Reviews for The Essence of China in West Linn, OR
What a gem! We were greeted promptly by one of the very friendly owners. He and his wife own this restaurant and they been in... operation for 22-23 years. They clearly have a number of regular guests based on the conversations I eves dropped on ???? Greatselection of food and beverages. I normally judge based on the hot and sour soup, but I was also craving egg flower souptonight?both were phenomenal. The pan fried pot stickers were quite large with a delicious dipping sauce. My husband judgesbased on General Tso?s Chicken and this one was the best he?s had - ?perfect blend of sweet and spicy, crispy but not overlybreaded.? We?re so excited to have found such a wonderful Chinese food restaurant so close to home in West Linn. 10/10 wouldrecommend! Read more
Wow, we've always ordered delivery from here, but it just seems like the quality has diminished over the last year or so... It's... almost like they don't care anymore. The sweet & sour pork was gross + the mu shu pork was all cabbage, carrots & NO pork... Thedipping sauce was just some Hoisin they thinned out, could have done it better myself... So sorry to see this restaurant godownhill, but I'll be ordering from Hings in OC from now on Read more
This has been my go-to Chinese restaurant of all time. You have nothing to complain about the taste! The food is always fresh.... The ambiance is good, and their service is fast. Great BBQ pork!! Read more
Disgusting?. Ordered my food Togo. I wanted to eat inside but it was super hot. Unbearable. I looked around to see a giant rat... run across the carpet. The biggest rat I?ve seen not exaggerating. Not only that I went home to find a hair in my food!!! Willnot ever go back!!!!! Place needs to be shut down. Who knows what?s crawling around their food at night time!!???????????? Read more
Update The Day After: the girlfriend has food poisoning from this place. Thanks for the food poisoning on top of horrible... food. We have gone here previously me and my girlfriend and had an okay experience but this time today after I just left wasabsolutely one of the worst if not the worst Chinese food I have had at a restaurant. The fried rice smelled weird like idkbutter or something? The fried rice and spring roll tasted like they fried them in butter that was old? Or like shortening orlard or something. Not really sure honestly what they fried them in but it gave it the Weirdest off putting flavor for bothitems and I just left a minute ago and my gut already hurts. Hopefully we don't get sick. Then we get to the spring rollwasn't even cooked all the way through. The Lemon/orange chicken tasted like a sugar sauce lightly essenced with orange flavoron a stringy deep fried chicken. Please get different things to fry your food in. Idk what it was but it was freaking awful. Nowwe got to go wash our mouths out with something and pop some tums. Read more
This used to be my favorite place for Chinese food, but it seems that this one has gone down hill just like all our previous... go-to spots. Normally the quality is fantastic, even when delivered. However, the last few times, we have started noticing themmissing the mark on a few items. Today was a complete flop. I was disappointed with basically everything. The lemon chicken hadzero lemon flavor (no real flavor at all actually), and was weirdly chewy and soggy like it had been sitting around for days. Iwas honestly scared to keep eating it because of that. The lo mein also tasted less than fresh and lacking a lot if flavor. Thesteamed rice also tasted like yesterday's leftovers. This food made me lose my appetite. I'm over it. I'll have to findsomewhere else. Very disappointing. Read more
Essence of China is the best Chinese food you're going to find here locally within a ten mile radius. Seriously, there's... nothing better. Employees are very attentive even when busy, food is always fresh, hot, and delicious. I would highlyrecommend the potstickers... they're homemade, not the generic kind you find in most places. Hot tea is always complimentarywith your meal. I'd highly recommend the Mongolian Beef!!! That's my personal favorite. Just do yourself a favor and stop in!!You won't be disappointed. Pretty sure it's a family run/local business... which is a bonus!! Read more
Love the Fish filet in General Toas sauce. The fish is so tender and the flavorful sauce is a perfect match on the dish. Also... like the taste on the shrimp and lobster sauce, this is a dish that you don't want to judge the book by its cover. Presentationwas dull and starchy but the flavor was good. Read more