Kowloon

My friends birthday celebration with 16 people was held here last night. I must say the overall experience was remarkable. Our waiter could have used an extra hand but he was very kind and attentive to our party. The food was good, drinks were good, and candles with the cake. what?!? Loved last night and the overall experience, Thanks Kowloon!

What a disappointment! Me and a few friends came here Monday June 20^th to celebrate a last minute birthday. Just a get together with 6 other friends. We showed up at 12:30am, yeah it was a bit late but I called and they said it was okay to come since they close late at 2am. We were seated but not greeted. Once our waiter started to take other drink orders we could all tell his was already annoyed. He rudely told everyone not to order any Vietnamese food. No sushi he said. We were fine with that. My boyfriend point at something he wanted from the manu to the waiter. Bad mistake. it was Vietnamese and the waited with a tone said and roughly pointed at the green section on the manu; «I said no Vietnamese! Nothing on the green sections ». Well, if he just stated that first we would of understand it better, he just said no sushi… (shake my damn head) the food came and we started to eat… my orange chicken was good. BUT PLEASEEEEEE! don’t order the lemon chicken. It was overly drowning in lemon sweet sauce. Felt like we were eating lemon jelly with chicken. The salad underneath was all soggy by the sauce. Worst thing yet that we ordered two of those plates. We all kept looking at each other not knowing what to do. Tell the waiter or not. We decided just to scoop some of it off the chicken breast and eat it with some rice. So the evening went on the way there noticed we did have a cake and brought us some small plates and utensils. The nicest thing that he have done for far. The only reason why I didn’t give it a one-​star plus he did offer to take a picture for us. Now this is where it gets kind of strange and fishing. The waiter comes by and dropped off the check with a written satisfaction tip rate which he asked was 18% of the bill… which came about $ 25. the group and I were talking in our language which was Portuguese talking about how he wrote on the tip that we had to pay that satisfactory $ 25. we were talking where we satisfied with his service. We weren’t really what we’re not the type of person who doesn’t tip either. As we were talking we notice he was hovering over us waiting for us to hand him over the check. We also noticed the security guard kept looking at us like we were going to run or something. He stood in the doorway just staring at us, made us feel very uncomfortable. We handed him over the check and we did pay the tip that he ASKED for. this is the first and last time I’ll be coming here…

Kowloon is the kind of place you go when you want to drink a strong Mai Tai, eat some greasy rangoons, and dance in a ship to the sweet sounds of 90s music. The food is good, not great, but it is 100% worth the visit! You even get to wear a fancy plastic lai!

I’ve been going to kowloons for years. Food and drinks are always good and really fast. Portion sizes and prices are both great. Atmosphere is fun and I love the cheesy décor it gives the place character (wouldn’t be kowloons without it!) Request a table with Denise she is an excellent server, knows the menu and is very on top of things — your drink will never be empty!

Call at 12am to ask when last call was they said 1:15 get there at 1 they said last call already happened… Talked to bartender. After bickering finally gives us a drink. Ask what time they close the kitchen they said 2am in the dining room. Go to the dining room and they said take out only. In conclusion everybody here is fucking retarded

I give this restaurant five stars because while visiting Boston I went back twice to eat here before I leave Boston. The food is amazing so yummy I didn’t take a pic of everything I ate but I have to say my favorite was the basil rice and basil chicken I’m happy I tried it. I even brought some home.

Greasy, poor quality proteins, etc.
This place is nostalgic and that seems to be the draw to this Route 1 — Northbound establishment. They have many different rooms, each with a different theme, a Komedy room, a bar, and a sushi room.
I know this place is huge and typically packed on the weekend but I am not sure if that is for the food, booze or the shows? They do tend to get a few big washed up musical acts a year. Neat to see a classic group in an intimate setting.
This is not high quality food in my opinion and I paid for the grease effect dearly.

I was looking to have my daughter birthday here. I look at the catering everything was great. As it turns out it wasnt twenty-​five dollars a person it was 37 with tax and tip room fee what ever else that put in to that price bartender fee. But it was very spacious and can hold more the 200 people. Services the best i have ever had in an asain restaurant. The authentic Chinese is incredible. The stuff on the catering menu not so good.

Long standing institutions should also be good, not just kitschy. I don’t get the draw but I also didn’t grow up with it. Kowloon is from a bygone era and one that should possibly just be gone. Luckily, I have no memory of happy times being here at eight years old that I think skews others from really delving deeply into an unbiased review.
We went recently for a graduation party and unbeknownst to us at the time, this was a popular place for others doing the same. My wife said we are here for said party to the hostess who didn’t try to decipher WHO we were there for, she just rudely pointed in the general direction of the LARGEST ROOM IN THE PLACE. Ok great, I get that you stick all of the rowdy grad crowds in the same place but could you have at least tried to take the extra step of telling us there is yet another wing to this gargantuan place where our party might actually be?
We waited for the remaining people in our party before placing orders so I began perusing the menu. Did I just see some entrees listed for almost $ 30? I thought it was illegal to serve only peking duck above that price point? Jesus, scallion pancakes are almost $ 7? Where. AM. I?
I get that they are attempting to serve 300 or more people at once and for that, they didn’t exactly fail completely. They just weren’t…good or in any way or memorable. Like I can almost guarantee the local Chinese place in your hometown makes 80% or more of these dishes better than Kowloon. My sesame tofu pieces were insanely dry, the sauce was overly sweet and not balanced while the broccoli was under cooked, blech. If you’re going to charge 25% more for the same dish that I’m used to at other places, it better be that much more delicious and not WORSE than what I’m accustomed to.
The only thing keeping this out of the one-​star dumpster fire was the table service which I was very impressed with, from going down the line of our group of about 15 people to take orders to taking away plates and refilling drinks at the right time. Other than that, this was a throw away meal and one I didn’t even consider taking leftovers home from. If you want to leave your palate at the door and go with a big group of friends that don’t mind both overpriced drinks and subpar food to have a decent time, look no further than this Route One «institution».

Yuk, over rated and trying to keep their heydays alive. Disappointing to say the least. And no one and I do mean no one DOUBLES their prices after 6;00 PM but this S-​hole. What nerve. It ain’t worth it at the afternoon prices. How much longer before they tear this place down and dump it in the same scrap heap as that crap hole Hilltop? Awful.

ordered togo…
3 items came after the people who showed up 5 minutes after us and order twice as much food.
Soup (maybe 14oz) for $ 5 is half the size of what I am use to getting from all other restaurants that I have been to so that was disappointing at first. Hot n sour wasn’t very flavorful nor spicy which is really hard to do when tangy and spicy are the main components.
«Chicken Lo Mein WITHOUT Bean Sprouts» written in RED on the receipt came with Bean Sprouts.(Glad I’m not allergic). It was brown sauce with Noodles still pretty firm so not really cooked all the way. Not enough flavor.
Basil Fried Rice was actually pretty good but maybe a little heavy on the Soy Sauce flavor. A little too spicy but the Chicken, onions, eggs, basil was plentiful. Worthy enough to keep for leftovers but the rest have to toss…
HUSBAND got very Sick so it could have been those darn bean sprouts and raw noodles. Hmm?
Customer Service interactions was pretty good. Responsive and positive.
Atmosphere kinda dark/​uninviting.

Ive been coming here for years. First. time I’ve been totally disappointed in price food. and service. Their former. Thai selection was fabulous. .Thai rice was missing ingredients ts of egg, tomatoes, and shrimp. well one. shrimp was there. My friend ordered. gluten free rice.no.scallio s, no flavor, no nuttin. carrots were missing. Chicken wings were served cold. 8.25 for 2 egg rolls. I ordered. thai beans with beef (never came) the. gluten ride was. missing lettuce carrots and. scallions…
The memo is all jacked up and. changed and they have a new chef. not a fan, and since the prices. have been

30%, I’m good.
Oh and the hostess who has been here since the beginning of time acknowledged hired new cooks that didn’t follow protocols!

Went here for my boyfriends birthday with his family. It’s HUGE and definitely suitable for very large parties, especially because we went at an off-​hour.
We ordered a ton of appetizers. By far the best things were got were the saugus wings; these are a must-​get when here. The peking ravioli, ribs, and tangerine chicken were all pretty good. Everything else was fine, nothing special.
The service wasn’t great but wasn’t the worst either. He was visibly annoyed with our party, but I can’t blame him much as there were 16 of us. At the end he took all the food and didn’t offer us boxes to take the leftovers. My boyfriend has been here in the past though, and he said that the service is regularly better.
All in all, a solid meal but wouldn’t go out of my way to come here unless I were in the area.

I grew up going to Kowloon. Living in Stoneham, we didn’t always have Sato II, Tulip, Fusion Taste, and Oyes all nearby. That being said, I don’t know if the quality of food has gone downhill or was always this way but I didn’t have these new places to compare it to.
Chicken fingers were not hot, don’t have a good crunch and some were even soggy from oil. I thought the lo mein tasted odd and the boneless spare ribs were so salty. One thing I enjoyed was the scallion pancakes.
There are so many places near me that are so much better, if I go back to Kowloon it will probably be because a big group decided to go there.

The world needs more places like Kowloon. This restaurant is pure insanity rolled up into a perfect 1960s swank Chinese Tiki kitch palace. It is something else. We didn’t plan to eat here, (we didn’t even know it existed) but heading down Route 1, we saw its Polynesian rooftop, Tiki gods, and neon signage-​we knew we HAD to stop. For atmosphere, I can’t say I’ve experienced much better. There were 4 themed rooms, and a live band playing in front of a giant indoor pond.
We stopped here after a long day of sightseeing in Salem, and were simply exhausted. We nearly fell for pizza in our hotel room, but I’m so glad we dragged ourselves out of our room that night because the abundant portions of food came out lightning fast, and were phenomenal! My fiancé is not even a huge fan of Chinese food but we found ourselves gobbling down mountains of it with expressions of joy and wonder as we took in the sensory overload!
Kowloon, I love you. You out Chinese every Chinese place, and you out Tiki most Tiki bars. A former local later told me this was one of her «Happy Places» I can say that after one trip, it instantly became one of mine. I’m considering a trip back to Boston just to eat here.

Awesome Chinese food! The restaurant is huge. I loved the Polynesian décor and the tiki bar. The food came out ridiculously fast and the portions were very big. The teriyaki beef pu pu platter appetizer ($ 33) can be shared between 3 to 4 people. The platter includes spare ribs, crispy wontons, chicken tempura, chicken wings, fried shrimp, and egg rolls. If you ordered the platter with two entrées, there will be more than enough food to take home for one or even 2 meals. I recommend the Yu Hsiang Shredded Pork ($ 12.75) because it has a little spice to it. The drinks are great, but the menu does not describe what alcohol or flavor is in the drink. «Suffering bastard» was really good! It had a lemon/​grapefruit taste mixed with rum. The scorpion bowl is great to share with 2 people. It has a strong pineapple juice taste to it. Enjoy!

I love Kowloons. First: flaming appetizer. Second: best beef teriyaki. Third: some of the wait staff remembers me! They must see hundreds upon hundreds of people come through those doors, yet last time we were there, our server said «Welcome back! Remember me from last time?» Yes I did, Sir. You are a delight.
We took my in-​laws there last time we were in town and my FIL proclaimed it was the best Chinese food he’d ever had. Not super authentic, but any means, but if you’re looking for a great fried rice and some tasty crab rangoon — Kowloons hits the spot.
Love the décor. Love the cavernous rooms. This place goes on forever! Great scorpion bowl… really can’t be beat.

Overpriced, not very nice, in dire need of updating. Scorpion bowl for two was the size of single scorpion bowls at every other chinese place I’ve been to, very disappointing.
Sesame chicken was just chicken fingers with sauce and sesame seeds, so we got two orders of chicken fingers basically. Pretty blah. Food was alright, definitely not worth the drive to Saugus for though at all. Won’t be going back.

A night out at Kowloons is always a wonderful night out. If you never had a birthday celebration here then your child hood sucked. We came to celebrate my sister in laws 24^th birthday. It was a pretty good size party 12 people so it’s definitely good to call ahead to get it reserved. They had it all set by the hour that we called. The drinks were subpar, scorpion bowl lacked a punch. The Mai Tais are some what decent but the piña coladas have way to much milk product, my wife couldn’t finish the Virgin piña colada that she ordered. But the food was amazing, just wonderful filling juicy all around goodness. The poo poo platters are the best to get way better than getting a plate. You get to taste all the goodness Kowloons has to offer. The rice was cooked perfect and no mistake that it’s the best around.

Yeezus you guys are a tough crowd… It’s American-​style Chinese food in a huge psuedo-​Polynesian temple. They have live music on the weekends, strong drinks, and insanely fast service. They are not trying to be O-​Ya, so I’m not sure what some of you are expecting.
I’ve been coming to Kowloon for years. Despite being from Needham and going to college in Bridgewater, I seem to always end up in the North Shore. My girlfriend and I have shared many romantic evenings together at Kowloon, so I feel it is finally time for my long awaited Unilocal review. Unfortunately, I was so hungry last night that I started eating before I could take any pics #FoodPornProblems
Everything about Kowloon is about size, and in their case, bigger is better. Massive parking lot (with an ATM). Massive dining room (s). Massive portions.
There are 3 distinct dining areas in Kowloon. The furthest away area is where the band performs under the rigging of a large sailboat. I call that one The Boat Room. Then there is an area with a fountain in the middle, which is my personal favorite that I have dubbed The Fountain Room. Lastly, there is the plain old school Chinese restaurant room, complete with mirrors on the wall and 1950’s pizza parlor tables that I have dubbed The Hospice. I’d rather wait for a table in the Boat or Fountain rooms than be seated right away in The Hospice.
Even if the parking lot is full, there is a good chance you’ll be seated right away at Kowloon, since they have seating for 50,000 (rough estimate). Last night, it was pretty packed, and we still got a table for 2 as soon as we walked in.
The service is lightning quick, so be prepared to order! They operate on such high volume that asking for more time to look at the various menus completely disrupts their chi. I’ll do you a favor — get a pu-​pu platter (with teriyaki beef) and a scorpion bowl right off the bat. That’ll buy you time to figure out of you want General Gau’s Chicken or Szechuan Beef (hint: get both). If you have never been to a Chinese restaurant before and don’t know what to order, perhaps you should practice at a mall food court before stepping up to the big leagues.
I order literally the same thing at every Chinese restaurant. Crab Rangoon, Chicken Fingers, Scallion Pancakes, and Beef Teriyaki to start. No need to look at the menu. Our food was brought out 1 minute later which leads me to believe that they either own a time machine, or they just make a lot of popular items ahead of time. I’m leaning towards the time machine theory.
For entrees, Kristina likes the Fancy Chicken, which is akin to Fancy Sauce from Stepbrothers. Just kidding, it’s a Thai Dish with pineapples and cashews served in a carved-​out pineapple. Everytime it is served, I’m taken back to Maui and forget that I’m eating on the side of Route 1 in Saugus.
I always get vegetable lo mein because I am practicing a low carb lifestyle. I’m also a fan of the General Gau’s Chicken, Szechuan Beef, Pad Thai, and Sushi. The Saugus Wings are also noteworthy, but super messy to eat (think wings dipped in hot molasses).
The drinks are typical Asian Pacific fare. Mai Tais and Scorpion Bowls. One scorpion bowl is definitely enough for 2 people. The food coma combined with cheap alcohol buzz is enough to make driving a challenge.
The prices are a tad above regular Chinese take-​out restaurants. My usual order is about $ 55 – 60 at most places, and tips the scales at $ 70 at Kowloon.
Do yourself a favor and swing by on a Friday night when you don’t feel like getting $ 15 drinks spilled on you in The Seaport.
Don’t be a hater. Snitches get stitches. YOLO.