Saturday, February 1, 2014

China Star, authentic "Chinatown" staple dishes in Lowell

This post is for the original China Star on Broadway street in Lowell.  If you are interested in learning about it's sister restaurant with the full restaurant service, bar and dim sum, go here to be redirected to China Star on Midddlesex St.

This has been our favorite Chinese restaurant in Lowell for the past couple of years.  We have been known to have drunk nights out in Downtown Lowell, order a couple of hundreds of dollars worth of authentic "Chinatown" dishes and come back home with friends for a night cap.  It's so nice to have a great Chinese restaurant in Lowell without having to drive to Chinatown for all the specialty items.


Although we typically order the Chinatown dishes
once in a while, we get hot and sour soup and the usual fast food "American" Chinese food like General Tso chicken and crab rangoon.


The Mo and I like China Star because the people are actually FRIENDLY, the food taste great, the prices are right,  the portions are EXTREMELY generous,  and most importantly,the restaurant is CLEAN.


There's a nice seating area but I'm too cheap to buy cooked white rice so we prefer to take our entrees home.


We tried many things on the menu including their twin lobster specials, clams with black bean sauce, shrimp mayonnaise.  One of our favorite menu items is their roasted pork belly.  The roast meats are extremely popular there.  It's commons for one of the Mo's friends to show up to a backyard barbecue or party with roast meat takeout from China Star.  The Mo and I can order 1 pound for less than $10.00 and eat it for days to come.


It was Chinese New Years weekend and we thought, what better way to celebrate than to eat some Chinese! We knew Chinatown would be a shit show during the significant holiday weekend so we ordered takeout.  With just two people, it's not economical to get a bunch of dishes so we decided on the traditional New Years fare, roasted duck (ordered just 1/ a duck).  We also ordered fried calamari and garlic chicken wings.

Fried Spicy Calamari
1/2 Roasted Duck $ 11.50
Their crispy roast pork belly is delicious! It is served with hoison sauce. It is available as a rice platter or by the pound. The smallest size you can order is ½ a pound (which is still a lot of guilty eating!)

1/2 Pound Roasted Pork Belly with hoison sauce
When we got home, I noticed they gave us regular wings so me being me, I called China Star.  The girl was really nice and offered to make us replacement wings.  We were too lazy to drive the  minutes so they sent a driver to deliver our replacement wings.  I was surprised they didn't asked for the regular wings back.

Fried Chicken Wings Small $ 4.75

Garlic Wings Small $ 4.95
Thai and Cambodian restaurants don't typically deliver in our area.
They have a tasty beef chow food with vegetables in a black bean sauce dish.
China Star Beef Chow Foon in Black Been Sauce with Yu Toy 
When we are in the mood for Phad thai, we get our fix from China Star.

Chicken Phad Thai $ 8.50

Their beef chow fun is on the greasy side.  We always ask for no ginger since the unique flavor can be overwhelming.

Small Beef Chow Foon $ 5.50
I wanted to try something different and I was craving the spicy fish from Sichuan Gourmet in Billerica. I thought their fried salt and pepper white fish meat would be similar. We asked for it to be spicy.  The flavor was good but the fish was on the greasy side like it sat in oil for a long time. It wasn't as crispy as I preferred but it was OK.
Salt and pepper fried fish 
The General gau chicken combination plate is always a safe bet.

General Gau Chicken Combination Plate $ 8.95
They have the best hot and sour soup

Small Hot and Sour Soup $ 3.95

# 11 Combination Plate $ 7.75

Chinatown noodle soup with Roasted Chicken and Chinese Vegetables $ 6.75
Their crab rangoons are tasty
China Star Small Crab Rangoon
This is our # 1 go to fast food Chinese restaurant for many reasons, they are nice, professional, courteous and clean.  Pretty much, they have their shit together unlike *ahem* another rude fast food Chinese restaurant on Chelmsford Street in Lowell.

The restaurant is opened late everyday until 1:00 AM and until 3:00 AM on weekends.  Give them a try!

*Tip, try the roast pork belly or the combination roast platter with chicken, duck and pork.

Stop by next door to end your meal with some sweet Chinese treats at Green Forest Tea House 1

Combination 11 with chicken fingers, boneless ribs, beef terriyaki and pork fried rice

duck Chinatown noodle soup



Twin Lobster special
Hot and Sour soup
Kung Pao Chicken special

You might also like:

 http://www.mami-eggroll.com/2013/04/finally-dim-sum-joint-in-lowell.html
China Star Dim Sum Restaurant 

China Star on Urbanspoon