East City Chinese Food Take Out — Restaurant in Hamilton

My wife and I have used this restaurant for years and have mostly enjoyed it . We appreciated the very friendly lady who would take our order and then bring it to us when we picked up . I think she kept the whole place running smoothly and double checked all the orders before they went out . When I said we mostly enjoyed it,I meant that occasionally we wouldn’t get everything we ordered, but that never happened when the friendly lady was working .

Back at the beginning of April we ordered our usual from the restaurant and when I got it home we didn’t have the egg roll and my pineapple chicken didn’t have any sauce ,so I went back and a very polite and friendly young man corrected the issue in minutes . At that time I asked if they had a new Chef and he said yes they did . I think it was new owners taking over at the beginning of April as that is when they started opening for lunch .

The next time we ordered I had no pineapple on my pineapple chicken just the pineapple sauce . I also noticed there was no green pepper and very little chicken . I didn’t complain about this as I was too hungry .

Since then I have noticed on their new menu that the pineapple chicken does not include green pepper .The last time I got it ,it was a little amount of chicken ,a few slices of celery and all the rest was onion ,I don’t get the carrots as I don’t like crunchy carrots in my Chinese food . I couldn’t eat that amount of onion so I was still hungry at the end of it .

The last time we ordered I chose something different and it was ok . I think the quality has gone down since April . The amount of food over all is still the same ,but with less chicken . It has been about six weeks since we last ordered and I think we are going to wait a while and see if things improve in the future .my advice would be to get the friendly lady back ASAP to keep an eye on things and to go back to the original menus , as the customers do notice when you change things even if you think they don’t .I will say that the young man at the front desk is very friendly and polite ,he just doesn’t have as keen an eye for quality as the friendly lady . That’s...

Edit on Aug 15/22: I'm updating after the response from East City, who said my post is misleading regarding the cost because ordering online from a third party it is more expensive. I went to the EAST CITY website where there is an option to order online. NOWHERE does it mention A) that it is more expensive than calling in the order or B) that it is through a third party. I understood that I was ordering directly from the restaurant. My bill before before tip was $185. I'd like to reiterate my point that I prefer to support local, and will do so if I have to spend a little more when the product represents the value. Unfortunately they did not address the issue that the food was not the same level of quality we have known in the past and what I will not do is spend money on food I had to throw away because it was not good. THAT I will not support. End of Edit.

East City has been our go to Chinese take out for many many years for our family. I placed an order online this is past week and noticed a hefty spike in the cost; $200 (delivery and tip) for 10 people is about $60 more than we used to spend on the same order. We were very disappointed in our food. Definitely not the same quality that we have experienced in the past.

The spring rolls were wrapped in some weird wavy wrap that seemed undercooked. They were very chewy and tasteless. Not the crisp wrap that we have always had. The breaded shrimp and chicken balls were so hard (you could not bite the ends), most of them were tossed. The shrimp in lobster sauce was too salty to eat. I am not sure if they have changed ownership or changed cooks but this is definitely not the same place our family has enjoyed for many years. I am aware food costs have gone up and don't mind spending money to support local business but when the quality is subpar, it stings. We will not be ordering again. On a positive note, the delivery...

Yesterday was my first time trying this spot. As it opens earlier than other takeouts on sunday.

I called and few mins later was called back with a diff # to take down my order. The young asian gentleman spoke clearly and greeted me kindly when i went to pick up the food, it was nice to see him helping out his folks.

I got combo 4 & 5. The food was cooked fresh and was piping hot. It wasn't greasy, it had that home touch and yet the flavours you crave from chinese takeout. I quite enjoyed the taste. It was pretty good.

The value reflected the price. And the only slight was while the portion size was decent,the meat to veggie ratio was light. Like 4 pieces of beef, 3-4 wings, 4 chicken balls and 4 sweet n sour shrimp. And the coating/beading was a bit to much for the size of meat. Its not that the portions weren't filling for lunch and dinner, the meat was light.

The wings and egg rolls were delicious, however the wings were begging for a bit of sweet n sour sauce that came w the shrimp in the combo. The beef was tender enough but i think it either had a little to much of the cornstarch slurry that thickened or the slurry needed more stirring.

I was impressed by flavor and freshness of the food, and the youngmans service. Id recommend to give it a try when you're craving takeout, and not feel too guilty bc it has that home non greasy touch, relatively healthy choice...