Gong at Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta — Restaurant in Nayarit

Do not eat here. I was born in China and grew up in Vancouver (a city world-renowned for its Asian food scene), so PLEASE trust me on this.

Our first night at the resort, all the other restaurants nearby were full due to special events so we ended up at Gong by default.

To say the food was disappointing would be a massive understatement. I am not joking when I say that my ancestors are turning in their graves and that Gong should be ashamed of the slop they’re serving at such exorbitant prices.

To start with positives, the service was friendly, if a bit slow, and the restaurant ambiance was nice enough. The problem lies entirely with the food.

The food at Gong is NOT at all authentic and is worse quality than your typical small-town USA Chinese buffet—yet at 4-5x the price.

We spent ~$2600 MXN (on food alone) between 6 people. Here’s a rundown of what we tried:

Kung Pao Chicken ($315 MXN) - fried popcorn chicken nuggets in a gloopy sweet/spicy sauce with cashew, bell pepper, and too much red onion. This is SO far from authentic Sichuanese Kung Pao Chicken that it feels almost insulting. This must be how Mexican people feel about Taco Bell??? (1.5/10)

Teriyaki Chicken ($385 MXN) - woody and bland chicken breast slices drowned in an overly sweet sauce, served with severely undercooked grilled veggies (broccoli, bell pepper, etc.). This dish was under their “specialty” section lol and I’m only laughing because otherwise I’d be crying. (0/10)

Yakemeshi Mixto aka Mixed Fried Rice ($330 MXN) - tasted mainly of chicken bouillon powder and of butane torch. You know that specific charred flavour imparted by a butane torch like with aburi sushi? That’s what this entire rice tasted like, and I’m just very confused. Otherwise, it had meagre portions of protein and was underwhelming. (3/10)

Pad Thai ($365 MXN) - Out of all the dishes, this probably looked the most “correct.” Came with crushed chilli, crushed peanut, and lime. Only problem is that it tasted bad. Way too sweet and way too saucy. I did not taste any fish sauce at all. Without the salty funk to balance the dish, it was bland and one-note. The shrimp was overcooked yet the rice noodles were undercooked and al-dente. (3.5/10)

Three different sushi rolls: Dragon, Tuna Tataki, Golden (around $350 MXN per roll) - The rice was mushy and under-seasoned, with an overload of sauces and toppings on each roll, creating a jumbled taste profile. These rolls were probably the best part of the meal, but then again, the bar is in hell. (5/10)

In summary, if this review can dissuade even one person from wasting their money at Gong, then I...

We had a fantastic meal at Gong. I wasn’t expecting great Asian food at a resort in Mexico, despite the fact that the food at Vidanta is consistently excellent.

The cocktails were super creative and delicious. The chef starter (all the higher end restaurants at Vidanta send out a special small starter) was a spring roll that was light and crispy. We ordered the edamame and tempura to start which both had large portions. We had the Pad Thai, Kung Pao chicken and the salmon teppanaki which were all fantastic.

Definitely exceeded our expectations. The Kung Pao was spicy with a bit of sweet. The Pad Thai had a healthy amount of chicken and shrimp, was not overly sweet as it can sometimes be, and the portion was huge (these dishes are sharable).

We didn’t eat at the sushi bar but it was consistently busy.

The service was fantastic and the setting on one of the lakes with the water show was really nice. One of the best dinners we had at Vidanta.

Highly recommend an...

We have very mixed feelings about our Gluten-free dining experience at Gong.

Service is excellent, with good recommendations and great views if you are able to score an outdoor seat on the lower patio area.

Food-wise, we had two very different entrees.

Let’s start with the GF Pad Thai, which is very good, a healthy portion, and flavorful. The chicken was perfectly cooked and blended well with the dish's flavor. We are spoiled with outstanding Thai food at home, so our flavors will be different than yours.

Our GF yellow curry with chicken was a failure. Sadly, the chicken was overcooked and chunked, not shredded like the Pad Thai chicken. There was little to no flavor added to the actual yellow curry, more bland than a a mild taste. Portion-wise, the yellow curry meal is small. Adding rice to the remaining broth helps satisfy you, but you will...