China Bistro — Restaurant in Algonquin

I would really say a 4.5 because there were a few negatives about our two orders, but I'm rounding up the positives were VERY positive... So let's start with the negatives. The first time we ordered, it took longer than expected for our food to be finished and someone in the car had to go to the bathroom, so that was unpleasant. I did not like the wonton soup - too chicken-noodle-soupy and not very flavorful. I ordered a vegetable dish (I think it was snow peas?) that was not good; they were swimming in sauce and I threw it away after a couple of bites.

That said, the dishes that were good, were AMAZING and I thought they were the best Chinese takeout food that I've had from any restaurant around here. It's the kind of Chinese takeout that makes me like Chinese takeout. Those dishes were:

1/2. Salt & pepper chicken & Salt & pepper shrimp - both of these were perfectly breaded (not too much; I really don't like a lot of breading), perfectly spicy, and the onions and peppers that came were deliciously cooked too; nothing overcooked or soggy. YUMMMMMMMMMMM. I actually have never had a dish like this before. This was a dry dish, which I'm not used to having at Chinese restaurants, but I really really really enjoyed both of these.

3/4. Chu fun (sp?) noodles - We have tried the chicken and the beef and they were both AMAZING. Flavorful, crispy yet tender noodles & a good balance of veggies and meat included, too. It's like... the kind of noodles that I remember having at some fancy Chinese restaurant when I was a kid but have never been able to find since, and here they are. Yummm.

Orange chicken - I love the style of breading on this dish. It's not a lot of breading, and the chicken was tender and flavorful. I ordered this dish very mild and it was still flavorful.

Family likes the egg rolls, too. We will be...

Decided to try this restaurant after leaving a nearby movie theater. 1st and last time ever entering this establishment.

1st: They close at 9 pm; we entered at 8:24 pm. I told the host that I would like to sit down and eat and that there were 4 people in my party. She says, "We close at 9 pm. Well, i guess if you can eat fast then it will be OK." I have never been to a sit-down restaurant that informs their guests of closing time and suggest that they eat fast.

2nd: Food came out very quickly, but was not to our liking. We order sweet and sour chicken, 2 sesame chickens and an orange chicken. My order of sweet and sour chicken was the only plate that resembled what was ordered. The other chicken dishes came in what I could only describe as chicken strings instead of chunks, and the orange chicken was the same color as the sesame chicken, just without sesame seeds. We were also given one bowl of rice to serve all 4 of us. After my party tasted their food and did not like it (and I do mean taste as in one bite), we decided we did not want to stay. I immediately sought out the person who sat us and explained the situation. She looked at me dumbfounded. I told her that the food was not to our liking and that we did not eat it. She starts to say that “this is how we have made the dish for 20 years. No one has ever complained about our food.” I told her sorry, we just don’t want to stay.

3rd: She then tried to insist that we pay for part of the food because “that was a lot of food.” I told her no. We were not paying for food that we didn’t eat. She then said, “Just go! Whatever!”

If you have never been here, you may not want to go. Also, two more guest came in after us to dine in, a family of 4 and a couple. I wonder did she told them to eat fast? Do not eat at this restaurant if you desire quality service, quality...

We've been ordering from China Bistro almost as long as we've lived in the area (19 years now) and initially the food was great. But in the last few years, especially since COVID, the food quality has gone downhill while the prices keep increasing. We hadn't ordered from them in about a year but decided to try it one more time tonight to see if the food had improved. It hadn't. The fried rice tasted old, the shrimp wasn't fresh, there weren't any vegetables in it at all (just rice and shrimp), The egg rolls (which they initially forgot to deliver and had to bring separately) were inedible. All in all, everything tasted at least a week old. I'm not sure if the restaurant is under new management or they've just gotten sloppy in their food preparation, but for $40, I expect my food to be at least fresh. My husband and I agree that it's time to find a new...