Ling Lee's — Restaurant in Thunder Bay

UPDATE I want to give props where they are due. Almost immediately after I posted my review of my disappointment at our meal, a representative from Ling Lees called to apologize for our experience. She explained about the spice in the egg rolls and also advised that they've been having difficulty getting their regular noodles through their supplier (which is understandable at these times when supply chains are being disrupted everywhere). Not only did she apologize, but she refunded our money, which was super cool of her. So THANK YOU Ling Lees for the great customer service and for taking these steps to rectify a situation and ensure customer satisfaction. A lot of places would not have done the same. So kudos to you. *

It has been some years since I've eaten Ling Lees Chinese food so I was excited with anticipation when we placed our lunch order today. Because it was lunch, we went light - just egg rolls and consomme soup - but we were really looking forward to it.

I can't express how disappointed we were when we dug in with our first bites. The egg rolls had a weird taste to them, like there was too much of a certain spice used. I'm not really sure what it was but it was the most awful egg roll I have ever eaten. We took a couple more bites hoping maybe it would get better, but it did not.

So on to the soup. I LOVE the usual consomme soup noodles that come in the little white paper bags. I don't know what they are called or what they are made from, but I have never had consomme soup that didn't come with that little white bag of noodles. Until now that is. The noodles that came with this soup were small and thin and were a yellow-y colour. They were not the noodles I was looking forward to, but worse than that, they tasted awful. They didn't really soften up in the soup and they got a pasty type feel to them as they sat in the soup. I can totally adjust to change and often I'm introduced to new foods, ideas or experiences that become my new favourites. But this was NOT a good change. The soup itself had no flavour, it was like eating warm water.

Overall this was the WORST Chinese food experience I have ever had. The food ended up in the garbage which was a total waste of our money. And speaking of money, we were charged a $6 delivery fee to have our food delivered just a few blocks. And I completely understand delivery fees, but between the taxes, the tip and the delivery fees, our $19.50 meal ended up costing $31...for 2 bowls of soup and 4 egg rolls, that all went into the garbage.

What a sad and disappointing experience. I do not recommend Ling Lees if you are looking for a good (tasting) Chinese...

Have had a few meals and buffet at Ling Lee's. Overall food and menu choices are excellent however I caught a few points they need to work on handling take-out - reviewed 12 May 2019, so the below points hopefully will be irrelevant in a year or two : Website - fix it, it looks like a high school 1990s job. My wife couldn't find the menu and almost ordered from across town however I found the menu by 'other' means - price checking by phone is awkward and just wastes the phone time from other order calls. A local competitor is introducing on-line ordering; this may be worth exploring within the next 5 years as the younger generation eventually will run this city. If this was better a pre-order would have been submitted well in advance. 1A. Phone line often is busy... overhaul the website and then get a good voice mail message referring callers to the website. There are other options for dealing with the phone... Walk-ins: I know some locals don't understand busy day high delays (i.e. a one hour wait), I do as I have done the big city life for the last decade before returning to Thunder Bay and a 1 hour wait is NOTHING on a named day/holiday, however there IS a way to properly state the delay without making the customer thinking orders are not being accepted. The way I was greeted caused me to flat out ask the order taker if they were willing to accepting new orders or not and that verbatim almost made me forget to the allergy modifications required. Allergy accommodations may not be adhered to during peaks were the wait hits 1 hour or more. At least the staff did WARN me of this (and I know my family's personal risk tolerances) so that is good but the risk remains so as always buyer beware.

In closing, I have never been disappointed with the food quality and safety for both eat-in...

We are on a cross Canada journey and had a crazing for Chinese food. Coming from Calgary with a huge Chinese community and amazing food, it was nice to see a well rated Chinese food restaurant here in Thunderbay. We placed our order and drive in to town to pick it up (staying at a local camping ground d). Upon arriving, it was clear that It’s Ling Lee’s 50th anniversary! The restaurant is decorated and the lady at the till is happy and celebrating her 50 years (+8) at the restaurant. We were told that for the month of September (2023), you are provided ballots to enter into your choose of gift baskets. I paid for my takeout order and started to enter all the draws.

After arriving home (well to our home on wheels), we dug into the 6 dishes that we ordered. All the food was hot, flavourful and packaged well for transport.

Thanks Ling Lee for sharing your food, story and celebration with us on our Journey across Canada.

Stop in and try the food. It won’t disappoint.

PS: It’s nice to see Gingerbeef east of Calgary...