Over Thanksgiving break, my family stumbled upon a new place to add to our restaurant rotation. Despite there being a plethora of chinese restaurants near my parents, it seems we can never figure out where to eat, so we were happy to find a new spot.
The menu was pretty much all over the place so it wasn’t very clear what region of chinese food they specialize in. What really impressed me were the prices on the family set meals. On our first visit we ordered the family set for six people ($68; 6 dishes plus 1 soup) which was plenty for our family. On our second visit, we ordered the five person menu set ($48; 5 dishes + 1 soup) and added two dishes and that was enough food for us too.
First, they provide some complimentary appetizers: Roasted peanuts and Pickled carrots and daikon
The other thing I like about this place is the cold appetizers. In addition to the menu offerings, they have a selection of cold appetizers that you can choose from at the front of the restaurant and make a plate of cold appetizers (similar to Ba Ren or Spicy House). We actually thought the appetizers didn’t look very appealing in the display but we chose 3 anyway. We were surprised by how much they gave us, filling a huge plate, for only $5. And we were even more surprised when they all actually tasted pretty good.
Visit 1 appetizers:
Our six person menu set dinner. We made a substitution or two, which is allowed as long as it is the same price for the dish being substituted, or you pay the difference.
Pork soup
Unfortunately the broth was too light on this soup compared to other versions I’ve had.
Tea Smoked duck
Stir fried green beans with ground pork
Five item spicy stew
Honey walnut shrimp
Steamed fish
Stir fried beef with onions
We also ordered their housemade noodles, stir fried. The noodles didn’t quite have the spring of fresh noodles I was expecting.
Complimentary red bean soup.
Second visit cold appetizers:
For the five person menu set, with some substitutions:
Seafood soup
Spicy Boiled beef
Stir fried green beans
The beans weren’t cooked as well on this second visit compared to the first. Also the quantity was a little less.
Tea Smoked duck
This time the dish came with steamed buns which were missing from the first visit. I’m not sure why I’m so excited over steamed buns.
Whole fish
Honey walnut shrimp
Three cups chicken
I had concerns about whether they could replicate this Taiwanese dish. This may have been the worst version I’ve ever eaten. Extremely salty. I couldn’t taste the basil at all even when I actually was eating a piece of basil.
Overall, the food here is not spectacular but most dishes are decent and the prices are very reasonable.
Here are some other pictures of the various set menus. Of course you can also order off the regular menus as well which are in English. The set menus were only in Chinese. They had a couple of noodle dishes that looked good that we saw on other tables.
Soong Soong
3680 Stevens Creek Blvd Ste C
San Jose, CA 95106
(408) 243-8868
Hahaha, I told my parents about this place and my dad told me he had been here before several times with some of his employees… he says it’s good but that their better dishes are spicy (which is not exactly my favorite kind of food).
Oh interesting. We didn’t order many spicy dishes, but I thought the walnut shrimp, the green beans, fish, were all pretty good.
Ohhh, interesting… I’m sure my parents will be interested to go here as we never really go out for Chinese food except to go to Koi Palace in Daly City every so often (as my brother doesn’t like Chinese food). I’ll have to suggest this place to them when I go back this week, all the food looks great! 😀
Yes definitely try it. Nothing here is amazing, but it’s pretty good food for a good price. You get a lot of variety and it’s easier and cheaper than cooking it all yourself.