Address: | 2190 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA |
Phone: | +1 510-843-7996 |
Site: | greatchinaberkeley.com |
Rating: | 4.4 |
Working: | 11:30AM–2:30PM Closed 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM |
AL
Alex Jo
Hands down the best Chinese restaurant for me, my family, and my friends from everywhere like different shores. I take them to supposedly the best restaurants in SF Bay Area like #1 ranked eatery out of 3,000 or so eateries in the entire SF Bay Area, French, Italian, Japanese sushi, you name it, but after some time elapses and memory fades, sure enough, the only restaurant they can still recall with delightful exclamations is the foods they enjoyed at Great China in Berkeley. We usually enjoy winter melon soup (taste to kill for, i might add), Chinese broccoli with minced garlic, Peking duck, double skin yangzangpi, baked jumbo clams, crab meat with bun, then more than enough for pleasing 6 people. For less than half the price of Mr. Chow (Beverly Hills and Manhattan) and Hakkasan (SF, Vegas, and NY), Great China regales you with comparable or better taste with far more generous serving size, although Mr. Chow and Hakkasan are my favorite eateries. Overall, much better than my favorite dimsum eatery, Yank Sing in SF. Its menu offers a wide variety of gluten-free dishes. Asian restaurants tend to smother our taste buds with sickening dose of chemical concoctions like MSG. Thats the reason why my friends and myself completely stopped going to R&G in China Town, San Francisco. Great China chefs know how to bring the ever delightful taste of nature as-is to satisfy our desire for culinary pleasure, the very joy of life. I frequented this eatery ever since it was run by the founder, the father of the current proprietors. Its getting even better with the newly stylish internal decor and ambiance and even taste. To me and my friends, this is the best eatery in Berkeley, call me biased but perhaps even better than Chez Panisse to my taste.
A
A Private User
Visiting Berkeley for a few weeks, I discovered by chance this wonderful place, hidden between a movie theater and a parking lot. The only thing to warn that something happens here is a long queue. The entrance price to pay for waiting your turn is nevertheless a just price, since the cuisine is wonderful and the price in dollars is very reasonable for the quality in comparison with prices of other restaurants here and in San Francisco. For avoiding the queue, you have to gather a group of at least six people, which allows you to make reservations and to enjoy sitting around large tables on the third floor. Also, and that was unexpected, a nine pages wine list! And a surprising expertise. Finally, an anecdote, which is a testimony of what attracted me to this restaurant. My last name is Aubin, and I am a French visitor. This is the name I wrote on the waiting list, and the American pronunciation has nothing to do with the French one. When it was my turn, the “boss” asked me how I pronounced it, which I did. It happens that Saint-Aubin is the name of at least three “crus’’, one in Burgundy, very good and … expensive, another one in the Bordeaux and the third one, in the Loire Valley. I asked him whether he knew the right French pronunciation because of this wine, and this is how that during our too short visit, we have solved the restaurant problem by patronizing only this one. Despite the hectic pace and rhythm of the service to serve so many clients, there was always a time of friendly exchanges. Well, I just want to congratulate and thank the Yu family for this wonderful enterprise, and recommend it to the readers of this commentary.
NO
Noelle Ham
This place is super busy! Even with reservations at 8pm for 6, we still had to wait about 15 min. They hype is real! We ordered the Peking duck, double skin, walnut prawns, pork belly, and guo ta tofu. The server was apprehensive that this would be enough, but it was MORE than enough food with ample left overs. We could have had 2 less dishes and be content. The star of the night was the Peking duck. I love that it comes deboned and with the skin on the side. This makes for the duck to be lean and not greasy! The walnut prawns came in second for me. They were perfectly fried, with a light batter to them. Double skin was an interesting noodle dish (first time trying it). Tofu was good, and my friends enjoyed the pork belly, so Ill take their word for it. One of the things I didnt like was how spread out the timing was for each dish. Id say wed get one dish every 15 min. By the time the tofu came we were too stuffed to eat it. Service is super quick. My friend dropped her chopsticks on the floor and a second later someone came and gave her a new pair. Thats service!
ME
Melanie Huynh
Great China is trendy place to get great Chinese food! I came here on a Saturday night with a friend and waiting for about 15 minutes before getting seated. The interior decoration is very modern with unfinished ceilings and concert walls. I love that Great China has round tables with lazy susans so its easier for large groups to share family style. We ordered hot and sour soup, Peking duck, and eggplant with hot garlic sauce. The soup was tangy and warmed my stomach. Not a must get, but definitely delicious if you do. The Peking duck was the BEST Ive ever had. One thing about eating duck that I usually dislike is the amount of oil and fat that it comes with. Great China presents their duck with all the fat removed from the crispy skin and the duck already shredded up to make it easy to eat. The dish also comes with pancakes, plum sauce, and scallions. The eggplant with hot garlic sauce was mediocre in comparison to the duck. I would pass on this dish. Overall, the wait staff was great and the food was phenomenal. Ill be coming back when Im in the area again.
AN
Anoxic Guan
The food might taste good for Americans but remind you that these dishes are either not authentic or simply made up - i.e. I never heard them in China. However, if you are down for trying Chinese cuisine and dont want to risk going too far, then this American Chinese restaurant is perfect for you. That said, 如果你是中国人,千万别轻易来这家店。如果来了也别点那些你没听过的菜,味道菜式都很奇葩。周末的时候人还多,还不如去对面的奶茶店喝杯奶茶呢,还挺像台湾本地的。
HE
Helen Leung
Weve been to Great China several times, and this visit was the best out of all. The must have dishes--Peking Duck (with the authentic tortilla-like wrap) and Double Skin--were good as usual. The String Beans was a common dish that weve had in many other Chinese restaurants, but this was by far the best weve had. The cumin lamb was done a little differently than what we had (on other restaurants); the cut of lamb was more like stew meat, but it was tender, and the spices and the flavor was just right without being over-powering. The timing of how they sever the dishes was perfect too. They dont take reservations for party fewer than 6, so it was lucky of us to be there right before they open and got to sit at the bar (tables were all taken already). Every time we drove far too be there for dinner--and one time we drive all the way there to find that they had a private event and didnt take walk-ins--so my only plea is that they will allow reservations for party fewer than 6.
A
A Private User
I ate at Great China last week and it was a good experience. There were about 8 of us and we opted for their family dinner which includes a soup, appetisers and main courses for $14. As we were 8 people we got 6 main dishes and a couple of appetisers along with the soup. The food was tasty, of enormous quantities and more than sufficient for all of us. The Mu-shu was great although their spinach and bean curd clear soup was a bit of a disappointment. It was rather tasteless. Among the main courses, the braised eggplant was great and a shrimp dish(cannot remember exactly which one) had people licking their fingers. My only complaint was their service was lousy to say the least. We did not even get water for at least half an hour and had to find a waitress to take our order. It did seem like a busy night perhaps which is why service was a bit haphazard. The price was reasonable considering the quantity of food. On the whole definitely worth a visit.