Golden Wheel

So in desperate need of authentic Chinese food! Tried Golden Wheel tonight. Not to bad. Not to good. Lo Mein was a little dry, sweet and sour pork was sweet, fried rice ok. Egg rolls were a bit greasy. We’ll keep trying.

I grew up in a chinese restaurant. My mom would take me with her to work when I was a child (The Golden Palace on Maui in the 80s) and I’d sit in a dark booth drawing and eating crispy wontons and scallop egg drop soup till her shift was over. So this being said I know my chinese food. And this fact together with that I am part chinese myself, I feel I have a spider sense in me that tingles when I’m around good chinese food.
This place gives me tiny little faint tingles.
There is some dishes here that are good. The minute chicken and steamed fish are decent. They have some lunch specials too that is always a good thing for a penny pinching part China man like myself. So I appreciate all of that.
The downsides are that for a chinese restaurant, I want some ambiance, you know. I want the dragon and pheonix designs on the wall. With some long lobed Buddhas or laterns or something. This place doesn’t have much of that. Its also kind of hard to find parking in the evenings. And for every good dish I think there are marginal dishes according to my taste buds. But that’s all preferential so you’ll have to try it for yourself really.
Other then that this place is over all, pretty good. You should try it if you’re having a chickity China the chinese chicken craving.

I don’t mind this place. The parking is not that great. The stalls are narrow and few. The cashier/​server is always friendly and cheerful… Their Egg Blossom Soup is different than other Chinese restaurants. The fried rice is not bad, but not the best. I would give more stars. It’s just the last time I went there was a little suspect. I placed 2 orders of the crispy fried chicken and one order of fried rice. When my husband went in to pick it up, they only had 2 plates in the package. When he said that there were supposed to be 3 orders, he was told that the crispy fried chicken was 2 in 1 plate lunch box. Okay… So does that mean that the order is like $ 9 each and it is so small that you can fit 2 orders in one plate lunch box? Or does that mean that they are so stingy that they can’t use 2 separate boxes to show that there are in fact 2 orders of crispy fried chicken? Every where else that I went (except for New Mui Kwai) gives 2 boxes when you order 2 of the same item. Or if you eat in, then they set 2 plates down. That way you don’t think they are pulling your leg. So that just kinda got me. The chicken was really dry like it was overcooked or something. It has some nice shrimp chips on there, but they were stale. I really don’t like to go to places that rip people off. I’ve been going to this place for years, but I’m not too sure anymore.

Got take out last night… Let’s just say I’ll stick with Aiea Chop Suey. Got some kau yuk which was hard as rock… Salt pepper shrimp had not been cleaned and was mushy so probably not fresh. Nothing like a big old poop vein in your shrimp! So like I said will stick with ACS. Tried and true…

Pretty good and authentic, to boot – a little too authentic for this midwesterner’s taste. I passed by the seaweed pork and fish soup, the squid, duck, and anything that was unfamiliar, settling for kung pao chicken and mongolian beef. Both were good and as expected. My sweetie added a side of fried rice noodles, which were a spindley, ricey version of the crispy things they give you at the Chinese takeout back home.
Would I come here all the time? Doubt it. But when you’re hungry on Christmas night, or in a hurry on any day, this place will get the job done.
Portions are hearty, so if you get eggrolls or soup, you might get away with sharing an entrée.

I guess it’s true… you get what you pay for. Lunch at $ 7.25 a plate yesterday consisted of lukewarm soup, which actually would have been tasty if served hot,
pork that tasted about two weeks old, stuffed eggplant loaded with MSG, not too bad sweet/​sour shrimp and lukewarm noodles. From reading the reviews I guess I was expecting a better experience. At least the place was clean. Oh, I forgot to mention that the eggplant, shrimp were both served hot.

Came in at 1030 on a Monday morning and unsurprisingly we had our choice of seats… Waitress immediately helped us and seemed happy to have us there. Lunch special was a good deal at $ 7.25 and was given an outrageous amount of food — minute chicken– loved it– get some! My wife loved their shrimp fried rice and she is a connoisseur of fried rice so I trust her (and verified that it was, in fact, fantastic).
So — in short — friendly service, delicious food, great prices and large portions — you won’t go wrong here.

I normally pass on the Golden Wheel because Chinese food has never appealed to me at 10:30am when I’m in the area & waiting for my niece’s ballet lesson to end. Honestly, this place wasn’t even my first choice. It was the default after finding out that my first choice was closed for the day. I’m glad I couldn’t go with the familiar though, otherwise I wouldn’t have fell in a food affair with this place. Seriously though, is it a requirement for all the food establishments at the Aiea Shopping Plaza (or is it Aiea Town Square?!) to serve delicious food in order to stay in the plaza?! If so, I’m glad!
My Mom & I ordered the mapo tofu (wonderful blend of spices, heat, & nice chunks of tofu), minute chicken (best I ever had; crispy on the outside and very tender & tasty), and the beef chow fun (tender beef, tasty noodles). Everything was amazing… Including the service! While dining in, there were many people picking up take out orders & regulars who seemed to have a great relationship with Stella (who provided top notch service), which was def a good sign.
With such a wonderful dining experience & very decent prices, I do anticipate returning for future meals!

Ate here for the first time! Stuffed eggplant is really delicious. Black bean shrimp is kinda spicy! Beef choi sum is really tasty! Waitress very friendly!

This place is ok, not the greatest. Food came on time without waiting, wasn’t busy. Food was kinda salty but yet I don’t have anything to rave about.

Like everywhere else prices have gone up but taste is still the same. The cost of every entrée was very reasonable so for long. I ordered the lunch combo which you can pick 2 entrees from the list over rice or chow mein. I got the lemon chicken and minute chicken over chow mein. I think they should give a little more chicken but both were delicious. Previously $ 6.75 now at $ 7.25.
The lunch special is still the most worth it which also went up in price at $ 7.00. If you dine in then soup is included with the meal.

Onolicious food and prices on menu is reasonable. Portions of food very generous.
Location is great. You know when the food is good, it’s always busy.

Caterpillar in the chow mein… Waitess said «sorry sorry I don’t think they checked the vegatables.». Ruined my Easter Meal. Ended of vomitting outside restaurant.

We come here about twice a month. It’s usually not too crowded, and the service is really quick. When there are large groups there though, expect to wait.
Our favorite is their scallop soup, but we recently tried their pork and watercress soup — that was delicious too. We also like their pork hash with salted egg and chicken chop suey.
Some dishes have a lot of MSG so ask for none if you’re sensitive. Call ahead for takeout.

Let me just say, I would’ve gave this place 2 maybe 3 stars but my experience with them wasn’t so great.
First of all, I placed a phone order for my boyfriend and I, and they said our food would be ready in about 45 mins. Got there a little later expecting our food to be ready. Waited about 15 mins or so for someone to help us or even acknowledge us, then waited about hour and a half for our food to be ready (note, we ordered beef w/​vegetable, shrimp tempura, clam w/​black bean sauce and noodles). Every time we asked them how long more it would take, they always told us we’re packing it right now.
Everything that was going on seemed so unorganized, receipt all over the place, forgot who ordered what and everyone that was seated that was there before us was just sitting there with nothing to eat (from the look of it, it looked like they were waiting a long time) a couple people even walked out because they were waiting so long and other people who were serving them self water because the service was so bad.
Anyways, food was okay. Not too bad BUT I FOUND HAIR IN MY FOOD. I was about half way into my meal and I find hair in one of my dishes. That just put a cherry on top of everything.

Our ohana love’s coming here. The service from Auntie Stella and the rest of the staff is superb. She’s like a one man operation out front, phone in orders, and cashing you out.
While the rest of the staff are busy prepping and preparing the food.
Our favorite dishes, consist of, minute chicken with cake noodle, salt and pepper shrimp, sizzling Mongolian beef, gaugee mein, crispy gaugee, ung choi with beef, and ginger chicken. So tasty and flavorful!
Even my picky toddler love’s it here! So that has to count for something, right?
You can reserve tables for a gathering. They have two round tables that seat 10 on each. They have 5 or 6 square tables, that seat 4 people.
Phone in order’s are welcomed and average wait times are about 20 minutes.
Give them a try and don’t just take my word for it. Their style of cooking appeals to me and my ohana, and as long as our tummies are content, we’ll be returning.

Ordered the dinner plate and the opu with black mushrooms
Dinner plate had crispy gau gee and won ton. Beef veggies, fried rice, chicken noodles, and sweet sour spare ribs.
It was okay, not the greatest. About the same as any other dinner plate at a Chinese restaurant.
The opu with black mushrooms was a nice surprise, I haven’t been able to find pork opu any where except in Chinatown. The sauce was a little lite, could have used more pork stock. But it was plentiful. I ordered the opu, and that was what I got. Some places give you some opu, then fill the plate with veggies. This plate had opu, and lots of it.
Place was clean, and air conditioned. Staff was attentive, but was a little slow will service. Asked if we wanted a refill on our tea. But took a while to fill it. Guess she got distracted, and then suddenly remembered.

The food here is very good and the portions are large. If you are the type to judge a book by its cover, you wouldn’t even stop here, but if you listen to people who can get over that, you will thoroughly enjoy the food.
They have a menu with hundreds of items. I are here on a Monday night after 7, and there were still people coming in to eat. Many of the customers were themselves Chinese, and of all age groups.
If you are the type of person who thinks that Panda Express or any other mall food court is Chinese food, you will not like it here. The food is cooked to order and many of the items you see at the food court are not here, simply because they are American dishes. Having been to Hong Kong and mainland China, this food is authentic. I will definitely be coming back here to eat.
Why four stars, limited drink selections.

We called and ordered take-​out at 8:30pm on a Friday. They took our order no problem.
Once we got the food back to our place, we were disappointed with what we found.
The Chicken in Onion and Ginger Sauce was a cold dish, and tasted bland and sad. My partner wished there was some way to have known, ahead of time, which were hot dishes and which were cold dishes. We know that Chinese food has both while American dining usually has little to none of that. He would have avoided it if he’d known.
The Sweet and Sour Pork was also meh. I’ve had better.
The Beef and Black Bean Sauce Fun was the best part. People are right to review their black bean sauce highly.

We initially were going to another restaurant for take-​out, but it was closed, so we decided to try Golden Wheel. As I saw the heaping servings that were presented on the tables, I was very disappointed when they only gave half the amount for take out for the same price as eat in:
Cold Ginger onion chicken — 3 stars for the taste, 2 stars for the portion — I liked the flavor of the ginger onion sauce, but the chicken was a little old and pasty, and they only gave half of what all other chinese restaurants give. I thought they gave a lot when I opened the box, but I found that the bottom was filled with lettuce to make the chicken look a lot. We only had 8 pieces of chicken on top of a mound of lettuce with mostly white meat, that I couldn’t really eat any of it since I only like dark meat.
Eggplant stir fry — 3 stars — the eggplant was very soft, and a lot of sauce. It was ok, but not the best I’ve eaten
Service — 3 stars — the staff was friendly, but how can they dupe a take out dish since they know I wouldn’t see it entirely until it is served, and give only half the serving of what I paid for?
A good place for a good serving for eat-​in, but check your servings when taking out.