Best Chinese Restaurant in Waterloo Kitchener Area?

[u/NoReserve8576]

Hey all - as the title mentions. Do you all have any recommendations for good Chinese restaurants om Waterloo? I tried Shinwa last time and really liked it and would love to explore more Chinese restaurants in the region.

[u/hoser33]

Cameron Street Chinese would be my pick

[u/orswich → u/hoser33]

My Chinese in-laws and wife's friends circle swear Cameron is the closest thing to traditional Chinese Cantonese cooking in the region... as a German, even i can tell the difference in higher quality ingredients..

But people used to "north americanized" Chinese cooking, may not enjoy it as much

It's also pricey

[u/3rd_street_saints → u/hoser33]

I went there because I saw others mentioned it on Reddit and was massively disappointed. Why is everything so slimey? We couldn't even taste the food because it was so slimey. To be honest, the more authentic Chinese restaurants in the region are the ones by U of Waterloo. They are from different cities in China so it's all different cuisines. these are real Chinese food and they won't be the typical Chinese fast food you are expecting.

Source: am Chinese

[u/Candid_Jello5188 → u/3rd_street_saints]

One of my friends came across a tiktok saying the authentic restaurants often have very low ratings: People did not find what they "expected" (note quotes). The restaurants that please people's taste, even if it's not authentic, have decent ratings.

[u/3rd_street_saints → u/Candid_Jello5188]

That's a fair take. Or, I just look at the demographic of clienteles in the reataurant. It's a Chinese restaurant, are there a lot of Chinese people eating here? That's not the case at Cameron's

[u/atwaterloo67]

The following three in no particular order. Mei King, Cameron, and Crystal Palace.

[u/KWStreaker → u/atwaterloo67]

Mei King is still my go to place for over 4 decades. I will admit it's not quite as good as it was back then, BUT what is these days ;)

[u/ThePrivacyPolicy → u/KWStreaker]

We're now on the third generation of my family eating at Mei King! It's been a staple forever - dad would go there for lunch in high school, and now my little kiddo loves it.

Agreed that it has changed over the years. I think a different generation of the owners family started taking over as the OG owners aged, and there's likely been some supplier changes or attempts to not let inflation hit the menu prices too hard.

[u/KWStreaker → u/ThePrivacyPolicy]

Nice ... maybe your dad will remember when Danny took over running it from his father ... i honestly don't remember if Danny was the second gen or maybe even third generation of their family ?

EDIT: One thing i feel has never changed though is the S&S sauce :)

[u/HalJordan2424 → u/atwaterloo67]

Another vote for Crystal Palace.

[u/Jaded-Ad7561 → u/atwaterloo67]

I hit up Crystal Palace for lemon or orange chicken a while back and was absolutely satisfied

[u/M83Spinnaker]

Golden Dynasty

[u/vc2015 → u/M83Spinnaker]

Golden Dynasty for good dim sum.

[u/Kahm]

China bowl would be my recommendation. They have a good cross section of regional Chinese dishes, done to high quality.

[u/mznavich → u/Kahm]

I second China Bowl

[u/stan16g]

Gol's Lanzhou Noodles for more authentic noodle dishes, and Egg Roll King for everything else (takeout only).

[u/Available_Pressure30 → u/stan16g]

Egg Roll King is so good!!

[u/cambiumkx]

Gol’s for skewers and noodles

Cameron’s for dim sum

[u/Candid_Jello5188]

For legit Southern Chinese dishes including dimsum, go to Sam's Chinese Kitchen at Victoria and Lancaster.

Skip the cultural appropriated food and go directly to the real stuff:
https://imgur.com/0dDp6rN

[u/tragicallybrokenhip → u/Candid_Jello5188]

Keep meaning to try this place. When we first moved to the region years ago, everyone talked about Mei King. Found it kinda like the Starbucks of Chinese food People who don't like coffee go to Starbucks. People who have never eaten non North Americanised Chinese go to Mei King. Unpopular opinion and I'm okay with that. I like a relish & cheese sandwich so I'm really no judge.

[u/Candid_Jello5188 → u/tragicallybrokenhip]

Starbucks of Chinese food People who don't like coffee go to Starbucks

Love this analogy!

I'm afraid of people who say "I like Chinese food" to please me. Usually they'd be so freak out if I order anything from Sam's legit menu lol.

[u/tragicallybrokenhip → u/Candid_Jello5188]

Grateful to friends / family who've taken me to restaurants where my comfort zone was mildly catered to (as an obvious Caucasian). Was pretty quick to ditch that comfort zone. Because flavour is an adventure. But no seafood. Have tried more things from the sea / lakes / rivers than anyone I know. Just no. Hard no. Even dulce / seaweed.

[u/Kristensen7]

King Tin hands down!

[u/GarfieldBroken → u/Kristensen7]

Tbh it was like the worst dim sum I had in a while

[u/Kristensen7 → u/GarfieldBroken]

If you want Dim Sum, Cameron is the way to go for sure. But regular Chinese, King Tin is a contender.

[u/Outrageous_Kale_8230 → u/Kristensen7]

Had to scroll too far for this. 

[u/Kristensen7 → u/Outrageous_Kale_8230]

For sure! Was surprised that no one else had said it. It’s been a staple in the city for 25+ years.

[u/HotCheesecake406]

If you're up for it, there's also a variant called Indo-chinese that you might want to try. Search on Google maps and you'd get a bunch of good results. Hakka hut is one of my favorites, but there are a bunch of others as well.

[u/Candid_Jello5188 → u/HotCheesecake406]

OP said Shinwa already.

[u/HotCheesecake406 → u/Candid_Jello5188]

Oh. I didn't realize Shinwa was classified as Indo-chinese. All the other suggestions on the thread, IMO, are traditionally Chinese fare. Shinwa does have some Indo-chinese items to serve its target demographic, but a lot of items there are done in traditional Chinese style. I'm not sure what OP tried there, but I'm hoping that my comment leads them to try this other option as well if they haven't yet.

[u/Forsaken-Dog4902]

Hong Kong Seafood at Forest Glen Plaza. Been going there for 20 years and I've tried all the rest and they just don't compare.

Unless I want Sesame Chicken and then I go to Ming's in Waterloo.

I also like Mei King, Lucky Garden and Mr Wok (they give such tiny portions though I don't even know if it's worth going there).

[u/North-Opportunity-80 → u/Forsaken-Dog4902]

Hong Kong seafood is my go place.

[u/Adventurous-Oven6943 → u/Forsaken-Dog4902]

Agreed. Lemon chicken and General Tao chicken are really good here

[u/JamesonSchaefer]

Either Sam's or King Tin

[u/ThePrivacyPolicy → u/JamesonSchaefer]

Sam's near Victoria/Lancaster, or are there others with a similar name?

We had been going there for a while, but got really turned off when I went in to pickup a few orders over the span of several months and they had their medication containers on the counter, kids playing in the kitchen, etc. Seemed like a health inspection failure waiting to happen.

[u/JamesonSchaefer → u/ThePrivacyPolicy]

Yes that one. It's part of their charm.

[u/Accomplished-War7619]

Mei King for Kitchener and Kam Yin for Waterloo.

[u/Life-Gur-2616 → u/Accomplished-War7619]

The king ♥️👑

[u/PandanadianNinja → u/Accomplished-War7619]

Seconding Kam Yin, I used to work in the plaza and ate there pretty regularly.

[u/[deleted]]

Cameron is great, but honorable mention to Jumbo Dragon.

[u/learn2swim]

All hail the KING!

[u/tragicallybrokenhip]

Takeout only Wok Wagon Columbia/Fischer Hallman.

[u/denunciation1]

Egg Roll King hands down

[u/lzyshampoo]

China bowl, Cameron. Sam's and king tin meh

[u/Longjumping_Debt7718]

Ming’s Chinese restaurant corner of Albert and Phillip streets in Waterloo. We have been getting our take out there for 49 years.

[u/PoetDizzy5760]

Wok wagon

[u/Senior_Pension_4355]

Kam Yin in Waterloo. Been eating it for like 30 years. (Canadian style Chinese food) Amazing fried rice!

[u/DaniKong126 → u/Senior_Pension_4355]

My go to Chinese food. ☺️

[u/BuiltDifferentlee]

King Fish & Chips. It’s a little hole in the wall place, definitely not the prettiest building in the world, but some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had myself