Top Asian Restaurant in Salinas
Golden Star Restaurant
1024 S Main St, Salinas, CA 93901, United States
Lots of free parking.Great Wor Won Ton.Fair prices.Average service.Wait staff are friendly.Tiny bathroom.Looks more like a Diner than an Asian restaurant.
Samurai Japanese Restaurant
983 N Main St, Salinas, CA 93906, United States
I used to come to this shop regularly when I was in H.S(2002ish) Only reason I stopped is because I always feel like Im treated like a bad guy or a child. I get I look young for a 40 year old, but Im far from a teenager. I come from the fine food industry, where hospitality is the main reason folks would always come back...because we treated them like guest, not customers...nor did we stereotype.Whenever I order I always ask to please not put any topicco aka fish eggs because Im highly allergic...but they always put them on top of my order... When I try to call back with the same number I made my Togo order with, they wouldnt answer (so I thought maybe because they closed mid day still)...but why would you answer when I called from my mothers phone shortly after my 3 calls beforehand?I dont complain on reviews and usually give praise to a shop I reviewed... I have a pretty good reviewing record on here.. Im sorry if this upsets you, but I had to figure out another way of getting your attention to my issues every time. I dont like wasting money on something I have to give away or toss out because of a allergy thing.. I hope you do have a better innerstanding where Im coming from. Peace and I still love you
Ikebana Japanese Restaurant
1315 N Main St, Salinas, CA 93906, United States
I hesitated coming here because I had heard of negative things, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. We were seated fairly quickly and our server was so kind and helpful. The atmosphere itself was relaxed, I appreciate the holiday music as well. Now, the table tops felt sticky and dirty as well as the menus. As for the food, I'm sorry, but I just couldn't finish it. The miso soup at the beginning was ok. It was warm, not hot like I would assume it should be. I ordered combination tempura for appetizer and it was okay. After, I ordered the Money Maker Roll and As soon as I saw it, I knew it wasn't going to be great. The raw fish on top looked brown, the rice had a different taste I cannot describe other than maybe it had been rinsed in dirty water. My daughters shared a chicken teriyaki box and their chicken also looked brown and old. I honestly don't like sending things back because I don't think there's much you can do to a plate if this is already how you make it and I'm also scared of getting spit on it or something on it's way back so I just left it there and waited till it was time to pay. This will be my first and only ever time here. This is my opinion and my experience. I always suggest to experience before you judge although I did kind of beforehand. My instincts were correct in my case though.
Panda Express
1906 N Davis Rd, Salinas, CA 93907, United States
Do NOT support this Panda Express!! They refuse to give you a few extra pieces of chicken if you ask...which is against corporates policy, and they do not give 10% off to veterans and first responders.The shift leader lied to my face about the discounts. I am a first responder, and I showed my ID and asked for 10% off, and she refused and said that they do not give discounts to veterans. She claimed that no Panda Expresses give discounts which I pointed out was a lie, then she said Panda Expresses in California do not give discounts to veterans which I also told her was a lie, and then she went on to say that their specific Panda does not give discounts to service members. I know she was lying because I used to work for Panda Express, and it is in Pandas handbook to give discounts to first responders. This Panda is the WORST Panda I have ever been to; they need to fire the entire management team of this location!
Kokoro Sushi
36 W Gabilan St, Salinas, CA 93901, United States
Service was very slow, we asked for utensils and extra dishes and the server never brought them, and didnt stop by frequently enough to even ask a second time. One in our party received his main dish before the rest of us, and it took nearly 10-15 minutes more for the rest of our food to come out. Server did seem frustrated with the speed, but didnt make an effort to help while we waited. Our water/drinks went unfilled the entire time we were there. Food was pretty good, but a little overpriced.EDIT:When we left two other member of our party covered the tip, (I believe it was $7 between the two of them on a $50 order, reasonable for bad service). I did not put a tip on my card. Just checked my CC statement and the restaurant added a nearly 5 dollar tip to my card. With the service we got, I wouldnt even consider a 5 dollar tip on a $20 order. Ill be making a complaint, and its possible it was a mistake between adding a tip to the wrong card, but overall just another negative to an overall negative experience.
Teriyaki Madness
1606 N Main St, Salinas, CA 93906, United States
Not impressed at all. Actually, its very disappointing. Its Panda style foods with a bit higher price. Employees standing around loudly talking & joking around while we have to flick food particles off the table where we sit. The tables & the floor have food & crumpled napkins, yet theyre not cleaning anything up. I ordered the Combo madness salmon teriyaki. Taste like frozen fish and its bland. The egg roll is sad looking. My daughter bought a bowl with Teriyaki chicken & yakisoba. Barely any chicken, and the yakisoba was bland. It would have been better going to Panda or Arigato. We dined-in, but ate our meals in to-go contaners because we were not asked if we were dining in or not. Theres no madness about this place. One and Done!!
Panda Express
1570 Constitution Blvd, Salinas, CA 93906, United States
Daily there is a steady flow of customers. There are small Windows of time that is not crowded. Short and expedient line during the mornings. No breakfast this served.The various times I attended this location they had a continuous shortage of chow mein or fried rice. It is understandable since it is a very popular dish. The staffs pressure is understandable as it is a food service industry job. You may find the times the employees rushing or noticeably agitated.Photos this reasons and others you might find that the best way of acquiring your food with a considerable temperature you might want to consider ordering online skip the line and pick up your order. I believe that in order for a line to flow well please have your order already in mind before you get to the counter. When ordering make sure you take your time do not feel rushed take command and control of your order you are spending your well earned dollars.Is a staff accommodates me with just a simple smile and politeness I am more likely to leave them a tip since its getting difficult to get efficient service.The food is cooked with the all around standard good quality taste that all the restaurants from the all across the restaurants from the franchise. The orange chicken could use a bit less sauce overwhelming and quite thick at times nevertheless the meat is cooked through the middle and through. One of my favorites from this location is the walnut shrimp. ( Could also use less caramelized sauce) . I need you to help me find honey I wont tell me about yourself always consistent with a white and fried rice. Chow mein is one of the childrens favorite.Plenty of parking always felt safe well late during the night. One of my go-to Panda Express in our local area.
Yangtse Taste of Thai
1136 S Main St, Salinas, CA 93901, United States
My coworker and I went to have lunch at this place. It is only couple blocks from our workplace. We got there at 12:10 pm. As soon as we got to the place, I observed only 4 tables of 2 people each having lunch, the rest of the place was empty. We wait for about 5 minutes to get a table and get acknowledge from the waitress. We sat and another 5 minutes till another waitress that we never thought he worked there, took our order. The time was 12:20 pm. The waitress took several minutes to bring our drinks and then our soups and then the condiments. For the amount of people at the place you expected the service to be faster now that all these people were already eating when we got there so how come we got our meals at 12:55 pm. And when we looked at the clock, we asked the waitress that we need the food to go and he said and I quote you place it in a To GO box so this man, brought me the food to the table and then a box to place my meal when we told him to put them to go and belive me he was not nice whatsoever!!!!! I got to my work late. Anyways, food was DISGUSTING! There is no other word to describe it. Its basically eating noodles with lots of oil and flavorless. I got a very orange watery peanut sauce which did not help at all nor the chilli sauce or the soy sauce. It was very very very bad dish (Pad Thai). Just a few minutes ago, my co-worker told me hey I did not like the food. I threw up and it was gross. Never ever will come back to this place. What a disappointment
Top other services in Salinas:
Sushi Hut
616 E Boronda Rd, Salinas, CA 93906, United States
Weirdly pan-Asian menu for a place called Sushi Hut: Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, as well as Japanese. Was really skeptical but drove all the way out because of the red bean buns which they sadly dont have anymore.Lots of odd, non-authentic offerings like ha gau soup and deep fried ha gau.Frying the skins ruined the ha gao imho, but the insides were good, with whole shrimp in the filling, not a fish ball with shrimp pieces, though the insides were bland and underseasoned.Part of the appeal of ha gao is the sticky, chewy skin, so deep-frying them ruined them texturally. I think if they were pan-fried so you had both crunchy and chewy textures it would have been tastier and more successful. Also I missed not having red vinegar for them. The gyoza/mandoo sauce they give you does not go with seafood imho.They also have a market with snack-y items, making it resemble a Lees Sandwiches more than a takeout joint. They were stocked with 8 out of 10 Sailor Moon Ocean Bomb flavors (Pluto and Saturn are hard to find still) and a decent cross-section of Dragon Ball Z Ocean Bombs.It was still hopping half an hour before closing and parking was tight.Would try again if ever in the area again.
Khao San Thai Kitchen
1255 N Davis Rd, Salinas, CA 93907, United States
This is a very small restaurant. My experience started off on the wrong foot. You should know they dont have restrooms for customers. No music. No water. Only bottled Costco water for $2.50 each. Table service happens after you order at the counter. The person who rang me up brought the food to the table and checked in on me regularly. The floors, windows, and tables were clean. The windows are lined with bright multicolor neon lights.I ordered spring rolls, panang curry, a side of rice and a water for $30 (20231019). The pandemic and inflation have me all messed up on value for eating out but it felt expensive to me.So how was the food?The spring rolls were good. Not standout great but certainly good, stuffed with fresh, crisp ingredients. The generous serving of peanut sauce in a plastic container on the side was better than others Ive had with fresh crushed peanuts on top.The panang curry with chicken was pretty tasty. I got level 3 spice and it was just enough to kick it up a notch but not overpowering. I probably could have gone with a 4 but didnt want to risk it. The curry sauce was the perfect consistency, not too thick, not too runny. The chicken meat was great, no gristle and tender. The veggies were good, not soggy. So the food basically counteracts the atmosphere. In other words, get it to go.