A Concord Treasure: New Lim's Garden Seafood Restaurant

Concord surprisingly has a pretty damn good Chinese Restaurant. It should consider itself lucky. New Lim's Garden Seafood Restaurant has been around for longer than I've been living in the area, so that's more than 15 years. My family and I have been ordering out from this place for the longest time, and it's because we consider it to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area -- comparable to those you can find closer to the city. 

My closest friends in the Concord area value this restaurant as much as I do. 

There's nothing like cheap, good, authentic Chinese food. What's not to love ?


Here's a few of my favorites/usuals: 

For a family of 4, one order of the Yang Chow Fried Rice ($6.25) will suffice. Not only is it incredibly authentic, it's heartily packed with shrimp, peas, egg, Chinese sausage, and carrots. 

Their Peking Pork Chop ($7.25) is crisped and slathered to perfection. Pork, light breading, and sweet and sour sauce is quite an addictive combination. 

The Chinese Broccoli with Beef ($6.75) is a sautéed melange of kai-lan (Chinese broccoli), beef, and carrots lightly doused in black bean sauce. The best part of this dish is the kai-lan, because its texture and flavor pair so well with the sauce. 

You can get two Deep-Fried Flounders for $8.95. Topped with scallions and served with a sweet soy sauce, it's lightly breaded and perfectly fried. I pick this fish like crazy to the bone.









It's amazing how much food you can get for just a little under $30. Their menu is full of Chinese classics and is bound to have your favorite dish. 


Also notable is their lunch special that costs $5.50-$6.50 per person and is held form 11:00am-12:30pm. You can get a selected choice of vegetables, beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, or fish with soup, fried wonton, steamed rice, or fried rice. 


So the next time you're in Concord (for whatever reason), and have a Chinese food craving, this is definitely the place to be. 


Location: 4340 Clayton Road, Concord
Monday-Thursday: 11:00am-9:30pm
Friday-Saturday: 11:00am-10:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am-9:30pm

Loco for Taqueria Los Gallos Express

An all-you-can-eat chips and salsa bar is probably my favorite (and most lethal) aspect of authentic Mexican restaurants.

At Taqueria Los Gallos Express, you can eat in and find yourself constantly going back and forth for more of this addictive luxury or while waiting for your take-out order, stuff tiny pastry bags to the brim with crispy, shiny, freshly made tortilla chips.

I went to one of their four locations in Concord, which sits on a stretch of fast food joints and restaurants that will satisfy your hunger for anything without burning a hole in your wallet...but if cheap authenticity is what you seek, then this restaurant is a solution. 

At Los Gallos, you can get a lunch special with your choice of a main component (quesadilla, taco, crispy taco, tamale, or enchilada) on a plate alongside beans and Mexican rice plus a soft drink for $4.99. 

Pictured on the left is the Tamale lunch special. With this combination, they can only offer it to be filled with chicken but regardless, you'll devour the fresh, flavorful, comforting food that I, personally, had severely missed while living in France. I'm still making up for it. I heart tamales. I kind of wish I could have taken pleasure in unwrapping a tamale from its steaming husk. 

The Taco lunch special, shown right with Al Pastor, is just as satisfying. With there just being one taco, a lot of meat is piled on top of it -- something that no one can ever complain about. 

Both dishes also give you more reason to get those amazing chips to sop up any soupy, beany remnants. 

Locations (and they're referred to by number, I went to #4): 

#1: 1950A Grant Street, Concord 

#2: 2118 Willow Pass Road, Concord

#3: 1974 Contra Costa Boulevard, Pleasant Hill 

#4: 4350 Clayton Road Suite A, Concord