Location: Isla Vista
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Most Popular Chinese food in Isla Vista, California, United States
Best Chinese restaurants nearby. Discover the best Chinese food in Isla Vista. View Menus, Photos and Reviews for Chinese restaurants near you.. Isla Vista is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Barbara County, California in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 23,096. The majority of residents are college students at nearby University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB, located to the east of the community) or at Santa Barbara City College. The beachside community lies on a flat plateau about 30 feet (9 m) in elevation, separated from the beach by a bluff.
Things to do in Isla Vista
1. Ming Dynasty
Overall Ratings
3 based on 35 reviews
Reviewed By JJJ099
Its a bit hard to review the Ming because it is several different restaurants depending on what you order. We have been coming here for years from time to time and its the only Chinese restaurant in town that we keep returning to. Over the years we have had some terrible and some wonderful meals as well as mostly good. Our criteria, as a Chinese/American couple that travels to China annually and seeks out the most authentic Chinese food, is for authentic Chinese dishes of quality. Usually if we want a good Chinese meal we either cook it at home or go to the San Gabriel/Monterey Park/Alhambra area of LA, but if we don't want to go so far the Ming has often been our choice. First, you can get a horrible meal or a really good meal at the Ming depending on what you order. The buffet, like all Chinese buffets, is a disgusting pandering to those who know little about Chinese food. Avoid! The Mongolian BBQ is not a bad choice if you want something tasty with good quantity but overall mediocre. If you order from the standard menu you are also unlikely to have a good meal. But the Secret menu, which has English as well as Chinese has some gems. The snow pea leaves are a wonderful vegetable. The spicy chilled beef tendon is a delicious starter seasoned with sichuan pepper. The Dragon fire hot pot with fish is a good rendition of the "boiled fish" dishes of Sichuan with a good flavoring of chili peppers and mala although we would have preferred more mala (sichuan peppercorn). The "three cup chicken" is a taiwanese dish that is relatively uncommon here, but the Ming version is excellent and highly recommended. This was the last meal we had at the Ming and it was very satisfying. (I notice the terrible review of the tea duck given by a recent visitor. We usually evaluate what we are ordering in relation to the turnover and prep time for a given dish. We love tea duck and frequently get it in LA or China, but have always thought that the turnover in a small restaurant was unlikely to be sufficient. A couple of years ago a waitress at the Ming also told us that it wasn't good. This illustrates the problem with evaluating a restaurant based on one or a few dishes.)
Top 3 Vietnamese food in Isla Vista, California, United States
2. Lucky Dragon
Reviewed By OLDFirefighter
My wife and I have been waiting for this place to open for months. We were driving by the other night and noticed the restaurant was open and there was a line out front. We put our name on the list and waited 20 minutes or so. After we were seated a menu was presented we laughed, quietly but it was a laugh. What would you do if the first thing to caught your eye was Spiced Chengdu Duck Tongue or Savory Spicy Bullfrog!!! Yikes!!! That said we had the Beef with Onion and the Twice Cooked Pork These were wonderful dishes and when we go back we'll have at least one of these dishes plus a spicy Fried Chicken that sounded good. Everyone in the place other that us was having a huge bowl of soup. We are going to get that too. By the way, there is no fortune cookie and you pay for the tea. That's okay, I didn't miss either. Try it, it's fun and the staff was friendly and helpful.
Best Japanese food near Isla Vista, California, United States
3. Red Pepper
Overall Ratings
4 based on 27 reviews
Reviewed By Tom Y
Came her for business lunch. There are only a few Chinese restaurants in the area, so there are no competition. This place can never survive in Monterey Park or China Town because they serve American Chinese food. I came from Hong Kong and I was a Chinese chef for a few year while I was in college and I know what real Chinese food is.Someone from our table ordered roast duck. I tried one piece. It was terrible. They must have taken it from some left over from the refrigerator and fry it for a minute and serve. It was the worst roast duck I have ever seen. My stream with oyster sauce was OK. Personally , I would never go to this Chinese restaurant for Chinese food. Service was lousy. The place is clean. If you like real authentic Chinese food, this is not the place. Locals don't have a lot of Choices in the Goleta area. If you are in Van Guys area, try the Sam Woo BBQ. They have about 8 Sam Woo restaurant around LA. They have excellent Chinese food and it is cheap. You can read my Tripadvisor reviews on these restaurants.
Where to eat Soups food in Isla Vista: The Best Restaurants and Bars
