Ming's Cafe - Bakersfield

Take it easy on the lady Yelpers That is just her wayShe is a kick! I have been to China, and different people do things different ways.

I continually look for good Asian foodCalifornia has this fusion thing happening and it isn't for me.

We have been here multiple timesThe owners are the sweetest people everHe service is very slow as on every occasion the serve one person at a time.

Ming's Café downtown on L Street is a sweet, tucked away gem. I went to dinner there with my husband and my 5 month old son on September first, a Thursday night. I called ahead of time to see when they were going to close and a woman told us 8:30, but she said that she would wait until nine for us. I made the call at like 8:15. She was really courteous on the phone and I told her that we would be there before nine and we were, barely. There were no other customers there. We had the place to ourselves and what a place it is. The dining room was bright, welcoming and clean. It was a cheerful environment. There were decorative Chinese urns arranged neatly around the room, ornately decorated, very beautiful pieces of art. The atmosphere was very appealing, I was quite pleased. There was a bouquet of red silk roses that were tidily arranged in the middle of each table. They have a buffet table that they set up for larger parties. The service was unsurpassed. I am a friendly person and I have usually been treated fairly and courteously, but this couple went out of their way to make our dining experience a real treat. They kept the place open just for us. Michael and Wendy are a husband and wife team, and boy do they make a great one. Michael is the chef and he has been cooking for more than forty years. He started out cooking in China for a couple of years and he moved to America and worked in Wyoming for several years before he came to California. In 1981 he saw the for sale sign on the building at 1918 L Street and he bought the place then and there. He and his wife remodeled and decorated and have been in business ever since. Wendy was our waitress and she was the sweetest most welcoming woman. She was very helpful when we asked for suggestions on what was good to order. She made us feel very comfortable and I appreciate how kind she was, it was refreshing. I mentioned that we brought our 5 month old son with us. He has a very sweet disposition and was well behaved during our dinner. We were worried, babies can be demanding and fussy, but to our delight Wendy kept him occupied and they had a great time together. My husband and I got to eat our dinner without our son crying for our attention, we actually got not only to taste our food, but enjoy it. The food was magnificent. I was blown away by the quality of the ingredients, not only that but the preparation was exceptional. The pork was unbelievably tender. At a lot of places the pork is tough and on the dry side, Ming's Café is first rate. We tried their pork pot stickers and holy moly they were the best I have ever had and not only did they perfectly prepared, but they were huge, they dwarf all other pot stickers and I have seen a lot of pot stickers! We also got the wor wonton soup and it was better than PF Chang's, now that I mentioned that I have to say that all of their food was better than that of PF Chang's and PF Chang's is good, but Ming's Café is out of this world. In saying that I must also say that they are far better than Bill Lee's as well and I feel bad because I have been going there for a long time. We also had the egg rolls, which were the size of chimichanga burritos! It was totally impressive, to say the least. Their portions are pretty massive. The Ming's special chow mien was so meaty and delicious and the vegetables were not over cooked and were not raw, they were just right, that takes skill. It had chicken, shrimp, pork, broccoli, snow peas, bell pepper, onion, it had everything and there was a lot of it. The wor wonton soup was packed with wontons and veggies. The pot stickers you have to see to believe, absolutely awesome. We also got the sweet and sour pork and the sweet and sour shrimp and we were both amazed at the sauce. Most places serve this bright red sweet and sour sauce that is either premade or tastes like it, but not at Ming's. Michael makes it with his own recipe. I asked about it and it is top secret. It was the best, it wasn't too sweet and it was just an incredible homemade sauce. I wish I had brought my camera, it was all so amazing. I was so impressed with Ming's Café and the staff. The most important things about going out are atmosphere, staff attitude, quality, preparation and flavor of ingredients and price and as far as I am concerned Ming's Cafe is such a value for the price. We were treated so well that I don't want to eat Chinese food anywhere else. Michael said that he also prepares American food just as skillfully. I can't wait to go back.

Omg, 10/10 would definitely recommend to try it. the sweetest couples own and operate it. the man is the cook and the woman is the waitress. eating was amazing, tasty and cooked to order. the service was not the second, the best I ever had! we will definitely return!