Golden China

This restaurant was great, offered very authentic and unique Chinese dishes. However, it closed at the end of 2014. And this location no longer severed Chinese food now. I heard it had moved to another location and is going to reopen as ‘Asian Delight’ recently with the same chefs. I loved their dishes, and hope the new place will continue to provide the same standard of food.

Golden China has had it’s bad days, but after they reopened and switch to a new type of Chinese food, the food quality has increased dramatically. Now they have super authentic Chinese food, recommended it to anyone who is craving real Chinese food.

I visited this place twice so this review will cover both experiences!
Visit #1:
We wanted to try this place out based on the Unilocal pictures. We went in ordered one order of crab rangoon, one order of chicken fried rice and one order of vegetable fried rice (with only broccoli, green pepper and egg). It was 5:19PM when we ordered. Since we had to wait, I went next door to a pizza place to try out a slice of their pizza. When I was done eating the pizza, I assumed my fried rice would be done. Boy was I wrong. There were only three tables occupied with eat-​in guests so it was not busy at all. At 6:00PM, the lady comes out and gives me my bag of food. Because my veg. fried rice was a ‘special’ order, I decided to check it before I left. Whew! Glad I did. This rice had peas, bean sprouts and onion. Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough because it had everything in it expect what I ordered. The crab rangoon was burnt but the chicken fried rice was good to go.
I told the lady that my order was wrong. She apologized and said «one moment». If I would have known «one moment» would be another 20 minutes, I would have took the food home and never returned. So 20 minutes pass and she brings out my rice. Guess what? It was wrong again. By this time, my poor husband was ready to go. I felt really bad because his food was prepared as requested. I figured I would just take it and be done. He insisted that I not take it because I would not eat it. He requested a full refund and we left. I guess after one hour of waiting for the wrong food twice, anyone may become a little frustrated.
Visit #2:
Since I truly believe in the power of Unilocal,I went back a week later to try again. I actually asked for just plain fried rice, but she didn’t understand my request. First thought…“here we go again”. So since I had to order something listed on the menu, I got the vegetable fried rice (again). This time I told myself that I would not be too picky so I requested to leave out the bean sprouts. Instead of bean sprouts, they delivered me some fried rice with mushrooms. I HATE mushrooms, but I decided to take the food home and pick them out. I went home scrabbled my own Eggland’s Best and enjoyed the rice. The rice was good. The problem I experienced is there seems to be a huge language barrier. When I asked what was in the fried rice, the lady told me «I don’t know»! Talk about scary! LOL This time I only had to wait about 15 minutes… which was doable.
It appeared both times that they cater better to the Asian population because of the common language and perhaps menu choices. They do offer both, American and Asian menus, should you need one over the other. The prices were not bad and the food was hot. I am not sure my simple order was worth the headache but I would at least give them a try if you are in the area.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE NEW GOLDEN CHINA.
First, I want to clarify that the ORIGINAL Golden China has been around for a long time (maybe 2008?). So the reviews below are all for that Golden China. However, the restaurant is under new management now, renovated, redid their menus, and JUST OPENED last week under the same name, Golden China. Therefore, the reviews below are not completely indicative of the new Golden China. I’m not sure why they decided to use the same name, but this review is for the NEW Golden China. I never ate the original Golden China and therefore can’t judge between the two.
My parents wanted to come here for dinner last night. We’re Chinese, and my parents especially have very specific tastes for Chinese food. This restaurant serves a lot of traditional Jiangsu (a province in China) food, which is a first for the DC area. Since this restaurant just opened and are still promoting, they have a 15% off your entire meal deal that will last until December 28 (not completely sure about the date, but I believe that’s what I saw in the paper).
We were given the Chinese menus and my parents ordered this sweet and sour «squirrel fish» (松鼠魚). If you Google «squirrel fish Chinese», you can see pictures of this dish. It’s a very well-​known Jiangsu dish. Don’t worry folks, it’s not made of squirrel. It’s a whole fish that’s been deboned with the fillet still attached to the tail. The fillet is cut into a cross-​hatch pattern and deep-​fried, so it looks like a squirrel. The sauce has a simultaneous sweet and tangy flavor. It’s a very pretty dish presentation-​wise, and the taste is great. The fish is tender and the sauce is reminiscent of sweet and sour. I highly recommend trying this if you are looking for an authentic Jiangsu dish to try.
We also ordered a dish that is reminiscent of Momofuku David Chang’s signature pork buns. I always find it funny that so many people think David Chang invented pork buns when really they’ve been around for generations before him. He does get props for popularizing it here in America though. Anyways, we had a dish that is very similar to pork buns. A pile of pork/​pork belly surrounded by broccoli in the middle and four accompanying pillowy buns on the corners of the plate. Tasty, of course. Lastly, we ordered a spicy beef dish.
My favorite was definitely the sweet and sour «squirrel fish.» It was a treat to be able to eat this delicacy, since it’s very rare to find it outside of Jiangsu. My parents were pretty excited about having a Jiangsu restaurant in the area; it brings a little bit of their old hometown here to them.
The service was a little lacking. They had 3 – 4 servers and it wasn’t that crowded last night, but we were waiting for a bit during certain intervals (namely paying). Our food came out very quickly though and all the servers are super friendly. It looks like takeout takes awhile though. This couple came in to order takeout and 30 minutes later when we were leaving, they were still waiting. However, seeing as they are new, they are still adjusting to everything.
3.5 stars.

原Golden China，重新聘请大厨掌勺，改名江淮人家，正宗淮扬菜哦…开业期间有优惠哦…大家可以去试试菜哦…味道还蛮不错的…有图有真相…吃货们行动起来吧…

Dinner for 8 on Saturday night ended up taking 3 hours. There were long stretches of time when we all just sat there, hungry, waiting for the next dish to show up (since it is a Chinese style restaurant where large parties share dishes on a rotating table). It was truly Kafkaesque how we were at their mercy. The food itself was good, though despite having a massive menu, vegetarian options were sparse.
Waiter came by at some point and explained they had new wait staff and they were getting tired/​dizzy, such is why plates were coming slow. I felt bad for them, but what can I say? Don’t pity them at your expense…

I don’t understand why people don’t like here, such a good place provide low fat and real Chinese food. They use some original Chinese spice and good material to make those food. And people in here are friendly. I recommend people come in with a big group.

After I got seated with difficulty and started waiting to be helped, another potential customer walked in, took one look, and walked out. Why wasn’t I smart enough to do that?
This is a sparse, bare location with no decoration, no music, no atmosphere and (during my visit) just one waiter to take care of everyone.
The wait for service was interminable. The wait for the food to be cooked was unconscionable. When it finally came the kung pao chicken was better than okay, but not great.
The wait for the check was annoying. After a trip to the rest room, I attempted to explain that there was no soap. The waiter didn’t understand English well enough to understand my problem. Eventually, someone came from the kitchen and filled a liquid soap container. With my problem solved, I reached for the dispenser for paper towels.
Uh oh. No paper towels.
I love Chinese food and eat it all the time. I won’t visit Golden China in Chantilly again, ever.

Wow, where do I begin? Well for starters I absolutely LOVE Chinese food! Be that my family and I were on vacation I couldn’t help but to try Chinese food from a different area.
Well when I arrived with my family for late lunch approx. 3:00pm the place was eerily empty not a customer in sight just a guy sitting down at the back table sleeping (I hope if not maybe food poisoned). There was nothing at the buffet to eat which was the main reason why we decided to eat here.
When the waitress finally decided to take our order which consisted of chicken fried rice, chicken wings, steamed pork dumplings, and sesame chicken, We found out there was nothing to drink other than soda (which my kids do not drink) so my wife walked out to a nearby deli to get some juice. When the waitress brought my wife and I our sodas she brought the luke warm cans with two cups (which looked like they where from the Ming Dynasty, emphasis on nasty) and no ice. When we asked for ice she seemed to be surprised that we would want such a thing as ice.
Now for the «food» the sauce for the sesame chicken was sweet as candy, the chicken had no taste or seasoning. The wrapping for the steamed dumplings were mushy (over cooked I guess) but the meat was half cooked inside and had a very peculiar taste. The chicken fried rice had no taste and the chicken wings never came out with the rest of the food.
When the nearly non existent waitress finally decided to peel herself away from a show or movie she was watching on her tablet and brought us the chicken wings they smelled like fish. Now I don’t know about you but chicken is chicken and fish is fish, why did the chicken smell like fish is beyond me and upon once again managing to peel the non existing waitress from her TV show I asked why the chicken smells like fish she conveniently acted as though she no longer understood English and walked away.
Now coming from New York I have become somewhat jaded to the don’t give a damn attitude of some people but this waitress really surprised me. This waitress was more concerned with whatever she was watching on her tablet than acknowledging the fact we were there. I didn’t want her to kiss my a** or entertain me but alittle customer service goes a long way.
In closing since I must give at least one star in order to post my review of this place (which they don’t deserve) I will not be going back to this establishment and recommend that others do the same. If the owners do not make a change in the way this place operates I can’t see how they can stay open much longer.

I have eaten here for the last time. Everything I have tried is either ok or terrible. The general tso’s, lo mien and fried rice are ok. The dumplings, crab Rangoon, and sesame chicken are terrible. The lemon chicken is possibly the worst thing I have ever been served in a restaurant. I see china café has higher ratings so I’m going to try them next

The place was empty when we arrived. The waitress didn’t even get us seated before taking a phone call that lasted several minutes. Optimistically, we gave her another chance. We were all obviously hungry and tried to order when she came to pour us glasses of water, but she darted off again to take another phone call. We sat there a few more minutes before deciding to eat elsewhere.

I’m not quick to drop a one star, but this place was unforgivable. No one, even the owner, spoke English as a first language or even fluently. The delivery was several hours late and there was no receipt. The driver had a scrap of paper with a mix of Chinese letters and English numbers. He then proceeded to tell me what to pay based on essentially my faith in the integrity of this business. NEVER AGAIN.

We arrived here around 12:30 for their lunch buffet, and @$ 10.95 per person, you get about 10 dishes to choose from, including canned fruits and 2 soups. The rest of the dishes were drying up and almost empty. They didn’t refill them when we left an hour later, I guess we were too late for that buffet. The Mongolian grill was alright, without it this would’ve been a 1 star deal.

This place sucks…
I called asked them if they have lunch combo special going on and they said yes.
I go there and pick up my food and at the register they say its dinner price.
I try talking to the manager and he says Sunday Dinner size only and mumbles a bunch of chinese.
I gave up and left with the food. Once I got back to eat the szechuan beef I find out half of it sliced carrots with szechuan sauce and 2 babycorns and 2 slices of mushrooms with little slices of beef.
THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE… GO TO CHINA CAFE RIGHT DOWN THE STREET.

Unfortunately, soon after I had written previous review, they ended the dim sum buffet. The food was not too bad, but not the best I’ve had. I don’t know if they ended up changing ownership or management again, but I haven’t been back in months.

02/​27/​2010, Saturday, lunch
Not sure how to start with this review. I normally don’t pick Chinese restaurants with names that are associated with «Golden», «Hunan» or «Peking» or something to that nature. Golden China sounds like a very typical take-​out place. But since it’s for my friend’s birthday, he got to pick whatever he wanted. The only thing puzzled me before walking into this place was that he and his wife have been there and they still wanted that place.
This place looked like no decoration at all. A very typical «take-​out» looks alike place. But this is not your typical Chinese restaurant that only offers American Chinese food. They got some dishes that can certainly get attention from those who are into real Chinese food. But I have to confess that I did not even pay attention to their regular menu. So, not sure they offer typical American Chinese food or not.
Our waitress was friendly but not quite attentive. We had to try to grab her attention for whatever we needed. The lady bringing out dishes was friendly too. 2.5 stars for the service.
We had soy bean milk, deep fried long bread, pan steamed buns, egg pancakes, beef with bitter melon, hot and spicy rabbit with vegetables and hot and spicy squid. All were not bad at all, except that the last three dishes were very salty to my taste. But I did enjoy the hot and spicy taste though. Other than being salty, the only other complaint I can come up with was the soy bean milk. It tasted sandy, yes, sandy. Let’s assume that the soy bean milk was not strained thoroughly. Soy beak milk is supposed to be smooth as silk. If not counting soy bean milk, I’d give 3 stars to the food.
Total: 3 stars. Not sure I will go back though.

I will agree that entrée refills are slow. Dim sum is clumped on one cart on the side, but I liked what I had. The spread was pretty small, but I’m the type that makes do. Tea was standard. Water refill very prompt. Didn’t try out the mongolian BBQ, but it’s a nice option to have (even if no one appeared to be manning it). The crackling shrimp/​potato was a hit at our table. Shares a ton of parking with the rest of the shopping plaza.

I heard that this place had a grand opening on 12÷24÷08, and served dim sum and also claimed to be the best in the area. I just moved to the Chantilly area after living in Fairfax County for several years, and thought I’d check out this place since it’s a little closer to home.
Upon entering, I was surprised to see that no one was pushing any carts around, and it took several minutes for someone to seat us. The waitress then handed us four menus, and again, I was very puzzled — I didn’t want to order any typical Chinese food; I wanted dim sum! Turns out you get a piece of paper to mark your selections.
The selections are VERY limited, but the core dim sum items (at least those in the US) were there. Another strange thing is that they didn’t ask what tea we wanted; you have to mark that down on the sheet as well!
Service is horribly slow. I had to flag someone down who basically ignored us as he walked past a few other tables and right past ours, and give him the paper. The dishes arrived very sporadically; some would arrive 3 at a time, and then 10 minutes later, another dish would arrive.
Our final dish took another 15 – 20 minutes to arrive. Some dishes had no flavor, such as the tripe. The rice noodle crepes (chang fun) with shrimp had a very watery exterior; the texture was very soggy, almost like soup.
The hargow (shrimp dumplings) were decent, as were the taro cakes.
I thought I would find a gem that would be close to home, without driving out to Rosslyn, Falls Church, or Maryland, but I was wrong. I would only have dim sum here if my car broke down and I was really craving dim sum and had a huge imagination, thinking that this was awesome when it really isn’t.

Biased. Know (knew) the owners. Worked there when I was younger. My dinner for many many high school weekends.
BACK in the days.
It was a good priced buffet that (bias coming!) has food on a higher satisfactory level than your everyday chinese buffet. Good flavor and not drowned in oil. Your usual items and a mongolian BBQ.
I have not been there in several years though.

Dammit I can’t give 2.5 star.
I went here for lunch. They offer an all you can eat chinese food buffet and a mogolian bbq grill for $ 7.95.
At that price it’s REALLY hard to screw up.
The buffet is only about 8 items. General Tso’s, Kung Pao, Broccolli beef, Lomein, Sweet+Sour Chicken, etc. It’s not bad. They keep the temperature up so the food’s not cold like it is at a lot of other buffets.
The mongolian BBQ grill comes with the $ 7.95. It’s pretty standard. Nothing exotic. The beef was very tough.
I wouldn’t recommend taking a date, client, or family out here. I would recommend it if you want a place for a quick lunch with co-​workers and you guys aren’t too picky.
It’s clean inside, although the seats have almost no padding.
I will give them a thumbs up for refilling my water nonstop. I guess there’s not much else you can do at a small buffet if you’re a waiter.
I went there for dinner about 3 – 4 years back, and the food was pretty good from my recollection.