Golden China

I hate to give this place such a bad rating. After all, I did eat the food… barely. To be quite frank I hadn’t eaten in 24 hours and despite my brain telling me that I was putting some terrible food into my body, the old stomach screamed with indifference. The dirty, old menu on the wall behind the register, reminiscent to that of a country breakfast grill, has the owner listed as a Betty Huang. I hope she reads this.
I’m going to be brutally honest. The ONLY reason I’m giving this place two stars instead of one is because the young guy that took my order and brought my food to me was extremely courteous and helpful, otherwise this place is a 1 star eatery all day.
Service — The gentleman brought my food out in the perfect order. Soup first, then egg roll, followed by my crab Rangoon, and finished with an order of chicken wings. He constantly checked to make sure I had everything I needed, bringing me extra sauces and napkins, even ice water when I finished my soda. I even made a special request for something spicy to dip the crab Rangoon in, and he was able to put something together for me. As I said, this gentleman was the best part of the experience, and it’s sad to see someone that seemingly cares about the customer in an environment where nothing else does.
Atmosphere — Terrible. The place looks abandoned, a barren wasteland of barely a restaurant. They would be better off taking out the tables and chairs, adding some benches and turning itself into solely a takeout place. It’s too hot, small, and uncomfortable to actually stay there. The walls are barren, cleaning supplies like brooms etc. are left out in the dining area. Out of place fish tank, lights in menu on wall completely off, no real drink offerings besides canned goods, but they are in the back and you can’t just grab your selection.
The place needs a serious makeover. Take out the tired stacked glass on the wall dividers, redo the walls and floors, change the furniture, and add a fridge unit up front to display your drinks, or better yet get a fountain drink system put in. Even with the open sign on, the place looks as if it’s been closed for months. It’s all just sad really.
Food — first, I checked the menu online before I went. Don’t bother to do this. The menu, prices, and portions are all wrong. This is the ONLY Chinese place I’ve ever been to that gives three chicken wings instead of four in an order, and did I mention they were the most expensive? Paying more for less is never good, especially when the food isn’t good. The chicken tasted old, extremely greasy, and all I could really taste was the oil it was cooked in. I liked the flaky crust of the chicken and would love to try it freshly prepared in clean oil. The same was true with my crab Rangoon. These typically come in orders of 8. This place does orders of 6 and once again charges more than other locations. The Rangoon was way overcooked. The wontons tasted burned and of overused cooking oil. They tasted old too. Honestly, I really shouldn’t have eaten it. The egg roll, I don’t want to talk about it. Something was wrong with it, but I couldn’t figure it out. It was just off. My egg drop soup was actually the best deal of the night. A large portion for the small, it came out piping hot, and full of chicken/​egg goodness. It was a tad bland, but after adding a couple of packets of hot sauce it really brought out the flavor. The crispy noodles were stale, but after you dump them in the soup you can’t really tell the difference.
Unless this place is completely redone, I will not eat here again. I’m not the only one that feels this way apparently. I was there for over an hour from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and not one other customer even called in an order. If you’re passing Kenly on I-​95 and want Chinese food, keep going. There are better options in Smithfield further south, and in Wilson to the north. This is an insult to Americanized Chinese Food.
–C