Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Cottonwood

This place is not what one would expect from a Chinese restaurant. It has a little something more. Upon entering I was greeted by the staff and very quickly sat down to a clean table. Almost immediately I saw the decorative red chinese art everywhere and the large buffet isles. There was so many different things to choose from it was hard to make a choice upon what to eat. The waitress came within 10 seconds of sitting down and took our drink order. We chose the buffet and began to look at the different menu items. I first chose a wonderful yet simple blue and white china plate to begin my lunch. I chose white rice topped with Mongolian beef and a simple garden salad topped with ranch style dressing with an egg roll on the side. Before I sat down the table had been set with napkins, cutlery and our drinks had arrived all within 2 minutes. The cutlery was spotless. The drink cups clean and filled with a generous amount of 2/3 drink and 1/3 ice and was cold to the touch as expected. The rice was steamed perfectly with just enough stickiness to please the Asian pallette yet not the point where the rice was mushy. There was only perfectly cooked small granules that looked appeasing and steamy hot. The Mongolian beef was delicious. Sliced tender beef marinated with green onions in Mongolian sauce. The beef was a near perfect blend of aroma, spices, seasoning and savory taste to the point that I was very tempted to get another plate. The salad was iceberg lettuce and roma tomatoes. The lettuce was clean and no sign of tarnished leaves or wilting. The only thing that could have made it better was if the lettuce was chopped into a bit smaller pieces. The tomatoes where fresh, bright red ripe, and tasted great. Those too could have been cut into smaller pieces. The ranch salad dressing was not to thick and not to thin. It was of good taste, the vegetables where fresh, crunchy to bite and delicious. Overall the salad was great. The egg roll was dipped in sweet and sour sauce and was amazing. Not over oiled, nor undercooked. For desert I had a Chinese style pastry, a Chinese sugar donut. The taste was perfect with lightly sprinkled white granulated sugar on the outside and the texture was soft and chewable. Simple yet delicious and filling. At this time the waitress ask if I would like refill and though I declined, she was right on time. She also immediately took away the plates and cutlery. The place had a great mostly quiet atmosphere with light chatting from other guests and lots to look at and appreciate, in the way of Chinese culture and art. Seating was spaced apart from others for privacy and spaciousness and the climate was nice at about 72 degrees. The place was very clean, and the workers, fast working, accommodating and very friendly. Upon leaving we where given a customary chinese fortune cookie on a little platter with the check. Pricing was fair at only 10 dollars per adult for the buffet and drinks where also fair priced. Not a bad deal to eat your fill. I will definitely eat here again and highly recommend the food. Great place. Definitely one of Verde Valleys...

Update after 6 years: This place has definitely seen better times. It seems that the restaurant has not been renovated or thoroughly updated for years. Some of the seats are worn and torn, the tables are sticky and the carpet is old and shabby. The men's restroom is super old, shabby, and not clean. I lost all appetite after washing my hands there. The range of different dishes at the buffet has become very limited. Compared to a few years ago, there is not even half the choice. What's more, the food was lukewarm at best. Some dishes had probably been laying there for ages. The chips were cold and dry. The fried wontons were almost cold, not crispy, and bone hard on the outside. The green beans with chicken were almost without chicken. Egg rolls have nothing to do with Chinese egg rolls, just hand warm and stuffing is terribly boring taste. And so on. There is far too little on offer for the price of the lunch buffet. It's a shame to see the decline over the years. The Asian waitress is a real ray of hope - always friendly and polite and very attentive. She certainly deserves a better job. Unfortunately, I can no longer recommend the Golden Dragon restaurant. This is not Chinese food, has nothing to do with it any more. In fact, the Dragon is an insult to the art of Chinese cuisine

Buffet style restaurant. Price is flat rate. Asian waiters are nice...

The Feel: 5/5 Good, homey atmosphere. I felt comforted as soon as I walked in the door. The ceiling is high, so it felt very open and inviting, yet warm and comforting from all of the traditional decor.

The Food: 5/5 Excellent quality, especially considering that it's a buffet style restaurant. I've noticed chicken in particular can be low quality, at best, or questionable, at worst, from some Chinese restaurants. This is the one place in town where I feel free to eat the chicken, and know in my heart that it is good for my soul and my body. The chow mein is excellent as well, which is very important to me too. They have it with broccoli, which makes you feel like you're at least getting some nutrition. So, I like that. There are a few veggies at the salad bar and some eggs too, so I felt like I had a nice, balanced meal, which was good for me.

The Service: 5/5 The servers checked up on us pretty frequently without being intrusive. They were very kind and always asked if they could remove plates away before taking them. I cannot emphasize enough how sweet and kind they were, eager to help and making sure we had everything we need.

Would I dine again? You betcha. Just writing this review is making me hungry for more at The...