Top Asian Restaurant in Santa Cruz
Shun Feng Restaurant
420 River St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
Shun Feng is a traditional family-style Chinese restaurant, complete with spinning center piece tables and all. Ive been to a lot of Chinese restaurants all over the bay area, and this is definitely one of my favorites. Large menu with tons of options, and its not too confusing (some pictures in the back) like some Asian restaurants can be. The food itself is served fresh and hot. Hunan beef, lemon or orange chicken, and honey walnut shrimp with house fried rice or wanton soup is always my go to. The meat is crispy and cooked well done, the sauce is great and the vegetables in the plates are a nice touch. Im not a big fan of dim som, but my party usually orders it, and the bread is fluffy and moist. I usually even end up ordering some of the sesame balls with the sweet red paste filling as a dessert. Also very crispy, hot, and tasty. Its all moderately priced, so expect about 20-30$ for about two people (depending on how hungry you are.) All in all, the food here is great and the staff is friendly and quick. I havent been to a better Asian restaurant in Santa Cruz. Shen Fung is my go-to for a dinner out with friends.
Shogun Japanese Restaurant
1123 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
What a bummer. I knew they recently changed ownership, but never imagined it could turn into what it is now. Have been in four times since this summer. From the poor quality of salmon and hamachi, to the unfriendly sushi chefs, to the horrific floor ‘service'…, I'm so done with the new shogun. The fish does not seem fresh. It's tough, fibrous, and lacks flavor. And that's been the case for the past two months. The tempura is soft, almost soggy, as if it was cooked last week. Then there's the service. WHAT THE HECK!!?? Shogun used to be somewhat elevated. Now the service is sporadic, inconsistent and a bit obnoxious. Not kidding, I spent more time waiting for a server than I spent eating. And it's like musical servers…never the same person twive. Took forever to get my order started. Then, 1 star for the food coming out quickly. Then, thought I would order another drink…wait. Wait. Wait. Nothing. Finished my food. Decided to just call it a wrap. Wanting to close out…wait. Wait wait. Finally, they took my money. One of the servers is really loud, all over the place, not focused. Calls me honey, darling, sweetie—but not in a genuine way. The whole vibe is just off and uncomfortable.What a disappointment…in every way.
Malabar Restaurant
514 Front St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
I ordered takeout. When I arrived (after the time they told me it would be done), they told me it was almost ready. I inquired again ten minutes later and again was told it was almost ready. After another ten minutes, I was informed that they had lost my order and had not even started cooking it in the first place. I lost over an hour of my evening standing around listening to too-loud pop music from a decade ago, waiting for food that should have been ready before I arrived. They gave me no discount, only offering me a coupon for a specific entree (the cheaper of the two I had ordered) should I ever order takeout again.The food was also subpar compared to other south and southeast Asian restaurants in the area. Needless to say, after an enormous waste of time for an underwhelming meal, I wont be returning.
Santa Cruz Diner
909 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
Cute eclectic lil spot….Service from our server was excellent! There was only two other tables seated when we arrived. Man who maybe was hostess didn't make eye contact but not unpleasant. Collectively we ordered the kids waffle, one of the pancake combos, kid spaghetti and meatballs, and two orders of the yankee pot roast dinners. Waffle was well received by my 8yr old neice, my 10yr old neice enjoyed the pancake combo (said she preferred my homemade pancakes…I make them from the box), the spaghetti and meatballs was sub par according to my 5yr old spag n meatball connoisseur nephew (also says he prefers mine), the meatballs are definitely some kind of frozen meatball and the sauce not homemade. I got the yankee pot roast accompanied by mashed taters, gravy, steamed veggies, and garlic bread (had to ask for it, our server wasn't sure if the meal came with bread or not and to be quite honest I'm pretty sure the bread we got was supposed to be for the sketti meatball meal..), pot roast was ok, very stringy, not a lot of flavor, probably not fresh. You're basic diner pot roast. Mashed potatoes were box potatoes, so unbelievably watered down that when u mixed them together with the gravy it became a loose soupy mixture. Steamed veggies were the star of the show, exceptionally fresh! Garlic bread was just a couple of slices of maybe sourdough with generic butter and garlic salt, few sprinkles of parsley. Kids had the hot chocolate which was exceptionally tasty! Oh yeah almost forgot, got a chicken noodle soup with my meal, it was cool, nothing to write home about. Actually wish I would've just had a bowl of that and called it a night. Place was very clean and not busy at all. Saw another table enjoying some pretty good looking burgers on my way to the restroom which requires a numbered passcode to enter. Plenty of parking space of parking space at this place. Maybe I just went at a slow time. 6:00pm on a Thursday… I'll be back again to have some breakfast, perhaps that will be a bit more enjoyable.
Makai Island Kitchen & Groggery
49A Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
Go for the views!!!Makai is fantastic restaurant on the Santa Cruz Wharf. Giving amazing sunset views and also ocean views!Food is pan Asian cuisine, so basically best of everything. They have plenty of seafood choices too!They have good cocktail menu! They do corkage too if one wants to have bottle of wine on their own!
Full Steam Dumpling
1001 Center St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
Here in Santa Cruz there are not many great options when it comes to Asian style cuisine. I had heard from word of mouth that this place opened relatively recently and was really good and not just by Santa Cruz standards. My partner and I both got Full Steam Bao and two Ramen bowls. It totaled almost $70 without tax or tip which hurt but I figured if it tasted great it would be worth it - everything tasted terrible. The ramen was flavorless and the meat was hard as was the order of bao. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement after reading the reviews and hearing what people had mentioned about this place. Only upside was how kind the hostess was in taking our orders. Bettys Noodles remains the sole decent ramen/pho restaurant Id be willing to go to in this area 2/5.
Panda Express
2121 Mission St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
Heres a tip: Focus on the customer in front of you.Food was ok, normal Panda Express. But chinzy portion sizes and disinterested - almost rude - staff means I wont be coming back and NO, I do not recommend this location.2-3pm rainy Saturday afternoon. Youd think it would be quiet. But like me, perhaps there were other people wanting to get out of the house/hotel and made a trip - specifically - to get some Panda. The dining area was about 1/4 full, a constant line of 2-3 customers. So, the 3 people working were busy, but not slammed at all.Tip #2: Even though I seem to order pretty much the same thing as the previous two people in line.. I am not them.And dont get me started on the cashier - who clearly needs to not only work on her ESL skills, but stop mumbliing so loud the customer can hear, but not loud (or clearly enough) to completely understand. And if a customer asks for some sauces - in my case I asked for 5, because... I use 5 of each to go with all of the items I order - dont just grab a couple, dump them in the bag and walk away.So now I had sauce for SOME of my chicken, ONE of my spring rolls, but none for the rest or for my 3rd side of Orange chicken.Finally. I have NEVER been dismissed so thoroughly or casually in my life! Not even at any of the DMVs Ive visited over the years.And no fortune cookie? Who doesnt get a fortune cookie???Apparently the people who want extra sauces and who says No after asking you to repeat the mumbled Do you want to support ~mumble, mumble~ cause? dont get a cookie.No, I wont be returning here.No, I dont recommend.
Sushi Totoro
1701 Mission St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
Bummed because I really wanted the new ownership to succeed here being so close to home. I went to email them this instead of posting publicly but they had no contact page and I didn't want to call to mess up that sweet server's night so close to close… so here we are.I picked up a miso soup, gyoza, spicy tuna roll, and their Pink Dragon roll for my gf and I. Pretty quick - in and out. Server and staff were all kind and said hi and bye. Easy peasy.But as far as the food goes….:Honestly, bar-none, the worst sushi I've had in Santa Cruz - which is saying a lot because Santa Cruz restaurants are pretty bad in general, sushi not excepted. The fish did not taste fresh at all. The rice was slimy and overcooked. They weren't done with my order when I got there and I live less than a five minute walk away, so it wasn't like it was sitting there getting gross on the counter or in a delivery car or something.I could honestly barely get mine down. My girlfriend didn't finish hers. Her gyoza was all dried out but “fine”… even the miso soup tasted and smelled bad which is like…. How, even? The fact that the specialty Pink Dragon roll was $18 for something I've seen upstaged at all-you-can-eat Chinese Buffets was pretty egregious. I would've gotten more satisfaction from lighting a fifty dollar bill on fire than I did spending it here. Expensive, and poor quality. Probably the worst combination of things in a restaurant, right?Akira remains the only passable sushi restaurant in Santa Cruz.Alright now I gotta go review three of my favorite spots in the area because I feel ick being an internet Karen of this caliber… But the people gotta know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Eating out is so expensive these days I do it so seldomly anymore… very disappointed to have cashed that in at Totoro tonight. If you're usually budget conscious and trying to treat yourself like we were - don't do it here.
Hulas Island Grill
221 Cathcart St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
I love Santa Cruz and its surrounding areas. From the hills to the water every visit here is an adventure.That being said, I understand that eateries in downtown S.C. will be a little costly. And I dont mind spending a little money accordingly. But if Im honest I have to say this place may be overpriced.Twenty dollars per dinner and two starters and few drinks was $170 for four and a half people. And that would have been fine if the food was as memorable as the area.It wasnt.And the place is DARK. I mean, yeah myself and my companions are in our 40-50s but its kinda embarrassing to have to use our phone flashlights to read the menu. But we did it and were able to order without too much trouble.And I want to point out that there was no problem with the service. The staff was nice and attentive (and were tipped accordingly.)But the food was pedestrian and certain items were overcooked. The texture of my pulled pork was that of something boiled in a bag. Not saying it was. But...Anyways, if youre looking for a new place to visit where the food is DECENT and the drinks are tasty, visit Hulus. But youd probably be best ordering apps and drinks.
Akira Seabright
1222 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, United States
The kinda hip place for sushi. Tattoos, piercings, beards, dreadlocks, black denim, spectral hair colors, a few skateboards parked and propped against the wall, neo-retro pinup and tattoo style framed artwork adorning the walls... all commonly seen of the environment, patrons, and staff at Anita Sushi. Small groups of friends unexpectedly run into more friends and recount the events of last night or last weekends blurry outings as they gather in line in the small inside waiting space, and less congested, brick-paved outside waiting area, for their turn to be seated for Akiras early evening food and drink happy hour and, their just slightly less crowded later-night happy hour. Theres a lot going on in the relatively small restaurant, with servers weaving through the tight spaces between the coming and going patrons, and people squeezing past one another, some trying to get in to get their names on the seating list, others trying to get into the single stall restroom, and others making their way out with the lethargic, post-sushi Satisfaction Saunters. All are talking over the heads, shoulders, and vocal directions of one another in friendly exchanges, albeit at a sometimes elevated and distracting volume.With all there is to see and hear during the busy times at Akira, one thing less common is the presence of the Japanese sushi chefs one might expect. But the skills of the predominately young, non-traditional chefs, many sporting tattoo-covered arms and pierced faces, are up to par with those from whom their culinary craft was derived.The service is decent, with consideration for the size of the space and the crowd. The servers tend to be predominantly young females, and there are some instances where experience may be lacking and the volume and pace of the environment distracting to staff. But this is a friendly, lively place for familiar people and neighborhood locals to enjoy good sushi, company, conversation, and libation, and any minor service oversights can be easily overlooked in the shadow of enjoyment.The food itself it quite good and fairly reasonably priced. But, as everyone seemingly has strong individual opinions and preferences in sushi, I leave my description centred on the experience as a whole, and leave you to delve into the experience of the cuisine independently.But I think youll find it very good!Cheers!