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Chen’s Family Dish: ‘Noodle House’ is a Chinese restaurant to relish By Sarah Lemon Updated: Jun 03, 2022 08:15 AM A A 6 View all photos Ground pork is the centerpiece of Beijing Zhajiang noodles at Chen’s Family Dish in Medford. Photos by Sarah Lemon Homemade noodles are featured in several dishes, including cold Szechuan noodles, at Chen’s Family Dish in Medford. Homemade noodles are featured in several dishes, including “Beijing Zhajiang noodles,” at Chen’s Family Dish in Medford. Crab puffs augment lunch specials at Chen’s Family Dish in Medford. Kung pao chicken is one of 11 lunch special options at Chen’s Family Dish in Medford. Egg flower soup is a side dish choice with lunch specials at Chen’s Family Dish in Medford. It’s time to stop demurring on the topic of Chinese food. The genre has challenged me — in more than 20 years of reviewing Rogue Valley restaurants — to endorse a local establishment. And I don’t just love Chinese food. I’m enamored of its traditions, symbolism and pageantry while favoring specialties unfamiliar to mainstream Western palates. Chinese is the cuisine I seek in San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles and Seattle — forays that emphasize the distance between authenticity and Southern Oregon’s brand of Chinese food. So after decades of disappointment, I viewed the region’s latest newcomer with resigned skepticism. And Chen’s Family Dish couldn’t have delighted me more. Earlier this year, the former site of Golden Wok on South Riverside Avenue was transformed into a light, bright space with modern finishes, overseen by efficient and gracious staff. Not surprisingly, the Chen’s model is tried and true. Searching for the restaurant address, I turned up Internet references to Chen’s in Salem, Florence, Roseburg and Dallas, Ore. While the Chen name alone wouldn’t confirm a connection, the Secretary of State’s business registry shows an ownership link between the Medford, Salem and Florence locations. Chen’s subtitle “Noodle House” spells out which items should most tempt diners. And I was pleased both my co-workers gravitated to noodles. While the “Beijing Zhajiang noodle” with ground pork ($15) appealed to Nick, our vegetarian companion, Julia, selected the Szechuan cold noodle ($13). The latter also enticed me on the warm day, but I wanted a look at one of Chen’s lunch specials, served with fried rice, crab puffs and a choice of egg flower or hot and sour soup for the total price of $11, prepared with chicken or pork, or $14 for the beef or shrimp upgrade. While the authenticity of “General Tso’s” chicken or pork is debatable, there’s no question that “Hawaiian style” is aimed at diners sensitive to spice. Of the lunch menu’s 11 items, five are denoted with a chile pepper. From those, I requested kung pao chicken, conjuring outings with my grandma, who adores the dish’s bell peppers. Anticipating plenty of heat from the main dish, I chose egg flower over hot and sour soup. With cursory apologies to my fellow diners, I tucked into my soup, served in advance of our main courses. Thicker than I anticipated, the soup was piping hot and deeply savory. Alongside its swaths of egg and bits of chicken were julienne carrots and short lengths of noodle. The nicely sized cup constituted a promising starter. Main dish soups compose the majority of Chen’s noodle menu, from wonton noodle soup to pho (each $15). Less commonly known are “Lanzhou beef noodle soup” ($15) — touted as a repository of 18 flavors from Chinese herbal medicine — as well as spicy noodle soup ($14) and Taiwan beef brisket-tomato noodle ($16), both incorporating pickled cabbage. Extra noodles can be had for $1, vegetables and soup for $2 or meat for $3. Less prominently featured on the menu’s inner pages are chow mein — specified as fresh, homemade noodles — lo mein, chow fun and curry-spiced Singapore rice noodles. I craved that last recipe, which I haven’t prepared for about a year, but not as much as homemade noodles. Indeed, when the proprietor saw my friends pulling a good 2 feet of noodles from their plates’ piles, he emphasized their in-house provenance. Respectably chewy, the perfectly cooked noodles retained their integrity as individual strands, rather than the sticky masses some restaurants serve. Both dishes’ spice was spot-on, allowing us to taste the other ingredients, including the fermented note of Nick’s ground pork. Both dishes’ copious cucumber cooled the slight burn while julienne carrot provided more body. Impeccable doneness characterized all of Chen’s vegetables, including my plate’s zucchini, conscientiously diced to a nearly uniform size matching the peppers, celery and onion, punctuated with larger pieces of boneless, skinless chicken. Admiring the melange for a moment, I turned my attention to the couple of crisp-fried crab puffs oozing cream cheese. Unapologetically an American invention, crab Rangoon is a guilty pleasure that warrants gobbling (an entire order!) at the wheel of my car while ferrying home Chinese takeout. Although lacking sweet chile or another syrupy dipping sauce, these were the best crab puffs I’d ever had — neatly formed pinwheels, their cheesy imitation crabmeat in ideal ratio, fried to bubbly perfection with delectably gooey centers. A full order of eight from the menu’s appetizer section costs $9. For such a relatively modest price, the lunch special’s size can’t be beat. A generous scoop of scrambled egg-studded rice anchored one corner of the plate while chicken and vegetables sprawled from end to end. A bit milder than some kung pao, this recipe harbored no dried chile pods. More curiously lacking were the dish’s quintessential peanuts, detailed in the menu description. That small disappointment couldn’t quell my enthusiasm for Chen’s — at long last a local Chinese restaurant to recommend. Next time I’ll come for noodles and maybe my own platter of crab puffs. Located at 718 S. Riverside Ave., Chen’s Family Dish is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Monday. Call 541-858-1668. Or see the menu and order online for pickup at chensfamilydishmedford.com. Features editor Sarah Lemon writes The Whole Dish column that runs biweekly in A la Carte. Reach her at [email protected]