N. Naples restaurants?
 

I'm wondering if there are yet any good Chinese restaurants in N. Naples or Bonita Springs. We're here for several months, love Chinese food, but didn't find any last year. Tried P.F. Chang's and wasn't impressed (the silly thing with the sauces up front was a turn-off-- esp with no wonton noodles to dip in the sauces-- but mainly the dishes essentially have no veggies; wasn't impressed with the sauces on dishes either). Tried China Pavillion and thought the food was mediocre. Always hoping something a step or two better will open. Any such luck? Thanks!

Google : Chinese rest. in Naples. or ask around

I thought this was asking around?

Sorry, I can;t help on Chinese. Do you like Indian? Passage to India is pretty good.

Keith

Sushi Thai on 41 north of Vanderbilt south of Immokalee was excellent, but it is Thai and Japanese. There is also a good Japanese steak house on Vanderbilt across from the Ritz, but again, that is Japanese. I did get take out from one on 41 maybe around Golden Gate or so, but I can't remember the name or what I had, so I don't think it was that great.

Try the Sushi Thai. The Japanese will be close and their food was terrific. They even had a lady playing an odd oriental-type harp live on the weekend.

I'm glas your experience has been good with Sushi Thai. We had them deliver once and had a poor experience.

The food was fairly good but when they left our order, they forgot the Pad Thai. We called again, and the lady on the phone was quite rude, not believing us.

Eventually we got what we had ordered and paid for, but it left me unwilling to try them again.

Keith

The bottom line is that NO we don't have any really good Chinese places in Naples. P.F. Chang's is about as good as it gets, frankly, although it is not very traditional. They have lots of dishes with tons of veggies (or even all veggies), however, so I'd say you just ordered the wrong things on that score. I'm not sure what you meant by the sauces thing -- which you can ask them not to do, but they aren't for dipping things, they are for adding to putting on the side of main dishes if you like more spice. There is a newer place in the Doubletree on US 41 North, right by the Pewter Mug -- it has a name something like Chaing's, which causes some confusion. I've been told it's better that P.F. -- but nobody really raves either.

I would only suggest that you avoid Beijing, which is almost right across the road from P.F. Chang's. It really gives Chinese food a bad name.

By the way, I'm now a big fan at lunch of Pei Wei on Vanderbilt Road, near Airport Road. It's an offshoot of P.F. Chang's, much more casual and cheap. You order at a counter, take a seat and they bring the food to you. I particularly have liked their noodle dishes, like the big Japanese Udon noodles with choice of beef, chicken, or shrimp. Two of us do lunch and are out the door spending a total of about $17 having a huge and good lunch with iced teas.

I hate it when a rude person ruins your whole experience. The people I talked to were very nice.

I have no experience with Sushi Thai (or is it Thai Sushi?), but it gets generally good comments and they are opening a new one at "Four Corners" where 41 turns to the east at 5th Avenue South, in the spot that has been 10 restaurants in the same number of years (roughly).

We have a few haunted spaces like that. Where restaurants go to die. They finally bulldozed one and are putting up an office building.

Hi Everyone,

Haven't been back to my posting in a while-- I guess I was too annoyed enough at that first answer.
Keith: We tried Passage to India a few times in past years-- didn't like at all. Did like Sushi-Thai-- not great, but ok; have had much better Thai food in other states, esp. CA of course.
kellie: I agree that DaRuMa is good, but, obviously, nothing Chinese abt it. (We prefer Chinese to Japanese, but like both.) We enjoyed the live "harpist" at Sushi-Thai.
Patrick: We tried that other Chinese restaurant that you're talking abt-- the one with the name like PFChang's. Was horribly noisy and cold when we tried it, but that was when they first opened some years ago. Maybe they're due for another try.
Thanks for feedback!

If you are looking for something new try Bha Bha Persian Bistro on Vanderbilt Road. It is a tad pricey, but Persian food is wonderful. My mother-in-law is Persian so we eat there a lot.

Actually I just read that Stir Crazy is opening in Coconut Point in Estero in spring 2008. I'm not sure when that means, but they basically have a salad bar that you choose your own stuff and sauces and they cook it up for you. Kind of like Mongolian BBQ, but you only go once. I like it there.

Today I drove past and suddenly remembered a place we met friends last fall and thought it was great. Saigon Noodle on 41, directly across from Germain Lexus in one of those strip shopping malls. The chilled "summer rolls with shrimp" were really outstanding and we shared several dishes all very good. While it's theoretically more Vietnamese, you know how most places overlap those Asian cuisines. This one is no exception.

Sadly, China Pavilion is as good as it gets around here. While we always order from there and the food is fine, there's no really good Chinese restaurant in Naples.

I agree on PF Chang's. It was really disappointing. Not sure why it's always crowded.

I will have to try Saigon Noodle.