Looking for a really great Chinese restaurant in the Silicon Valley area, preferably not too far from Highways 101 or hwy 17, as I willing be traveling from San Bruno to Santa Cruz via San Jose to visit a friend in San Jose.

Im not looking something really great, not your typical "Chinese Buffet" that serves french fries, onion rings, pudding, chicken nuggets and those banana slices dipped in sweet red sauce.

Im willing to drive a few blocks or miles away from hwys 101 or hwy 17,.but not too far since my time on this travel day will be limited due to other planned activities.

Im AM looking something really great, not your typical "Chinese Buffet" that serves french fries,....

(SORRY...about my typo...meant to say that I AM looking for something REALLY GREAT!!)

Chef Chu's in Mountain View.

Hong Kong Flower Lounge is right off 101: Millbrae Avenue and El Camino Real:

http://www.crusa.biz/mayflower/HKFL/2316015.html

Very handy to the freeway.

Joy Luck Place, Wolfe @ Homestead in Cupertino. Just off 287.

I don't know of any type of the buffet like you mention. we don;t eat at those kinds of places here.

"not your typical "Chinese Buffet" that serves french fries, onion rings, pudding, chicken nuggets and those banana slices dipped in sweet red sauce."

That certainly isn't 'typical'. The only one like that I can think of is attached to a motel near SFO.

This is the SF Bay Area after all - there is no shortage of good to truly great Chinese restaurants.

@ JanisJ. Thats why I put Chinese Buffet in quotations, as they are so-called, but really arent.

Yes, there is not shortage of truly great Chinese restaurants in the SF Bay area. I think osakaorchid is asking for actual names of restaurants, not just a statement that they exist.

Lunch or dinner? Cantonese, Hunan or Mandarin? For round-eyes or almond eyes?

1. One of the new "in" places for Cantonese dim sum is the - get this - Hong Kong Saigon Seafood Harbor Restaurant (actually the name is only 6 syllables in Chinese but comes out to be almost twice that many syllables in English)

http://www.yelp.com/biz/hong-kong-sa...rant-sunnyvale

A solid "B"


2. An old standby that has been suffering from the recent recession but still serves good Cantonese food is:

Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant
1001 Story Road, San Jose

Grade: B-A, depends on what you order


3. Mayflower Restaurant in Milpitas

http://www.mayflower-seafood.com/

They have also taken over the Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae.

Very good and very authentic. Serves things like sea cucumbers, which may not appeal to round-eyes.


4. The best and most reliable is still the Koi Palace
365 Gellert Boulevard, Daly City

This is no longer "Silicon Valley" but more "The Peninsula" and is much closer to San Francisco than to San Jose.


5. In the plaza with the Mayflower in Milpitas, there are a bunch of Chinese restaurants. There is even a halal restaurant with wonderful thin or thick sesame bread, Darda Seafood Restaurant. It's Northern China Muslim food:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/darda-seafoo...urant-milpitas

These are all relatively large and authentic Chinese restaurants. If you want something smaller, I've got to think a bit - what kind of regional food?

I heartily second the suggestion of the Mayflower, which is in a shopping center not far from highway...505? I can't remember. Anyway, the dim sum are terrific, as is the seafood in general.

But nothing anywhere comes close to Koi Palace.

@ easy.

Koi Palace sounds excellent, but Daly City is out of my way as I'll be heading south from SFO into Silicon Valley.

BTW, my eyes are almond, but my friend's eyes are round.

osakaorchid: If the Koi Palace is too far away, then any of the other three will be fine.

You didn't say which part of Silicon Valley, which is quite a large area, so I've given you three restaurants in three different locations. Milpitas is to the north, Dynasty Restaurant is to the southeast and Sunnyvale is to the West. Any one of the three will do without your having to drive all over creation to get to the restaurant.

BTW, if you are going for dim sum lunch, like to the Hong Kong Saigon, etc. (Just saying the long name makes me feel tired), then plan to arrive early. 10:30am arrival will get you seated without too long a wait. Dynasty is OK anytime - so much has their business fallen off.

At the HK Saigon, etc., they serve a "Snow Mountain/Mound Dumpling" (forgot exactly how they translated it) which is a fried taro dumpling. It's OK, I'm not a taro person, but some others have raved about that dumpling. In order to get a serving, you have to scream at the waiter and wave your arms around like a windmill. In the din of the restaurant, screaming is normal, so the waiter won't take offense if you scream at him. We've had one waiter go into the kitchen to get a serving specifically for our table, only to have him waylaid twice - people just grabbed the plates out of his hands! Don't wait for the dumplings to come along on the carts, they'll never get to you.

Mayflower is the best of the three.

All three are Cantonese and not stuck in the groove of sweet-n-sour or perpetual chili sauce.

Hope this helps a bit. If you need more info, just ask. Can't guarantee we'll have the answer. The problem with the Chinese restaurants is that most of them don't have websites of their own and it's mostly word-of-mouth. The Yelp reviews are pretty pathetic - the cheaper the place, the more stars it gets. The Chowhound reviews are a bit better, but it's frequented by a bunch of regulars and it's pretty much their tastebuds, which don't always match with mine.

Happy dining whichever restaurant you choose!