At just 19 years old, Elyssia Yung is the chef and founder of Elyssia’s Kitchen, an Asian fusion restaurant centered around modern Chinese cuisine. Located at 190C Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, Elyssia is making her mark on the busy street with her fresh take on authentic Chinese. Opened in May 2019 during her senior year of high school, Elyssia is serving up all her own recipes for handmade dumplings and other Chinese delights. Read on to learn more about Elyssia’s Kitchen in Montclair.
About Elyssia
{Photo credit: @elyssias_montclairnj}
Elyssia has always lived in the greater Montclair area, calling Cedar Grove and Verona home. Realizing she had a serious interest in cooking at a young age, her parents helped her open her first restaurant, Elyssia’s Kitchen. Now, she’s taking on the competitive Montclair restaurant scene while also attending college studying nutrition.
Elyssia’s inspiration for the restaurant comes from her grandmother who says, “…finds the most joy and happiness when cooking for us and I always found that so heartwarming. As I grew up, I also learned to love cooking for people and I wanted to continue that through [a] future career in the hospitality industry.”
The Atmosphere
{Photo credit: @elyssias_montclairnj}
The restaurant is cozy and inviting with eclectic decor and an open-concept kitchen, making you feel right at home. The building, constructed in 1921, has great vintage features like exposed brick walls and original wood moldings. Elyssia honored the building’s history by including other antique items in the restaurant such as an old cash register and pottery.
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There is limited seating inside the restaurant, making it a great place for takeout and food on the go. Due to the pandemic, Elyssia’s Kitchen now serves all the food in to-go boxes even for dine-in customers.
The Menu
{Photo credit: @elyssias_montclairnj}
The most popular items on the menu are the soup dumplings, bulgogi potstickers, and roast pork fried rice. Many items on the menu, like the bulgogi potstickers, offer a mix of sweet and salty flavors in one dish, creating a rich culinary experience for its guests.
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The pork soup dumplings are an absolute must! They are just the right size and the dumpling wrapper is nice and thin. Order them first as they are made fresh by hand to order and take 20 minutes to cook.
{Photo credit: @elyssias_montclairnj}
Elyssia’s ginger scallion fried rice is light and not greasy. It is full of flavor and perfect for anyone looking for a little kick in their meal as it’s loaded with ginger.
{Photo credit: @elyssias_montclairnj}
The dessert-style dumplings are a must-try. Patrons can choose from creations like Nutella dumplings, s’mores dumplings, and cinnamon apple potstickers.
{Photo credit: @elyssias_montclairnj}
The scallion pancake with egg and dried pork is a unique, traditional Chinese dish not frequently found in restaurants. The egg is fluffy and soft and shredded dried pork was sweet and salt at the same time and provided great texture. All wrapped up in a crispy scallion pancake, this dish is a real winner!
{Photo credit: @elyssias_montclairnj}
Other menu items include french toast, fried mantou {Asian steamed bun}, and homemade Japanese red bean dorayaki, as well as lunch/dinner dishes like Korean Tteokbokki, served with a fried pork chop, Korean beef bao, noodles, baked goods, and more.
The Pandemic Effect
^ The restaurant menu designed by Elyssia
{Photo credit: @elyssias_montclairnj}
Elyssia explains that at the beginning of the pandemic, many employees were fearful of the virus and did not want to work. Her family stepped up in support though and her mother, father, brother, and herself ran the restaurant for months to keep its doors open. Employees have begun to return to help and the restaurant now offers many delivery options — Door Dash, Grubhub, Uber Eats — for a convenient and safe dining experience at home.
Stay in the know on all of Elyssia’s Kitchen happenings by following the eatery on Instagram.
