China King

China King. Bang. Hands down. Boom. The best takeout Chinese food in the greater Alton/​Godfrey area. Bing. I, 18 – 30 year old male, ordered Kung Pao Chicken. Never had it before, believe it or not. I usually find myself gravitating to General Tso’s. I am an adventurous eater until it comes to Chinese food. I find myself distrustful of most of the restaurants in the area. Had a bad run in with a new place, yeah, I’ll hold a grudge. I took a chance tonight, my friends. I told my girlfriend, 18 – 30 year old female, «You know what, babe? I’ll order Kung Pao this time. Mix it up!». Because of my spontaneity, I experienced something so profound and thought-​provoking I joined Unilocal just you tell you about it. China King’s Kung Pao Chicken (KPC). (Which I ordered off the ‘Special Combination Plates’ section of the menu. Which included a large portion of pork fried rice and my choice of an eggroll or crab ragoon. I chose egg roll, which deserves it’s own book. I will be focusing on the KPC.) may not look like much. A pile of crispy fried chicken bits, glistening with in a dull colored sauce. Mixed in with that is a small handful of Spanish peanuts, a few roughly chopped stalks of your standard grocery celery, several large pieces of the classic green bell pepper, and the poorly missed garnish of slices of carrot. I said it out loud, «I expected more, I don’t know, ‘pow!’. I pulled out my bright green chop sticks and began to dig in. Filling my chubby little cheeks with crunchy peanuts and flavorful chicken, I am pleased in an instant. That drives me to eat another. Oh and another. I found myself inhaling the vegetable-​chicken mixture into my mouth. «My god, this lightly cooked celery-​peanut combo is just the right amount of crunch this dish asks for.» «This juicy chicken just sucker punches my taste buds into the next town.» My thoughts began to race and I knew almost instantly the Kung Pao Chicken from China King runs Flavortown and half the gangs in it. The boring slightly crisp celery becomes the top of the town once covered in the spicy (but not hot!) Kung Pao sauce. The menu claims KPC is a spicy dish, I will tell you now this isn’t the case. No lips were tingled, no noses ran, no foreheads produced sweat. Don’t let that deter you from what is an amazing dish. Simple ingredients brought together in a hot and sexy dance that produces some of the most Chinese-​American food this stoned guy has ever tasted. I will be returning. I will tell my friends about my lovely experience. I love China King.

This place is fast and has great food and service. My only issue is their prices. For a chinese carry-​out establishment their prices are just too high. I could justify the cost if the inside was nicer and they catered to people dining in more and having a server on hand but the inside is not appealing and quite dirty looking. Also they ONLY sell crab rangoon in orders of 8. Who needs 8?

Good food. Good price! Their lunch specials are the way to go. Lots of food for a reasonable price.

These guys are great! Good, inexpensive food delivered fast. And they are so friendly.

China king delivers! This is the place to go for a great Crab Rangoon, it’s pinched not folded. The general tso was great and the chicken with broccoli was delicious as well. Fried rice is the best in town. If you want great Chinese take out look no further!

China King has become our go-​to Chinese restaurant in the area — the only reason it got 4 stars rather than 5 is that the restaurant itself just seems icky to me, so we get takeout instead :-)
I always order the beef and broccoli with mushrooms combo with crab rangoons. Comes with everything listed plus pork fried rice which is to die for. Hubby always orders the General Tso’s chicken, in the same combo and it’s plenty of food for us plus our three year old. He really just loves running between us, eating some of everything. Their egg drop soup is some of the best I’ve ever had, but on more than one occasion, I’ve found egg shells in the soup. Hasn’t stopped me yet though :-)

I’ve been regularly going here since they opened. The crab rangoon is the best in the area, BY FAR! The portions are almost too much for what you pay for them! I strongly recommend this place!