Chef Chow’s House

Based on the other reviewers, the chef must have had the day off (it was Monday). The hot and sour soup had minimal ingredients – the worst in recent memory. The Yu shiang fish had a very heavy and oily sauce as did the stir fried string beans. The moo shi was average, but the pancakes were too thick. We do much better at home. We won’t be back.

A great meal, nice and close. Coolidge has an interesting mix of food including Phở and Thai right next door to Chef Chows. However, you are looking for standard delicious Chinese, then Chef Chows is a great choice in the area. The food has always been good, lunch portions are huge and very well priced, and fast delivery is just an added bonus!
Interesting that people have complaints about the staff because I have found them nothing but extremely nice and attentive. They even cooked up a special request that wasn’t on the menu.

We live nearby and between here and Hong Kong Café, I prefer ordering takeout from here because it tastes…“cleaner.” It is pricier since it’s actually a full service Chinese restaurant, as opposed to a strictly take-​out joint.
They also have really affordable lunch specials that come with fried rice, soup of choice, and a side dish.
I always order pea pod stems/​leaves at Chinese restaurants, which is a hard dish to find at smaller take-​out places which is another reason I like ordering from here. It is a bit pricier but worth it in my opinion — super flavorful, garlicky, and akin to spinach.
Also, General Gao’s comes with broccoli. That’s a win.

If I could leave no stars, I would. What an awful meal. There were 3 of us and all but one of the 4 dishes was even edible. The eggplant was undercooked, even though it was sent back and drowning in a brown sauce. The noodle dish was incredibly unappetizing and inedible. I had the chicken and ginger bowl and it’s only redeeming quality was that it was steaming hot. Also swimming in a brown sauce that was not tasty. The lobster was fine. Save your money unless you like fortunate cookies. Those were great.

Portions for their lunch specials are small. I suppose reasonably priced but then there’s that $ 10 credit card minimum charge which seems pretty high when you do lunch orders all the time. The food is better quality than most Chinese in the area, have not been here for dinner but will have to try their scorpion bowls next time I am back.

Do not eat here!!! I ordered delivery and was sent the wrong food! I ordered shrimp and they sent me chicken, which I do not eat and therefore would not order it nor am I able to eat it! They refused to help me over the phone so I went in to deal with the mistake in person. They still refused to fix the mistake and there were patrons listening as she told me I was wrong. I showed her my order and she still insisted I was wrong. She proceeded to print some other check claiming it was my order, however I checked and the order she printed was taken 15 minutes after I placed my order. All I wanted was the correct food and instead I left with nothing. What happened to the customer is always right, especially in this instance where I was right! I will never give them my business again. It was the worst delivery experience of my life! DO NOT ORDER FOOD HERE!

Ordered the Scorpion bowl for two. That was fun and romantic. Realized later the volcano was 151 rum. Aw right! Nice meal for late evening. Would prefer music rather than football on tv or radio. Had Mongolian beef fordinner. Tasted good.

Great, fast service. The food is very delicious but the portions are huge, so order modestly. The place is rarely crowded. Overall., this is a recommended Chinese restaurant.

The General Gao’s was excellent. The dish didn’t come with rice so expect to order it separately. I ordered pork fried rice which is a meal on its own.

Don’t know about the food because after asking if they had a combination plate they said no and hung up on me right as I was going to ask another question. 0 star for customer service.

I live right by this place and it has become my go-​to when I’m craving Chinese. I always do delivery and it comes super fast, piping hot, and the ingredients seem fresh. General gao’s chicken is really flavorful and I love the vegetarian spring rolls although like others noted sometimes I do think they’re a bit undercooked.

So I came here for a friend’s graduation dinner and the food was okay but oh lord the service was horrendous! Never have I ever had a waiter that refused to give the WiFi to someone when it says free WiFi. Also, my water had a small little fly in it just chilling and my friends ginger ale tasted off. I’m sure they did something to it because ginger ale isn’t supposed to taste like that. They use tap water I’m sure of it. F — on the service. Not coming back here for sure.

Chef Chow’s food is standard American Chinese. It is good, nothing special. I come here infrequently because of the staff. It often feels like the customers are a bother. With all the restaurants in the area, it is surprising that the staff remains so indifferent.
The reason for the review is the rice. Yes, plain old white rice. Specifically, one has to pay for rice. This is not unique to Chef Chow’s because many Boston area restaurants do the same.
However, the size of the rice container was so tiny, it added insult to injury. Yes, I ordered a small but this is the smallest take-​out container I have ever seen. Look at the picture and see what you think. The rice was not even completely cooked. It was barely closing in on al dente.
If you’re going to charge for rice, then give a decent portion and cook it properly.
My review is three stars. They lost one star because of the ornery staff. They lost the other star because the food is just average and they unapologetically charge for a Chinese food staple that costs them almost nothing.

Eating at Chef Chow’s House made me nostalgic for the horribly Americanized Chinese restaurants I grew up on in Western Mass. I say this both as praise and criticism. As bastardized as that food was, I LOVED the greasy, salty, syrupy goodness found in lo mein, pu pu platters, fried rice and, of course, General Tso’s (I salute you, sir) chicken. That being said, I have also had amazing Chinese food from many different regions here in Boston, and have realized how fresh, flavorful and imaginative it can be.
Bottom line, go to Chef Chow’s House if you want some good comfort food (and maybe an MSG headache), but head to Chinatown (or even Allston) if you’d rather something a little more authentic.

The chinese place in my area closed so I tried Chef Chow based on the reveiws I read. I was happily surprised by the quality of their food. It tasted very fresh and had a good variety of flavors and dishes.
The delivery is very prompt as well. It’s become my go to Chinese take out. I particularly like the crispy beef.

pretty disappointing. i got a szechuan tofu which was not extra spicy as i’d asked and in fact, had VERY little flavor. just tasted like a generic brown sauce with too much cornstarch.
also had to go back to pick up the order again b/​c they gave me some chicken or pork dish instead of my tofu, so that was a bummer.
i’ve heard people say this place used to be pretty good but has been going down hill. still, it seems popular but i don’t recommend it.

Chef Chow’s is decent. I agree with Candace that the food isn’t fresh – it comes out way too soon. I also agree with Nicole’s note about charging for rice. Rice should come with entrees. But the food is cheap and tastes decent. The waitstaff could be friendlier.

Food is not fresh. The attitude is rude. I would give a zero if it were an option.
I ate there several months ago and we all became ill. They used to have good food several years ago. The chicken was very fatty. The owner won’t extend himself at all. Don’t go to this lousy restaurant when there are so many wonderful ones in the Brookline area.

Food: General Gau chicken was very basic and the Sesame Chicken was oddly fried. The batter did not stick to the chicken well, so it puffed slightly and was separated from the meat. $ 2 extra charge for only white meat chicken. The crab rangoons were actually pretty good!
Side note: What kind of place charges extra for a side of rice? This place. Rice is not included!
Décor: Dated and simple but clean. The booth I was sitting at was adjacent to another booth and the wall/​backing was loose, so every time the person sitting behind me adjusted their posture, the booth ended up hitting me in the back.
Unilocal check-​in deal: Was 11 months expired. Not sure if this is a Unilocal glitch or a Chef Chow’s glitch, but either way was sad to have missed out.

We’ve ordered delivery from here a couple of times, and it’s been a hit both times. I have struggled to find «decent» chinese food around these parts, and have been disappointed with other places I’ve tried.
The most recent time we ordered, the food arrived a whole half hour before it was estimated, which is a huge bonus for me! Everything was packaged very securely and was very hot on arrival.
We ordered the:
Dragon & Phoenix– the boy loved this. there was tons of seafood, and he even had leftovers, which never happens!
Singapore Noodles– So good, exactly what I was hoping for, with the perfect amount of vegetables (I got it without meat)
Crab Rangoons– SO GOOD, and they give you 8, which is far more than most places give you in an order
Wonton Soup– Not the best I’ve had, but the meat inside the wontons was very flavorful and the soup actually tasted better upon reheating the next day!
I’ve previously had the garlic noodles too, which were simple but awesome!!!
We also got tons of sauces and fortune cookies with our meal. Definitely a lot of bang for your buck! We will be ordering again!