Chef Yen’s Chinese & Thai Fusion

Chef Yen is a pretty standard Chinese place that’s popular more from how close it is to businesses than its good. The King Pao chicken is pretty spicy and not as oily as you’d expect it to be. I had the grilled chicken which was the best option for white meat protein without too much frying or sauce. The brown rice was actually cooked well, which is unexpected. Fluffy rice is great.
During lunch time, this place gets crowded since it’s the only Chinese option in this business plaza. Doesn’t mean the food is bad, just that it has very few people weekday evenings. If you’re looking for a Chinese restaurant with people in it, keep looking.
Otherwise, Chef Yen’s near the spectrum is the closest Chinese option for the people who work nearby.

Really enjoyed my meal here today. Foods were really good as well as the services. The atmosphere here was very relaxing and price was cheap. Thumbs up for this place!

Great flavor, nice people, quick at making the food, price is reasonable ($ 8 to $ 9 after tax). Some of their meals use chunks of brown meat chicken, others use white meat; I’d recommend the white meat as they use top quality white meat.

Decent place but it is your typical mom and pop hole in the wall with more light. Chow fun was pretty good, decent meat to noodle proportion, a little oily and pretty mild. Freshly prepared but I’d probably try something if I come back.
Taro smoothie was good but really just a blended icy drink. Those for $ 11 and change. The boba and coffee/​tea drinks are all around 2.50−3, taro was 3.50÷4 so not really worth it, most dishes are 7.29 for chicken, 8.29 for shrimp. Decent spot overall with good customer service but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come again (was out here for an appt)

Food was tasty and reasonably priced. Ordered the Mongolian beef and the menu clearly says «with rice and chow mein» but the food only came with rice. Asked the young Asian kid and he said you have to ask for chow mein otherwise you only get rice??? WTF? Why do you need to ask for it if the menu says «served with rice and chow mein»? Had to speak with the older Asian man for it since the young kid was useless. Anyway, finally got the chow mein, food was good but they need to be clear on their menu and sides. Beware.

The food here is terrible. I paid $ 8.95 for the happy family triple with beef chicken and shrimp with side of chow mein. The noodles were flavorless and inedible. The happy family was drenched in sauce and over cooked and the portion was very small for the price. I thought the chow mein was supposed to be the side. No bueno. I would not recommend this place ever

Good fresh Chinese and Thai dishes made to order in a fast, casual setting. The menu is surprisingly diverse and also has all the regular menu items you’d expect.
The servings are quite generous and the food has a lot of flavor. I had the Kung Pao Chicken. The chicken pieces were tender and there was a nice variety of fresh vegetables in a spicy, but not crazy hot, sauce.
The Green Curry Chicken was also prepared nicely, with tender pieces of flat chicken breast along with green beans, onions, bamboo shoots and, surprisingly, potato.
The service was very friendly and efficient.
I’m looking forward to returning soon.

I love me some Asian cuisine, and I have to say, if you need a quick bite on your lunch break, or in between classes, this is your place!
Super reasonably priced food, the chicken is never questionable (yes it’s chicken-​not mystery meat), the Thai teas with boba are delish and that pad that… Nom.
I’m not a picky eater, but I have had some poopy Asian cuisine. This place is awesome! I’m slowly becoming a regular! :)

Loved it :) their combo plates are awesome. And the pineapple fried rice is amazing. I miss working in Irvine and getting to eat here for lunch.

This is really just alright. Tried the spicy beef noodle soup and I agree with the other reviews– it tastes neither Thai nor Chinese. Thai and Chinese Express on Main Street has a way better Thai spicy beef soup. But of course it’s quite a drive from here. They do offer lunch combos and noodle dishes here so I guess there are options here. Might come back here.

I’ve tried the lemon pepper chicken and it was cheap and good! It tastes better with the red chili sauce. The chicken was tender with a hint of lemon and some big pieces of pepper, which tasted yummy. A few small heads of broccoli comes with it and they were not overcooked. There was a good amount of chicken for the price they charge. Some day I will try a curry to see how good it is but I don’t come here that often so when I do I get the lemon pepper chicken because it is light and seems like it would be lower in calories.

I was waiting for my bf to finish with his doctor appointment and stopped by here for a quick lunch. My go to dishes at Thai places is Pad See Ew and Tom Ka Gai (but they didn’t have that soup here) :(Pretty limited soup options. So I went with the Pad See Ew and the order was completed within 5 minutes, so that’s good.
The pad see ew is flavorless, nothing special to it. Chicken was tender. Overall, it was average.

No, its not some super-​authentic Chinese restaurant. Nor is it a super-​authentic Thai restaurant. What they do offer is pretty good food at a pretty reasonable price, and if its lunch time they get you served quickly.
They have both steam tray items ready to go or you can order off the menu. I’m a big fan of well-​prepared fried rice. Their BBQ pork fried rice is in my steady lunch rotation. It has the usual (ride, egg, scallions, meat, spices) but they don’t pollute the fried rice with a handful of sprouts like so many other places do (BLVD in O-​side I;m looking at you).
Here’s my pro-​tip: They’ll ask you how hot (spicy) you want your food. Not knowing their scale or how spicy they usually make food I said «four» my first few times in. Soon thereafter I learned their scale was 1 to 4, which explained a few things. Good thing I love spicy food!

Just because it’s close to where I work, I have to come to this shopping center grab lunch. To be honest, I have tried most of the restaurants out here, not impressed by anyone. I just wish some other Thai restaurants I have been could open their chain here.
Let’s be honest, this is not Thai food!!! This is just some Chinese fast food worse than Panda Express. Had many chances tried a couple of different dishes, no, none of them is good. Today I ordered Chow Fun with beef, horrible. I can’t help writing a review, finally.

This delicious food produces a sensory experience that is not dissimilar to what I imagine it must taste like if a leprechaun were to fall into my mouth and drop all his gold all over my face.
A local favorite. I recommend the Chicken Pad Thai.

Great food! A nice blend of Thai and Chinese food! The fried rice meal are freshly made and not too salty. Great customer service!
Highly recommended!

Not bad for fast food I got the drunken noodles with chicken all white meat and just enough spice supper fresh yea I’ll be back if I’m around here!

I love Thai food. I love how delicately the spices are used and that I have never had bad experiences, every time I have it, I enjoy it. Chef Yen’s has shown me that it’s entirely possible to make bad Thai food. «The worst Thai food I’ve ever eaten» wasn’t something I ever kept track of until today. Despite paying about $ 8 for a moderately sized portion with rice they included more potato than chicken. I’ve never heard of any place using potato in panang curry, who does this? There was also one single bit of pineapple which makes me question what else may have ended up in my dish without me or the chef knowing.
But, unexpected additions aside, it was still good right? Nope, The sauce didn’t taste like panang to me. I doubt there was coconut milk in it and I couldn’t taste any lemongrass. I don’t know what they used, but it wasn’t good. I suppose this is where the fushion comes in. But one of the things about fushion foods is that the dish should be better because of it, not worse.
I won’t be back here again.

I tried this place again today, after not being here for a really long time. It was really good!
I ordered the Thai Basil Chicken with brown rice. I spaced, I had wanted to order brown rice and an eggroll, but forgot. The dish was really good with a lot of flavor!
I also ordered the Garlic Spicy Chicken Fried Rice, for dinner tonight. I had dental work done today, and needed something soft, so I figured I would kill two birds and order dinner too, while I was here. I tasted it while it was nice and hot, and it was REALLY good. It looked like it was going to be simple with not a lot of flavor, but that was not the case at all. I cant wait to eat it later.
I will definitely be back here again.
The parking lot gets insane anywhere from before 11am to after 1pm on weekdays, though.

So, I almost died today.
I found a wing nut in my chicken drunken noodles mid way in my meal. I have braces and ate pretty slowly, but could have easily overlooked the screw on the foil in my to go container and choked.
I got a refund but I’m still in distraught and had to take time during my lunch to drive back. Too bad, the people are nice, but I can’t get rid of the sick feeling in my stomach from the stir fried noodle mixed with metal.
Had to let all my new grad friends who are all working near irvine spectrum know to stay away. The parking is shitty during lunch anyway.
#unsanitary #unsafe