With a friendly staff and calm atmosphere, Yantze Chinese Gourmet Restaurant provides quality Chinese food and service.
The Yantze Gourmet Restaurant opened in 1991 at their location in Lansdale.
The restaurant is named after the Yangtze River, the longest river in China and Asia.
Upon entering, we were greeted by a friendly staff and seated immediately. We were then served crispy crackers with duck and mustard sauce and tea.
The dinner menu showed a variety of foods including soups, appetizers, noodles and rice, chickens and other meats, special chef combinations, vegetarian dishes and family combinations.
We decided to go with two main dishes. The first was a sesame chicken, which included spicy slices of white meat chicken sautéed in mild sweet and spicy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
The other was the lo mein. This consisted of a soft egg noodle with chicken, roast pork, jumbo shrimp and vegetables.
Sesame chicken is not a traditional Chinese dish. Rather, it was created by Chinese restaurants located in America. A popular variation of the same dish is sesame shrimp. This is mostly the same, except for the chicken being replaced with shrimp.
As for lo mein, the dish is popular in northern China and Cantonese cuisine.
The term lo mein comes from the Cantonese word “lāo miàn,” meaning “stirred noodles.” However, it is sometimes considered synonymous with chow mein in American-based Chinese restaurants.
According to the Ni Hao Ma Mandarin Learning Lab, food plays a significant role in the culture. They see food as a “source of nourishment and a symbol of various aspects of life, such as health, happiness, love and fortune.”
Moreover, taste varies from area to area around the country. In the north, more wheat and hearty flavors will be found. Since it is known for tough winters and arid summers, they heavily rely upon “crops like wheat corn, and millet.”
In the south, there is rice and delicate flavors. Due to the mild and humid climate, the dishes surround rice. This includes “dim sum, rice noodle soup and zongzi.”
On the other hand, the west is famous for bold and spicy flavors. It includes a diverse mix of ingredients such as “mushrooms, yak meat and chili peppers.”
In total, the two dishes cost about $30, which was a reasonable price considering the quality of the food.
The atmosphere of the restaurant set a very peaceful mood for the dinner.
The restaurant uses feng shui techniques, such as a wall of mirrors, to make the room feel bigger, despite being quite small.