Chang's Chinese Restaurant

This restaurant has wonderfully affordable lunch specials and fast service. At least during my experience. Pictured below was my order: the General Chicken lunch special with pork-fried rice and wonton soup. As you can see, the presentation of the dish is quite beautiful. I can tell the kitchen took pride in plating, which is always very admirable. I also felt that the portion was acceptable for a lunch special. Taste-wise, General Chicken is often a recipe that balances a tanginess, sweetness, and a hint of spiciness. Chang’s was able to provide a dish that fulfills these flavors. My only critique with my order is that the sauce’s sweetness did at times overwhelm the spicy kick, and some of the chicken pieces were a little chewy—which leads me to believe they may have been overcooked. The rice accompanying the chicken was flavorful, soft, and delicious. The wonton soup’s broth was bursting with flavor, though the wontons were a little doughy. I also wish I could have had more of the wontons—as they were supposed to be the main star of the soup. Still, very good soup, and I would order this again. The service was great. My servers were polite, and there was only one other person in the restaurant, which meant I received my food in less than 10 minutes from ordering. Additionally, it’s nice to see a restaurant that still cares about fair prices: all this food costed me around $11. I would check this place out! Especially if you are hungry for a nice, quick lunch.

Even though I am Chinese, I am not usually a fan of the food but this place does come close to how my mom cooks in flavor. I also hate tofu because it’s just bland and disgusting but this restaurant does a very good salt/pepper fried tofu that is extremely flavorful. The wait is rather fast and the place has a huge parking. Signage is small but they have a bigger sign on the second floor. They used to be located on 107 ave and coral way but they moved to a bigger plaza on 107 ave and 13 st SW. The photos in google still has shots from the old location so I uploaded some new ones. My mom loves this place and had a hard time looking for them but they said they are also renting the storefront next door so they are waiting for renovations to be done before posting on the Chinese newspapers. We only ordered a few dishes since we were only checking them out to make sure they haven’t changed cooks (usual reason for a Chinese restaurant to fail due to chefs leaving to open their own place). The fried tofu was great as always and the stir fried lobster was fresh (meat was sweet unlike frozen lobster). But the sauce did not penetrate throughout the dish. Same happened with the stir fry leafy greens in fermented tofu fish sauce (one of my childhood favorites in veggie dishes). Maybe they are trying to make it more palatable for a non-Chinese clientele since some strong flavors might be a turn off for those who are not familiar with Chinese cuisine. I also tried the fried shrimp with salted egg yolk (I love salted egg yolk) which was soggier than I expected and they didn’t mix the egg yolk into the batter but rather smeared it on the shrimp. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t my favorite. Unfortunately I am allergic to MSG and it is a staple in Chinese cuisine seasoning so even after requesting them to cook without it, I still felt a little bit of sinus dryness. Overall a great dining experience but we did notice the prices were increased and the three dishes ended up $60-$80 (lobster was $30). I guess the whole location with new renovations is making this little hidden gem go mainstream. I still think everyone should give it a try. It’s my mom’s go-to for dinner with out-of-town visitors (family or friends).