I finally got around to trying Chang'an and was very pleasantly surprised. The food, service, ambiance were all incredible. Yes, it's expensive compared to at typical Chinese food restaurant but this isn't a typical Chinese restaurant. Definitely worth a shot and definitely have to get the duck (which you have to preorder)

The duck was really good and I had the best sea cucumber ever! But I felt bad for the koi. :(

This is one of the higher-end, formal Chinese restaurants in Orange County that specializes in Shaanxi cuisine. The interior design is impressive, giving the feeling of dining inside a small museum, and the ambience is definitely noteworthy. The service is attentive, although the server had a naturally loud voice that didn't quite match the refined atmosphere. It's not his fault--it's just the way he speaks. The restaurant offers a wide variety of dishes, not limited to Shaanxi cuisine. However, be aware that this isn't your typical Panda Express with generous portions that fill your box. If you're dining with more than three people, you'll need to be quick with your chopsticks before others finish the food, as the portions are not very large. I recommend the salad--it's excellent. The pickled fish in broth is also quite good. That said, the prices are steep, and you're primarily paying a premium for the ambience. This is a great choice if you have important business associates in town or if you're looking to impress a date. Otherwise, it's more of a once-a-year type of place due to the high price tag.

If you would like a show with your peking duck this is the place, the duck was set on fire! But you need to make sure you call in advance and prebook it, you cannot order it on the spot. The peking duck is Beijing style not Taiwan style that a lot of places in America do. It comes with a few steps, first you watch the chef prepare the duck for you and you eat it normally with all the additives, cucumbers, green onions and sauce. You can always ask for more too. Then they smoke some of them, which had an apple wood flavor, I personally like the unsmoked version though. After that they will take the rest of the duck and prepare another dish with the leftovers. It is definitely on the pricer side but it is hard to find peking duck that is actual Beijing style with the small crepes and not the buns. That all said if you just want normal chinese food there are cheaper places with just as good or better food.

The hype is true about this joint. I am really impressed by their oriental interior. However just remember there's like a $100 duck waiting for you there. The crepes accompanied with the duck is rare as well as the fresh garnishes. The cutlery presentation as well as induction presentation needed more personality but the taste and quality is revered in the plate itself. It might leave you hungry cause it's that good.

Awesome service , and amazing food . We always wanted to come and try this place . Thanks Ted for your wonderful service, we will definitely come back .

So there seems to be a lot of varying reviews here, but I would say that as OC residents, we are lucky to have an upscale Chinese restaurant like Chang'an here in our backyard. It's worth noting that there are also two other locations in Vancouver and in San Gabriel - two cities known for their Chinese food. I'd rather not have to drive over an hour to the SGV to go to a similar restaurant. That aside, I'll start off by saying what is hopefully obvious - this is not your ordinary Chinese restaurant. They're trying to elevate every item on the menu, but still staying within arm's length of tradition. Onto the review though, we had a phenomenal experience for a large group on a Saturday night. Reservation process: I worked with Lin to make our large group reservation and he was professional, patient, accommodating and not pushy at all while I took a few days to decide. My wife and I stopped by the restaurant a week beforehand - Lin gave us a tour and showed us all of the potential spaces where we could have our group seated - both the private rooms and the specific areas in the various dining rooms. Ambiance: The owners spared no expense on this buildout. The restaurant is dimly lit, with traditional Chinese interior design. It feels upscale, but still relaxed. While we had our own room, I would say that the dining room was not overly loud. Sure, there might've been a group or two celebrating and having a good time, but nothing out of hand or out of the ordinary.. Service: Lin also served as the lead server for the evening and he had a dedicated team for our group. He elevated our experience in many ways, from his honest opinions about which items to order to sharing the background of everything from the origins of the tea to details of the multi-day preparation process for items like the roasted duck and the roasted beef short rib (both of which I'd highly recommend). And about the chrysanthemum tea, yes, it was $28, but it's some of the best tea you'll ever taste - no hyperbole. Lin can give you the background and the origins behind that, too. The staff must have refilled our tea 10+ times. Totally worth it. Food: Lin guided us on what to order and also ensured that we didn't over-order any specific dishes, which we really appreciated. We ended up ordering a lot of the popular items, and we also opted for 3 seafood specials of the night. Of course, they brought the live seafood to show us before cooking it. Here's what we ended up ordering: 1) Chang'an Roasted Duck - the duck is prepared 2 different ways and you get a wonton soup. 2) Cold Dressed Okra with house special sauce 3) Crispy Beef Tongue 4) Roasted Beef Short Rib 5) Australian Lobster prepared in the house special fried chili style (seafood special) - you get 2 dishes from this, the 2nd one being a lobster fried rice. 6) Spot Prawns prepared steamed with the house sauce (seafood special) 7) Thornyhead Grouper (seafood special) 8) King Mushroom casserole 9) Crispy Black Tofu with house special sauce 10) Chef Selection Japanese Wagyu Fried Rice 1Seasonal Vegetables We didn't order any dessert items because we brought our own cake, but wouldn't hesitate to try some next time. Our party enjoyed EVERY single dish. OK, maybe the seasonal vegetables were ordinary, but we were just trying to get our veggies in. Everything was delicious, presented beautifully and not greasy/oily at all. I think the standouts were the Australian Lobster, Spot Prawns, Thornyhead Grouper, Beef Short Rib and Crispy Beef Tongue. Summary: If you can appreciate fine Chinese food and are willing to pay a different price point, you'll be rewarded with a memorable dining experience. It's worth bringing a large group here for special occasions, but also great if you just want to treat a smaller group to a nicer meal. It deserves to be mentioned as one of the best restaurants in the OC.

I took my girlfriend here for her birthday dinner. I had initially saw mixed reviews, but decided to come here still due to the decor and presentation. I'd have to say, food presentation and ambiance of the restaurant is 10/10. Service is fast and the waiters were attentive. While the food is good, for the price it could have been better. The best part of the dinner was the roast duck. The order of duck comes a whole show. The cutter starts off by setting the duck a blaze, then cuts the duck into two plates. One of the plates is then smoked. The duck was good but you can get better in Rowland heights although it won't come with a whole show. We also ordered the lychee shrimp. The dish comes with fried lychee and shrimp. The lychee provides a unique pleasant play on a sweet and sour flavor. However the dish is quite small for almost $40. We finished with dessert where we ordered, 'I am peach'. It comes out with dry ice flowing out. It's a gorgeous sight for this gorgeously crafted dessert. However the taste and texture of it wasn't quite as good. The peach dessert is supposed to filled with mousse, but the mousse was firm and jello like.

Service was phenomenal. Don't remember the last time I was in a restaurant where the service was super attentive but also incognito as well. One of the nicest restaurants in terms of ambiance. Very much a good date restaurant with upscale vibes. Food was very tasty and the spice levels were just right. The rack of lamb was super tender and fall off the bone. The crust added a nice crunchy texture. Duck was nice and crispy on the outside and super juicy on the inside. Not sure if the flambé is for show or also for added flavor profile. Smoked duck was also very aromatic with every bite. Beef tongue was super tender to the point where it's amazing it even kept its shape.

Saturday dinner at 7 pm - Roasted duck, matsutake duck wonton soup, crispy beef tongue, spicy stir-field wild mushroom morels with Shanghai's bok-choy, chang'an gourd chicken, shanxi special sour chili biang biang noodles, peppercorn and tangerine peel ice cream, peach green tea Service: super attentive and excellent customer service Ambiance: modern luxury decor, love all the settings except the table was way too small, and the male restroom needs to improve the hygiene especially area around the urinals. Price: pricy Food quality: the duck was excellent, so in loved the duck meat with smoke infuse. The crispy beef tongue and the mushroom morels veggie dishes were phenomenal. In addition, the steam rice, and the ice cream brought me a next level of surprises in Chinese food. Dislike: I will skip the gourd chicken, the wonton soup and the biang biang noodles. The seasoning of the chicken and the noodles may not strong enough to satisfy my taste buds, and the soup was serving in lukewarm, that's extremely unacceptable. Due to the price point, I have a high expectations for this adventure in terms of food quality, service, ambiance and all the minor details. Except some minor issues, it's still a great dining experience. Will come back for other dishes.