Mr Chow - Restaurant in Beverly Hills - 344 N Camden Dr, USA

My favorite Chinese in town. Everything is delicious on the menu. My favorite is the Peking duck. I also love their lychee martinis. Have been going here for couple decades and it never disappoints

After a stressful work week, we decided to treat ourselves and stopped -in to Mr Chow's. I had fond memories of nice meals at this location in BH---pre-pandemic. We were uncertain as to what we would find tonight. I am pleased to say that it was a truly wonderful experience. The staff were attentive polite and utterly charming. The familiar eclectic menu with its authentic dim sum a,ppetizers, famous freshly pulled hand-made noodles and savory seafood dishes (we chose the lobster) as well as legendary Peking duck were all in attendance. Nothing was greasy or overly seasoned. (And there was no MSG to give one that good hang-over either) The Champagne cart survives and thrives. We treated ourselves to a glass! Why not! I cannot say enough about the staff. They are friendly. They care about making your experience special. They even feigned laughter at some of my attempts at telling a joke. All this on a weeknight too! Thank You Mr Chow!

Prior to visiting this restaurant, I researched the restaurant official website. Surprisingly, there is no menu available. I then searched yelp, 3 out of 5, 1039 reviews, and google map, 4.1 out of 5, hundreds of reviews . Many reviews saying it’s not worth to try, but I still decided to go - because of its history, I am a fan of the father of the first owner of this restaurant. However, I have to rate 3 out of 5 of the entire experience. The staff are well trained and professional. They are very polite and welcoming. But I always have a feeling that they prompted me to order quickly, eat quickly and leave quickly. I did not feel as relaxed and respected as when I eat at other restaurants. Another thing that confused me is the menu. Each item has its price listed next to it. I ordered chicken satay $14, Mr Chow Noodles $28, emperor’s crab $52 and green prawns $52. However, I was charged as $92 per person X 2 persons. I don’t understand how it was counted. I didn’t notice how I was charged until now, when I am writing the review and look at the photos I took at the restaurant. As for the food. They are OK. The chicken is the most popular appetizer at Mr. Chow. It is tender and rich. Don’t order the Mr. Chow noddles! I ordered it because it is relatively expensive in the menu and it is named after “Mr. Chow”. I expected something special. However, it was just noddles, as any noddles available at an ordinary Chinese restaurant. The green prawns was a signature entree of this restaurant. All prawns were dyed green. It tasted fresh and light. It’s a good one to recommend. The emperor’s crab, I actually didn’t figure out what it was. The meat tasted like fish, or artificial crab meat? Not sure. Generally speaking, it didn’t like what I experienced at other $$$$$ restaurants. I will not invite my friends or have business dinner at Mr. Chow as I will feel embarrassed if my friends or business partners are pushed to finish a meal.

Mr Chows is incredibly expensive for what you are getting. The portions are tiny and I’m not sure this food can be classified as Chinese. My highlight dishes for the night are the Gambler’s Duck and the Mixed Berry Tart and the Lemon Tart. Our party was pleased with these dishes. One dish I highly don’t recommend is the Crispy Beef. This dish is awful. The only thing I tasted was the fried pieces of flour and/or cornstarch. There are a tone of staff so if you need anything, they will be there to assist you. I guess thats what the 20% auto gratuity is for. This place is fine for an extremely special occasion but if you come here for the food you must be insane.

We had a very nice booth near the front but that was the only thing that was nice. I had two shrimp appetizers cuz nothing on the main menu sounded good. My partner is vegetarian, and had very limited options for him. They gave us a hard time about ordering side orders of white rice and brown rice with mushrooms ($16/bowl) because we didn't order a main course and said that three appetizers was not enough. They finally let us order $32 for two sides of rice, but only after we were both pretty uncomfortable. Shrimp dishes were tasty, washed it down with hot jasmine tea and bottle of flat water, we don't drink alcohol. The bill included tip and tax was close to $300. But got sick within 12 hours of eating here. Two days of a fever of 100.5, diarrhea, and nauseous. Not the best spot for Chinese food. Food poisoning was even worse. No thank you.

Worst tasting Chinese food experience we’ve EVER had. Don’t go here unless you want to get ripped off for the most expensive, small serving of bland food. Prawns tasted like they’re cooked in McDonald’s mayo, Chow noodles tasted like a bland spag Bol, Sweet+Sour pork was clearly from a cheap jar and the Crispy beef literally had ZERO beef in it, was just sticky fried flour. We tried to leave after the appetisers, it was so bad, but the mains were already on the way (because of course the waiters couldn’t care less what our actual dining experience was - they just wanted us to spend on the 2course set menu). Service was quick/rushed, but fine. It was plenty busy - we honestly don’t know why - has no-one ever had good Chinese food before?? Read the reviews of its NY restaurant before going here, wish we had!!!

Absolutely better than I expected. Our favorite Chinese restaurant closed and we couldn’t find any viable options so we trekked the 30 minute drive to the west side. I was so very happy we did. We had their dim sum, chow noodles, glazed walnut shrimp, velvet chicken and their fried rice which was all amazing. The centerpiece was their ginger and garlic lobster which was beyond delicious. Their martinis were also excellent. Would definitely recommend a try or three.

Everybody goes to Mr Chow. But hardly anyone remembers why. Is it for people watching? Nostalgia? The reassurance of certainty? In these trying times, certainty, even mediocre, can be appealing. Perhaps it's the sense of community? Getting the same bland and pricey dumplings they've been serving for 50 years does make you feel part of a club. The club of those who pay too much for their dumplings, but a club anyways. There were a few interesting dishes, like the prawn toast, but, again, for irrational prices and poor service. The cocktails we tried were too sweet or too spicy, except for the lychee martini. Wine was ridiculously expensive. Staff was overwhelmed and unhelpful, we had to wait 30 minutes to be seated despite our reservation. Decor is basic, elevated with some fresh rose bouquets. You might have a good reason to go to Mr Chow, but let's be honest, it's not for the food.