Welcome to the Louisville Restaurants Forum, a civil place for the intelligent discussion of the local restaurant scene and just about any other topic related to food and drink in and around Louisville.

China Cafe- disappointed!

no avatar
User

MarieP

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

679

Joined

Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:56 pm

Location

St. Matthews

China Cafe- disappointed!

by MarieP » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:50 pm

My grandparents and I had carryout from China Cafe (old Brandon's BBQ), and both the service and food were a big disappointment. We were hoping it would be better because it is close to their house.

First, we ordered crab rangoons, egg rolls, war sue gai, moo goo gai pan, and chicken lo mein. It took us 25 minutes for my Papaw and I to pick up our order! Then, we paid, and as we were leaving, the girl who brought our order to the counter starts calling after us, "Sir, wait! Come back!" We turn around and go back, and can't make out what she's saying, but she grabs the bag from Papaw and then comes back a few minutes later with another bag. We had just turned around and nearly reached the door when she calls after us again! The man who took our order was just standing there with the look of, "Don't look at me." This time, she puts a container of sauce into the bag. We then walked ever so quickly out the door.

Then, when we got our food out, we found an extra entree (pork and veggies) in with our stuff. At first, we thought they'd left out the lo mein, but we discovered that they put the rice in with each dish and the lo mein was in the rice type box. Also, we discovered that they had already put the sauce in the bag, so we didn't need to come back the second time.

The egg rolls were ok- crispy, though run-of-the-mill. The rangoons were too sweet- heavy on the cream cheese, and the dough wasn't very done. They would have been a better dessert. The war sue gai already had the sauce on it, which made the chicken quite soggy. The sauce was an odd whitish gray color, and it was quite bland. Not anywhere near the quality of Great Wall, and certainly not Hoe Kow! The moo goo gai pan tasted bland as well, as the sauce was basically the same as what was on the war sue gai. It did have a good portion of chicken and veggies (even mushrooms- which I don't really recall being in the dish elsewhere). The pork was bland as well. The lo mein was the best of them all- the seasoning reminded me of Ramen noodles.

Anyway, we don't plan to go back anytime soon. Wang's Wok is missed! There's Peking City Bistro, but I think they do their war sue gai (my grandparents' favorite dish) differently- correct me if I'm wrong. They really like Jasmine- though it's a ways out for a Friday night. I really want to try the peanut butter chicken at Jasmine- I thought that was just an African type dish, but I guess it's Chinese too!
no avatar
User

Pam G

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

133

Joined

Thu Mar 01, 2007 6:19 pm

Location

Downtown days/Northeast nights

Re: China Cafe- disappointed!

by Pam G » Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:08 am

My family prefers Fresh Wok in Westport Plaza.
no avatar
User

MarieP

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

679

Joined

Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:56 pm

Location

St. Matthews

Re: China Cafe- disappointed!

by MarieP » Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:21 am

Pam G wrote:My family prefers Fresh Wok in Westport Plaza.


Thank you! We will be trying this next!
no avatar
User

Deb Hall

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

4169

Joined

Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:46 pm

Location

Highlands , Louisville

Re: China Cafe- disappointed!

by Deb Hall » Tue Feb 26, 2013 11:53 am

MarieP wrote:
Pam G wrote:My family prefers Fresh Wok in Westport Plaza.


Thank you! We will be trying this next!


Marie,
We live in Springhurst. We tried Fresh Wok last night (based on recommendation from Pam G- thanks!) The food was fine, but we still prefer our regular carry-out place - 888 Great Wall ( in the Kroger shopping center on 22 across from Springhurst.) Maybe we were too early ( 6:30) last night, but Fresh Wok was totally understaffed and empty- our order was taken by a young girl ( probably 10-11 years old), who handled the money and order taking perfectly. There appeared to be only one cook, so maybe they were just short-handed.

If you get a chance, also check out 888 Great Wall- for Chinese - American. My parents drive from 20 minutes away to get their carry-out there.

Deb
no avatar
User

Melissa S

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

152

Joined

Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:03 pm

Re: China Cafe- disappointed!

by Melissa S » Tue Feb 26, 2013 9:45 pm

I also live in the Springhurst area, and I agree with Deb. 888 Great Wall is consistently fresh and tasty. Orders are filled quickly and are always accurate. We also get take out from The Tea Station in Norton Commons. A bit pricier, but they have some dishes that we can't get at Great Wall.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefsbot, Claudebot, Google [Bot], PetalBot and 10 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign