The Essence of China

Since 1998, The Essence of China has proudly served Cantonese and Mandarin cuisine in the heart of Old Town West Linn. As a family-owned and operated …

The Essence of China – West Linn, OR – Grubhub

Order delivery or pickup from The Essence of China in West Linn! View The Essence of China’s March 2026 deals and menus. Support your local restaurants with …

The Essence of China | West Linn OR – Facebook

Hello food enthusiasts! Enjoy a delicious meal at our family-owned spot in West Linn. We’re excited to welcome you soon!

Reviews

paul leuthold

Just south of NE Portland, you can get the true “Essence of China”. The menu is as vast as your appetite with generous portions. So many combinations available. You will want to come back several times. Very attentive service and plenty of parking.

… more

Joan Hay

Love the Fish filet in General Toas sauce. The fish is so tender, and the flavorful sauce is a perfect match on the dish. Also, like the taste on the shrimp and lobster sauce, this is a dish that you don’t want to judge the book by its cover. Presentation was dull and starchy, but the flavor was good.

Our most recent visit, we decided to try new dishes, but it was really bad or did the cook just have a bad day?
Egg flower soup was watery. Steam rice looks like overnight rice and lukewarm. The honey walnut shrimp was not as good. Will stay away for awhile.

… more

Jaycee O’Neal

What a gem! We were greeted promptly by one of the very friendly owners. He and his wife own this restaurant and they been in operation for 22-23 years. They clearly have a number of regular guests based on the conversations I eves dropped on
Great selection of food and beverages. I normally judge based on the hot and sour soup, but I was also craving egg flower soup tonight…both were phenomenal. The pan fried pot stickers were quite large with a delicious dipping sauce. My husband judges based on General Tso’s Chicken and this one was the best he’s had – “perfect blend of sweet and spicy, crispy but not overly breaded.”
We’re so excited to have found such a wonderful Chinese food restaurant so close to home in West Linn. 10/10 would recommend!

… more

Nancy Alhayek

Let me start off by saying THE FOOD HERE IS AMAZING! It’s so unfortunate that the sever who used to be here regularly is now gone. Ever since this new server has been here she has been so absolutely rude to us every time. I’ve tried being the bigger person and just laughing it off & trying to joke with her about how she treats us but I’ve had enough. Just today, I placed an order for Lo Mein & Fried rice. THE SAME THING WE ALWAYS ORDER. I recognize her voice on the phone and she knows mine too because her tone always switches up. We pick it up & I notice something different in the bag… a bag of crunchy things. I open it up & it’s some white sauce vegetable dish. My husband takes the order back in & she tells him no, that’s what you ordered. He tells me so I come back in (I’m waiting in the car)& tell her that we ordered lo mein & are unsure of what this dish is? She YELLS at us that we ordered CHOW MEIN! & slaps down the box. At this point, I’ve had enough of this lady. She’s been rude to us every time we come in, just no customer service WHATSOEVER. Always talks to us like she’s annoyed we are there. But we always over hear her being extremely kind and easy going with other customers. She’s capable of treating customers with kindness just not us apparently. I don’t know what her problem is with us but we never even ask for special accommodations, we don’t send food back & the one time we get a wrong item from them we calmly ask if it can be switched out because e that is not what we ordered… she flips out. Mind you, there was a table of customers & she still made a scene in front of them. Even if I had ordered something completely different like sautéed green beans & meant lo mein, any other restaurant would have been much kinder EVEN if it was our own mistake! I’ve never been treated like this anywhere else & it makes me so sad because I LOVE this restaurant. I HATE leaving this review but I’ve been insulted enough here & I’m done with it. I’ve been here atleast 100 times, I’m not just a once in a while customer so I’m so deeply hurt that this is how I am being treated now since this new server has come around.

… more

Steve Banasky

Wow. I was knocked back at the taste and freshness of the two different dishes we ordered. Great wine pour as well. Price point is spot on. Well done!

… more

Kent Speed

I love chinese food, eat it often when out and about. This is hands down the WORST chinese food I’ve ever had. They made me kung-pao chicken out of fat, grissle and bones. It was discusting and gross! Would not go back even if it was free food! Stay away from this place!

… more

Justin Allen

Essence of China is the best Chinese food you’re going to find here locally within a ten mile radius. Seriously, there’s nothing better. Employees are very attentive even when busy, food is always fresh, hot, and delicious. I would highly recommend the potstickers… they’re homemade, not the generic kind you find in most places. Hot tea is always complimentary with your meal. I’d highly recommend the Mongolian Beef!!! That’s my personal favorite. Just do yourself a favor and stop in!! You won’t be disappointed. Pretty sure it’s a family run/local business… which is a bonus!!

… more

Jong Lee

Easy to order by phone for delivery! Have done this many times with no issues and their in-house delivery fee is reasonable.
We like: Mongolian beef, orange chicken, chow fun, and mushroom Singapore noodles.

… more

PJAY Davis

A family of 7 of us tried this restaurant for the first time..Not one of us liked it! It was not good!! ,,Even my husband who eats literally anything and everything Did not like it! They have some good reviews so I’d say try it for yourself unless you like Chinese cuisine

… more

Marley Garfeild

Our favorite meal is the Kung Pao 3 Kind, Sweet n Sour Shrimp w/ Pork fried rice. The food here is wonderful. This is restaurant is a gem. The quality, the portions are amazing! This family run restaurant is hands on & if you love Chineese food thats made w8th care this is your place. We have been going here for 16 yrs and the service is & has always been exceptional & the food is excellent.

… more

… View more

Address and Contact Information

Menu Photos

Order and Reservations

Photo Gallery

Related Web Results