Tasty China

We have read lots of great reviews about Tasty China and had been wanting to try it for a loooong time. We finally went for lunch the other day, and prior to going, we did lots of research and had a long list of recommended dishes that we wanted to try. We couldn't narrow down which dishes we wanted, so we ended up ordering five dishes (oink oink), knowing we'd have plenty left over for dinner.

So, Tasty China is a Szechuan restaurant, which means it serves lots of spicy food with lots and lots of chili peppers. It just so happened that four of the five dishes we ordered were VERY spicy, each full of red hot chili peppers. The nose, she was a'running... and the tongue, she was a'burning. I was tasting that spice all day.

On future visits, I would order only one spicy dish and try to make sure everything else was a bit milder, just to spare my tastebuds from some of the fire. That being said, however, each of those spicy dishes was delicious! Here is what we had:

- Fish and cilantro rolls - these were the one non-spicy thing we had. They are gorgeous little fried rolls with a great flavor. This is considered an appetizer and comes with six rolls per order.
- Chinese salad - this is something that is not on the menu, but definitely worth asking about. It's sort of like a spicy Asian cole slaw, with shredded cabbage, some very skinny almost see-through noodles, little chunks of pork, and chili peppers. It came in an oil-based dressing that I think may have also had chili peppers in it. Delicious - and spicy!
- Dry Fried Eggplant - I'd describe these as sort of like Eggplant french fries. The eggplant is cut into french fry shape and lightly fried, and then garnished with the perfect amount of salt and other spices - and the ubiquitous chili pepper, of course. Again, delicious - and spicy!
- Fish and Soft Tofu - An almost soup-like mixture of big chunks of some white fish and homemade tofu, served in a very spicy red broth. This was good, but it was probably my least favorite dish. However, we liked it much better reheated for dinner later that night.
- Shan City Chicken - small chunks of perfectly fried chicken, served with (surprise) chili peppers. Again, very spicy, but this may have been our favorite dish. Aside from the spice, these were SO flavorful and delicious.

Overall rating: Well, my mouth and my stomach weren't that thrilled with me after all of that spicy food, but I do have to say that each dish was very very good! I don't know much about Szechuan food, but most things on the menu here at Tasty China seemed very authentic. As mentioned above, I would not order so many spicy dishes at once, but I would have a hard time choosing which spicy dish to get.

Located in a strip mall near the intersection of I-75 and the South 120 Loop in Marietta.

Tasty China
585 Franklin Road SE #215, Marietta
(770) 419-9849

Ming's

At Ming's, we really enjoyed the stir-fried noodles with honey pork and the spare ribs with rice and green vegetables. We also had the roasted duck with wonton noodle soup - this was OK, but not our favorite. The wontons and broth were good, but the duck was just eh. We decided that maybe we just don't like duck that much. Our total bill for three entrees was around $20. (Three entrees for two people? Yes, we brought home leftovers!)

UPDATE: On a second visit, we ordered a dish called fresh greens with seafood (shrimp, scallops, and squid) and really loved it. We also got a pound of honey BBQ pork to go and ate it over the next few days. Yummy!

ANOTHER UPDATE: On a third visit, we had the fresh greens with seafood and the spare ribs with rice and green veggies again (both still awesome), as well as shredded pork and braised cabbage stir fried rice noodles (also awesome).

Overall rating: Very good, when we're in the mood for Chinese. This place was a thousand times better and more authentic than any Chinese take-out type place. We weren't completely bowled over by Ming's, but we enjoyed it very much. We agree that Chinese isn't our favorite ethnic food, but this is probably the best Chinese food we've had. (Update: Actually, after eating at Ming's three times now, I take back the "not completely bowled over" comment. I'm more and more impressed with Ming's each time we go.)

Located on Buford Highway in the Asian Square shopping center. A second location is located in Duluth.


Ming's Bar B Que
5150 Buford Hwy., # 300
(770) 451-6985

2131 Pleasant Hill Road Suite #134, Duluth
(770) 623-9996