Loving Lakeside Chinese? - CLOSED

Lakeside Chinese Cuisine

23022 Alicia Pkwy

Mission Viejo, CA 92630

I always thought that my 100th post would be at some fancy Newport Beach restaurant or a restaurant in the Zagat guide. But here we were on a Saturday night, and I knew that this would be the place: Lakeside Chinese in Mission Viejo. We chose to stay close to home—I'm not sure why—but this is where we decided on.

Living in Mission Viejo, I receive a weekly coupon from Lakeside Chinese and their sister restaurant, Crown Chinese (also in Mission Viejo). The coupons must work because here we are. The restaurant was nearly deserted when we arrived at six on Saturday night. The phone, however, was ringing off the hook from when we got there to when we left. They must do a substantial take-out business. Let's see how the food tastes.

Our coupon was for five dollars off of a family dinner. It's not the best coupon ever, but five dollars off is five dollars off. You receive soup, appetizers, and two entrees with the family dinner. Above is the soup that Katie picked, the Egg Flower Soup. This had a mild to almost non-existent flavor. This would not have had been my choice for the soup, but I was trying to be a good boyfriend, (plus I picked the entrees, so I got my way later on).

Here are the appetizers that came with our meal: egg rolls, paper-wrapped chicken, and fried wonton tons. None of these were very memorable. The egg rolls were just okay but lacking in fillings. The paper-wrapped chicken was greasy and average. The fried wonton ton was the worst of the lot; it was tasteless. This was nothing that you could not get at your local Panda Express.

The first of our entrees arrived, and it was Mongolian Beef. This is always one of my favorites in Chinese restaurants. This dish had plenty of onions, and the beef had a good flavor. I am not saying this is one of the best Mongolian Beef dishes I have had, but it was all right. This was my favorite dish of the night.

Our second dish was a chef's special, Honey Walnut Shrimp. I have had this dish at other restaurants and have liked it. Here, it was just okay. The white sauce that came with this was a little off to me. I liked the candied walnuts, but the shrimp was lost in this dish. The shrimp did not pop with flavor like you would expect. Katie had never had this before and was not a real fan, but I let her pick the soup, so we were even.

The last of our trilogy of dishes was the Orange Peel Chicken. I found this to be the most disappointing dish of the night. For some reason, the chicken was all very tiny pieces. The flavor was just right, with orange flavor. On the menu, it said it would be spicy, but even Katie did not register the heat. I would have liked this better with bigger pieces of chicken.

The dessert that came with the family dinner was the caramelized apples and fortune cookies. The apples were okay, but like the rest of this meal, they were nothing special.

Lakeside Chinese is just your average neighborhood Chinese joint. It stays in business because it is convenient for many households. Lakeside is definitely not destination dining. I could not see people going out of their way to eat there. That is not to say it is awful. It will do in a pinch when you want to avoid driving out of your neighborhood or when you want to take advantage of the numerous coupons they give out, the ones that clutter your junk drawer.

Of five Pennysaver coupons, five being best to zero being worst, Lakeside Chinese Cuisine gets two coupons.

For more information about Lakeside Chinese Cuisine, head to their website here: https://www.lakesidechinesecuisine.com/