Chang'an

This is one of the higher-end, formal Chinese restaurants in Orange County that specializes in Shaanxi cuisine. The interior design is impressive, giving the feeling of dining inside a small museum, and the ambience is definitely noteworthy. The service is attentive, although the server had a naturally loud voice that didn't quite match the refined atmosphere. It's not his fault--it's just the way he speaks.The restaurant offers a wide variety of dishes, not limited to Shaanxi cuisine. However, be aware that this isn't your typical Panda Express with generous portions that fill your box. If you're dining with more than three people, you'll need to be quick with your chopsticks before others finish the food, as the portions are not very large.I recommend the salad--it's excellent. The pickled fish in broth is also quite good. That said, the prices are steep, and you're primarily paying a premium for the ambience.This is a great choice if you have important business associates in town or if you're looking to impress a date. Otherwise, it's more of a once-a-year type of place due to the high price tag.

This place is definitely a break the bank restaurant or a special occasion place unless you're balling. All the entrees are around $40+. We came here for the flaming duck (must make a reservation for it) which is roughly $140. This itself was pretty worth it imo. They light the entire duck on fire for you then they cut it into bite size pieces. They cut half and then they smoke the other half which i thought was really good!Other entrees we orderedcrispy squab - 1/5, pretty lackluster compared to the duck. $50 for 1 squab, bits of it were dry. never again.charcoal tofu - 3/5 pretty good but it's just fried tofu that they made blackduck wonton soup- 2/5 - soup itself was bland and could only taste the cilantro, the duck wontons were good thoughgreen chili chicken w/ hand pulled noodles 4/5 - worth getting again. Good spice on the entree and the noodles had a great que que to it.spicy chicken cubes 3/5 - probably one of the best i've had, the chicken cubes were a lot longer/bigger, but for the price it was not double the quality of other restaurant versions of this.The service was hit and miss during the night. I flagged down two people to order and then right around when our duck was going to be served someone came to take our order. Towards the end of the night it got better and they took our dishes away to box it up for us.

當你走不出去， 家是你的世界，當你踏出去時， 世界就是你的家， 人呀就是需要折騰， 一等二看三落空，樹葉的方向風決定，但你的方向，是自己決定～這家非常有名的烤鴨店，三年前來過，也分享過，記得當時有網友上來說他家的裝潢其實是花600 萬美金， 我記得第一次走進去時也是哇哇哇，很美的地方，有機會再來拜訪，當然一定要吃他家的烤鴨，烤鴨需先預訂，鴨子是真的有水準， 好吃，也好香，除了在一旁表演火焰之外， 還有另外一盤是有熏香的，其他菜色我喜歡美女點的牛排， 味道超讚， 做的很棒， 還有最後他們送我們的甜點靖糕，非常有水準， 至於酸辣湯， 對我而言太酸了點， 厚片牛舌，用炸的， 有點可惜， 蝦子跟大豆苗倒是不錯，感謝我大方的美女好友帶我來嚐美食，分享給大家！

Made a reservation once week in advance for 4 people and to reserve 1 Peking duck. With plenty of parking as the restaurant is in a plaza with other stores and restaurants. The restaurant décor is very decadent and majestic. A little romantic ambiance, with white table cloth, etc. The Peking Duck arrived shortly after we got seated and we watched the chef cut the duck and the visuals were entertaining. The duck was very pricy at about $140 for a duck. This restaurant itself is on the pricier side because of the atmosphere and the offerings but I personally think it is overly priced with the portion and taste. The duck was ok, it wasn't the best duck I have ever eaten. It lacked other seasoning to take the duck to the next level.

If you would like a show with your peking duck this is the place, the duck was set on fire! But you need to make sure you call in advance and prebook it, you cannot order it on the spot. The peking duck is Beijing style not Taiwan style that a lot of places in America do. It comes with a few steps, first you watch the chef prepare the duck for you and you eat it normally with all the additives, cucumbers, green onions and sauce. You can always ask for more too. Then they smoke some of them, which had an apple wood flavor, I personally like the unsmoked version though. After that they will take the rest of the duck and prepare another dish with the leftovers. It is definitely on the pricer side but it is hard to find peking duck that is actual Beijing style with the small crepes and not the buns. That all said if you just want normal chinese food there are cheaper places with just as good or better food.

I took my girlfriend here for her birthday dinner. I had initially saw mixed reviews, but decided to come here still due to the decor and presentation. I'd have to say, food presentation and ambiance of the restaurant is 10/10. Service is fast and the waiters were attentive. While the food is good, for the price it could have been better. The best part of the dinner was the roast duck. The order of duck comes a whole show. The cutter starts off by setting the duck a blaze, then cuts the duck into two plates. One of the plates is then smoked. The duck was good but you can get better in Rowland heights although it won't come with a whole show. We also ordered the lychee shrimp. The dish comes with fried lychee and shrimp. The lychee provides a unique pleasant play on a sweet and sour flavor. However the dish is quite small for almost $40. We finished with dessert where we ordered, 'I am peach'. It comes out with dry ice flowing out. It's a gorgeous sight for this gorgeously crafted dessert. However the taste and texture of it wasn't quite as good. The peach dessert is supposed to filled with mousse, but the mousse was firm and jello like.

True 5 star experience!!! This place was such a treat. Pretty pricy but definitely worth it if you get the duck show!!! I felt like got transported to ancient China as royalty! Even the tea was phenomenal I can't have enough of it. The vegetables were ok but yeah the duck is definitely the star of the show here!

Service was phenomenal. Don't remember the last time I was in a restaurant where the service was super attentive but also incognito as well. One of the nicest restaurants in terms of ambiance. Very much a good date restaurant with upscale vibes. Food was very tasty and the spice levels were just right. The rack of lamb was super tender and fall off the bone. The crust added a nice crunchy texture. Duck was nice and crispy on the outside and super juicy on the inside. Not sure if the flambé is for show or also for added flavor profile. Smoked duck was also very aromatic with every bite. Beef tongue was super tender to the point where it's amazing it even kept its shape.

Saturday dinner at 7 pm- Roasted duck, matsutake duck wonton soup, crispy beef tongue, spicy stir-field wild mushroom morels with Shanghai's bok-choy, chang'an gourd chicken, shanxi special sour chili biang biang noodles, peppercorn and tangerine peel ice cream, peach green tea Service: super attentive and excellent customer serviceAmbiance: modern luxury decor, love all the settings except the table was way too small, and the male restroom needs to improve the hygiene especially area around the urinals. Price: pricy Food quality: the duck was excellent, so in loved the duck meat with smoke infuse. The crispy beef tongue and the mushroom morels veggie dishes were phenomenal. In addition, the steam rice, and the ice cream brought me a next level of surprises in Chinese food. Dislike:I will skip the gourd chicken, the wonton soup and the biang biang noodles. The seasoning of the chicken and the noodles may not strong enough to satisfy my taste buds, and the soup was serving in lukewarm, that's extremely unacceptable. Due to the price point, I have a high expectations for this adventure in terms of food quality, service, ambiance and all the minor details. Except some minor issues, it's still a great dining experience. Will come back for other dishes.

Our family has been here for every major Chinese holiday. Of course, that includes the Lunar New Year which we celebrated on 2/1 (Sat) dinner. The food is as usual. Decent but not memorable. However, the service was subpar. With a family of four, we spent ~$550 there. With this much money spent, I expect excellent service esp this is what the restaurant advertised for!Tonight, the server constantly kept us waiting. And, there was no one to refill our water or tea. We only had the cup that was given to us at the beginning of the meal. But after we drank it, that was it! Empty cup for the rest of the night. We had to call our server multiple times to get our needs met. For a restaurant that advertised itself as high end formal dining, it should train its servers up to the standard. Also, btw this is Lunar new year. And traditionally, in Chinese culture, we'd eat red bean rice cake. BUT, the server did NOT warn us that it'd take 30 min to make it, so we must order ahead. So, we ended up cancelling the order and not eating it. The service is really not up to standard. Please please train your serve to at least match your pricing and ambience.I didn't even bother to take a picture of the food tonight due to the poor service along with hard to find server.