4 Visit Review Unassuming spot with world class food. I stumbled on this spot accidentally my first visit. And I've gone back twice in a week. The flavors are well balanced, and dishes are unique. The type of dishes should belong in a typical Chinese banquet, but the hole in the wall atmosphere is a strange background for this level of detail in their menu offering. Stir Fry Assorted Vegetables (5/5) Fresh, well balanced, crunchy vegetables. Meat Pie (4/5) Solid execution. Flavor varied across my different visits. I would ask them to pan fry is crispier. Pan Fried Chive Pockets (5/5) Amazing. Delicate in taste, well executed. Stewed Tofu w/ Cabbage & Shrimp (5/5) Must get! This dish is simple but difficult to execute. Many other mainland style restaurants can't get this dish right. Min's does it so well! House Special Pork Hock (3/5) Every table ordered one of these. For me the flavor was too strong and too salty. Sichuan Spicy Shrimp (1/5) This is a miss for me. I ordered this twice on two separate visits. The shrimp isn't fresh and the flavor overpowered the natural sweetness of the shrimp. Sautéed Prime Beef w/ Ginger Scallion (4/5) Very tasty but also very oily. I'd go back as much as I can cause I want to try everything. The service is your standard local Chinese spot, with the inpatient order taker. But everyone who brings out the dishes seem to be good spirits. There was once, I came right at opening and allegedly the owner was yelling at everyone is the kitchen, but food was still good.

Came on Christmas and they were open! Every dish we had was good and service was good. stir fry cauliflower: delicious Chinese cauliflower that was cooked well and savory. stewed beef with potato in brown sauce: there was a mix of beef cuts but it was mostly lean. The potatoes and carrots were soft and delicious in the sauce. sweet and sour house meatball: meatball was deep-fried then covered in a sweet and sour savory sauce. really liked this dish. yuxiang shredded pork: lean shredded pork that was covered in a tomato based sauce. smashed cucumber salad: refreshing appetizer and was super crunchy. deep fried starch with garlic sauce: my friend said this was a staple Beijing street snack. The texture was chewy inside and crunchy outside. Pair it with the garlic watery sauce and it was super delicious.

TLDR; pork hock too salty, food made to-order was awesome, service was fast I've been looking for a nice Chinese in Irvine for a while now that isn't too expensive, and min Chef does a reasonable job in doing that. The food came fast, and the stir fry dishes had a lot of wok hay (breath of wok taste, almost smoky). Shrimp was very good too --crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. The stewed pork hock was too salty though and could use a couple more hours of cooking, but overall decent food and service. Bathroom was gross though.

The restaurant is small, but it's cozy inside. The food is authentic and delicious. The green beans and pork intestine were my favorites. The meat pie and sesame paste pancakes were also delicious. Definitely a must-try!

Favorite dish here was the cauliflower dish, the cauliflower was super crispy and the sauce was a blast of flavor with just the right amount of mild spice in it - we also ordered chicken which was super flavorful and juicy, and tomato egg which had the perfect amount of creaminess - very authentic dishes

This is a little gold mine of a restaurant. It is small and cramped. You might have to wait for a table. The menu is limited to the kind of food we who are not Asian expect from a Chinese restaurant. When the food comes, all those inconveniences fall away. The food is excellent! The taste is hot, fresh, and cooked to order. Their veggie dish with clear noodles is so good! Be aware that their spicy dishes are very spicy. We will return and explore more dishes. Only one suggestion of wish, that they include more green leaf veggie dishes. This place is a hidden gold mine.

Love a good Chinese place, one of the best around. Seems like a local favorite. Check it out if you are in the area

Very authentic chinese food. Our go to place for lunch. If you want to taste what chinese food is like in China this is the place to go.

First time we tried this restaurant was around Chinese New Year's this year. Our entire family, yes we are all Chinese, were blown away how good the food was. Everything from the appetizers to each dish was amazing. With 2 granddaughters(8 mos and 2 yrs old), going is not easily done. So we decided to take out. Here we go again. Everyone savored and enjoyed every dish. Compliments were given that typically take out orders drop in quality level,but not so with our order. Even my 2 year old granddaughter who is in a picky stage tried the shrimp fried rice and wanted more. Jay is awesome and makes sure everything is perfect. Thank you. ********* Hey Jay I mentioned I was coming tomorrow at 12:30. If its between 12:30-1:00 is that ok? I'm only having 3 people total but want my guests to try alot of different foods and will just have alot of to go boxes. This is what I plan on ordering. Min Chef Steamed Cold Noodles in sesame sauce Cucumbers in sauce Shrimp fried rice Mapo tofu. Can it be made without meat? White rice. 2 House Special Chicken Braised Eggplant Fried tomatoes with egg Steamed codfish with special sauce Stir fry cauliflower Sauteed lettuce with garlic sauce Braised pork spare ribs in brown sauce

It's a very decent and authentic Northern China style restaurant and you can find many rarely founded dishes here than anywhere else. We went at a dinner time so the food came a little bit slowly, and the service is just fine. We really like the stir fry assorted vegetables and flat beans with pork. They both tasted delicious and good to eat with white rice. We actually came here for the dough drop soup-- a very special comfort food for people from the North China. It's made of tomatoes and flour.