The best Ma Po Tofu in Seattle!The Sichuan dishes are not for the average American palate and lean towards the high side of spicy so if your idea of Chinese food is the kind of stuff you get at Panda Express then this is not your jam…save the restaurant your bad reviews because the orange chicken was not what u expected.But if you enjoy Sichuan and don’t feel like leaving Ballard this is a spot worth checking out.Ma Po Tofu is the star here. I’ve tried other dishes but it’s the best and the best value. The Sauce is so potent that sometimes we add extra tofu at home to the leftovers. Chongqing Spicy Chicken is yummy also. Staff is kind and nice.Parking is limited but there is plenty across the street.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: L12-MA PO Tofu, Chongqing Chicken
Kara
The second we stepped into the restaurant, I got a bad feeling as it was 5:30 on a Sunday, peak Chinese restaurant hour. Food was oily, flavorless at the same time salty, and small portions. We ordered 3 dishes and the tab was $85. The owner/server had a poor attitude. I do not recommend this restaurant at all.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Terrell Johnson
Great food. Great portions. Quick and clean service with mostly a smile lol. A bit pricy but the portion is definitely there. Will definitely keep in rotation ??
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Whatever
Lucain Savimbi
Bland flavor! Staff is not engaging. Overpriced for not so good dining.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Montana Holley
Worth the price point. We got potstickers, crab rangoon, sesame balls and beef chow mein, all fantastic.
Wheelchair accessibility: Nope
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Yandong Li
Many times we have driven past and not sure if it's open, but apparently it is. Food is good, and comforting. The chef's special pot dish is quite tasty, we had the 翘脚牛肉 and it has a huge portions for the price. Very satisfied, looking forward to try their famous grilled fish some time.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
E C
Ordered a garlic pork belly and they gave me boiled pig ears with whole raw garlic cloves.The dumplings tasted a little stale. Overall too pricey for the quality and service.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
Jordan Courvoisier
The food here is really great it's definitely worth a try, my only issue is how expensive it is. I'd definitely come here more if it was more affordable.
Second time ordering here. First time was great, tonight was a huge waste of money (90 something bucks)Ordered Broccoli beef. Meat was inedible, chewy, and full of fat. Sauce tasted nothing like broccoli beef and had wayyy too much sodium.Sesame chicken (my sons order) tastes reheated.My egg flower soup is bland and tastes/smells like raw eggs.House special fried rice is decent and the only thing I was able to eat tonight.Portions are generous but the quality of the food doesn’t match prices.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 5
Ni Zhang
It can be regarded as a meal date for foodies. I happened to have some errands in Ballard that day, so I decided to come and have a try at this restaurant. Although the price is quite affordable, the taste is really ordinary. There is no need to go out of my way to check in.Sauerkraut and Pork Belly - The stewed pork belly is relatively soft and glutinous, and the greasy sauerkraut is stir-fried together. The taste is relatively light and average.Leshan Qiaojie Beef - I don’t know if this is the only one in Seattle. There are actually quite a lot of beef pieces but I can’t bite them all. The tendons tend to stretch a lot. The side dishes include bamboo shoots and fungus. The soup base has a lot of MSG added to it, and my mouth is a little chewy after finishing it. It’s dry. Although it’s okay as a beef soup, calling it beef stew is a bit too much. It’s not relevant at all.Braised Pork Belly - It still retains some of the original flavor of the pork belly. It is not as soft and glutinous as the pork belly, so it is very difficult to eat. Maybe we want it to be slightly spicy, so the taste is just a little bit worse, and the amount of this dish is the smallest.Overall, the taste is average, but the food is served very quickly.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Maci Heckendorn
The food was poor tasting and was not what you would expect the dishes to taste like based on their description. For example, the orange chicken did not taste like orange chicken at all, it just had a slightly sweet weird taste to it. The sauce also seemed congealed, despite the food being hot, I thought that was really odd. The dandan noodles are described as having so much flavor, they had zero, none. No flavor whatsoever. Someone on here mentioned that the portion sizes are large and great to feed a “whole family” … That’s not true at all. Unless your family is a family of two people. I was very disappointed with the quality, the taste, the portion sizes, and ESPECIALLY the OUTRAGEOUS price you pay for what you get. 1/10 do not recommend! Will not eat here again.
Di He
An underrated Chinese restaurant in Ballard. They serve authentic Chinese food as well as American Chinese food. Recommend the lame beef! The parking lot is tiny but the place was pretty much open on Friday night as they mostly take to-go orders. The place was super cold though and we would appreciate some heat now that it’s October.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lamb Beef
Bailey Gagliano
This place used to be awesome! I ordered here every week. my end of week after a long, hard day ritual. The Szechuan dishes were amazing. But, overtime. Every single order got a little less. I thought it was a one off, maybe a fluke, a bad night. This is the third or fourth time that I’ve ordered from here and the food has been really bad. I ordered the cumin beef. I’ve ordered this a lot. Many many times. This last order was burnt dry and rubbery. Does anyone else feel like this place is just gone downhill? Or is it just me?
Overpriced and over-salted oily food
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Overpriced and over-salted oily food
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
The best Ma Po Tofu in Seattle!The Sichuan dishes are not for the average American palate and lean towards the high side of spicy so if your idea of Chinese food is the kind of stuff you get at Panda Express then this is not your jam…save the restaurant your bad reviews because the orange chicken was not what u expected.But if you enjoy Sichuan and don’t feel like leaving Ballard this is a spot worth checking out.Ma Po Tofu is the star here. I’ve tried other dishes but it’s the best and the best value. The Sauce is so potent that sometimes we add extra tofu at home to the leftovers. Chongqing Spicy Chicken is yummy also. Staff is kind and nice.Parking is limited but there is plenty across the street.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: L12-MA PO Tofu, Chongqing Chicken
The second we stepped into the restaurant, I got a bad feeling as it was 5:30 on a Sunday, peak Chinese restaurant hour. Food was oily, flavorless at the same time salty, and small portions. We ordered 3 dishes and the tab was $85. The owner/server had a poor attitude. I do not recommend this restaurant at all.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Great food. Great portions. Quick and clean service with mostly a smile lol. A bit pricy but the portion is definitely there. Will definitely keep in rotation ??
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Whatever
Bland flavor! Staff is not engaging. Overpriced for not so good dining.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Worth the price point. We got potstickers, crab rangoon, sesame balls and beef chow mein, all fantastic.
Wheelchair accessibility: Nope
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Many times we have driven past and not sure if it's open, but apparently it is. Food is good, and comforting. The chef's special pot dish is quite tasty, we had the 翘脚牛肉 and it has a huge portions for the price. Very satisfied, looking forward to try their famous grilled fish some time.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Ordered a garlic pork belly and they gave me boiled pig ears with whole raw garlic cloves.The dumplings tasted a little stale. Overall too pricey for the quality and service.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
The food here is really great it's definitely worth a try, my only issue is how expensive it is. I'd definitely come here more if it was more affordable.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
Second time ordering here. First time was great, tonight was a huge waste of money (90 something bucks)Ordered Broccoli beef. Meat was inedible, chewy, and full of fat. Sauce tasted nothing like broccoli beef and had wayyy too much sodium.Sesame chicken (my sons order) tastes reheated.My egg flower soup is bland and tastes/smells like raw eggs.House special fried rice is decent and the only thing I was able to eat tonight.Portions are generous but the quality of the food doesn’t match prices.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 5
It can be regarded as a meal date for foodies. I happened to have some errands in Ballard that day, so I decided to come and have a try at this restaurant. Although the price is quite affordable, the taste is really ordinary. There is no need to go out of my way to check in.Sauerkraut and Pork Belly - The stewed pork belly is relatively soft and glutinous, and the greasy sauerkraut is stir-fried together. The taste is relatively light and average.Leshan Qiaojie Beef - I don’t know if this is the only one in Seattle. There are actually quite a lot of beef pieces but I can’t bite them all. The tendons tend to stretch a lot. The side dishes include bamboo shoots and fungus. The soup base has a lot of MSG added to it, and my mouth is a little chewy after finishing it. It’s dry. Although it’s okay as a beef soup, calling it beef stew is a bit too much. It’s not relevant at all.Braised Pork Belly - It still retains some of the original flavor of the pork belly. It is not as soft and glutinous as the pork belly, so it is very difficult to eat. Maybe we want it to be slightly spicy, so the taste is just a little bit worse, and the amount of this dish is the smallest.Overall, the taste is average, but the food is served very quickly.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
The food was poor tasting and was not what you would expect the dishes to taste like based on their description. For example, the orange chicken did not taste like orange chicken at all, it just had a slightly sweet weird taste to it. The sauce also seemed congealed, despite the food being hot, I thought that was really odd. The dandan noodles are described as having so much flavor, they had zero, none. No flavor whatsoever. Someone on here mentioned that the portion sizes are large and great to feed a “whole family” … That’s not true at all. Unless your family is a family of two people. I was very disappointed with the quality, the taste, the portion sizes, and ESPECIALLY the OUTRAGEOUS price you pay for what you get. 1/10 do not recommend! Will not eat here again.
An underrated Chinese restaurant in Ballard. They serve authentic Chinese food as well as American Chinese food. Recommend the lame beef! The parking lot is tiny but the place was pretty much open on Friday night as they mostly take to-go orders. The place was super cold though and we would appreciate some heat now that it’s October.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lamb Beef
This place used to be awesome! I ordered here every week. my end of week after a long, hard day ritual. The Szechuan dishes were amazing. But, overtime. Every single order got a little less. I thought it was a one off, maybe a fluke, a bad night. This is the third or fourth time that I’ve ordered from here and the food has been really bad. I ordered the cumin beef. I’ve ordered this a lot. Many many times. This last order was burnt dry and rubbery. Does anyone else feel like this place is just gone downhill? Or is it just me?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
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