Address: | 4531 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA |
Phone: | +1 210-340-7944 |
Site: | dinghowsa.com |
Rating: | 4.1 |
Working: | 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 12–9PM |
GA
Gary Welch
The decor in the entry and the unique building set high expectations. The building is well kept, and fairly clean. The floors and tables are excellent, and the sculpted paintings on the wall are amazing. Where the let down occurs is consistency. The three sections of dining all have a different roofing pattern to them, and the foam drop panels are a horrible contrast to the elegant looking paneling present in the area you first enter. As a person niggle, I found the 8 independent light switches that were not level or in a line, to be distracting and looked of poor planing. There are ganged panel boxes that take care of that. I think that is enough about the building, so lets talk about service. The wait staff while I was there (around 2:30PM Sunday) was very quick to respond, and very attentive. Excellent marks there. The delivery of appetizers was elegant enough. Having the 6 crab rangoons brought on a silver platter was very well done. The egg rolls seemed lonely, and the presentation lacking. They were places on a small plate in the middle of a larger plate. When the food was brought out, the state of the food cart was a bit of a disappointment as well. The cart look aged, and worn, something I would expect to see living the last of its life in someones garage holding tools. The plastic glasses could use some replacing as well, as they are badly chipped and sharp around the edges. Then we get to the presentation of table amenities. The sweet and sour was in a plastic squeeze container, which I find to be fairly common. However the sugar and soy sauce also were. In a place like this I would expect to find soy in a decorative container, or at least a Kinkomen refillable. The quality of the appetizers was great. I found the egg roll to have a tad too much meat and would have preferred a little more vegetables in there. That being said it was excellent. The rangoons were not a let down either. So we finally get to what the reasoning behind the three stars; the delivery of the main course. I would describe the wait as average. The problem started when the food got to the table. Both dishes that were ordered were cold on the outside, as if they had been cooked a while ago and sitting out. The middle remained warm, not hot. It did not have a fresh experience. The fried rice that was received, and the temperature of the chicken hinted toward the food being frozen, not just prepared and refrigerated. However at the price point, I cant find settling for food that was not prepared after being ordered, and the time certainly allowed for it. While Im not going to say the place was bad, it failed to live up to the expectations set by the entry and building style. While the initial atmosphere meets the menu prices and presentation, it begins to fall short when you see the inconsistencies. For the price and style I would expect far greater than a buffet, but Im not really sure the food met that quality standard. The appetizers for sure did, but the main dishes (combination fried rice, and combination lo mein) did not. May come again for a second shot, will follow up here if my findings are different.
S.
s. clark
Last visit was probably around two decades ago when it was a convenient location for a lunch break near work. Times, jobs changed, and I soon forgot about Ding How, or the restaurant on stilts as we called it. As I walked through the doors again, the surroundings of lacquered wood art and Chinese decor began to look familiar. We ordered appetizers from a flyer on the menu that touted beef spring rolls. Not having had it in more years than I have fingers and toes, egg foo yong was a lunch selection that immediately caught my eye. My wife craves lo-mein and so went our orders in compliance. We also ordered a cup of soup; won-ton and hot and sour. The spring rolls came first. I am used to spring rolls the size of a fat cigar. These were the size of large egg rolls. Golden brown wrapper and full of beef, another rarity, these crispy tubes were delicious. Both our soups were above average. As we sat there waiting for our meal, we looked around to see what dishes other customers had ordered. Next to us, two dishes were served to the patrons that appeared to be family orders. The plates were mounded high with morsels of fried chicken and rice and the other with beef and vegetables. Both dishes looked mouth watering. When our entrees arrived, my wife had the same huge mound of noodles, veggies that we had seen next door and I had three very large egg foo yung patties! We had noted that the prices were slightly higher than we were used from other Chinese food restaurants in the area. Now we knew why! The portions are large and the quality is high. The food was some of the best Chinese we had had. Tried as we might to finish our dishes, almost half went home for some very good left overs later. So . . .we have jre-discovered a new / old favorite and are awfully glad of it.
AN
Andrea Videographer
I heard about Ding How. Ive only been disappointed by the Chinese food here in SA so far. Ding How has a good reputation so I ordered tons of different dishes. While the staff is gracious and the prices are good, I was radically disappointed. I ordered a dish characteristically spicy hot. The dish was bland. It tasted like they relied completely on MSG for flavor and their only attempt at bringing up the heat was some enormous peppers, thrown in as an afterthought. The only way the food was spicy was if you chose to only eat the pepper, only. This is the first of other attempts at getting spicy hot dish here in SA. My feeing is that they are plagued with the same problem at every Chinese food restaurant here in SA. People dont know what to expect, so they accept what they taste, not holding the chefs to a decent standard. I read comments for some Chinese restaurants "the steamed rice had no flavor" FYI folks, steamed rice at a Chinese restaurant is just that, steamed rice. I wonder too if these restaurants are forced to cater to people who have no idea what they are supposed to be tasting and the Chefs are forced to accommodate the masses and keep country fried chicken on the menu to stay in business. Anyway, Im pretty disappointed with my entire experience with every single one Ive been to. Ding How included. Ding How, make smaller batches. Use actual seasonings instead of 1 canister of MSG, actually taste your food every now and then.
IS
Isabel Smith
They give you a lot of food, but the prices are kind of high. (10-12 dollars a plate), and I think China Star has lesser prices with the same amount of food. Their chicken is pretty good, but the shape of it is different, not round like most chinese restaurants (I dont know why). The thing I really like about this place, though I havent dined in there yet (I have only ordered take-out) is the lovely interior decorations. There are Chinese paintings and engravings and statues all over the inside, and they are very exquisite. It is a small building, with the staff dressed very casual, so it is a bit awkward, but its really nice to look at. The staff also seems very friendly and reasonably accommodating. I asked for a cup of water while waiting for my takeout and they happily obliged.