Waterloo Star

Really good! The hotpot combo is a really good deal, they give you so much food.
Also their regular dishes are also very good too! Everything’s good. I recommend!

I have been here a number of times and enjoyed the food.
This last time I ordered a hot and sour soup, which was pretty good, huge, and cheap!
I also ordered the stir fry beef with rice noodles and it was an incredible disappointment and the reason for my poor review. The oil used to cook the beef was clearly reused oil from a deep frier or otherwise, and it tasted burnt and gross as that kind of oil always does, which completely ruined my meal.
My advice: steer clear of beef at this restaurant.

The food was okay. I came to this place because o saw the good reviews. I ordered hot and sour soup, spring rolls, mountains chicken. The food was okay. I have had better. The thing I regret ordering was the mountains chicken. I took a bite of it and it didn’t taste like it was cooked. Then I have it back to have it cooked a bit more. The girl brings it back not even two minutes later. And it was still the same. Was pink and slimy tasting and didn’t taste like chiecken at all. So I took it home
And gave it to my brother he said it must be eat meat because it doesn’t look or taste like
Normal chicken.

Easily one of the better chinese food resturants in and around the waterloo campus. Its relatively cheap (~8−12 after tips and tax) and the quality is actuallly pretty good. This place is perfect for fixing up the chinese food cravings or a quick lunch in between classes.
Their casseroles (meat/​vegetable in soup served in a hot stone bowl with rice on the side) are espcially tasty! They also have lunch specials which include an dish with rice, pop and a small side soup for under 10 dollars.
All in all, decent chinese food + cheap + fast service = would recommend

I think this place is one of the better Chinese restaurants around UW campus especially the fact UW has a high population of Chinese students and many would always crave Chinese food (myself included!).
When I first walked in, I immediately noticed how big the place is. They have a lot of tables as well as diner style booths by the walls (the booths have iPads!). The place is very spacious which is very good especially for students that want space for their bags and other things.
Food wise I am generally happy with their food. I usually get their casseroles which comes with rice as well. Their casseroles are huge with lots of meat delicious soup. So far I have tried their beef tendon as well as their pig tripe casseroles and was happy with both! If you can’t think of what to get, they have lunch specials on weekdays which come with free soup and all you can drink pop for just ~7 dollars!

Have never had such awful service. Had never been to this restaurant before and came because I had heard good things. My mother and I were told to sit wherever and then the host left, and returned about 10 minutes later with only 2 other single customers in the store to take our order. We were not offered drinks. We realized later as we saw other people who had obviously been there before, that you got up and got your own from the station by the counter. This would have been nice to know seeing as my dish was spicy and didn’t have anyone come to the table and see how we were doing so that we could ask. Weren’t sure if we were supposed to go to the counter to pay or were to be brought a bill, and didn’t want to interrupt as every staff member sat down to eat their meals together.
When I ordered a side of sweet and sour sauce, they said yes and never brought it. When I went to the counter to ask for it again, they said they didn’t have any. Well fantastic had I known that I would not have ordered what I did. In fact I would have left because as a 36 week pregnant woman that’s what I was craving. Not their problem but if you don’t have something, don’t tell me you do and then inform me you don’t after my food has been put in front of me.
When I got home to eat my leftovers I also noticed that there were multiple shrimp skins mixed in my rice, which again being pregnant made me throw up as I had ordered the Kung pao chicken — chicken rice and veggies. Not shrimp for a reason.
Will not be going back.

I’ve actually always been pretty happy with what I get at Waterloo Star. Out of all of the Chinese restaurants in the plaza, I think this, or China Legend, is my favorite. The dishes are pretty authentic, filling, and not too expensive (relative to the overpriced prices of the campus plaza). Also, the food comes out pretty fast and I personally think the staff is pretty nice.
My first experience with this restaurant was during first year when I came with a friend. It was during the peak of dinner. We ordered our food, and they just completely forgot about us. The food just never came out. Everyone around us, even those who came after us, got their food and FINISHED eating. And we didn’t get our food. So my friend and I just straight up left. So I didn’t come back to this restaurant for a while. But then I did. And I’m glad I did, because the food is prettyy good.
I recommend their lunch specials and everything on their menu.

Well, I just have to add, we had the crispy fish, green beans and eggplant again tonight and as usual it was wonderful. However! I have to say we tried the Yang Chow Rice for the first time, and I must say it is the BEST Yang Chow Rice, we have ever had anywhere, any time! If I remember it was 7.95 and it was LOADED and delicious. At least 10+ good size shrimp, full of large pieces of bbq pork, plenty of egg — OMG –simply the most generous and best Yang Chow Rice anywhere! Try it — you will not be sorry.

Had a fly in food, was yelled by the owner to shut up, and was forced to pay full amount. Will not return here.

Their lunch deal is pretty good, nice portion and great amount of meat and only 6.99. Tried the fried chicken on rice and beef with onion on rice for lunch, both are pretty good. The service needs some improvement however, especially when they never remember to bring the utensils when they bring our food!

Stopped in again. Ordered our favorites Sweet and sour crispy fish, green beans, Hot and sour soup. A new to us dish, #24 shreaded pork is now added to our list. Wow tasty, mildly spicy, very flavourful.

One of my favorite places in the plaza. Food is very good.
I would recommend their hot and sour soup ($ 4.99 for a big bowl), crispy chili chicken, and mountain chili chicken (spicy lover here). The crispy chili chicken is deep fried, but you get a lot and it has a lot of spices sprinkled on it. The mountain chili chicken has a bit less, but tastes better and has sauce on it.
Other dishes I liked were the green beans with pork, and lamb casserole.

I don’t know why I haven’t been coming here very much — this place is top notch going by Waterloo plaza standards. They have always been changing owners, but as of writing this, they are under great management. They let you grab unlimited free beverages 11−3pm daily, have pretty speedy and decent service, and really reasonable pricing. Not only this, but they are probably the only HK owned Chinese restaurant left in the plaza — meaning legitimate HK dishes. If you are sick of the spicy or oily Chinese options in the plaza, definitely give this place a try.
Their yang zhou fried rice is amazingly priced and not oily af like Chen’s. They also have various casserole dishes that are well sized and great for sharing.
The interior renovations have made it very cozy and clean, and there is a ton of seating — both for large and small groups.
Oh, and they are always playing Naruto or Fairy Tail on the TVs which is also pretty awesome.

I always enjoy the food here. The Lamb Casserole is a personal favorite. The price is right, and for lunch they started offering free soup and bottomless pop. Definitely worth it. The only reason this is not a 5 star is the atmosphere. A little dim, a little run down, and the place has definitely seen better days. But if all you care about is good tasting food, come here.

Tried the xinjiang chicken that Anni D recommended. She didn’t mention how big it was. I think it was the largest plate of braised chicken I’ve ever been served. It costed about $ 14, so it wasn’t cheap, but I would recommend sharing the plate with a friend or significant other. I wish there were more noodle than chicken. I think the ratio was like 3:2 chicken meat to rice noodle.
I didn’t find the flavor to be exceptional. It was tasty and good, but didn’t blow my mind. If you braise chicken in soy sauce, chili peppers, peppercorns, garlic and onion for about an hour, you should get a similar taste. They have $ 7 lunch specials with free soup and pop. I’ll probably try that next time.

I absolutely loved my experience here. The atnosphere was great, even though it was really busy, there was no language barrier which was great because i cant speak chinese. They had animé going on the tv’s which i absolutely loved and you get sooo much food for a great price, we were 3 people, we got the all you can eat hot pot and it was definitely more than we could eat. This is definitely one of my new favorite restaurants!

The food is good, there are lot of options on the menu, and it is quite cheap.
The only downside is that the service is pretty terrible — especially if you are not Chinese or with someone who is ordering in Chinese. I went in there once with a friend, they sat us down, and completely forgot about us. We waited 45 minutes before we left. During that time, they served food to people who came after us!

This place was a big hit after it’s recent renovation. It offers clean comfortable seating and quick service. The food is definitely one of the best Chinese food in town! I highly recommend their xin-​jiang chicken which is spicy and is served over a bed of noodles.
The prices are fair for it’s proximity to campus and lunch hours can get very hectic.

This place exceeded my expectations, considering almost all the joints I’ve been to in the plaza have been overall mediocre.
Their portions are absolutely huge, and for a low price too. Since the price itself was low it did allow me to lower my standards a bit I guess… but it was still of good value.
The vegetable and tofu soup was delicious (though the tomato looked out of place… personally I prefer seaweed). The beef fried noodles is a huge dish (if you’re even only ¾ hungry, you probably will need to pack it home), tasty, and filling. My friend had a casserole, and she was satisfied with her results as well.
I’ve passed by that place at night occasionally and I always see it full. Now I know why.

Authentic Chinese at a reasonable price. In terms of location, it’s about as good as it gets in proximity of UW. The best dish there by far is the Xinjiang Chicken with Rice Noodles. The warm noodles are slathered with a generous helping of spicy chicken chunks and hot peppers and even the regular size is more than enough for dinner and leftovers for the next day. I’ve also had the fried rice and while it’s nothing too special, it’s very filling at a very low price (and works great when you’re in a pinch, food and money-​wise).
Be warned however that it is cash only.