Chinatown Cafe

A bit off off the beaten path, down on Harrison Avenue on the other side of Tufts Medical Center (almost down to the Mass Pike) from the main part of Boston’s Chinatown, Chinatown Cafe ranks really high on our taste-per-dollar scale, and easily worth the 3 extra blocks’ hike to get there. Just about everything they do is excellent, with generous portions for (mostly) reasonable prices. You can dine in, but everything is still sort of in pandemic mode, with the plastic shield still up, and no table service - but there are booths you can tuck into with your to-go order. Their roast duck is easily the best in Boston. Like other Guangzhou-style (Conatonese?) restaurants, duck, chicken and pork roasts hang from hooks, visible from the street. The beef Chow Fun (chow foon?) with broccoli in brown sauce is surpassingly excellent, with fork-tender beef, and (like all the stirfry here), a delightful Wok Hei (wok burn) flavor that marks a skilled kitchen. Everything we’ve had here is excellent. The salt-and-pepper squid stands out, the chicken wings are fantastic (not coated, but crispy outside and juicy inside - the holy grail of chicken wingdom). The only thing I don’t recomment is the special Beef Brisket with Turnip, which is high-priced by comparison with the rest of the menu, despite the toughness of the brisket. Brisket can be tender, but it takes a lot of slow cooking - more than has been done here. and although the dish is tasty, the beef is borderline inedible. The beef in the other noodle and rice plates is way more tender and melts in your mouth. Unfortunately, like many old-style Cantonese places, they don’t give much thought to cleanliness, particularly when it comes to the restroom, although it’s no worse, and maybe better than most old-style Chinese restaurants (this is not one of those new, high-priced places with marble sinks). The seafood congee is particularly special. I say go, but don’t tell your friends… I want to be able to go back! 😎

This place is honestly so damn good. Great value for the quality and quantity of food you get. Each order can last a grown man two meals, and it’s incredibly delicious. Still my favorite place to order food from in the state of Massachusetts

I was so excited to try this place because the reviews are awesome and prices online looked really affordable! It's cash only and pick up only. I called to place my order and was told my total was $25. I even repeated it back to her once she told me it was cash only because I wanted to make sure I had enough cash. Once I got there and handed her the money, she told me it's not enough and showed me the receipt. The total was $35... I told her that doesn't make sense because it doesn't match the prices on their website or what they told me over the phone. She picked up the sesame chicken and told me this isn't $9. It is a huge portion, I'll give them that! But I didn't want $20 worth of sesame chicken! I even showed her the website and their own prices and she told me no. Bad attitude about it too. I walked out with $36 worth of chinese food when that's not at all what I had planned to spend. Luckily I had an extra $10 in my wallet otherwise I wouldn't have been able to pay for it! I got home and was excited to try it because if Im gonna spend almost 40 bucks on chinese it better be heaven. I kid you not, mall food chinese is better than this and a quarter of the cost. Overall I'm so disappointed because I was excited to find a locally owned, hole in the wall that could become my regular chinese takeout to go. After eating about 3 bites it's obvious I won't be coming back. Chinatown Cafe, please please please update your website with accurate prices!!

I ordered a chicken with cashews yesterday for takeout. Why it turned out to be chicken with peanuts?🥜 Peanuts is much cheaper than cashew. This is a scam in Chinatown!

Found this spot when we got a cake across the street, the seating area is small with a few tables, best for take out, the smells of the food will get you even hungrier, this spot is not the regular Chinese restaurants you find in the suburbs. One thing to note, stop at the ATM since it's💵💲💰cash only. The food is more authentic, the BBQ pork, roasted chicken 🐔 & duck 🦆 are cut right in front of you. Take your time reading the menu since there's lots of choices and is a very busy menu 😄. If you want to try all the meats I suggested R1. The plate is loaded with white rice and lots of meat enough to share.