Golden Bowl | Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Bellevue

TL;DR at the bottom. Read on for full review. The staff was friendly, and the place looked very clean. For the first time in Bellevue when I walked into a chinese place there was a lot of people there, which was a good sign. I was worried the kitchen might be backed up, but I was promised my food in 15 minutes and got it right at 15 on the dot, so good on them. I ordered chicken and vegetables and 2 crab rangoons, because each meal comes with 2 crab rangoons, which i thought was nice. The price of the rangoons is also pretty tough to beat. The crab rangoons were of good size, but they were only just alright. I ordered the Chicken and Vegetables to go. It was presented to me ready and wrapped up in a bag so I could just walk out with it. However, when I arrived home, It didn't come with a utencil, perhaps in error, or napkins. I suppose they thought wherever I was going I would be able to get those there, so I was lucky this time. This is also one of the rare joints that does't serve it in a styrofoam container. I got the steamed rice in a small paper fold up box and the entree in a plastic container. I'm not going to complain because I hate styrofoam so I made due and used the lid of the plastic container for a plate (I could have gotten a plate, but one of the big reasons I get my food instead of preparing it is so I don't dirty dishes) Upon opening the the container, I see that the vegetables are diced carrots and celery mostly, some water chestnuts. Kind of bummed no baby corn, broccoli, peppers, snap peas, bamboo... The first bite was surprising. I ordered the chicken and veg partly because i dont like how sweet sesame chicken or sweet and sour can be, or how spicy things like generals chicken, or many pork dishes can also get to. This entree was not marked as spicy, but it definitly has a kick to it--to a point where I have to eat slowly and drink some water or it gets uncomfortably spicy. The sauce does have that good savory flavor when its not too heat-intense. 2 stars for excellent service, somewhat reasonable pricing, speedy service, and food that is still better than most of the chinese food in Bellevue. I may try again, but we'll see. I'll definitly tell them I don't want it spicy next time. TL;DR -- For the price and portions, for the ambience and the staff, Golden Bowl is a good, young upstart. My only complaint was my food (a little) too spicy. However this is the best chance for chinese food you'll have yet in the Bellevue area. My two star review is simply from my own experience, and may change if I go back. I highly recommend you try for...

I must be ordering the wrong dishes, because I do not understand why this place is so popular.

This most recent time, we called in for a takeout order. The guy who answered the phone had a very hard time hearing our order. My boyfriend kept having to repeat himself. We ordered Coconut shrimp, chicken egg rolls, family size Mongolian beef made spicy, and individual sesame chicken.

The difference in portion size between family and individual is minimal. I recieved cashew chicken instead of sesame chicken. It took us a while to figure out what it was, because there was no sauce or cashews visible, just dry looking, tiny pieces of chicken and a few mushrooms. I had to dig to the bottom to find what little sauce there was. The dish had no flavor. I ate it anyway, because we weren't going to go across town again.

The Coconut shrimp came with a weird white sauce, which wasn't listed on the menu. I smelled it, and it smelled like Coconut, so I tried it with the shrimp. It tasted like coconut flavored frosting! Gross! The shrimp was perfect on its own!

The egg rolls were a little over done, but tasted very good. Hot mustard would be a great addition for these, instead of the red sauce.

Not a big deal, but we didn't get any fortune cookies :(

Considering th number of Chinese take-outs in to choose from in the area, I probably won't give this place another chance. I know my boyfriend will probably be a...

Heard a lot of good things about this place, so we thought we would try it. Maybe something different than Imperial Palace. Food was good but not great, about as good as IP.

I guess we were looking for something other than fast food Chinese.

I thought the fried rice was lacking something right off the the bat.

My wife had the Honey Walnut Chicken and I had the Black Pepper Steak.

I thought the HWC was good but a little too "vanillay."

The BPS was good but nothing to write home about.

My Daughter had Yum Yum Shrimp which I thought was the best of the three. The shrimp was yummy but not unforgettable.

We had Crab Rangoon and I thought it was very good.

Don't come here if you want ambiance. This is the old Lums and is in need of some serious remodeling. It has the feel of sitting in a trailer.

The best part of this place was the staff. They were very friendly and made us feel very welcome. Don't know if it is enough to get me to come back.

At this point, Imperial Palace remains our chinese go-to.

Kinda disappointed because Bellevue needs some more good...