This isn't a review so much as it is a love letter...
Chou's Kitchen saved my roommate Megan T. and I from dying of homesickness for a full summer in Arizona by providing DELICIOUS AND AUTHENTIC Chinese food.
The dishes here are SO ON POINT and prices are super reasonable, even compared to Bay Area prices :)
MUST GET DISHES:
- Stir-Fry Eggplant & Minced Pork with Garlic Sauce: Guys. This dish is EVERYTHING. The Szechuan-style sauce is so flavorful and goes really well with rice. Like, too well with rice....because I end up eating too much and feeling regret mixed with immense satisfaction.
- Dry Green Beans with Pork: The green beans have the PERFECT amount of bite to them
- Spicy Cold Noodle With Cucumber: Mouth-numbing Ma-La goodness that's extra amazing on a hot day. Beware, though, if you're afraid of spicy oil, this is not the dish for you.
I will say, though, that the various baos and dumplings they serve here are just okay. The xiao long baos are quite small, but still pack a good amount of soup in them. I would skip the sheng jian baos - the skin to filling ratio is way too high!
I'll end by saying that my roommate and I ordered at least 4 dishes for the two of us each time we went to ensure that we had enough leftovers to last us well into the week. If that's not love, I don't know what is. Chou's, you will be missed when I move out of AZ!