Yan Can Asian Bistro

Reviews 14

JO

Jonathan Bowman

Wow. Where do I start? This place has class, sophistication and more importantly brilliantly plated dishes that will have your mouth watering and your heart longing for more. First of all Im not a fan of Chinese food but I am, however, a fan of Martin Yan. Hes a brilliant entertainer, culinary master and an accomplished author. So naturally I was curious and when I took my family here I made sure to avoid anything Chinese. The odd thing is that his dishes are fusion based so it wasnt hard at all to avoid the traditional Chinese food youd expect to see in a Chinese restaurant. I had some awesome chicken wings and satay to start. My kids had edamame and I ordered a small plate of calamari which was out of this world. Before I go any further I must say the prices were very reasonable and may even verge on cheap. Anyhow I decided that beef and broccoli sounded delish because of the fusion twist and sure enough it was! It tasted nothing like Chinese take-out. In fact it was brilliantly paired with some sort of curry-ginger sauce. WOW! Now for the best part! I finished the evening with a to-die-for fried banana ala mode. Now mind you I could have opted for plain old vanilla but I was feeling a bit wild so I went for the green tea ice cream!

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AJ

Ajay Kapil

My family and I have been dining at Yan Can since its opening and it is one of our favorite go to family restaurants for any occasion. The cuisine is exceptionally delicious and the best in the Bay Area. Our favorite go to dining selections are the satay chicken, pad Thai, Melaka curry chicken, mango beef, red Thai curry beef, orange chicken, and more. I have dined all over San Francisco, Berkeley, Palo Alto, etc. and no Asian restaurant stands up to Yan Can. I even dined at M.Y. China in San Francisco which is a Martin Yan upscale restaurant, but Yan Can in Santa Clara is far superior in delicious cuisine items in my opinion. The price point is affordable and the dining experience is realistic. As a small improvement, my only criticism is the ambiance could be turned up a notch such as lighting, candles, louder ambient music, and ways to attract more customers from outside with window lighting.

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ST

Stephen Cameron

Cant recommend this place. Ordered hot and sour soup and thai red curry chicken. The soup looked fine, was slightly hot, slightly sour, but *extremely* salty, with pretty much no other flavors present, or they were entirely masked by the salt. The curry sauce was very thin and watery, and not very spicy at all. There was something a little strange about the chicken I couldnt immediately put my finger on. It was kind of chunks, but kind of flaked apart almost like fish, and kind of too salty. Then it hit me what it was... I think they used *canned chicken*! Or if not, they somehow managed to make the chicken into a close approximation of canned chicken. Surprisingly terrible. Martin Yan should come down there and either straighten them out or close them down, because they arent helping his reputation *at all*.

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LI

Lisa Heffernan

Absolutely loved the food. We tried several dishes and were wowed by the individual recipes. /Mongolian beef, Thai basil chicken and the Melaka chicken curry were delicious and very filling. Our order came really fast, almost as we sat down, all the ingredients were really fresh. We were there on Sat. lunch and it was surprisingly empty. Each dish around $10,The restaurant was very clean, lovely atmosphere and of course videos of Martin Yan in the forbidden city softly in the background. We really enjoyed ourselves and highly recommend it. One negative, I tried the tea in the crock it was terrible.

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BA

BALLIsForLIFE

The Wok Stock ‘n Barrel Soup was amazing I instantly fell in love with it and the chicken fried rice is delicious as well. The lady that attended us was really nice and bought us everything we needed. Dishes portion are really good and will make you full. The sad part is that I dont live in this area, I live tin Southern California so I will not come often but when the opportunity comes, Ill definably come back and eat. Reccomend the food here if you want a little twist to Chinese food. Definetly comming back 5/5 ⭐️ Overall Service 10/10 Food 11/10 Place 10/10

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KA

kazukazu Matsushima

アメリカCalifornia州Santa Claraにあるアジア系多国籍料理店。 焼肉からタイカレーなど様々なアジアンテイストを味わうことができる。 特筆うまいというわけでもないが、まずいこともなく、ある意味重宝するお店。 また、ライスを頼むと茶碗にてんこ盛りなのがうれしい。

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A

A Private User

I can really tell they are trying their best and put their heart into every dish. With a menu created by the most famous Chinese Chef in the world how could the food not be good? Some dishes are better than others, but overall an excellent experience. Try the Melaka Curry if your into sweeter savory curries. Or you can add spice to any dish. I suggest the kung pao chicken, extra spicy.

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AZ

Azruek Cielestair

I cant say how the food is, and I would understand if they were busy... Im not sure how many employees there were, but there were only two tables of customers in the whole room. I wouldnt have minded waiting if he had at least acknowledged me. He saw me standing there but ignored me. I used to work in places like that, and a, "welcome in, be with you in just a sec," goes a long way.

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AL

Alex Pesch

Good food, but can get quite busy, and was taken aback when I asked the waitress what was in the pot stickers and she had to check with one of the cooks, who then had to check with another cook. Eventually after a team meeting in back we found out they were made with chicken. The fact that some of the cooks werent aware of what kind of meat they were preparing concerned me.

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EV

Evan Lipton

First time here, last time here. Got eggplant, orange chicken and beef+broc to go with a bowl of hot and sour - a to-go order. When we got home, the (already tiny to-go boxes) filled halfway. The soup container filled 3/4 way. The soup is nothing special, a ton of salt and spice, thats about it. No flavor. Not worth the $42 paid. Avoid.

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A

A Private User

I think people are too harsh on this place. It is delicious and has fantastic THAI options, such as the Red Curry. Plenty of vegetarian options as well. It is a little pricey, but not over-the-top expensive. Overall, Ive been here a handful of times and enjoyed myself every single visit. Ill continue to come back.

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WA

Waitung Lau

i went there on Jan 2, not a busy evening tried a few dishes their sour n spicy soup is very much modified to the western taste their melaka curry is good the service is good as i do not expect a 5-star service but it can be rated as a 3.5 ~ 4 star i will come here for the second time and try some other dishes

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A

A Private User

The food here is o.k. when you are hungry. If you want fusion food, go to PFs Chang. If you want real Chinese food, go to some where else. I ate at this place 2 years ago, it was terrible. I now came back to try it, nothing was improved, especialy the soup. I expected much more at Yan Can restaurant.

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YO

Your Companion

Interesting and tasty chef-style Asian influenced cuisine on a price of a regular Asian food. Thats for sure good! Big portions, at least when you eat-in. The only minus - the dishes are a lil bit too spicy (even when you ask for a NOT spicy something). All the stuff is very nice and friendly

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