Mr. Chen's is the newest Chinese restaurant in Tuscaloosa. The location is convenient but isn't much for ambiance. Mr. Chen's is in the Oz Music shopping center off 15th Street. Not only is this a restaurant, but there is an Asian market too. You actually walk through the market to get to the dining area. For months, I had heard people mention (or post on Facebook) about this new restaurant, and I had been wanting to try it. We just got around to it a couple of weekends ago.
Wes, Abigail and I went for Sunday lunch and had a great experience. It seems to be well liked by the Asian community in town and that day was representative of that. We felt like that was a strong indicator that the food was going to be good. I will say Wes and I both ordered the lunch special, but it looked like the tables with Asian diners had a more authentic and family style service. So, we might be missing some great dishes by trying the things with which we are more familiar.
We started with the steamed dumplings. I think this was my favorite part of the meal. I am not always a huge fan of dumplings, but these were some of the best I have had. They were very fresh, had a good flavor, and we ate them all.
 |
| Steamed dumplings |
I mentioned we both ordered the lunch special for our meals. That comes with a main dish, a soup, and either steamed or fried rice. Both of us ordered the egg drop soup. While the soup was fine, I didn't think it was anything to shout about. On my next visit, I tried the hot & sour soup and it was delicious. That is definitely the one I would order in the future.
 |
| Egg Drop Soup |
For my meal, I ordered sesame chicken and fried rice. While it was good, I almost immediately regretted my decision of ordering it. It is just one of those Chinese dishes that seems so safe and uninteresting. If you are a sesame chicken fan, this is a perfectly fine option. However, on my next visit, I ordered something different. It is a great amount of food. We easily had left overs to take home. The fried rice was really good. I don't like it as much as the Japanese fried rice you find around town, but had a great quality of rice that make the texture really interesting to me. And, the egg roll was delicious. It was one of the best parts of the meal.
 |
| Sesame Chicken, fried rice, and egg roll |
Wes had the Mongolian beef. It was yummy! This is his favorite dish and the one he orders just about any time we have Chinese. He liked this version better than our regular Chinese place here in town. I had a bite and as I said before, it was yummy. I'm not sure how to describe the taste. It isn't really spicy or sweet but it has just a touch of both. He did a better job ordering than I did.
 |
| Mongolian Beef |
If you are a Chinese food fan, Mr. Chen's is a must try. I definitely think there are lots more menu items I want to try. I went with a client for lunch and had the Mongolian Chicken. It was really good, but I still liked the Mongolian Beef better. Mandy had the Kung Pao Chicken and says it is great too. Again, the atmosphere isn't anything to shout about but the food is really good. The Sunday we went the service was quick and the waitress was very nice.
