Quick Review of J&M A-1 Restaurant (779 Clay)

J&M A-1 Restaurant is a pretty typical oldskool Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, offering all the tpical stuff catering to both local Chinese and tourist tastes. Nothing really stands out.

Typical of Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, the restaurant goes by a couple different names. While the official name is J&M A-1 Restaurant, you can just call it A-1. It could not decide it's a cafe, or a restaurant, so the sign says both! "A-1 Cafe Restaurant" over the door, A-1 Restaurant on the door, A-1 Chinese Restaurant on the sign, then a different sign says J&M A-1 Chinese Restaurant. And the Chinese name is yet different... 華記小館 (hua-ji-xiao-guan, which can be rendered as Hua brand Small Eatery)

I ordered beef chow fun (beef stir-fried with rice noodles dry style, or gone-chow-au-ho) and the item came within a few minutes, nice and full of hot wok-hei. The only nitpick was there were a LOT of bean sprouts, but it's not a huge distraction. It's a little greasy, but that's to be expected with a wok-fried item. Flavor-wise, slightly bland, and I ended up adding a little soy sauce and chile paste.

Prices are okay, as the entree is priced at $14 or so. Add a diet coke, tax, and tip, and you're looking at just over $20... for lunch. A little expensive, but not excessively so.

All in all, average experience. 3 out of 5.

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