Kat's 9 Lives

What was close by and supposedly cheap? I heard some friends talk about Chinatown Express as a good Chinese take out. Of course this comes from non-Asian people so I take it with a grain of salt. lol I asked them before I made my final decision on what they thought of the food. They said it is like Panda Express. In the end I decided to try them out for once. You never know if you will like it unless you give them a try. It's a small location and may be a little run down, but it will do. They have everything sitting under the heating lamp. All the signs are hand written and faded.
My stomach had been very weak for the week so I decided to get a 2 item combo. I had a friend with me and she restricted my choices since I already have to take stomach medicine to consume food. =*( So I decided to get the String Bean Chicken and Salt & Pepper Fish. Even though the fish was fried, my friend permitted it because it was fish! haha What kind of reasoning was that? lol Oh well I at least got to eat some fried food! lol The fish was pretty tasty but super salty so the fried rice helped balance it out. Everything was super greasy. They gave very generous portions. It was almost overflowing. The noodles were very soft and actually not badly seasoned. I was only so-so on the string beans but my friends loved it and helped devour it all later.
All in all the food wasn't that cheap but it is not too bad I guess. This could last me for a few meals. I decided to get an order of Vegetarian Egg Rolls as well. The skin was flaky but the ingredients inside were under-seasoned. They didn't give any sauces to dip it in. I was a little saddened to not find some Sweet & Sour sauce. =*( Oh well! Glad I got to try it and see what the buzz about. I guess it is a little bit better than Panda Express because you at least get more bang for the buck but I am not sure how sanitary or authentic this place is. lol

Chinatown Express
3835 W 1st St
Santa Ana, CA 92703
(714) 265-5899