Feeding a crowd? China Bowl does take-out for twelve without blinking

Where: 106-4061 200 St, the plaza at 200 Street and 40 Avenue, Brookswood · 604-532-7898
Hours: Every day 4:30–9 pm
Cost: Most mains $19–$21, rice and chow mein about $16; set dinners from $43.99 (two people) to $169.99 (eight)
Website: chinabowl.ca

That photo up top is one China Bowl take-out order, laid out for a crowd: lemon chicken, ginger beef, a sesame-glazed chicken, chow mein, fried rice, egg foo young and a tray of mixed vegetables, with enough left over for the next day’s lunch. We’ve only done take-out here, and it’s very good at it.

China Bowl is a family-owned spot doing Cantonese and Szechuan cooking from a small plaza in Brookswood, and it’s built for exactly this kind of order. The menu is long and priced on their website, so you can plan the whole spread before you dial.

If you’re feeding a crowd, look at the set dinners first. They go from two people up to eight, and the eight-person options come with eight spring rolls, large rice and noodles and six mains; one of the two includes ginger beef and lemon chicken. Building your own works just as well; most of the beef and chicken dishes sit around $20 a plate.

Travel notes. Big portions, sturdy containers, and the order holds up on the drive home. The breaded dishes (the menu says the lemon chicken comes with its sauce as a dip) are the ones to eat first; fried rice, chow mein and anything saucy are just as good reheated the next day.

Delivery, if you’d rather not drive: free within 5 km on orders of $38 or more before tax. They’re evenings only, opening at 4:30, so it’s a dinner plan, not a lunch one.

Go if you’ve got a table full of people and want everyone fed without fuss. Skip if you’re craving lunch; the doors don’t open until late afternoon.