Golden Temple

Food was bland and overpriced for what it was. Service was ok, a little slow, but our server was friendly. Décor is outdated and dirty. We had to try it because we live in the neighborhood but we definitely won’t be back. There are now a lot of great dining options in Washington Square, this isn’t one.

Favorite restaurant EVER! Try the spare ribs on the bone cut in half!

I went there on the weekend and didn’t order food (the Golden Temple is half night club and half restaurant).
Pros :
The dance floor was a lot bigger than I expected. There were a lot of people there when we went, and the DJ was good. The bar staff was friendly
Cons :
It seemed a little pricey for the part of town it was in ($ 7 for a small draft beer). Also, there were like five — six bouncers on the dance floor. I didn’t know the golden temple had such a rough clientele
If you live in Brookline try it out. But probably not a bar to go to more than once

We visited on a Thursday night. The menu is varied enough, but they were very strict about ordering exactly from the menu. I asked for a dish to be made spicy and the waiter said «no substitutions». Really? I’m not asking for a substitution, just asking the chef to add a little heat. Made me concerned that much of the food is pre-​made and waiting to be plated for whoever orders that dish.
The service was lacking. One of the entrees was not put in at all. After we informed the waiter, it was put in, but by the time it arrived most of us were done eating. Also a drink order was forgotten.
I would not return here. The same food at half the price and with better service is available all over the Boston metro area.

I don’t usually write reviews but my take out experience at Golden Temple was so bad that I felt compelled to.
When I called to order, the owner failed to tell me that I would be charged a $ 6 delivery fee for ordering out of the neighborhood. She also told me that it would be 1.25−1.5 hours before the food arrived and the food showed up in 20 minutes — some people might like this but getting food an hour earlier than you want it is just as bad as getting it an hour late.
Everything was extremely over priced for the portions. All the food we ordered was bland. The won ton soup portion was tiny. One of the dishes we ordered was chicken and broccoli in brown sauce and it wasn’t just bland it actually tasted horrible. We had to order rice separately from the entrees and each order of rice was $ 3.
For getting charged top dollar, this meal was a great disappointment and I do not plan on eating here again.

This review is for Saturday lunch:
My girlfriends and I went here for lunch and drinks. My friend enjoyed her cocktail, while I found mine to be very sugary. I could hardly taste the alcohol… but guess that wasn’t a huge surprise.
We ordered chicken fingers and calamari for appetizers and one friend ordered a hot and sour soup. The chicken fingers were delicious! They were more in nugget form if that makes sense, but not overly breaded as you sometimes find at other Chinese food places. The calamari my friends reported tasted good, but nothing special. My friend’s hot and sour soup had to be returned as it tasted strangely sugary. She got a replacement wonton soup which she reported was much better and savory– as it should be.
I order the curry potatoes and chicken with white rice which I found to be quite good. The potatoes were sliced thin, but definitely tasted fresh. The rice was a generous portion, although I did order from the regular menu (as opposed to the lunch menu). I had ordered the half portion of the curry potatoes and chicken and had plenty to take home as leftovers.
My friend got the salt and pepper shrimp which she said was one of the best she ever had and my other friend ordered off the lunch menu which was a great deal in terms of price and variety.
Overall, this place is good, but keep it mind the food may be a bit different than what you would get from a «typical» Chinese food place. For example, in the past I have had the beef and broccoli here and it wasn’t terrible, just not what I expected…
Also, the hot wipes at the end are a nice touch as are the vanilla-​chocolate fortune cookies!
In summary, I’d eat here again if I was in the mood for Chinese and couldn’t travel anywhere else.

Ordered take out tonight because our usual was closed.
Pros
— packages nicely
— showed up before delivery time.
Cons
— everything was bland and food was expensive
— sesame chicken was chicken fingers with sauce and sesame seeds. Very disappointing.

The food is generally very good, but not good enough to justify their prices. The 1 star is for their astonishingly rude, insulting service. Even just getting delivery comes with a bizarrely aggressive, mean phone call. Not worth it.

I absolutely love their Golden Cloud Beef. It just can’t get better.

You can never go wrong with this place. The food is great. The bartender Mai is phenomenal. What more can I say? Stop by for a pleasurable experience. I’ll be back! Thanks guys!

NB I read the few negative reviews previously written, and those reviews were hateful and factually incorrect. This is a factually accurate and honest review.
We went to Golden Temple on a Sunday night (we are from out of state). The caucasians loved the restaurant and food, the Chinese of us thought it was americanized, but okay. I’m very caucasian. I loved the food.
The menu is large, the accommodations to our restrictions no problem (allergies, gf, children’s pickiness) and the service was friendly and attentive. The restaurant décor upscale and clean. Upscale wine list. They do not use msg or soybean oil. Just the tasty food.
The food was marvelous. Scallion pancakes not greasy. Lo Mein and other noodle dishes yummy and fresh. Chicken and fish dishes fine and with tasty seasonings like fresh ginger and garlic.
Will definitely try to get back to Brookline again to eat at this restaurant again.

I had heard a lot about the Golden Temple. We went on a Thursday night and I had expected to wait around 6:30 pm when we arrived. Luckily, there were plenty of tables and we sat right away. We were brought into the room towards the right, all the way in the back and basically had a private dinner.
The waitstaff was attentive and refilled water and our tea pot as needed. The menu is big, bigger than most Chinese restaurants. I really liked that they could accommodate allergies (our waiter said that 90% of the menu could be made gluten free) and they use all natural and sometimes organic meats. That’s a fresh of breath air compared to most Chinese restaurants that uses poor quality ingredients!
We ordered many common dishes: chicken fingers, pork fried rice, vegetable lo mein, boneless spear ribs, crab Rangoon, scallion pancake, general gau chicken, and a beef dish. Everything was good. Lo mein noodles were different than I’ve had at most places but were tasty. Chicken fingers are small but you get a lot of them.
Nice ambiance inside, although the chairs could be updated. They are a bit uncomfortable I thought.
Overall good meal and I will be back!

I just returned from truly the worst dining experience of my entire life at Golden Temple. Excited for a nice meal on a Sunday night in Brookline my friend and I sat down eager for some good food. We then sat unserved for 20 minutes. This is not an exaggeration. When we repeatedly told servers that we were not being helped they were dismissive and not receptive. Eventually we saw the manager and flagged him down over to our table. When we explained what had happened, rather than apologize or even explain why we had been sitting there, he simply asked «are you ready to order?» in a curt manner. With no mention of what had just happened, my friend and I just shook it off and ordered. 5 minutes later we asked to speak to the manager again just to reiterate what had happened and to see if there was something he could have done about it or even just apologize! Again, he was curt and rude and seemed uninterested in helping us in any manner. The food then came and when my friend believed he had received the wrong dish, the manager came back over to firmly state that it was the right one, making us feel stupid. We then received the check with no discounts or mention of anything that had happened during the night.
Overall, it was a very poor experience. It is one thing to have a mistake by not serving us when we arrive, but to follow it up with a lack of an apology and instead rudeness the entire night, is unacceptable as a dining experience. I plan on never returning to Golden Temple.

Not as gluten free friendly as they say they are.
I’ll start by saying that if we didn’t need to eat gluten-​free, I would probably give it 2 – 3 stars overall. The food was adequate, but overpriced, and the drinks were subpar and also overpriced.
The biggest issue was the total confusion about what was or wasn’t gluten free. My girlfriend and I have pretty reasonable expectations for GF options, and we typically only go to places with dedicated GF menus or that clearly label GF dishes. Although we couldn’t actually find the GF menu online, the PDF version of the menu and the menus they gave us both specifically said, «Ask to see our gluten free menu.» We got there, sat down, and asked to see the GF menu, at which point our server told us «We don’t have a separate menu. Just pick anything on the menu and we can make it gluten free.» We were skeptical, but we took him at his word.
We ordered General Gao’s Chicken and Kung Pao Beef, and he told us they weren’t available GF. We tried the Kung Pao Chicken and the Sesame Beef, both still no. He suggested the Hot and Spicy Chicken, which we accepted. He went back to the kitchen and returned immediately, telling us that the Hot and Spicy Chicken that he had recommended was not available GF either. We asked to see the menu again to decide on our sixth choice, and he stood next to the table waiting the entire time we were looking.
Long story short: Don’t advertise a GF menu you don’t have, and certainly don’t explicitly say you can make everything GF when that’s just not true. We wouldn’t expect it or ask for it if you didn’t tell us you could do it.

Basically I cannot believe it took us so long to try this place! We finally ended up swinging by on a rainy evening before an event at Society for Grownups which is right next door (also awesome).
We just got the appetizer platter and some drinks but we did not leave hungry. The platter had so much food, we still ended up having some to bring home. We also got an order of crab rangoons because they’re not included in the combo, but they’re my favorite. They were SO GOOD. I cannot remember the last time I had crab rangoons that had so much visible crab!
The drinks were ok. I only had a beer, but my boyfriend had the sour apple margarita, which was super strong.
The bathroom was super clean and easy to use, and reach everything but it was VERY DARK. I mean… hopefully you know where everything is, but it could be kind of annoying.
I would like to come back here for longer with time to go dancing after, or eat on the patio. It definitely takes the Chinese dining experience to the next level.

First Chinese food I have had in Cambridge I actually liked! Delivery was quick (I mean super speedy compared to a lot of places!) the vegetable udon was wow fantastic! Really loved it! I wasn’t too crazy about the spring rolls, they were too greasy for my taste but they weren’t bad. The vegetable vermicelli noodles were also really good! I didn’t get chopsticks though or a fortune cookie so they don’t get a full 5 star but they have been best Chinese I have had in Cambridge so far!

I entered this place wanting to love the food as much as I loved the scorpion bowls and zombie drinks. Wasn’t up to snuff.
For a place that’s relatively expensive, the food was pedestrian for a chicken wing/​fried rice joint. I think your money is going to the atmosphere, which is remarkably fun. The back room converts to a quasi-​dance party on weekend nights, and the drinks come strong and fast. Everyone has fun, but this being an overall review I only give it 3. Explanation follows.
The server we’ve experienced a few times was subpar, doesn’t speak English and gets frustrated easily. I am very liberal when it comes to good food and service, but if you’re serving average food and charging more, please keep the people happy.
Everything’s fried. Fun atmosphere, brutal service, average food, 3 stars. You can do worse… But can do better. Dine in and stumble out.

I didn’t really know what to expect and felt underdressed when I walked inside. After ordering and getting our food, I realized it was just an average Chinese restaurant. The atmosphere was fancy but there wasn’t anything special about the food. The waiter also had trouble understanding when I was trying to tell him that there were egg shells in my Egg Foo Yong.
Based on the price and ambiance of the place, I would say it is worth going for a night out and would consider going back to try another dish. I am also curious to see how the bar is like…

We went for Jewish Christmas Food came out one at a time. Cold. Very disappointing. Won’t be back!

LATE NIGHT REVIEW:
This place is hilariously AMAZING! I will admit that I was pretty judgmental prior to arriving that it was going to be a weird and awkward restaurant experience — which it kind of was — but also so much more! The dance floor/​bar area looks like the interior of a whale or ship, the DJ is pretty rad (except that he has no Robyn) and the white kids on the dance floor are breaking it down. Everyone is just there to have fun and let loose — it’s definitely not a place to try to look cool or try to meet someone — which I found incredibly refreshing and have shared this little gem of a place with friends as a result!