Ming Dynasty

My husband used to frequent this restaurant before we met (he ate there weekly), so when we got together, he started bringing me along. It was eight (?!?!) years ago, and it was before I learned how to cook. To us, the food was great: plenty of mock meats, and no dish clean up! We found other places and stopped visiting Ming for years, but then we returned for nostalgia's sake. After I'd become a proficient cook and we had found much better restaurants, Ming seemed quite awful. What stood out in our minds were the overly salty, overcooked food and the rude servers. If you want a vegan version of the crappy food they serve in the Chinese restaurants in tiny hick towns, then check out Ming Dynasty... but for the same price, you could get a lovely, healthy meal in a pleasant atmosphere at Thai 99.

This is delicious for American-Asian food. But not authentic. They have many options for fake meat, tofu. You can also request no MSG. And you can request brown rice. You want salty sweet, traditional Asian-American food with vegan options, this is your place to go! Delicious but not health food (compared to most plant-based food).

I would pick Lemongrass or SongSong's bing and zhou over this place, personally (authentic Chinese food).

I was sorry to read e first review which stated a poor experience at Ming, but our Vegan group meets there monthly and has a wonderful time. The wait staff does not know vegan necessarily, but they will gladly answer questions that you have (does that have egg in it). We have enjoyed their extensive menu and explored it and found many favorites. I would highly recommend this restaurant for the experienced ordered. They'll have a great meal!

My fiance and I stopped by Ming Dynasty for lunch after reading some pretty positive reviews. We both love Chinese food, and having another option other than driving to Richmond or DC seemed pretty appealing. Upon arrival, there was only one other customer in the restaurant. They had a buffet set up, which didn't look particularly hot or fresh. We decided to order off the menu, which had a very extensive vegetarian section right at the front. I ordered the Veg Hot and Sour soup and Kung Pao mock chicken, and my fiance ordered the Hunan Tofu. The soup arrived quickly, but I realized it was not vegan as it had egg beaten into the broth. When I questioned the waitress, she seemed confused by my question and confirmed that it had egg in it. I asked if the wonton soup contained egg as well, and she had to ask the chef. It turned out that the wonton soup contained eggs as well. Feeling pretty discouraged, I settled on a spring roll instead. When our entrees came, I was hopeful as they were both decent portions with a lot of vegetables. My fiance enjoyed his tofu, which was simply lightly fried tofu, broccoli, baby corn, carrots and water chestnuts in a spicy brown sauce. My Kung Pao was disappointing. The mock chicken was battered and deep fried rehydrated soy protein chunks, but they were not at all crispy and had an odd powdery/slimy texture. The vegetables and sauce were decent, but swimming in grease. The white rice provided with the meal was dry and seemed like it had been sitting around for a while.

I really wanted to like Ming Dynasty, but based on the quality and lack of vegan options, I doubt I will return.

We barely found mention of Ming Dynasty online before visiting that city. Desperate, we figured that since it was Chinese food, we should find at least something there... but it was amazing! The menu had such a huge selection of unusual tofu dishes, and the vegetarian selection is right up front -- the meat dishes are in the back. This is the place to go for vegetarian and vegan food in Charlottesville (home of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello).

We had a stuffed tofu dish that consisted of huge triangles of tofu filled with corn, mushrooms, and other veg, which was delicious, and another dish that consisted of thin fried tofu with a nice sauce, and the prettiest dumplings we'd ever experienced. I hope we go back soon, because there were many intriguing things that we didn't get a chance to try.

Please go there -- there weren't many people there on the Saturday night in March when we visited.

From what i recall, the owner was vegetarian, but difficult to make it as completely vegetarian restaraunt. It is mostly vegetarian. When they have the luncheon buffet, there is a small amount of non-veg items at the end of the bar! Non-smoking, quiet atmosphere. Service is efficient. Food is filling and tasty. Reasonable prices.