Top choice for cheap Chinese take-out
By Jon McDonald
Wonton House may not look it, but it is the best place for cheap Chinese food around.
The family-owned, hole-in-the-wall restaurant, within walking distance on El Camino Real, offers delicious Chinese-American cuisine, laden with garlic and MSG, at indomitable prices.
"Almost half of the menu is more American style, but our root is traditional Cantonese style," said Kim Chan, who works at Wonton House.
The menu boasts southern Chinese fare like roast duck and Hong Kong noodle soup alongside American favorites, like the perfectly done sweet and sour pork and dozens of fried rice combinations.
Wonton House also offers strange delicacies like braised pig feet, tripe and fish balls, Hong Kong-style fried noodles, and steaming hot clay pots full of meat and rice.
Check out the weekly specials scrawled all over the wall for treats like lamb with cumin and fish fillet with eggplant.
Wonton House is open from 11 a.m. until midnight and offers huge portions for low prices -- a college student's dream. It's terrible for a date, but perfect for a hangover or some late-night take-out.
The $6 lunch specials, served until 4 p.m., include classic items like Kung Pao chicken and Mongolian beef and come piled high with rice, meat and vegetables, all hot, salty and delicious.
Almost everything is around $7. The $9 dinner specials come with more food than anyone could eat, including delicious hot and sour soup and a plate of deep fried wontons, a greasy cracker-type dough from which the restaurant takes its name.
My favorite dish is Singapore chow mein: rice vermicelli with pork, shrimp, egg and green onions, all slathered in curry and soy sauce. If you're really hungry, try the super combo, which comes with a bowl of rice congee porridge, complete with pickled duck egg.
Beef with broccoli, which comes with plenty of gravy, is also good, as is the wonton soup. The wonton is served as dumplings full of pork and shrimp rather than fried food.
I order a lot of take-out from Wonton House, but it's great to eat in the small restaurant, situated between a liquor store and a tattoo parlor just off Monroe Street on El Camino Real.
The setup is simple, with plain decor, a copper-colored Buddha and barren glass tables, and the service is quick and cordial. And you get plenty of hot jasmine tea.
"We have a lot of regulars," said Kim Chan. She enjoys seeing college undergrads visit years later with wives and kids. "They say, 'Hey, can you give me my favorite dish?' I don't think big restaurants see that kind of thing."
Contact Jon McDonald at (408) 551-1918 or jmcdonald@scu.edu.