Golden Temple & The E Room Bar — Restaurant in Brookline

Are you kidding!?!?! I must have had a dozen family holiday parties that soley had Golden Temple food....which everyone all loved...Last week after a bad personal day my wife and I decided to drive the 30 min to go eat lunch. First I ha e never been inside so that was a treat to see the place that has feed my family for the holidays for years....enviroment was quiet causal and very clean the architecture was of orient ideas but not the tachy old school style but very modern...our server was a young man approx 65 spoke both languages and was soft spoken ....he gave us about 4 menus including a drink menu...my wife and I were looking for a quick turn around and cheap lunch so we went with the lunch menu which offers a main dish and 2 sides....I got the Green tea buckwheat lo mein w/ egg roll and wings...wifey got beef broccoli w/ wing and eggroll....Damn Damn is all i can say in how fast (yes only about 1/3 full of guests) and how good! I definitely had the absolute best Lo mein I have ever tried and it was a lunch green tea buckwheat noodle with the smoky char of the wok garlic and ginger....My love had the brightest greens with a lil snap to the bite with a gorgeous dark brown sauce with slices of beef that were tender enough to cut with a fork.. As far as sides ro the dishes we felt like they were in par with good American Chinese quality but nothing supreme..It was the Mains that stole the show....in the end the waiter came over with 2 packets he tore both slightly and handed me one and gave the other to my love inside was a warm tolliete to clean our hands and face...WHAT MIND BLOWN if thats not enough red fortune cookies very cool original touch and a "lucky money" envelope.....open the envelope and inside will be riches of various denominations...i think that was given due the Chinese new year month we we in February. So what did we get? Both my wife and I received a half dollar coin in our envelope, no not retirement but the idea an concept of the gesture of giving literal cash back as a thank you for the Chinese celebration of the new year was enough for us to walk out after while experience to say the GOLDEN TEMPLE IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST CHINESE/AMERICAN...

If there was a zero star option that's what Golden Temple deserves. Where to start? I made my reservation (almost a week in advance on 12/18/2023) for Christmas Eve online through Resy Reservations for 7:45PM for 5 people and got a confirmation email. On Saturday 12/23/2023, I received a text message reminding me about my reservation and I responded confirming it. Finally, on Sunday 12/24/2023, I received another reminder text message at 7:15PM stating "You're due at Golden Temple in 30 minutes." We arrived at 7:40PM to find people waiting everywhere, outside the front entrance, in the lobby (visibly distressed)…people with reservations had been waiting for over an hour and there were other parties that had been seated already that were coming up to the front desk hostess and letting her know that they've been sitting at their table for over an hour and nobody has come to take their order, other parties had ordered their food over an hour ago and still nothing had come out. The hostess had zero reaction, she would just stare straight ahead and told some people (including me) that "you can leave if you want to." What kind of customer service is that? Golden Temple has had a reputation for a long time as a popular restaurant in Brookline and as an even more popular dining destination for Christmas Eve. How can you treat people this way and expect to have repeat customers or maintain a good reputation in the community? If you cannot properly staff your business so that customers have an enjoyable dining experience or at least can get their food then DO NOT OPEN!!! The level of rudeness and indifference was disgusting and judging by other reviews that I have read, the food isn't good either. We ended up leaving and going to Blossom Bar in Brookline Village which had a much better level of customer service, the drinks were amazing, the food was very tasty, and the customer service was enthusiastic; our server genuinely made us feel like he wanted us to have a great time. A blessing in disguise I guess that we didn't get seated for our reservation at Golden Temple. I will never go there again and an establishment with that type of attitude to their customers should not be...

I sat at the bar at Golden Temple and had a couple drinks and finished my dinner when the bartender put down my bill. On my bill there was an entry "S/C: ADMIN FEE" FOR $1.23. Upon seeing it I asked the bartender what was that charge for? He said he didn't know and you should ask the front desk. So I went to the front desk and asked an elderly, portly, white haired, Asian man standing there what was the fee for? He told me that he didn't know; it was in the computer and he couldn't change it. I asked to see the person in charge and he told me that he left for the evening and he had no way of contacting him(Eric. I think?) I also asked the middleaged, brown haired Asian woman who was also there sitting down in front of a computer screan if she could help me and I didn't get a response. I went on to explain that I didn't want to pay the fee and to take it off my biil. The elderly man told me to take it out of the bartender's tip because he couldn't do anything about it. I asked the older man to get the man who left early on the phone he told me that he had noway of contacting him. When I questioned the man on what he would do if there was an emergency or fire in the restaurant who would he call and he responded "The Fire Department." Then I asked him who would notify the owner? He didn't answer... I would like to caution anyone who would think of dinning at Golden Temple about their deceptive business practices and unexplained fees. They are basically stealing your hard earned money and taking advantage of you not throughly reading/understanding your charges/bill. Isn't the price of food high enough not to have extra fees added when you dine out?!?! Who knows how long they have been collecting these hidden fees without anyone noticing? I am wondering if the Licensing Board or the Town of Brookline are aware of their deceptive business practices? Also there is no mention of this fee on their menu or posted anywhere in the establishment. With that said, that will be my first two phone calls on Monday morning. Also, here is a...