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| - I used to go here as a kid with my dad at least once a month and our staple meal was as follows:
-A cup of wonton soup that had a rich, brown broth, hearty wontons with tender meat, and these lush dark green, leafy vegetables that I ate happily even though I was a very picky child who didn't care much for vegetables.
-A huge eggroll that would spill out vegetables and ground pork with a flavor I couldn't identify then, but in retrospect I'm pretty sure they had a hint of nutmeg. They were so big you had to eat them with a fork because picking them up to dunk them in their deep red, rich sweet and sour sauce looked a bit clumsy.
-Shared Broccoli Chicken or beef with meat so tender it defined what "melt in your mouth" meant to me as I had never had meat like that before. The broccoli was perhaps overcooked to some people's standards, but again, for a kid with picky vegetable tastes, it was always perfect for me. I still like my broccoli well done and soft.
-Fried rice that was a hearty dark brown, not this orange or yellow pale color you find at most places. It was filled with egg, peas, carrots, onion, and bean sprouts. Amazing.
In my 20s I took my boyfriend to Golden Canyon and we both discovered their huge crab puffs that was just full of crab and not just a fried cream cheese puff. These went with the fantastic sweet and sour sauce perfectly.
As an adult, my tastes expanded so I discovered that their tender chicken was also found in their lightly fried Lemon Chicken as well and the lemon sauce tasted unreal with their fried rice.
I haven't lived in the Mesa area now for about 11 years and I'm not entirely sure how long it's been since I've been able to make my way over there, but tonight I found myself in the area and went to pick up some take out. Knowing I wouldn't most likely be back for a long time, I decided to pick up two meals so I'd have some leftovers and could drag out my enjoyment.
I was looking forward to tasting all of my old favorites and this is what I found:
-Wonton soup with a dark, rich broth with pale leafy bok choy and small wontons with very little meat inside.
-Egg rolls half the size that they used to be, sad skinny things with a poor balance of dough to filling. And I don't know where the nutmeg went, but it's not in here. and their dark red sweet and sour sauce is now a brownish orange.
-Tiny crab puffs with a faint trace of crab.
-Broccoli beef that was as tender as I remember, with far more garlic than any dish should ever have. And I'm Italian... I love garlic.
-Dark, flavorful fried rice... absent of peas, carrots, and sprouts... and very little egg.
-Lemon chicken with one full breast of chicken.... with no breading. NONE. And additional breast pieces from another breast with very light breading, that wasn't anything like the previous kind of breading.
I am so disappointed that the food I loved for over 20 years is just gone at this point. It's clear that while raising their prices (which of course I'm fine with, I understand inflation) they also removed most of their high quality ingredients and minimized their portions.
That being said, the meal, overall (except the lemon chicken) was still better than most places that deliver. The wonton soup's broth outdoes anyone elses that I've had over here in Chandler. The sweet and sour sauce, though different than what I remember, was still rather tasty. The meat is still tender, not that tough garbage you find so often and similar places. If you live nearby, I'd say this is a good option for a decent Chinese meal. Which is why I gave it 3 stars.
I won't recommend the crab puffs at all. They were wimpy, crabless, and too sweet. The fried rice still had a great flavor, but I really miss the other ingredients. My biggest disappointment has been the eggrolls. Raising the price and cutting the portion in half is a low thing to do to customers and honestly it makes me not even want to go back myself because I feel cheated. It's the part of the meal I was most looking forward to only to find the skinny, poor excuse for an eggroll in the bag.
I won't likely return again, after over 20 years of loving this place so much, I'm a bit disillusioned by this new reality. Perhaps I'll check the reviews again in a few years and see if anyone has noted any improvement, but otherwise... I bid you farewell... Chinese restaurant of my childhood.
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