Happy Golden Bowl at 10675 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, California.

We just moved to the Bay Area and this was the first Chinese place I tried. I lived in China for a while, and I was really thrilled to open up the menu and find things I hadn't had since I was in Shandong. I don't know if this is the norm for the Bay Area or if I found something special. Anyway the food was pretty good, maybe a little on the oily side. They served us even though it was the middle of the afternoon and we were the only people there. Oh, and it was a ton of food for the price.

This restaurant is exceptionally good. The pork and cabbage dumplings are excellent. The food is spicy, but there are also many mild dishes. The Lions head were also fantastic.