by Jennifer Flood

Created on: January 29, 2009   Last Updated: February 01, 2009

Norwalk, CT is home to a variety of Chinese restaurants. While many of these restaurants are quite good and they all have areas where they stand out among the others, not all of them deserve to be called the best. I have narrowed the search for best restaurant down to two. These two are not in the same class as each other, but they bring forth the qualities that a top restaurant needs in order to be considered the best.

Located at 22 Chestnut Hill Road, the best upscale Chinese restaurant in Norwalk, CT is the Village Gourmet. As expected with any restaurant with gourmet in the name the Village Gourmet stands out above others in the preparation of items that may not make it to a smaller restaurant. Their Ginger Glazed Duck and Sauteed Lobster tail with Ginger and Scallions are two examples of why the Village Gourmet was voted Best Restaurant in Fairfield County in 2006 and 2008.

The Village Gourmet was newly renovated in 2008 and will now hold twice as many customers as before. This is truly a step in the right direction as before the renovations the restaurant was so small that the best way to enjoy their food was through their take-out menu. The service at the Village Gourmet is excellent. I have never had a bad experience with the wait staff and have not heard of bad experiences there through any of my friends. The Village Gourmet uses fresh food, has special lunch and diet menus, and has average prices. All of these considerations make the Village Gourmet one of the best Chinese restaurants in Norwalk, CT.

While Hong Kong Kitchen, located at 277 Main Street, is not an upscale restaurant it very well could be the best Chinese restaurant in Norwalk, CT. This small, family-run restaurant is very unassuming in appearance and may have been overlooked by many consumers. The quality of their food rivals that of the most upscale restaurants and you would be hard pressed to fins any restaurant that has better quality chicken.

The quality and quantity of the food cannot be beat anywhere for the price. I don't know how they can afford to serve such great food, in such great volume, for the prices they have. Of course, they have a high volume of business so that must ne how they manage. They could get away with charging more without losing any customers, but don't tell them that.

My favorite items on their menu are the Crab Rangoon and the General Tso's Chicken. Almost every Chinese restaurant I have been in serves General Tso's Chicken, but none do it as well as they do at Hong Kong Kitchen. This restaurant has a wonderfully spicy Szechuan sauce that you can't go wrong with. In fact, I have to say that it is the best Szechuan sauce in Norwalk, maybe the best anywhere.

Don't let the name or the unassuming store front fool you, at Hong King Kitchen the food speaks for itself and does not need to draw people in with a fancy name or a glittering lights. It is a small restaurant so if you go at popular times there will be a wait, but the food is definitely worth it.

I am sure that one of these two wonderful restaurants will become your favorite Chinese restaurant when dining in Norwalk, CT.

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