Chow's Kitchen - Manistee, MI Review

215 Arthur Street • Manistee, MI 49660
231-398-9744

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

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scrivener56
Eastlake, MI

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Chow's Kitchen serves yummy for less!

budget diner, health conscious, not rich

Pros

generous portions, homestyle atmosphere, Thai options, friendly staff, offers diner-style seating option

Cons

small dining room, often busy

AUG

2008

Tucked into a small building on the curve next door to a small hotel in Manistee's Parkdale section, Chow's Kitchen serves up most everyone's favorite Chinese dishes and adds a small but representative Thai menu for sampling. The adventurous may be slightly disappointed in the latter, but the cautious will find it ample for the occasional foray into uncharted gastronomic territory.

From the Chinese menu, the Egg Foo Young (Chicken, Pork and Shrimp) and Garlic Chicken are quite good, while the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is excellent. The Szechuan Chicken is also recommended. All are served with a side of steamed white or fried rice, and are available in pints and quarts for take-out. Chow's also offers combination platters featuring a more than ample serving which comes with fried rice, an egg roll and soup (egg drop or wonton, with rice crackers on the side).

The Thai menu features Gang Gai, Pad Si-Ew, Lemongrass Stir-fry, and Mus-Mun Kai, as well as the recommended new-to-Thai dish, Pad Thai. All portions are ample and for many folks, they'll be enough for two meals.

Standard beverages are available, but no alcoholic ones. Desserts are limited to cookies (almond and fortune), but who goes to a Chinese restaurant for desserts? Other soups available are Hot & Sour, Sizzling Rice and Tom Yum (with choice of meat).

There's no all-you-can-eat buffet at Chow's, and this is a good thing. Considering the overeating problem in America, all-you-can-eat places may soon be mostly gone -- even those serving Chinese food. A person may not get obese eating just Chinese, but eating too much of anything is a bad idea.

Chow's Kitchen is open 6 days a week from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays, and on Fridays and Saturdays until 9 p.m.