have a new Chinese food place in the neighborhood! Tried the beef chow fun and salted fish fried rice. Beef chow fun was spot on (the wok char flavor made me quite nostalgic). The salted fish fried rice could have used a little more salted fish, but it was good. Portions are really generous. Really looking forward to trying other dishes from them!

Accurately named is my best description. I'm not sure if its the best I've ever had, but its absolutely the best in the area. Fast delivery too.

Food quality was just ok. Parts of my order was missing and when asked to have the rest delivered was told no.

the staff is very friendly and helpful. The food is just great. good portions and no matter what we have ordered everything is very fresh. there are many Chinese restaurants in the area, this one is at the top!

Go-to Chinese take out place! Affordable, delicious, and you get a lot of food for your money. The staff is so friendly too. Used to go the location on Trapelo, but I'm so glad they opened up a second location closer to our house.

The quality of the food varies depending on what you order. Their family style tofu, for example, is delicious and very well-made. I'd give it 4.5 stars if my rating were based off just that. Their general gaus tofu is also good. But I recently tried their vegetable pad thai--hands down, the worst pad thai I've ever eaten. It literally was just plain rice noodles with a few small pieces of vegetables--no sauce, no seasonings, no flavor. It was as if the noodles went straight from boiling water into my takeout container, with no preparation in between. I did specifically order the pad thai without fish sauce and egg, but that is the same way I order it everywhere else I've gotten pad thai per my dietary restrictions; the noodles have never come naked and unseasoned like that. I paid twelve dollars for plain, unseasoned rice noodles that I could have boiled in my own kitchen for fifty cents--it was literally not pad thai; It should not be labeled as such on their menu. That bad experience aside, I still like the restaurant. The portions are large and the food is prepared quickly. TL;DR, do not order their pad thai. Many of their other offerings, however, are good.

Generous portions, perfectly cooked, and delicious flavor. Good array of choices in Combo Plates, Appetizer Combo, and Special Deals. Also, they have some retro 50's dishes like Moo-Shu, Beef Chow Foon, and Chow Mein. This will become everyone's favorite for take-out American-style Chinese food.

This is my favorite Chinese food takeout. I like the general Gau's also not to greasy apps.

Horrible service. Had a $ 150 delivery for a birthday party today and they forgot to send some items we payed for. After arguing with lady that we didn't receive our full order she sent out the items missing. Took another 45 mins for my daughter to get her vegetables. Food was cold since we had to wait for our vegetables so we could all eat together. We wasted our money and time. Do your self a favor and stay far away from this place. So many better options in Watertown. Note to the owner...... don't be rude and listen to your customers.

I have now eaten four dishes from #1 and they were all scrumptious. Having recently moved to Watertown, this is my new go-to takeout Chinese restaurant.Loved the Pu pu platter for 1, the chicken wonton soup, the chicken with vegetables, and the eggplant with garlic (probably in that order). The woman who answers the phone and has the food ready for me is very nice and friendly. Service and food highl

I had never been to any of their locations but ordered delivery from them today. SO GOOD! Big portions and food arrived hot. Will probably be my go-to for Chinese takeout now.

First of all, the food is great. Very fresh tasting. I've only tried a handful of items so far (I plan on returning), but the General Gau chicken, lo mein and Peking noodles (spicy!) were definite highlights. 2nd, I commend the staff of this restaurant; they're friendly and also quite accommodating. As someone with food allergies it's sometimes tricky to communicate with staff and management of restaurants about the importance of me avoiding allergens, most seem to not show much interest in or being thoughtful about this important subject. Not the case with Number 1 Taste though. They were very respectful, considerate and accommodating about this, and I was able to enjoy my meal with confidence about my safety. I'll certainly be back.