North China - Maplewood

Scrooge Squared had been shopping too long. I asked what was for dinner, given the dearth of good, different independent eateries in Maplewood. Squared suggested North China which would be swing in-swing out convenient on the way home. It had been around for a long time but we had always driven by believing it to be another American Chinese joint. Walking in and looking at the big takeout poster confirmed my suspicions. It also had a buffet station.

I wasn't thrilled with the offerings so I told Squared to order whatever she wanted. She ordered Mongolian Beef, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, and Pork Chow Fun. As we waited for the takeout, I walked down the buffet line. Hmmm...

I was ravenous by the time we got home. I tore into the cartons and was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of the food. It looked a lot better than what was in the buffet station, however, the true test would be in the eating.

Mongolian Beef. Nice thinly sliced but large cuts of tender beef. No rough dry cuts of beef. The green peppers were sliced right and cooked well. The brown sauce was just right the right combination of sweet, salty, and spicy.

Sweet and Sour Chicken. Nice nugget sized chicken breast with a light batter. The sauce was subtlety sweet and sour rather than an overpowering sweet and sour.

Pork Chow Fun. This was the most pleasant surprise. First, I'll say that it was missing that all elusive wok hay taste. However it was still very good with all the right ingredients. Two things really surprised me to my liking. Instead of using precut rice noodles, they used rice noodle sheets that they cut/tore resulting in noodles of varying width. The pork wasn't pork as I had expected but rather Chinese BBQ pork and good quality BBQ pork at that.

No doubt North Chinese caters to customers who expect fried rice, kung pao chicken, and the like. To me that usually means mediocre quality. But North China is a pleasant surprise in the Twin Cities sea of Americanized Chinese restaurants. If what we ordered today is representative of the quality they normally serve when ordering from the menu, I would definitely recommend it and would continue to order from here.

Prices are competitive and they serve a good quantity for the money.

North China
3070 White Bear Ave N
Maplewood, MN 55109