Chin's Szechwan Oceanside

In general great food. A little wanting on the service. I ordered through Doordash and was a disappointed when I wanted to customize my order by saying I didn't want rice. Apparently this restaurant doesn't allow custom orders, so I couldn't make the request. Their loss, since it's only saving them money that I don't want rice. I proceeded to order an app and two entrees that would typically come with rice, which showed up with only one side of rice. So not only could I not make a custom order, but if I wanted rice which I imagine the vast majority do, I would've only gotten one order to split between two meals. Seems pretty over the top frugal when I'm paying $80+ for a couple Chinese dinners and wontons. The scallops were overcooked and tasted like chicken.

This place has gone down hill fast! Waiter was rude. Felt rushed to order. They charge for everything including the crispy noodles (perfectly ok) the kicker for us was that we ordered a dinner entree for two the rice they brought for us was literally two table spoons, not enough for two definitely. Asked if that was all we got, he said yes any extra is $3.50. Well dude seriously how do you eat a perfectly good meal with no rice? Yeah not coming back here. Not worth the price what so ever. Place is still run down and dingy dark. Update: I will have to say the response to my review was almost immediate, we were still inside the restaurant. Howard was very polite and direct. I appreciate his effort to have us come back. That speaks volumes. I politely declined and thanked him for his offer. I sincerely wish them luck and hope that things get better for everyones sake. I am changing my Stars from one to 3. Place still needs a little updating and so its more inviting, and staff needs little more social training.

Salt and pepper chicken wings. Not spicy like Szechuan but flavor packed. Has fresh garlic and fresh parsley.

This is a repeat visit. We always love Chin's. But today's visit was more like 3.5 stars rather than 4. But there was no option to do that. We also love our server- very attentive asian man, who tried to attend to our requests though not every request was met. The ambience: pretty little lanterns hung above at every table. And nice gentle light to go with the dinner. Pretty small restaurant with a selection of both booths and tables to suit the needs. Last night we saw a big group and they were seated without any problems. Last night, we ordered appetizers of spring roll and potstickers, a large bowl of hot and sour soup. And an entree of kungpao chicken with mushrooms and peanuts only with 4 stars level of spice. Let's start off with the spring rolls. Spring rolls were nice and crispy. But the insides were a little mushy- not sure why. But it's not their usual standard. Even my husband who loves spring rolls think so. The potstickers were good. Chewy skin and little crunchy on the nicely charred bits on the bottom. Meat was flavourful and texture was good. The hot and sour soup came out really good. Lots of fresh ingredients. Bamboo shoots tofu, woodear mushrooms and pork. And had just the right consistency. However, I did ask for extra vinegar and our server had forgotten about it. Lastly, my husband ordered kungpao chicken with only mushrooms and peanuts eoth a level of 4 stars of spice. This took a while to come out. I had finished dinner and he was still waiting on it. When it came, there were a lot of ingredients but it was also way sweeter than usual. We even checked to see if the usual chef was away. So it seems the sauces come pre-made in batches and they just stir fry it to order. Pity really, since we really liked it before. So all in all, today wasn't that great. But that said, there was a pretty large crowd there at the same time as us. This Chin's in oceanside was pretty much our favourite till yesterday. It might be awhile before we come back for dinner granted that it's the hubby driving us here and his food didn't turn out great. In conclusion for tonight 3.5 stars. I've had better at Chin's. Edit: I needed to add this. I forgot to mention in the original review that our nice server got the price of the kungpao chicken removed. So we didn't pay for the chicken we didn't love.

Food was good. Matre D was amicable. Waitstaff was expedient. Ambiance was a little dark but likely because we arrived on fathers day when they opened and coming inside from bright sunlight accentuated the feeling.