Reader Restaurant Recommendations - North Eastern United States

• Connecticut
  New Haven
  Freddy's Gourmet Kitchen, 549 Campbell Avenue, New Haven, 06501, Telephone: 203-937-0086
  The General Tso's Chicken was excellent - the best that I have ever tasted. most wonderful Hot and Sour Soup I have ever tasted! I also tried the Beef Chow Fun - it was absolutely delicious! I'm planning on going back there sometime this week. 

• Maine
  South Portland
  Imperial China, Mallside Plaza, South Portland, Maine
  - The most wonderful Hot and Sour Soup I have ever tasted! Guaranteed to clear a head cold and warm your insides. Szechuan, Hunan, and Cantonese cuisine. The luncheon menu is vast and inexpensive and the dinner menu and portions are very generous. I would suggest reserving a table as this is a VERY popular restaurant. And I would suggest the seafood entrees as Maine is renowned for seafood and it is very fresh and delicious.

• Massachussetts
  Boston
  Golden Gate, 66 Beach Street, Boston (near Washington Street)
  I highly recommend it. It's certainly not fancy - just great food at very inexpensive prices. I even have a menu from there in my kitchen here in Florida which starts me planning a trip back to Beantown. 
  
  From another reader.... I recommend the Golden Gate Restaurant on Beach Street in Boston. It's been a favorite for decades. Basic, delicious, inexpensive, casual - who could ask for more? They have the best Roast Pork and Bean Cake Rice Dish anywhere!
  
  Pearl Villa, 25 Tyler Street in Boston (in the Chinatown section), 338 - 8770
  
  Peabody
  Su-Changs, 373 Lowell Street, 01960, 978-531-3366
  This is a three star place that is so crowded on Friday nights that you can only get in by reservation (made the week before!). They do great Crab Rangoon, Tofu in Sesame Sauce, General Gau's Chicken, etc. They have a great bar and the owner, Su Chang, is a very gracious, very welcoming woman. She made my family (wife, thirteen-year old, twin toddlers) feel welcomed and we've returned there often since our first trip. 

• New Jersey
  Freehold
  Freehold Grand Buffet, Rt 9 North (Just South of the Freehold Raceway Mall)
  Great food, very large selection at the buffet counter, plus an open grill to satisfy almost anyone! Located just South of the Freehold Raceway Mall.

  West Orange
  Chengdu 46 on Route 46
  - At the top of the list. The Chinese owners go to China for their chefs and so far they have been very successful. It does not have a huge menu, but the food is top quality, and prepared with expertise. The decor is understated elegance, and there is a bar. No chop suey/chow mein here, but "Crispy Whole Fish" is so perfect you can eat the crispy fins and "Pan-fried String Beans" are classic. Gratis plum wine is presented just before the check. The food is mostly Sichuanese and the biggest drawbacks are small portion size (no doggie bags needed) and prices. But that doesn't stop the crowds who know and appreciate really good Chinese food.

  China Gourmet - 468 Eagle Rock Avenue, off Exit 8B, Route 280, in West Orange
  (Cantonese/Hong Kong cuisine). A combined classic Chinese restaurant with a regular Chinese menu, and their own fish tank for you to make a selection. Sizzling skewered Oysters in Black Pepper Sauce is a must. They have salt baked selections and some very good casserole dishes. I could be in pig's heaven with their Eggplant in Garlic Sauce with a bowl of rice. Doggie bag portions, fair prices, nice decor, small bar, and dim sum on weekends.

  Hunan Gardens - Prospect Avenue in Bloomfield, Exit 149 off the Garden State Parkway
  - This restaurant was one of the first to replace the old Chinese Chop Suey Palaces. They have the usual regular menu, but also have Chinese Hot Pot/Fire Pot, Diced Chicken stir/fried with Bean Paste, Lions Head Casserole, Squid with Chili and Peanuts and Red Cooked Chinese Eggplant on their special menu. They also have Ants Climbing a Tree along with other noodle dishes, Shredded Turnip Cake and a wonderful Chinese Chive Turnover. A couple of those with a pot of tea would leave me quite content. This is a small door front place with GREAT prices and a gem of a find. You don't have to go into NYC any more for really good food, and I have barely scratched the surface. 
  
  Wildwood
  Dragon House Chinese Restaurant, 3616 Pacific Avenue, Wildwood, 08260-6186, (609) 522 - 2320
  I highly recommend it! Their Head Chef was featured on a few talk shows. If you or your readers ever have the opportunity to go there, they should stop by.  

• New York
  New York City

  Golden Unicorn Restaurant 18 East Broadway, New York, NY 10012 Telephone 212 - 941 - 0911, FAX 212 - 941 - 0951
  It is a dim sum place in the afternoon and at night it has the best food with excellent, almost French, service. 

  Gold Flower, 9 Doyers Street
  The food is great - well-prepared standard Cantonese and Szechuan - and the price is right: $22.00 for two people without drinks.

  There is an added attraction here: Karaoke! As you enjoy your meal, other customers approach the DJ dais, select a song, and proceed to sing, accompanied by music which is played over a sound system that includes a few video monitors showing an appropriate video selection along with the words. Chinese families go there for birthday and anniversary parties. Oh, yeah, it is mostly in Chinese although I heard performances of "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "You're Still the One" in English. With your meal, you get to select 3 songs to sing -- if you want to: there's no pressure. You can buy more tunes or borrow them from a table mate.

  I was there twice with my wife and again with my teen-aged niece and her friend, 2 Americans living in Portugal. They loved it.  My niece sang 3 songs. 

  HSF Restaurant 46 Bowery Street 10013-4801, Telephone 212 - 374 - 1319
  A good place but make sure you go early or else all the fresh food is gone. (This recommendation comes from Ado Lio, About's Guide to Asian American Culture)

  N.Y. Noodle Town 28 1/2 Bowery, New York, NY 10013 (on the Bowery near Bayard Street) Telephone 212 - 349 - 0923
  It looks like a formica and chrome dive, but has some of the best noodle dishes in the city.

  Sweet-N-Tart Cafe, 76 Mott Street, Telephone 212 - 334 - 8088
  A good place that serves all sorts of Chinese food. (Another recommendation from Ado Lio, About's Guide to Asian American Culture)

  Travis, a regular visitor to the Chinese Cuisine forum, has a few more comments about New York's Chinatown in general..."For the most part, you can't miss in Chinatown.  One thing I have found out is that if you take a midnight trip there, you will find some of the best food you will ever encounter - almost as though only the best are open all night or the cooks are better after midnight.  Whatever it is, try going down there after you finish sightseeing or the theater.  You won't regret it." 
  
  Rochester
  China Garden, 3240 Chili Ave, Rochester , NY
  This is by far the best Chinese Restaurant that I have ever gone to. Their food is absolutely delicious. All take-out orders are ready with in fifteen minutes, and the amount of food you get is enough to last for at least two meals. Another great thing about this restaurant is that you can go there an have very nice sit-down meal. They have an excellent amount of menu choices even for vegetarians. I would highly recommend this restaurant for quick take-out or great sit-down meal.

• Pennsylvania
  Dallas
  Peking Chef
  29 Dallas Shopping Centre, 18612-1231, Telephone 570 - 675 - 0555
  When in North East PA go to the Peking Chef in Dallas, PA...an excellent restaurant with high restaurants in cuisine. The Princess Chicken is beyond belief! There are no menu items that you can go wrong with, but the Princess Chicken is unbelievable. Sweet and delicate yet full of robust flavor, a true must try to believe. They also have a full range of Polynesian tiki drinks and a great appetizer menu. And be sure to ask for some of the almond cookies before you go. 
   

• Vermont
  South Burlington
  The Silver Palace at 1216 Williston Road, Telephone: 802-854-0125
  The best Chinese food I have ever eaten -- and I've been to China twice! Try it! It is a real treat!
  
• Washington, DC
  Li Ho at 5th and H
  Cheap but good.
  
  Burma's on 6th, between G and H
  The #21 noodle dish, whose Burmese name escapes me just now, is out of this world. Also, their eggplant and squash appetizers and their spring rolls are wonderful. 
  
  Hunan Chinatown, Tony Cheng's and Liu Garden
  All deserve a mention.
  
  Szechuan Garden
  For a nostalgia moment, Szechuan Garden, where the food's good but the lunchtime service is a bit hurried, was in a long scene in True Lies with Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ho ho sik! (Good eating!)

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