King Wah

I honestly miss this place! My family and I have been coming here, before the original owner sold the place, for 20+ years. We became good friends with the owner and even some of the waiters. When this place was still operating, the customer service was excellent! The waiters were very attentive to everyone dining there in the restaurant. They were also very friendly, some more so than others (of course), and gave great suggestions on dishes to try out if you asked them. The décor, to me at least, was very nostalgic since there weren’t many major changes to the places in the years we visited the restaurant. At times, it would even remind me of when I was a child running to the far table in the back to sit close by their large fish tank to stare at the large koi that it contained. Occasionally, when my family and I would walk into the restaurant or while we were dining there, we would see the owner’s mother (and sometimes even the owner himself) helping to chop up the vegetables, roll the egg rolls, or doing other prep work for other dishes. It almost made me think about walking into one of my Aunts or Uncle’s homes, seeing my family help prepare dishes for everybody to enjoy. The food that they served was DELICIOUS! Until this day, I still compare other Chinese restaurant’s food to this place (even though it is now closed). They gave decent portion sizes for the price you pay and they did not charge an arm or a leg for it.
It’s a shame that this place closed down; however, when it became «The New King Wah» (after the original owner sold it), everything went down hill (in my opinion). I visited the place after the new owner took charge and the food and service wasn’t that great. In fact, I remember driving by a few months back and I saw that it’s no longer called «The New King Wah». With all that aside, the original King Wah was amazing and I definitely won’t forget all of the happy memories that my family and friends had here.

You’d think that finding a good Chinese place would be easy, especially when you live in the Bay Area. However, I’m stuck in a middle ground between wanting some of the classic stand-​bys, yet not resorting to the P.F. Changs and Panda Expresses that dot the vast expanses of suburbia.
Does King Wah fit the bill? Kinda. It’s not an epiphany when it comes to the main thoroughfare, but they make some awesome stuffed chicken wings. Authentic? Who cares, that stuff is good.

When I was first turned onto this place I admit the food was pretty tasty. 1 try turned into normal visits when passing by the area.
Normal order would include the best prawns w/​lobster sauce ever tried, crispy duck half, and chicken chow mein w/​black mushrooms
FInally found out what the special seasoning was after a few yrs–
Pubic Hairs in the chow mein and BIG ASS CHINATOWN ROACHES running like a cat across the room. DIne at your own risk. Never had any issues prior to this infamous day.
Oh yeah this was a few yrs back maybe 2007-​08
Dont know how you can get rid of ROACHES that big unless you demo the entire building down to rubble

Since the re-​opening of this restaurant I regretfully have to take my rating down to one star… the food is no longer the same… sadly I must look for another China-​town restaurant! sigh

One of the chefs from R&G Lounge took over this place. Crazy good food for cheap prices. We fed a table of 5 for $ 60 and had food to take home. The salt and pepper shrimp was tasty and a steal at only $ 7.99. They make their own tofu in house, which was also very good.
Specials are written on the wall in Chinese. They do have an English menu but I don’t think all the menu items are in the English menu. Best to bring someone who can read and speak Chinese.

Taste of food is above average as compared to my home city.
Most likely food cost here in Calif are lower so it is very affordable.
Only after we finished the dinner, the owner (chef?) came out and introduced to us some specialties dishes of his that the waitress never recommended. That is too bad.
He mentioned some home made tofu and others goodies…
Will come again to try for sure next time.

King Wah is now closed. I heard that the owner refused an offer to buy his place a year ago, and now that he wants to sell the restaurant, he can’t find a buyer.
The end of an era.
Hopefully the new owners will clean the bathrooms.

The King is CLOSED. Ngau yuk gawn lo won ton (beef gravy won ton, no soup) is only a savory aftertaste. It joins a legendary list of restaurants that have left us hanging without this old skool Cantonese favorite: Economy Café and Lantern Restaurant (Oakland Chinatown) and China Station (Berkeley). Rumor has it that the new owners plan to remodel that place and keep same offerings. Let us only hope!
But meanwhile, where will the Oakland Cops eat? I mean there is even a «Police Only» parking place right in front!
To the founders and crew of King Wah, thanks for the memories and enjoy your well deserved retirement!
We are left with Silver Dragon (Oakland), Yummy (El Cerrito), and U Lee (San Francisco). If you know where to get Beef Gravy Won Ton, please Unilocal

The King reopened under new owners.
Does anyone know where the old cook from King Wah landed?
King Wah was great for cheap, tasty Cantonese food.
Thanks.

Went for dinner today on a whim with some of my cousins… didn’t know it was gonna be my «last supper»…
After decades of proprietorship the owners are finally moving on to a well deserved retirement.
We got there early, around 5pm and the place was starting to fill up and became packed with long time regulars trying to get their last «fix».
Rumor has it that the new owners will be spending the next two months remodeling and that the menu (as well on one cook) will be the same when they reopen… I’ll believe it when I see it with my fingers crossed.

actually, more like 2.7 stars. AAAAAAAAAAA… what do I say to my erstwhile favorite ‘set menu/​woh choy’ hole-​in-​wall, with wonderfully flavorful dishes that are so economical, yet on the smallish side. I used to come here for authentic, village-​type dishes that were cooked so delicately.
But having come here just a few days ago, i was sorely disappointed. Let me put the bold type on sorely… I couldn’t believe that it was in fact the very same place that was held so fondly in my heart.
After ordering about 4 dishes total, including a mixed lotus root, mushroom dish, sliced pork dish, a HK style 2-​sided crisp (but the prob was it wasn’t crisp… instead it was kind of soggy) chow mein, and a steamed pork with picked radish, slices of chestnut, bamboo shoots, the members at the table kinda all agreed… big meh.
Am I missing something? Could it be that all of the dishes chosen were wrong? I would hesitate to come back here. and in over 15 years, nothing about the inside has changed. Kind of makes me sad, as it’s very gloomy and austere in the interior…

I will admit this place has the BEST Beef Won Ton soup I have ever tasted. I remember going here on a date, and when she told me about how good it was. I was in doubt, but after the first taste of the broth. I was shocked how good it was. Not only the broth at a perfect thickness, not watered down or very tick, it has the best taste.
I also tried the other dishes, and its good but my mind says Beef Won Ton soup when I think of this place.

I usually will not be found in restaurants for lunch, especially those «downtown»…specific city is negligible. I’m not part of Corporate America, therefore I don’t tend to dine like one.
However, there is always an exception to the rule. I was attending an all-​day training at the Marriott on Broadway (review to come soon) and was allowed a generous 1-​hour lunch break. Where to go? I spent a good 30 minutes thinking about where I wanted to eat. If you regularly read my reviews, you’ll know I had a bad craving for pot stickers last week. Apparently I didn’t get my fix.
I strolled over to Chinatown in search for a good (a.k.a. cheap) restaurant that was open for lunch. I saw the sign for King Wah about a block away and as I was approaching it, I decided to check in with my handy-​dandy Unilocal app to see what the reviews were for this place. 4 stars… not bad.
Must try:
Hot and Sour Soup — it was unusually thick, reminding me of a Southern gumbo, which was surprising. The soup had a plethora of goodies: bamboo, jalapeño slices, tofu, lemongrass. I’m sorry to say that I did burn my tongue on the first sip but couldn’t stop. That is, until the pot stickers arrived.
Pot Stickers — one appetizer serving includes 12 (that’s right, 12) pot stickers. My eyes grew in excitement and terror… immediately I thought ‘I’ll definitely need a to-​go box for these.’ These precious pockets of doughy, meaty goodness were just what I was looking for.
Yes, I ended up taking pot stickers and leftover soup home. Looking forward to lunch tomorrow :)
In terms of décor, don’t expect much. I was seated at a table across from a fish tank that is a bit sad-​looking: few small fish inside a rather large tank full of dull water. The wood from the chairs match the color of the tables, which matches the cheap faux wood-​paneling on the walls. It is what it is. The crowd was mixed with local Asian sitting alone, along with a few businessmen talking boring numbers and logistics.
Total: $ 16 with tip.

I’m conflicted writing this review, but someone has to come out and just say it. I’ve been going to King Wah for gosh, the majority of my life, it’s a family run business that my family has known and been going to for as long as I can remember. Lots of fond memories of our regular trips down to Chinatown for family dinners.
That being said… the restaurant hasn’t changed since I can remember. It has the same carpeting from who knows when, same tables, same chairs, same dinner ware, same people. The food itself is actually pretty great, I think lots of people go because it’s not too americanized and it sticks pretty close to traditional dishes. BUT… I would like to see the place get cleaned up a little err scratch that… A LOT. I think it hit me when we brought my little cousins to a family dinner and they started to comment on how old the place was and how nasty the restrooms are, especially the mens restroom. Amazing how the mind of a child that states the obvious changes my entire perspective on this place. Oddly that night one of the little ones pointed our a large black bug looking thing run across the table.
And well that was the end of our trips to King Wah.
I loved the food for years, but I’m not going to risk going again until there are some changes and sanitation updates.
2 stars. For the food and the memories.

Exactly as it says when I hover over the 2 star rating… «Meh, I’ve experienced better»
Overall I am not impressed with this place. Everything ended up somehow tasting like fish sauce. This appears to be very slanted towards the Chinese taste bud. We ordered the Wor Wonton Soup to start off… which was pretty good as everyone here keeps suggesting. I forgot to ask for the extra broth and quickly realized why some people always remember to put that note in when they order. The broth is tasty but little. Overall there are a lot of stuffed wontons and assorted meats and some vegetables especially snow peas which are my favorite and water chestnuts!
The Chow Mein is sort of like Panda Express… but tastes better/​more chinese and also has a fishy taste which I believe is from all of the fish oil which is probably seasoned into their frying pans. I also ordered the stuffed wings which were suggested by a friend and those as well tasted fishy. I have no idea what the stuffing was but I want to believe that it was ground up pork and chicken… but I’ll never know. The skin had a very nice crunch but flavor was over powered by the fishyness.
We had the shrimp in lobster sauce which had this almost sickening oceanic flavor mixed with fish sauce… so we barely ate that. It seems like the only thing that didn’t have fish oil in it was the steamed rice which I have to admit… was pretty damn good for just being rice. I would have to rate their steamed rice 5 stars. I know it sounds dumb… but it was good.
The prices were good and a huge meal with everything came out to about $ 30, which at many other places would have easily came to about $ 40 or $ 50. I don’t think that I would go to this place again though… maybe if I were staying at the hotel across the street… but then again, I’d probably investigate the other Chinese Restaurants in the area instead. If you are not Chinese or even just asian in general… the flavors here may be a bit rough on your pallet.
By the way… some people complain about parking in this area but right across the street is a parking lot which is a flat $ 5 for the whole day. Don’t be cheap.

It is highly recommended that you order from one of the set menus, but the likelihood of satisfaction runs high either way.
If cleanliness is particularly important to you, please try to not look around too much. The lighting is poor, and for good reason.
If you enjoy cantonese-​american food… dag… dag… please try this restaurant. Black bean clams, sweet and sour soup, corn based soup (not the actual name), beef chow fun, lightly breaded fried fish dishes (not actual name), ground pork with salted egg or preserved fish (might be actual name), tomato beef chow mein… the cooking suits my taste buds and expectations to a T.
Like others I have only fond memories of family gatherings here – the food is that good! :)
There is better out there, but one is hard pressed, very hard pressed to come up with examples. Cleanliness knocks it down a very solid star. Fond memories back up one. I’d say 4.5.

Monday Night Football, not tonite. I’m starving and cruising around Oakland Chinatown looking for some cheap eats. I read about the King Wah through various Unilocalers, inexpensive but good. The person I was with could speak Cantonese so I let her order in her native tongue. Quite impressive.
Ordered the following:
Roast Duck Wonton $ 5.50 the duck only makes the won ton taste better.
Beef Chow Fun $ 5.50 not my choice because this dish is really oily, could not finish it. Not much beef with the dish.
Clams with Black Sauce $ 6.75 One of my all time favorites, not too salty and great tasting clams.
Some MSG but I thought the food was good. Good service too…

Now, i hope this is just a rumor but i heard this place may close this year! My co-​workers and I have been going here for years… the food is simple, inexpensive and tasty… yeah, you’re definitely not going there for the atmopshere… All i can say is if they close, i don’t know what we’ll do… their braised rock cod, black bean chow fun, dried fried ribs, almond duck, bbq pork won ton is a favorite with all of us!
Until we hear otherwise, we plan on eating here until the rumor has been confirmed and we’re all be pleasantly plump BUT King Wah satisfied

Memories … what memories.
This is the FIRST place that I had my favorite Chinese noodle dish — tomato beef chow mein! I fell in love with it here, and I still love the dish to this day. This place made it almost as good as my grandmother’s. Make sure you get the pan-​fried (gee mein) crispy noodles. Another great dish is the mun yee won ton — crispy won ton served with a savory sauce. Mmmmm. Even good the day after!
King Wah is very worn, but its appeal is still all about the food. Don’t expect frills or to be treated very well — just expect good food.

Since I moved from Oakland 2 years ago, this is the place i think I miss the most. They have dishes that no one else has, like steamed chicken with ham, which is an old fashioned cantonese dish that is a favorite of my husband’s childhood, and pork hash with salt egg that is a steamed pork and egg custardy thing that is delicious. Their pot stickers are the best ever and the waiters will show you how to mix your prefect dipping sauce of soy and vinegar with a bit of chili oil. I love the noodle dishes — the house chow mein and chow fun are great, as is the wonton soup and some dishes with won tons and gravy. This used to be my Chinese mother-in-law’s typical first choice for casual lunch out with us.
If you like traditional, they have plenty of that and they have daily specials which are absurdly inexpensive and include lots of fresh fish.
oh — it looks like a total dive, but it feels like a home-​cooking kind of place. When my husband goes back to Oakland for business trips, he calls me from there and taunts me with what he is eating. Bastard.