Eee gads!!! This is what happens when people who don't know what delicious Chinese food tastes like go and write reviews on other websites and then unsuspecting out-of-towners like myself read all of the 5-star reviews and decide to try the place only to find out the restaurant IS NOT what people claim it to be. So sad.....\r
Well, in a nutshell, this is a mom-n-pop place that is run by a Chinese-American couple, however their cook is Hispanic and the patrons mostly so, as the neighborhood around Valentino's is very Hispanic. While this doesn't always necessarily mean that the restaurant would not be authentic (as there have been mom-n-pops that have surprised me in the past), it is a shame that it is not. I had the sesame chicken (I know, I know...sesame chicken is not really ""chinese"") and my husband had the double cooked pork. Both major disappointments, as there was hardly any flavor to either meal. If you are reading this and are thinking, ""Well, then hey, what is 'authentic' outside of Los Angeles, Vancouver or New York, especially when it comes to Chinese food in Dallas,"" I would direct fellow gourmands to the Richardson area, around Greenville Ave. and Belt Line near Highway 75 (Central Expressway). The majority of the restaurants there serve Taiwanese food, so if you've been to Beijing or the environs, you'll find the cuisine similar. Maxim's does a decent job of Dim Sum (somewhat similar to that of the Hong Kong variety) and other restaurants close to the Asian supermarket side (East side of Greenville Rd and North of Terrace Drive), make items like Xiao Long Bao (soupy pork dumplings) quite well. So, for newbies like me, or those of you that wrote reviews for Valentino's, please give the Richardson area a try. Thanks for reading my review.
Pros: Lots of food for cheap if that's all you care about when eating out
Cons: Taste, ambience, taste
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