New Moon Express

This is the restaurant that used to be Fung Xeng. Now, under new ownership, it’s New Moon Express. The food is pretty good and it’s very cheap. I haven’t found a better cheap Chinese food joint since moving to the suburbs.
I was a little sad that Fung Xeng didn’t make a go of it. However, after reading here that they were handing out free meal coupons to select customers of a certain ethnicity, I’m glad they lost their business. I went there, literally, hundreds of times and I never go so much as a free eggroll.

If there’s one culinary choice Ferndale doesn’t lack for, it’s Chinese. Between Wing Hing Inn and China Ruby, Chinese restaurants clutter Nine Mile Road and not a single one appears to deliver. I still can’t wrap my mind around a lack of delivery in this area.
New Moon Express is the repackaged Fung Xeng, still on the same corner of Republic and Nine Mile in a dilapidated little strip mall that’s half vacant. Some of the best Chinese food in my experience comes out of little holes in the wall. New Moon’s name changed but its standard selection of egg foo yung to sesame chicken holds no surprises. What I’d give for a steamed bun! The beau and I make the occasional order for beef fried rice when the urge hits. I usually end up searching around for some orange chicken, sesame chicken, or otherwise ‘doused product with meat in it.’ The times we have tried New Moon Express, I am left with a queasy feeling in my stomach and sticky feeling in my mouth.
To echo Juston’s comment, their sauces come out far too sweet. Half of the flavour is from chemical sweetener and the rest your tastebuds in revolt under a sticky, syrupy goo that would please any 3-​year-​old hellbent on having only sugar for dinner. The colours would appeal to a toddler, too. The chicken is usually a bit dry or swimming in grease, depending on the day. The beef fried rice lacks many redeeming qualities when held up against more flavourful, fluffier options easily obtained from Hong Kong One or China Ruby. Every time, the packed in stuff feels like it’s been dried out in a fridge for a day. Beef flavour is particularly weak. Egg rolls come complementary most meals, but as I don’t care for egg rolls much, I can’t comment on how good they are.
On the plus side, it’s cheap and the portion sizes are generous. The staff here is extremely friendly and very sweet, wait times are usually reasonable, though sometimes I’ve had difficulty placing my order over the phone. No problem, I can walk over and just tell them what I want, then duck into Ace Hardware if they are especially busy.
For service, three stars — they’re a nice bunch here. Menu selection is also not bad, 2.5 stars. Food quality pulls this down, and though there’s a saturated Chinese market, not particularly stellar competition still trumps New Moon Express’ for what you get.

Skew my rating as you see fit given that it’s in Ferndale, based on the below.
I decided to eat here based on the fact that it was right around the corner from the soccer field where I was playing with my dog, and I had given up on Wing’s Gardens a month ago. I only had the General Tso’s Chicken (my Chinese restaurant test dish).
It’s better and cheaper than Wing’s Gardens, but not faster.
It is not as good as China One, but it’s cheaper, faster, and for me, closer.
Judge it as you see fit.

i came upon fung xeng while driving through ferndale.
i noticed the building had been vandalized and that the owner lady was outside scrubbing and cleaning the mess. i stopped and offered to help her but she said no.
i stopped inside to get some food and i realized the entire establishment only has two employees. one of which was busy cleaning up outside and the other was cooking. i didn’t mind waiting a while to be served due to the circumstance.
by looking at the wall full of traditional chinese decorations, you also notice that the chef at fung xeng has had a long history in professional catering and food art. there are pictures of him, probably 30 years old, with his masterpiece creations. if you stop in, you should take a closer look.
something about the whole place always makes me very sentimental. the owners remind me of my own parents and our struggles when they first came here. so, a lot of the time, when i go in, i can’t help but cry a tiny bit whenever no one is looking and sneak them a large tip in their jar when no one is around.
sometimes when i’m there and i’m waiting for my carryout in the car, the owner lady comes out and hand delivers it to me. which isn’t necessary at all but she is always happy to bring it to me. she wrote me a very badly-​written coupon that read «3 meals get 1 free» and she would sign it for me when i came in.
though i collected three signatures i never collected my free meal and don’t want to.
whenever i go there, she is extremely happy to see me and sometimes rushes out of the store to greet me and say hello. sometimes i get phone calls right as i pull up and answer them and she gets worried for some reason and comes out to say hello.
they’ve become my family, both of them. the closest thing i have to family without being my real family, especially after moving so far from home. i’m not even chinese and i definitely dont’ speak it.
they always give you ample food– i order the crispy cantonese noodles almost every time and i have enough for four meals. great for a college gal. she is always happy to give everyone (not just me!) free egg drop soup and egg rolls with rice with your meal. so you really do get a dinner table full when you order there.
i don’t eat chinese anywhere else. even when i’m not exactly craving chinese, it’s their hospitality and their love that have me coming back to visit them.

It’s mostly a take-​out place.
I went to volunteer for a day because the owners/​chefs are donating an entire day’s revenue (not just profit) to Japan earthquake relief. Very generous and humble people!
I can’t comment on the taste of the food off the «main» menu, which is pretty typical American-​Chinese food. But I just can’t get over how big the serving sizes are. Whether be the regular combo with an egg roll and shrimp fried rice, or the special $ 3.99 (3pm-7:30pm only) combo with fried rice and an egg roll, I had to staple the edges of the boxes together to prevent them from bursting open. Then on top of that, they throw in some free desserts, usually fresh-​made by the owner/​wife in the store. Entrees come in «pint» size or «quart» size, again, super value! So much so, us volunteers were getting concerned if the nice owners could make any money out of their business.
There is also a «Chinese» menu; that’s the colourful pieces of paper on the wall. Items include typical Cantonese congees, seafood dishes (e.g., scallion and ginger stir fried jumbo shrimps, lobster and crab, etc.), and of course various chicken /​beef /​pork dishes. I don’t know if there is an English translation of this menu as I didn’t see one around, but a non-​Chinese regular was able to describe what he wanted and basically got what’s on the Chinese menu.
Pretty quick services. The owners seem to genuinely appreciate their customers’ patronage and want to make them happy.
4 stars for owners’ generosity and super reasonable price!

I used to just stop for the cheap egg rolls but one night I decided to be brave and try there $ 3.99 sweet and sour chicken special. I didn’t expect much but it was the best sweet and sour I have had. The quantity was huge for that price, 2 meals for me. You can’t beat the price of there daily specials. If they are all as good as the sweet and sour I will be a regular.

Tonight I was starving and I wanted something pretty quick from somewhere nearby. I’ve never been to Fung Xeng but it’s only two blocks away so I thought I’d give it a try.
I called to order my food and the lady got my order. She then said that either my «pick up number» or my «PIN number» is 3. I didn’t know what this meant. She didn’t ask my name or tell me how long it would be.
I waited a few moments and headed over. She knew what my order was the moment I walked in the door. «Number 3?» she asked. Maybe she’s partially psychic.
I ordered the cashew chicken, egg roll, and egg drop soup. First, the egg drop soup was really tasteless. It needed salt and pepper and then still it wasn’t my favorite. The little crispy wantons for the soup are not the delicious fried ones, but some kind of dry baked boring wonton strips. The egg roll was decent. It wasn’t anything special or different from other Chinese places but it was hot and it had flavor. I got the cashew chicken which was marked with a chili pepper and allegedly spicy. The dish had no spice at all. Was I supposed to ask? No one said so, or prompted me to ask for spicy. Besides that, it was quite good. It had a lot of good flavor and fresh vegetables. Rice was rice.
The prices were quite reasonable. I got everything for $ 8 or something which is pretty good. There was a lot of food too.
Overall, it was a decent experience for take away chinese, but I was disappointed in the egg drop soup and the lack of spice in the chicken. Maybe I just have to try something different and demand heat for the meat.
I’m sure I’ll be back. It’s within walking distance!

take out chinese at the end of your road.
what can you say about it?
the bf likes their sesame chicken over everybody else close by so we eat it at least once monthly.
i find their sesame chicken way too sweet and would rather have it a little spicy.
their egg rolls are greasy and their wonton tasteless.
i’m beginning to wonder why i eat here so often. oh yes, because i eat chinese at least 2 times a week and its at the end of the road.
hmmpf… i need to find a better place for chinese
my bf made me change it to 3 stars
love, juston