Golden Chef

The most salty food I have ever had. Beef and chicken had the consistency of rubber. The worst food experience in my 26 Years.

5 Stars! I have been a customer for possibly 25 or 30 years. It is amazing when you think about it. I moved for a while in between but I am back and thrilled that they now deliver using GrubHub!
I highly suggest asking for the Egg Rolls baked not fried. It isn’t on the menu but they do special things like this. Where else can you get Egg White Foo Young? Not my thing but still pretty cool.
I personally love the Chow Fun w/​extra meat, Baked Egg Rolls (just ask!), Chinese broccoli (also not on the menu!) and the whole steamed fish (not always available) — yum.
Enjoy! This place is an institution and AMAZINGLY authentic and good. Oh — One side note. This is a Chinese restaurant so I would never think of ordering Korean or Thai dishes that they’ve added. I would go to a Korean or Thai joint for those items.

I’m a Chinese girl writing a review on a Chinese restaurant in the Chicago suburbs so you know you this review is legit. I grew up eating «real» Chinese food like fish with the head, chicken feet, snails, pig feet, etc. This place doesn’t have any of that, at least they don’t have it on the menu. But because I grew up in America, I do like Americanized Chinese food and this place is pretty good for just that.
The szechwan beef is delicious. The beef is perfectly cooked and the veggies are bright and fresh. The sweet & sour chicken tastes exactly like the name says. The lumpia or shanghai egg rolls are amazing with the perfect amount of filling and crisp fried egg roll skin on the outside. I also tried their shrimp and vegetables on their lunch menu which came with fried rice. The shrimp tasted great and were a good size. The veggies again were bright and fresh and the fried rice was not overly salty.
The servers are nice, at least they are nicer than the ones you find in Chinatown restaurants. The décor is lacking but I wasn’t expecting much. One last thing, my friend ordered a lunch special for take out and he got a ridiculously large amount of food for a very good price so he was happy. I saw it — it was a lot of food.

Excellent food and service, my favorite is to call in order because always quick and fresh.

First things first: The rating says four stars — only because there does not appear to be a way to mark it 3 ½.
So why not a 3? Because Unilocal says a three-​star rating is «A-​OK» and a four-​star is «I’m a fan»
I’m in-​between.
We dined at Golden Chef and unlike some other reviews, found the staff pleasant and cooperative. We were there on a Sunday night, so service was quick and attentive.
The menu has extensive offerings and if there are special needs for any menu item, they are met without any problem. One person in our party needed his meal prepared sodium-​free, a request that was easily accommodated. I do not recall what he ordered, but it was something along the lines of Chicken with Vegetables.
Our selections were basic: vegetable egg rolls, which were served hot and without any excessive oil. They do seem to have a strong peanut butter presence (yes, peanut butter is a staple in egg rolls), but it’s not over powering or offensive.
Our entrees included Chicken Lo Mein, Mongolian Beef and Chicken Fried Rice, all of which had a nice balanced flavor without an excess of any seasoning — especially soy and/​or salt. I was the proponent of the Lo Mein (mainly because I had a taste for this as Asian comfort food) and was surprised that it had a really good flavor. Lo Mein can sometimes be bland. This wasn’t.
Portions are large but not to an excess.
The staff was efficient and cooperative in providing us take-​home containers and splitting the check without any problems.
The check before tip was just shy of $ 50 (about $ 12.50 a person). We did not have any alcohol.
The bottom line: Easily 3 ½ stars. A pleasant dining experience with accommodating service.
Worth the trip.

We are soooo sorry to see our one-​time favorite Chinese restaurant go down the tubes. We brought my daughter there about a month ago (she was visiting from Denver) and we could not believe how empty the place was. In the past, no matter what night we went, it was always bustling! The three dishes we ordered were very lack-​luster and the older gentleman that waited on us was VERY UNFRIENDLY-​so opposite from what we were used to getting when Esther was around. But, we thought maybe it was just a fluke, maybe they were just having a bad night so we went back last week. Again, the food was not at all what the Golden Chef was known for. We live nearby and now we don’t know where to go for good Chinese food anymore but it will no longer be Golden Chef. If they don’t figure it out pretty soon they will eventually be closing their doors. We hope they do.

This is one of the best chinese food places ever. Take out cravings where you can sit down and be served. It was a special treat to enjoy Tsingtao beer (chinese beer) with my meal. The staff is pleasant and just the right amount of attention to make sure that you have what you need when you want it. The entrée’s are big enough for two people and leaves plenty for take home to enjoy a second time the next day. This is my fiancée’s and my new favorite place to go when you just have to have chinese food.

This is too bad as to what had happened to this place. Esther and Wally had the best food. They knew about the chinese cuisine more than any other Chinese restaurant owner in this area. But a sad thing happened, Wally, the owner died. And the cooking talent with him. As we just visited again this past weekend, the food was just really okay. SO many flavors vere missing, like ginger and fish sauce and so on. All of our food had a ton of sugar in it, even the seafood plate. The current owners might be related, but the phenomenal chinese cooking has gone with Esther and Wally.
We are going to look for another place place. Here, you will encounter the Chinese and the Thai tasting bland and very sweet!

I’m of the mind that given a pile of Chinese Ingredients, a Chimpanzee could throw together something edible out of it, providing he washed his hands and feet first. In other words, put stuff in a Wok, throw Soy, Garlic and Ginger on it, and you’ll be able to eat. I put it to you I have never encountered a totally horrible Chinese Joint. Uninspired, insipid ones, but never one where I walked out hungry.
I’m not talking about décor or cleanliness, ‘cos I’ve been in some places that «shithole» would have been a charitable description. (And the food was fab). I’ve been in splendid palace-​style joints that tasted like the Chef was named Chung King. You can’t tell a Chop Suey Shop by its Pagoda…
So I say there are three kinds of Chinese Joints. The lowest is the run-​of-​the mill neighborhood Chop Suey House. The menus are all the same, the flavors are all the same, and the decors are all the same. This rung includes take-​out, white box holes in the walls and up to decent-​looking sit down spots. You can find places like this even in Metro Chinatowns. They all serve «Chinese» food, and the quotes say it all. Quasi-​exotic eating for Americans. That’s not perjorative. One can eat well in many of these places. ALL Chinese buffets are in this category.
The next level is just a step above. It’s a neighborhood joint where the guys in the kitchen are trying really hard. They make their own stuff instead of using foodservice items. I had a Chinese Pal that worked in restaurants who said the arbiter of a top-​rank Chinese is the taste of Peanut Butter in Egg Rolls. He claimed the frozen ones have no taste of peanut butter, and the good hand-​made ones do. Moral: As go the Egg Rolls, so goes the remainder of the menu. High probability of a fine feed at joints like this.
The top rank are the places that have auxiliary Menus in Chinese that the proprietors will not translate for the round eyes. Listen up. If you hear more Mandarin spoken by the clientele than English, you’re prolly in one of these places. Be alert, if something aromatically orgasmic passes your table on the arm of a waiter bound for a table of Orientals, order that. And maybe it might be better not to ask exactly what it is. You might not want to know.
Golden Chef is of the first category. Priced a little dear. Not Fab, doesn’t suck.
A Chinese «Place-​To-​Eat™»
And I wish they’d put the Pressed Duck back on the menu…

Nothing that stands out. There are better asian resturants around. This place is good if you want something quick to pick up. Don’t let the nice interior fool you. It’s average Chinese food with above average décor.

AVOID THIS PLACE! Just got their orange chicken to go. The orange sauce came separate from the chicken, the chicken looks like chicken McNuggets but the McNuggets taste better. They have no taste no flavor. Combining it with the sauce did not help. I will NEVER come here again.

New owners, same menu, higher prices. Even though the menus is the same as the former owners, the preparation and ingredients have changed, not for the better. Poor quality.
Sunday evening 6:00pm only two customers. Their reputation is poor.
They have lost me a former regular.

Got a delivery via grubhub. Tasteless and really not worth the money. Pretty much all went in the bin. Waste of an order.

We used their carry out service. They were spot on for when food was to be ready. My wife has been coming here for 11 yrs. Sorry to hear Esther sold the place. Orange Chicken was delis. Fried rice was a little heavy on the soy sauce but it was tasty. Sizzling rice soup was very good as in the past.
Excellent fortune cookies too.

The food was good but the service is horrible. Come when you have lots of time. They were not even that busy. I wouldn’t come back.

Long time Golden Chef customer. I didn’t know that Wally and Ester sold the place until recently.
The new menu looked interesting, but the server couldn’t answer a single question about the new items. We went with our regular order. Soup was still good, but my favorite egg rolls I usually get baked were unbelievably greasy and almost flavorless. Oh and dead cold in the center.
Our entrees were mixed — my wife liked her cashew chicken but that was barely warm. My chicken and eggplant dish with garlic sauce was warmer but not hot, however was almost like eating a salt lick. Portions were noticeably smaller, but reasonable.
My biggest complaint was the service. We sat for twenty minutes without any service. People who came later were served well ahead of us. I also couldn’t get silverware until I raised my voice at someone who told me yes it was coming. I asked no less than 5 times over the course of 30 minutes. Just so you understand my frustration, we got the silverware 10 minutes after our entrees arrived. I was already eating with my giant serving spoon. Also we had 4 different people waiting on us. It really looked disorganized. Far from a relaxing dinner out. We’ll probably try again, but won’t be rushing back.

Had the vegetable egg roll and shrimp fried rice for lunch. The shrimp fried rice could use a little more flavor, but other then that this is one of the best Chinese restaurants in the area compared to as in Northbrook.

I’ve been a customer here for many years and have yet to write a review until now. For me, Golden Chef is the best of the best when it comes to Chinese food in the area. Tonight, I don’t know what it was maybe being New Years Eve and they were busy, but it did not taste or look the same. The high quality food here is on point always and tonight it was not up to par.
I always get their food taken out and immediately noticed the containers of food were no longer in their styrofoam box (ok, not a big deal). The egg rolls usually have a nutty flavor, but it wasn’t fully there the flavor for me tonight. The Mongolian Beef usually has tons of beef and the sticky noodles I dearly love. Tonight there was barely any beef or sticky noodles and mostly onion. The Orange Chicken is usually bigger pieces and tonight it was chopped up smaller than usual.
I’ve read a couple recent reviews on here saying the place is under new ownership, but I did see Esther tonight. Maybe they’ve gotten a new chef? I also have to add that tonight when I got home I noticed they were going to charge me for their delicious house made sweet and sour sauce. I’m relived they didn’t because I would’ve been upset based on principal. My initial review was going to be positive, but based on my experience tonight I was displeased.

Esther knows how to make a meal into an experience.
Whether it’s a pick up, or dining in, she provides incredible Chinese food, well prepared, always fresh and tasty, while engaging and making you feel like family. The restaurant was full of patrons on Christmas Day, and Esther was doling out hugs and smiles, making sure all guests were enjoying the buffet, and receiving great service. There was a constant flow of dishes rotating in and out of the buffet. They don’t use MSG (awesome!) and even had a light angel food cake with whipped cream frosting for dessert, and a myriad of fruit, and festive cookies.
From beginning to end, the food was delicious. I especially enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken, and the breaded perch! We had great, friendly service, remarkable food, at a great value.
It makes sense that many patrons make Golden Chef their tradition, as after our Christmas Day visit, we’ve decided to do the same!

Stopped in golden chef for lunch with a co-​worker.
The owner came to our table to greet us. She was very friendly.
I ordered an egg roll and General Tso’s Chicken. The entrée came with a vegetable soup. The egg roll was crispy and delicious. It tasted like it was fried in peanut oil.
I ordered my chicken extra spicy, and it came out great. It had onions, peppers, and mushrooms. It came with a side of fried rice. The serving was very large. I ate it all, but I should have taken half of it to go. And at $ 7 for an entrée, you won’t break the bank.
I would defintiely recommend this place for lunch.