Eiko Cafe SLC (江南人家)

This place is on TOP 3 places to dine on Google map so it was a must try for me. With such HIGH expectation of this place hoping it won't be busy on a Sunday night and see what's the fuss about. Before heading here, just know parking can be a hit or a miss as be prepared if there is no parking available for this little "shopping" area. Then parking in the wrong spot can get your car tow. It's something I don't like to worry when you happen to enjoy dinning out and then suddenly your car get tow....give you a loss of appetite. I manage to find plenty of parking when I arrive here. Upon my arrival, I wouldn't think it be busy especially on a Sunday night but I was wrong as EVERY seat was full and it's definitely "small" size restaurant...think something like mini home/2 car garage parking. Was greeted by a male staff and estimate a 30 min wait...he had us write my name and number. Had option to wait inside but decided to wait in the car instead. 20 min later, would get a call from their female staff that seats are available...YAY!! Female staff guide us to the back seating and had our 2 "warm" water bottles and silverware set up for us. She express her concern to us that their ice machine was broken and the place was busy in general....totally understand. You can definitely feel it's warm inside the establishment like 80 degree from the Chef cooking everyone dishes while noticing their mini swamp cooler "trying" to cool the place. An establishment like this with no working a/c makes your dinning experience a bit disappointing. Let our female host know that I was doing a REVIEW of their restaurant while she gave us a menu to look at....confusing menu for sure and hard to find what we looking for. After 5 minute or so, our server would check in on us if we were ready to order to which I show on my "phone" app(which has pic of most dish there) of what I wanted to order. This place was "praise" for their Braised Pork and Chicken Kutsu so I figure it must be their signature dishes so I order those 2 dish and also order Smoke Lamb Shank, one half of Shanghai Duck, Coke(12oz can), and Thai Tea(64oz can). Don't expect Pepsi products at this establishment. Our order would take 20 min which is unheard off these day due to staffing(seem to be one lady taking the order and overwhelming for one server). Most customer would just walk out from the establishment but we didn't and understand the situation at hand. First order, Smoke er Braised Lamb Shank with white rice. Although I wanted a Smoke Lamb Shank minus the savory sauce what was added to it. Our order was mess up on this dish so I didn't expected this dish to have a sauce on it...decided to just accept it how it is. It was good and fall off the bone and sauce was okay. The white rice was perfect and satisfy. Second order, one half Shanghai Duck with9 teriyaki sauce container. Wanted to try as most roast duck are not tender, VERY oily, and a battle to chew. The duck skin isn't crispy by no mean which I would have like so don't expect a crispy duck skin. It's tender so I'm please with that but not your fall off the bone type meat dish. The teriyaki sauce was a bit too overwhelmingly sweet so I pass on that. Third order, Braised Pork which we order and didn't get....disappointed. Fourth order, Chicken Katsu which we order and didn't get either....disappointed. Final thought, if you expecting a 5 star dinning experience, it literally was a DISAPPOINTMENT for me but could "improved" with customer feedback. There were some things that can understandable and I get it due to short staff, orders taking longer to make, meeting customer expection, and business survival. What literally confusing is the "posted" business hours is CLOSED at 10:30pm and can't put in an order after 10pm due to no kitchen staff to make your order. Would I come back? It be a "no" for me. Food was good overall but lack the "dinning experience" and can go a different route using DoorDash or Uber Eats to experience its dishes. Do notice it does have a second location in Sandy...we shall see.

Have to say this has quickly become my favorite Chinese food spot in SLC. The portions were incredibly generous and definitely worth the price. The chow mein was delicious, and the combo plate was just as good with plenty of variety and flavor. What really stood out, though, was the service. The staff and waiters were exceptionally kind and attentive, and they even boxed up my leftovers for me, which was a really nice touch. Overall, an amazing experience with great food, great portions, and outstanding service. I’ll definitely be coming back!

The portions are huge and generous. The service is great, and the prices are very affordable. The lamb soup is packed with ingredients. The braised pork smells amazing—it's not too fatty and the flavor really soaks in. The intestines have that great 'wok hei' (smoky wok flavor) too!

Good portion and authentic Chinese cuisines, priced reasonably. When we visited on Thur evening, it was very busy time and understaffed for service.

Hands down the best authentic Chinese food at Salt Lake City! My friend recommended this place to me and it didn’t disappoint. Not only were they able to accommodate me right before their closing time, the owner was super friendly and nice to give me extra water for free. They even carefully wrap the food since I was in a rush to go, The food is delicious and warm after 20 mins drive. 100% would recommend!