yummy house

just moved it to #1.............. on my “best chinese in the mid-valley” list!

the same charming lady (co-owner) greeted and seated us with a friendly smile.

my bride and i decided to lunch communally today.

we ordered a bowl of wor wonton soup, a side of egg foo young and steamed rice. the food here is amazing. they use very little oil and no msg in its preparation. the results are very fresh and crisp tasting and completely non-greasy. i think swmbo has ordered egg foo young in every chinese place we’ve ever invaded, and there have been many. she thinks this was the best she could remember. i agree. the soup contained nine wontons stuffed with mildly seasoned pork which were so large as to necessitate cutting them in two! shrimp, bok choy, scallions and water chestnuts all adrift in a wonderful broth put smiles on both our faces. this is a dish that rev. rooster recommended to me some time back and today was my first opportunity to try it. you were right rev.!

with ala carte orders such as this we were pleasantly surprised to receive cups of their wonderful raw corn laden egg flower soup. i think i’ve mentioned before that this is an unusual and delicious treat.

this husband and wife team opened yummy house about a year and a half ago. he attended a culinary school in china. worked in a restaurant there for some time and brought his family to medford with the folks he worked for when they opened an eatery there. he worked there for a number of years before moving to albany. and the rest, as they say, is history.

yummy house gets a no-brainer “really likes it” vote from us!


-----15 apr, 2012-----

rev. rooster is right!. and, although it's too early to say for sure, i may just have a new favorite chinese restaurant. my thanks to r. r.

the restaurant is very clean and perfectly maintained but the windows are all north facing and dark booths and table tops don't make for a bright atmosphere. it was pleasant all the same.

i had hoped to get swmbo to join me for lunch today to facilitate our trying both dishes rev. rooster recommended, but her daintiness is terrified by the possibility of gaining an ounce if she eats out two days in a row, so i was flyin' solo.

i went for the singapore rice noodles and they were every bit as good as reported. they consist of a mini-mountain of vermicelli rice noodles with excellent yellow curry, pork, shrimp, fried egg bits, onion, bell pepper and bean sprouts. the dish comes with a cup of soup, but if you prefer hot & sour, specify when you order or egg flower will be assumed. (this, by the way, had the addition of nearly raw sweet corn which lent interesting textural and flavor nuances i had not before experienced. i liked it.)

if my lunch was typical of the quality to be had here this is indeed a special place. i spoke to a couple in a booth adjacent to mine, who are long-time regulars, and they assured me it is.

with the exception of not being given a soup option the service was exemplary.

you may be sure i will be back soon to try the acclaimed wor wonton soup!

all the food that i have had from this restaurant is very good. those people who gripe about the interior have no place to gripe.
if i call in for a take out, it has always been hot and they usually give me a lot of food.
customer service is great and for being run by by the owners and maybe a server they do a fantastic job of getting the food to you hot and on time. i've had call in orders and went there and sat down and by the time i got there my food was ready to go and when i got home it was still hot i like this chinese restaurant over any other restaurant that i've had in albany.

fantastic food and great service. they use fresh ingredients and are always making sure your plate is full and you leave happy. if you want a great meal this is your place.

great food! no msg.. i'm allergic to msg, so to know that they do not use it is a big bonus for me. the food is really good. every thing i have ordered is made just as i expect from a chinese restaurant. great food!

did you know yummy house received a 100 score on food service inspection report?excellent!

best chinese food in albany. the food here is so fresh and delicious. for anyone complaining of slow service, it is worth the wait because they make it fresh. fried rice for example is pretty much made to order so it never sits around. i don't go here if i am in a hurry. i go because its quiet, high quality, and the family that runs it is very friendly and warm. they buy fresh ingredients from local vendors and are very accomodating about special requests like no breading on a dish. their fried shrimp is all meat (no tail to dodge) and all chicken dishes are white meat only. it's really one of the best chinese restaurants around. try it, you won't be sorry. if you are in a hurry, call in your order ahead. :)

service sucks. it took us forever just to get a glass of water. but the food makes up for it. the food was really good and tasted nice and fresh

on the heals of the bad news.... that urbanspoons own chuck bradley had passed away, i decided to have one of chucks favorite meals in his honor. singapore rice noodles consist of stir-fried rice vermicelli, curry powder, bean sprouts, slivers of bell pepper, small slices of bbq pork, and often times prawns; such is the case here. this fantastic dish is offered in several cantonese style restaurants, and was one of chucks favorites.
yummy house offers one of the best renditions of this dish that i have had. i ordered mine up with 2x the curry and washed it down with a pot of green tea. as a guy that claims to know chinese food, i can honestly say that yummy house is the best in the area. great portions, great prices, and great tasting food make yummy house the tippy top of my favorites list. i highly suggest that you give ‘em a taste.


-----28 mar, 2012-----

best in albany. first of all, i could eat chinese food every day. i love the food, the culture, and the people. in my teenage years the place i would frequent most often in albany was lee's wok. while i was attending college in florida my parents informed me my "temple of culinary goodness" had shut down. when i returned home, i begrudgedly began visiting other chinese places in town. on my hunt for the holy grail of chinese food, i found out that the yummy house had taken over the old chinese kitchen building (a place i did not enjoy). upon my first visit, i was pleased to learn that this family owned business served many of the authentic dishes i learned to love as well as some more americanized dishes. my attention was immediately drawn to the singapore rice noodles and the war wonton soup. i ordered the rice noodles and, i must say they were amazing! the amount of curry was just right and the serving was huge! i left the restaurant full and already anticipating my next visit. on my return visit i ordered the war wonton soup (even though i could hear the singapore rice noodles calling me from the kitchen). i have eaten war wonton at dozens of restaurants all over the united states and i will not hesitate to say, yummy house has the best there is. when the waiter placed the gigantic bowl of piping hot soup on my table i could hear the angelic choir singing as a beam of light shown forth from the heavens in approval of my order. ok it wasn't quite like that, but the wontons are huge and flavorful with a golf ball sized ball of meat in each one, the broth is nothing short of fantastic, and shrimp and vegetables complement an already perfect dish. one thing i always check in asian restaurants is the bathroom cleanliness (it's a weird pet-peeve i have). i have seen bathrooms that a cockroach wouldn't go into; but that is not the yummy house, the bathrooms are spotless. my other pet-peeve is music. i would not go into a barbeque joint and expect to hear chinese erhu music. likewise, i don't want to hear country music in a chinese restaurant. sadly the yummy house plays country music which i find to be a slight annoyance and an atmosphere killer. the staff is very friendly, the prices are good, and the restaurant is very clean. it is certainly not a chinatown dive nor is it a panda express *gags*. the yummy house is a nice blend of authentic and american chinese food that is sure to please the whole family.

not a place i would ever dine again.

kid friendly!!!. ok well this is already our favorite non msg restaurant. tonight was my families first night eating in the restaurant. the place was full and busy but we were helped right away. anyway make a long story short our 3 yr old was getting grilled cheese and when our food was ready they gave him food first and to our alarm the food is usually scalding. surprise this yummy house family made sure our little guys food was the perfect temperature. my husband and i were very please and i can say i have never in 12 yrs been to a restaurant were the children's food was the perfect temp for the littles to gobble it up. very pleased. very impressed. solidifies why this is our favorite!!! the whole family loved their food too. piping hot for the bigs ;)


-----15 aug, 2012-----

what a treat!!. wow, took a chance wanted to find some good food and no msg, wow we were not disappointed!! it was good and a little different than the norm which was a real wonderful dinner. my family and i think we found our new favorite. we got the food to take home and was hot and fresh tasting plenty of it. cant wait to go into the restaurant next time.

yummy house is number one in my book!. i have become a regular at yummy house over the past 6 months. i find tiffany to be a joy, and she greets me with a smile and by name now. my co-workers have thanked me for turning them on to their take out menus and will sometimes give me their orders so i can pick them up for everyone on my lunch break. i find the food to be fresh and scrumptious. i quit trying all the other chinese restaurants in the area as they can't hold a candle to the food, the friendly atmosphere and great prices!

lunch to go. let me see if i can sort through all my thoughts here. the first and last time i tried yummy house was the first week they were open and the experience was marginal at best. that being said my co-worker suggested them for lunch on monday and given the good reviews since then i decided to go along with it. i also got to go pick it up.
we didn't have a menu so we printed one from their web site. upon acquiring an "official" to-go menu i noticed one significant difference! the on-line menu has no special lunch combos listed. these are 2 or 3 item combos you can pick yourself. this was what i had hoped to order from but i guess i will know for next time. i also waited about 12 minutes longer then the 20 i was told on the phone. as i waited (they were fairly busy!) i looked around the place. they did give it a face lift of sorts. it looks a lot better then last time. it wouldn't hurt to ask for today's special when you call. they post it all over the restaurant. it was borderline tacky in my opinion. they also have a couple of dim sum items not listed in the menu posted on the walls. all good stuff to know for next time.
so now that that's cleared up i can get to the food! my co-worker enjoyed his cashew nut chicken. i ordered three dishes to share. the beef with broccoli was my favorite. i used the steamed rice to soak up all the great sauce. the orange chicken was good but much like anywhere else. the bbq pork is much better then it looks. i didn't look appetizing in the little box but it was very moist and flavorful and not too salty. the portion seemed a little slim for $6.25 but i know food prices keep going up... all in all i'd have to say this is probably the best chinese albany has to offer now.
so it was a little rough around the edges but overall the experience was good. i think i have figured out all the things i need to know for take out next time. the staff was pleasant and accommodating. our order was large enough she put it all in a box along with plates, utensils, napkins & condiments. the one hick up was the fact the sauce in the broccoli w/ beef was not contained in a plasitc bag. enough of it slopped out on the way back that it actually made it onto my seat. i'll just put it on the floorboard next time. i'm sure there will be a next time because i really want to try the wonton soup!

nothing less than wonderful. the yummy house is not only what i consider to be the best chinese food in town, but it is a very family friendly environment. tiffany, lee, jackie and even little sophia, always bring a smile to the costumers' faces. every time i have been into the yummy house, i see tiffany calling costumers by name. to me, that shows a friendly relationship that goes beyond business.

getting past the fantastic service, there food is the next best thing. the pot stickers are truly the best i have ever had and they are cooked perfectly. not to mention the orange chicken, that takes you to heaven and back with every bite. their new addition to the menu is the bbq pork buns and the custard buns. the bbq pork buns are great, bringing a bbq and a sweet taste for your taste buds. and the custard buns are nothing less than amazing.

though the inside is dated and could use some work, it doesn't take away from the exquisite food and wonderful service. i give this place a thousand thumbs up!

disappointing. i wanted to like yummy house. the name is adorable, and it is owned and operated by a married couple who seem very nice. i had high hopes that it would become my go-to chinese food option in albany.

sadly, it's not to be. we ordered takeout: general tso's chicken, broccoli beef, and spring rolls. the spring rolls were ok, but unexciting; they were a little overdone, and stuffed mostly with cabbage, but they were edible. the general tso's chicken was flavorless, and the sauce was thin and runny, which made the breading on the chicken soggy. the broccoli beef was just bad: the meat didn't seem to be high quality, there was very little flavor, and the broccoli was overcooked.

maybe there are other dishes that this restaurant does very well, but those two seem to me like pretty basic dishes that any chinese restaurant in the u.s. should be able to pull off.

i wasn't hoping for fabulous. i was just hoping for "better than panda express." i'm sorry to say, this is not it.