Inspired by @chandavkl’s thread on what out of towners look for in L.A.‘s Chinese foodscape, along with @catholiver’s suggestion to start a dedicated thread, I’m starting this topic to gather suggestions for Chinese cuisine in Sacramento and Yolo counties. I’m in Davis, and there are quite a few more Chinese restaurants now than when I moved here for grad school 4.5 years ago. I haven’t tried many of them, as the generally mediocre Yelp reviews give me pause. Four Seasons Gourmet Chinese Restaurant, the “gas station” Chinese food restaurant that Yelpers rave about, was perfectly serviceable for Chinese-American takeout, but far from exceptional. Indeed, I haven’t felt the need to return since my initial visit and order of black bean fish. We have quite a few Hong Kong cafes and boba joints. The Hainan chicken rice from Hong Kong Cafe in Davis was quite nice, with deeply chicken-flavored rice. I live close to Chengdu Style, Davis’ first (to my knowledge) Sichuan restaurant, which I have yet to try.
On my Sacramento radar are ABC Bakery for egg tarts and take-out dims um, and Lam Kwong Market, also for takeout dim sum. @chandavkl recommended Hong Kong Islander, Asian Pearl, Yang’s Noodles, Szechuan Spicy House, which are now on my list. I’d bookmarked Yang’s Noodles previously, so I may begin there.
Thank you! It looks like they changed hands earlier this year from Yelp reviews, but I don’t know if for better or worse. Again reviews are all over the place, with the usual college student considerations of “cheap” and “big portions”
Look for reviews by Chinese customers, or by any seemingly knowledgeable customer. Take a look at their other reviews to judge their taste and maybe find some other places to try.
Though it looks like that place hasn’t had enough reviews since it changed hands for Yelp to be very useful.
I got around to trying Yang’s Noodles in Sacramento tonight and it was mostly hits, one miss (for my preference, at least).
Their beef roll was delicious. Tender, flakey dough wrapped around lightly sauced, flavorful beef and plenty of cucumbers, scallions, and fresh herbs. The dipping sauce, which was more herbal than I expected, further enhanced the dish. It was my friend’s first time trying a beef roll, and she thought it was revelatory.
I wanted to order their beef noodle soup (a signature dish), but after a 107 degree day my friend shot that idea down. We went with a dry noodle dish instead. The sesame noodles were just so-so. The hand cut noodles were delicious, but the sesame sauce was bland, even after mixing together the meat mixture and cucumber. I have a feeling that’s the way it’s supposed to be though. I mixed in some vinegar and dumped in some chili crisp to amp it up a little. I’ll definitely try something else next time.
Back at Yang’s Noodles tonight. My friend got the beef roll ($9.25), and I went with the cumin lamb roll ($10.25). Over the top delicious. I planned to order their beef noodle soup, but the roll was calling my name tonight
