May Mei Restaurant Inc
| Address: | 639 W Duarte Rd, Arcadia, CA 91007, USA |
| Phone: | +1 626-574-1318 |
| Rating: | 4.2 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 24
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Felix Lee
May Mei is a Chinese-owned restaurant in Arcadia that serves traditional family-style Cantonese cuisine. Its best to come for dinner in a group and share plates. May Mei has been around for over 15 years, well before several Hong Kong cafes were established in the neighborhood. The same team of 5 or 6 servers have not changed ever since the restaurant opened, which speaks volumes about the business stability, given the high turnover of servers often seen at Chinese restaurants. May Mei specializes in clay pot rice that is slow-cooked on a stove using a high quality pot that does not cause rice to be burned. The rice is brought out by a server who stirs it rigorously with only a pinch of soy sauce required for flavor. The top layer is hot and moist, and anyone who likes crispy and crunchy food can eat the bottom layer that can be scraped off. My favorite topping for the clay pot is black bean spare rib because May Mei uses high quality tender pieces unlike the ones at dim sum restaurants which contain significant amounts of fat and minimal meat surrounding the bone. The application of black bean sauce is light. Consuming soup at the beginning of a family-style dinner is a very important Guangdong custom, so pay attention to the daily "old fire soup" listing on the wall. The savory ingredients are enumerated in Chinese. Todays selection included carrot, water chestnut, dates, burdock, and snow fungus, all boiled together for hours. May Meis soup is healthy and contains minimal MSG, just like the ones your mother boils at home while you are at school or work. Most of the May Meis entrees are fairly standard homestyle stir fry dishes, and can be cooked with less oil or omit salt for anyone health-conscious. Many restaurants ignore "less oil" requests because it makes it more stir-frying more difficult and especially since it may increase the chance of leaving ingredients stuck to the wok. However, May Mei chefs are thoughtful, by consistently accommodate the special needs of customers. May Mei is also very dependable for lunch and dinner, and extremely affordable during lunch. Their lunch special #57 "Chiu chow style spicy beef brisket in tomato" for under $7 is one of the best savory stews in the area. For under $10 per person, you can easily leave with leftovers. If youre in Arcadia and in the mood for Cantonese comfort food with large portions, look no further than May Mei because it is consistent, cooked with excellent "wok hei", more homestyle than restaurant-cooking, and affordable for the area.
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Ben Elliot
Bad service when ordering food to go. If you cant speak or understand Chinese, youll be waiting for a long time. I ordered food to go from this place a few times, and they make you wait forever. But its not because the cooks are slow, the waiting staff just dont care to check with you even if they notice that youve been waiting for a long time. So in this case, my food was ready like 30 minutes ago, but its just been sitting on their shelf. This is not a one time fluke either so Im done given them a chance to improve their service (theyre still clueless). So, I wont be coming back. There are other Chinese restaurants out there with better service and staff. Also, be aware about what theyre charging you - check your bill if you insist in going. I was overcharged that last time I went there and they dont give you a receipt (IRS - investigate this place).
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Ron Quan
Be aware this restaurant is cash only. The waiters can be a bit overwhelmed at peak hours but the food is consistently good. The clay pot rice dishes have a nice strong flavor imparted by the clay. The glazed pork chops have just the right amount of sweet savoriness. As with all restaurants that serve pea tips, stay away from the pea tips when theyre out of season (after Oct). They do a decent job sorting out the tough pieces but they can only do so much.
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Wilson Kwong
Been coming here many times for many years for their clay rice pot and will still come back for more. This place gets packed on weekend at dinner time, so it is smart to come early to grab a seat. For large parties, you can call and see if they will reserve a table for you. The waiters and waitress are friendly and quick to get you what you need. The Chinese food is delicious and the price is reasonable. Remember to bring $$$, no credit card.
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Ed Hsu
Ive been coming to this Cantonese restaurant for years. Great tasting food and generous portions at very reasonable prices. Kung pao beef is my go to dish...especially love the fresh peanuts they use that come out crunchy. Lunch specials available at even better prices and almost the same portion as dinner if not exactly the same. *cash only*
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Elsa Sun
Great service, the price is reasonable and the food is decent. I love their Hong Kong milk tea, its to die for! The only reason I took off one star is because Ive tried a lot of dishes, some of them are not really up to my standard (too salty, too saucy...), but I like most of them, I just have to know what to order.
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Re becca
Wow wee is this place packed with people. We took our food to go and had the filet fish, eggplant and i forgot the 3rd dish. The filet fish wasnt cooked all the way through and the eggplant initially tasted delicious but after a couple of bite it had a weird after taste that I never experienced before.
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Bob Yee
Busy place for cheap canto style dishes with good wok-sear though a bit oily. A must try is their clay pot rice dishes which had crispy rice for the bottom. There wasnt much MSG in their food which is rare for these types of places. Recommended if you are in the Arcadia area.
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Veronica Munoz
It is the best tasty food. Except that i have had the problem that when I order more than one dish for my husband and I it seems to upset them and they bring me two dish and forget to bring rest. They tell me is too much for two. ! Like if they ate paying for it.
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Bruce Chen
Not bad..扬州炒饭 the best in town... 蟹肉鱼肚羹...One of the best..
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Suixiong Pan
Great clay pot rice and other traditional Cantonese dishes. Menu does have English, but the specials are only written in Chinese on the board. Cash only.
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KM Chan
We have been to this restaurant numerous in the past. Quality of food is good. Price is reasonable. Service is fast. Cash only.
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Vivian Li
My family and relatives goes A LOT!! We love the food, and my sister in law literally loves their food! I totally RECOMMEND IT.
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David Yu
Nice people and a good place. Restaurant business is tough, but they certainly try their best to meet customer needs.
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Kevin Fang
Ive been eating here for over 10 years. It is the BEST place to get traditional comfort chinese food in the LA area.
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QerO HK
Good chinese restaurant here, specially for Rice in a pot, and everything fried! However, this is a Cash only one.
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Lok Ting Lui
Good place for some soy milk hot cold sweet or savory. They have some Taiwanese dishes too.
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albert wong
Traditional hong kong food if thats what you are craving. This place is cash only
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Hermilo Gomez
La comida es muy rica
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Hock
Good good and generous potions. A little greasy, but typical of HK food.
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Philip Youngerman
If you want authentic Cantonese home style cooking, come to this place.
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C P
Wonderful and friendly people, great food at a affordable price!
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Tangobeauty Linda Chang
Great local Chinese comfort food. Hong Kong style, cash only.
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Herman Ho
Typical Cantonese restaurant with reasonable price.
