Cheng's is a relatively new comer to Tyler. They opened up in a large restaurant space just north of the loop and troup. The decor is your typical Chinese food place with Chinese decorations as well as a large bar up front that grows popular right around 5pm. The owners seem to always be there and are super friendly and helpful.
The spread: They have your typical American Chinese food menu. Appetizers range from lettuce wraps, pot stickers, egg rolls, BBQ spareribs (yummy), and various soups (egg drop, wonton, etc). Their entrees are also somewhat predictable: fried rice, lo mein, egg foo young, pork dishes, chicken dishes, beef dishes and seafood dishes. They also offer hot plates which is basically stir fry dumped into a fajita sizzling plate.
The verdict: There is nothing ground breaking in the culinary world happening at Cheng's. The menu is definitely Americanized and familiar, however, the food is solid and reasonably priced. My wife prefers Cheng's to Liang's, so this is usually what we pick up from Cheng's when we get Chinese. The service has been great and they are very family friendly. I also like the fact that the staff is willing to work with you. I wanted to try to recreate a dish from an authentic Chinese place down in Houston, so I asked the waiter to switch out rice for noodles and crack an egg over one of their sizzling plates. It didn't turn out quite like I wanted, but it was good and they went out of their way to accomodate, so I give them a lot of credit for that.
Edible Tyler Roses: 4 out of 5, I put them on par with Liang's as the best Chinese in Tyler.
I have found their waitstaff to be perfect, attentive, but not intrusive. That's always a plus for me.
ReplyDeleteI also love their presentation of jalapeno chicken. It'll light you up!