j & j wonton noodle house

best chinesefoodanywhere!. we love thefoodso much that we eat lunch at j&js three times a week and we have done so for ten years. our super favourite dishes are spicy ginger fried chicken; garlic pork; spicy tofu vegetable noodle soup; halibut noodle soup; stir fried prawns and vegetables (with a variety of great sauces). reasonable prices and excellent service. whenever visitors come to town, we bring them straight to j&js for dinner.

was awesome a few years ago, until they sold it and new owners took over, thefooddoesn't taste the same ever agian, so sad, really loved this place for our chinesefoodcravings

found thefoodof inferior quality for take-out.....beef very dry and tough,  special fried rice bland without added anything,  green beens old and withered, and alsogai lan old and woody.

the only place for chinesefoodin town. .period. .
we have been going here for over 20 years now and never had s bad meal. .the ginger beef is definitively one of the best dishes here. .

j&j's was the venue chosen for our last dinner/dining experience during a recent stay in victoria.  with the restaurant closed on sundays and mondays, this was our first opportunity to get there, and we were looking forward to it.

the restaurant is located in a neighbourhood just outside of the downtown core, in a block (of fort street) just beyond what tourist maps indicate as "antique row".  an easy find, and interesting area.  the restaurant opens at 4:30pm - we arrived a touch early, parked, and did a short walkabout before it opened.  we were not the only ones arriving early - when it opened, four tables worth of diners, and a couple of people coming for take-out orders, entered the place!  glad we came early.

it's a small, and very unassuming-looking place (especially so from its outside appearance), but offers more seating inside than one might expect from seeing it outside.  there is certainly nothing fancy in decorations and the like inside - from what i saw, it's mostly dark, bare walls, and rather dimly-lit lighting.  the most lighted spot is at back, the kitchen, which is visible through a full-size, glass window, enabling diners to view the cooks doing their thing.  our first impression -- i think we've found "our kind of chinese restaurant"!

what we (threesome) ordered and shared: 
.... all the servings were large, well-prepared and presented, and served piping hot to our table.  the ginger beef and prawns were prepared szechuan style, "hot & spicy" - when the server was taking our orders, we agreed on 'medium'.

--  crispy, spicy, ginger fried beef - dark, quite large pieces of beef, with a fairly-crispy outside, and tender inside, w/some green onion.  it was hot, it was spicy, and it was very tasty!  a portion was left to take back to our hotel, and it was enjoyed as a snack the next day on our balcony back home!  

--  stir-fried prawn w/black bean sauce - shelled prawns, tender and juicy, and good assortment of veggies.  everything cooked perfectly.  yum! a very flavourful and tasty dish.  

-  stir-fried squid w/hot, ginger garlic sauce - squid rings, tasty and tender, and nice assortment of veggies (including some good-size mushrooms).  the squid was tender, the veggies cooked perfectly, and the sauce hot & spicy (a touch too!).  but guess we enjoyed it, as there was nothing was left on the plate!! 

-  house special chow mein - a nice assortment of meat, chicken, noodles, and veggies.  it looked good, and tasted the same.  the plate was cleaned!

we enjoyed our total dining experience at j&j's, thefoodwas exceptional, the service good, and we left 'full & happy', and very pleased we had chosen to dine there for our last dinner in victoria.

my husband and i went here for dinner, as we've been searching for a new chinese restaurant. it was pretty tasty, we had the wor wonton soup, the house special chow mein, ginger fried beef, and sesame chicken. everything was pretty tasty, however the chow mein was a bit crispy and undercooked. i liked that it came with lots of vegetables however there were more veggies than noodles. it was pretty expensive, all told. i wish they had combo dinners. we'll be back for lack of quality chinesefoodin victoria.

if you are looking for authentic chinese/cantonese dishes, this is definitely not the place. but if you want something fusion, tailored to western flavors but much better thanfoodcourt chinesefoodthen this is a place to try.

that best i have ever had, 5 stars!! i love theirfoodit's always fresh! the variety of flavours are unreal!! they are very friendly and happy to customize your order just the way you like!

refreshing.... for many a year this was clearly the best chinesefoodin victoria but i just stopped going altogether due to the less than desirable attitude of the service. this evening we made it in just before closing only to be graciously accepted and further treated to exceptional service and even more exceptional food!! we requested an old favourite of halibut noodle soup (off the lunch menu) and sub'd the bok choy out for gai lan. wow, truly perfect. we also ordered the hot & sour soup which was good too, but not the best i've ever had. the other dishes we enjoyed tonight were the ginger & onion chow mein and the spicy ginger chicken which were both outstanding. the dining room appeared to have seen some recent improvements and the staff were cheery and helpful. glad to have my favourite chinesefoodrestaurant back!!

one of the best chinese restaurants in victoria. they have almost no competition. thefoodis consistently good.

another delicious meal, reaffirming my opinion that this is the best chinesefoodin town. great way to ring in the new year. the hunan chicken with spicy black bean sauce is a taste bud tour de force. what makes this place so good is the use of fresh quality ingredients and recipes that seem more authentic than the standard issue westernized chinesefoodserved in chinatown. jj's dishes are much closer to thefoodwe ate during our travels through hong kong or mainland china.

nice meal.foodwas fresh and tasty with a lot of unique flavors. really enjoyed the house chow mien. the open kitchen, with huge viewing windows, made the experience even better. i enjoyed watching the chefs at work.

really freshfoodbut not what i expected. the servers were totally rude so i didn't tip which upset her even more!foodis decent but kind of overrated.

it has the style of a common chinesefoodrestaurant that we all know and are familiar with. thefoodquality is above good. i did find that myfoodtaste a little saltier than i would like (then again, it might have beene taste buds that night). i like their selection. the regular menu needs a little sprucing up. it seems to have a good following but it definitely more pricier than what you would expect. same kind of meal found in richmond or vancouver would be generally half the price. for example, the bbq pork fried rice lshould not cost more than $8 (tops in van or richmond) but $12??! sorry, but the restaurant i found isn't as high end quality as you would get at a fancy vancouver downtown hotel restaurant. it's not made out to be that way therefore i couldn't seem to justify the quantity and quality to be this overpriced. one caveat in their defense though could be the cost offoodprices on the island comparative to the mainland. but it shouldn't be that justifiable with respect to price of rice as in my example. they must make a huge profit from the sale of fried rice (rice prices haven't gone that high up). i think they raised the prices across the board on their menu in retrospect because all the prices seem high for the quantity and quality of the food. i know this may be long but i guess i was shocked at my bill. i liked the restaurant's atmosphere as it reminded me of a typical local above average rest from the mainland. and, i'm just trying to find anything to steer me from the disappointment of the higher price and not giving jerky review. rating: 4/6

love this place!. when i walk in for lunch i'm always greeted like family, and the servers can usually tell by looking at me that i want the spicy ginger chicken noodle soup, which is the best comfortfoodi can imagine! i've also had dinner here, and have had take out many times. it never fails to please.