Jay T.
Yelp
So this used to be my "GOTO" Chinese lunch place when I lived in the east. But I moved Central about 7 years ago so I rarely, like maybe 2-3 times, get back here since we moved. The menu hasn't changed but the food quality has. The have a huge lunch menu that ranges in price from $5.25 to $6.95. that comes with choice of rice and soup. But even their regular menu items like for example, Fried Rice with beef or chicken or shrimp, is just $7.95. So this place is SUUUUPER affordable. But that can also mean you get what you pay for. My dining partner had the lunch special Almond chicken. He chose the Hot and Sour soup. He loves this soup, he gets it every Chinese place we go. This one, he said wasn't very hot, as in the soup itself, but the spice level was turned up to 11! He kept going back to his Iced Tea after a every few spoonfuls, and was wiping his brow. I had Egg Drop. It was warm and had good viscosity. And tiny little bits of chicken in the bottom of the bowl. It could have used some green onions on top and they used to have white pepper on the table here to add to it but now they no longer have salt and pepper at the table, and when I asked for it, I was brought packets. My partners dish was vibrant in colors with peas and zucchini and carrots, some chicken and a few almonds on top, maybe 10? Much fewer than he was used to getting in the past or at other places. I got the combination Fried Rice for $1 more, making it $8.95 And an order of Spring Rolls for $3.25 For 3. These are smaller ones than most places, but super crispy, and when fried fresh , so delicious. Mine came immediately and we're only warm to the touch, so I could tell they had been sitting, maybe under a heat lamp or on a steam table? They weren't freshly fried pipong hot. The outside was crispy, but the inside had gone mushy. That happens when when they sit and steam inside the wrapper, the cabbage goes limp. My Fried rice was a disappointment. You're expecting big chunks of meat in a Chinese dish. I was supposed to have shrimp, chicken, beef and BBQ pork. I definitely saw the shrimp, about 8 small ones. But then I was searching for the other meats. Turns out they dice it or maybe food process it ??? Remember the tiny pieces of chicken in my egg drop soup? That's what got mixed into my fried rice. Rice sized tid-bits of chicken and beef and pork. It became a game for me and my dining partner, we both took forks and dug around in the rice in a contest to see who could find meat. It was ridiculous. I should have taken a picture. Little to no meat and what there was you could not stick a fork into because it was no bigger then the tine of a fork. Smaller than the green peas in it. Our tea was good but we had to ask for refills of obviously empty glasses that we had sat at the edge of the table hoping someone would notice. So I don't know if it's new ownership or what, we didn't notice any of the mostly Asian staff that used to work there in previous years. I understand inflation. But you don't sacrifice quality to save money. Raise prices if you have to. What we ate tasted good, but the main dishes failed to deliver what the menu promised.
