Golden Palace Restaurant — Restaurant in Ottawa

TL/DR: I definitely do not recommend buying food from this restaurant.

Let me start by saying I was very excited to try this place out. I went in with a positive attitude as the egg rolls here are supposedly legendary, but I guess I'll never know.

We ordered takeout and were told it would only be 10 minutes (in case you don't know, that means the food is not made to order). I picked up the food without issue. They had put it in a big paper bag and scrunched closed the mouth of the bag with reckless abandon, which at the time I took as maybe a sign of their famous local charm or something. It looked lazy and rushed, but I didn't let it bother me one bit because I was excited to eat.

When I got home and opened up our food it reeked of cigarettes. Like, so badly that you could not smell the actual food even if you held it in front of your face. Every container was the same, the food was clearly not safe to eat. Me and my partner were confused, shocked, and disgusted. Neither of us smoke cigarettes. I called the restaurant right away and explained that I would be returning the food and that I expected a refund. Without apology, they just said: "Okay" And hung up the phone before I could even say another word. In my opinion, that is pretty rude.

When I got back to the restaurant I was greeted with a "What?" and I explained that called them 5 minutes ago about returning the food. I handed the two men at the counter the bag and immediately the older man opened it up, opened a container and said "It doesn't smell" and then held it out a foot away from my face. I had to laugh, because:

A.) It was incredibly rude, B.) He was wrong, and C.) He didn't even smell the food.

I should mention, they were both wearing face masks which I think we all know affect the validity of your sense of smell. He then asked ME in a very defensive tone: "Why would it smell like cigarettes?" And I told him I wasn't going to speculate, but he cut me off and began speaking in another language. Together they dug through the bag and inspected all seven containers in front of me. It was pretty embarrassing for them to do that, patrons were watching and the small setup of the dining room allowed for a very public viewing of the entire transaction.

So I stood there in silence and waited for my refund while they did their forensic assessment of the spoiled meal. I was offered nothing, they only spoke to each other. Some patrons walked in to eat dinner, said "Hello! Can we have a table for two?" and the younger man just pointed to some seats and said quickly said "Along the side". The couple reasonably looked offended at their poor welcoming. Yeesh, did these guys graduate from the Joseph Stalin's School of Customer Service?

Glancing around the restaurant it became clear to me that there are parts that may have not been cleaned since they originally opened. There are dust covered signs by the window that have been bleached by the sign, and corners of the ceiling that are obviously not deep cleaned on any kind of schedule. If you want your restaurant to look nice, you need to pay attention to the small details and show that you care. It was apparent to me that these folks do not care much at all.

After they embarrassed themselves the older man walked away without a word to get the debit machine. He came back and silently took my receipt I had placed on the counter, then punched in some numbers and held out the machine. I pulled out my card and this was our conversation:

Him: "It has to be the SAME card." Me: "I know, this is the same card." Him: "It must be the same card." Me: taps

The transaction cleared, and the younger man mumbled "Sorry about that" as he sped away from me. That was the first and final apology I received from the famous Golden Palace. Absolutely abysmal. Well, they can keep their egg rolls. So I left disappointed, appalled, and overall unsatisfied with my experience.

I shook it off and went on to have a nice, fresh dinner at Sapporo Sushi just down the road, which I certainly...

Restaurant was chilly, so we had to keep our coats on. Dining area was dimly lit and practically empty. Need to pee? Be careful going down the stairs, they are very steep and the stairwell is only wide enough for one, so I hope you aren't in a hurry! The basement area around the washrooms had a creepy, uneasy feeling about it. I was the only person down there, and I certainly didn't want to take my time! Upon entering the Ladies washroom, I was met with empty pails, cleaning supplies and two big metal ladders propped up against the wall. Were they repairing something? Hope nothing important!

I had a bowl of won ton soup and 2 egg rolls. Nothing special. The soup was bland, {I had to add soya sauce} and there wasn't any Bok Choi, green onions or bbq pork in it at all. Instead there was 3, inch and a half long celery sticks, that tasted uncooked, and only 3, poorly wrapped won tons. The pork filling tasted rubbery and stringy. Definitely not enjoyable at all! I have had better won ton soup from a can. The egg rolls were just that, egg rolls. Nothing special. The flavors were dull, bland and lacking in the Yum factor. Very disappointing.

The kitchen staff and servers were pretty loud and at times startled me by yelling orders at each other. Even though there were not many customers, I found it very hard to hear the people I was dining with very well. I had to ask them to repeat themselves on more than one occasion. I'm not sure why. Maybe music playing or just a combination of everything.

Their menu items didn't excite at all. I had planned on ordering food to take home, however, after reading their menu and tasting their food, I decided not to place an order. Nothing on their menu sounded appealing to me and I couldn't find any of my favourite dishes. Plus, after sampling their soup and egg rolls, I decided against ordering anything.

The whole restaurant looked like a throw back to the early '90's and could urgently use a vibrant new look to create a more welcoming and enjoyable eating experience. I was not comfortable in my chair and the atmosphere made me feel like I needed to hurry up and finish eating and leave. Not so relaxing or enjoyable. I don't think I will be going there again nor will I be ordering from their restaurant either. They need a chef who has tastebuds so their food doesn't get served flavor less, unauthentic and lacking in umami. Perhaps the staff should be as passionate about their menu and their customer's experience while dining at Golden Palace Restaurant as they were about the Ottawa Senators , I would have written a better review.

UPDATE Last night I woke up feeling extremely nauseous! My stomach was tight, and I was in fear of being sick all over my bed and floor! Since the only things I had to eat yesterday were a donut in the afternoon and the won ton soup and egg rolls from Golden Palace Restaurant, I'm going to blame it on the Chinese food. I knew the pork in the won tons seemed a bit funny in texture... My two family members who ate the same items as I did, have yet to let me know how they felt afterwards. Will update my review when I hear...

This next review that you are about to read is long but it is Golden...UNLIKE the restaurant. "Golden Palace" is more deserving of a name such as "Participation Medal Palace". First time and last time to eat here...DO NOT ORDER HERE if you expect quality "Chinese food", Airplane food hails in comparison to this. I cannot express how bad this food was. I had thought to order from here as I had heard good things and was hoping to impress our dinner guests but that fell very short. What we ordered: General Tao Chicken, Chicken Soo Guy W/Mushroom, Cantonese Chow Mein, Beef Fried Rice, Spicy Pork W/Green pepper. Our order total came out to $100. When I placed the order, they told me 10 minutes to which I was surprised at how quickly they could prepare the meals, however what I found afterwards was this food had been prepared since church service last Sunday, and has merely been reheated in an easy bake oven. I believe that they may have had the impression that drowning the Fried chicken Soo guy in sauce would mask how dry it was but let me tell you, they were wrong. Ive never had something soo simultaneously dry yet so mushy in my life. There was also hardly any chicken mixed in with lumps of batter covered with mushroom sauce. I asked for mushroom, but they only gave me the "mush" and there was no "room" for anything else. The general Tao chicken was no better except instead of mushroom sauce it was covered in what only seemed like McDonalds spicy tai sauce, however unlike a delicious Junior Chicken with Spicy Tai, these were hardly edible and rubbery. If you were to take a piece of chicken, forget it on the BBQ overnight, and wake up the next morning and put it in the toaster with your morning loaf, leave it on the counter for a week and then while the kids aren't looking, you drench it in their favorite sauce, this is what you would have. The Cantonese chow mein was not the typical Cantonese style and served with overcooked noodles and was very blan and flavorless. The egg rolls are the only thing which was enjoyable but I would not be going here for only egg rolls. Photos are included here folks, I cannot make this up..

These people are very full of themselves, I had called after my first few bites as I was quite upset at the quality. My complaints were met with silence and they were likely waiting for the time they could hang up the phone. No refunds were offered, no apology for the poor quality, they had my money and that's all they cared for. Look at this reviews page, they respond to nothing because they know they are selling a poor excuse for Chinese food, participation star quality at 5 star prices.. This "Palace" will slowly end up like the Mian ruins except not as spectacular, just empty and an echo of what...