Handy Kitchen Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Durham

Nearly everything about this place was disappointing. I ordered by phone and was told the food would be ready in 15 minutes. I asked 15 minutes really? And the guy said yes, 15 minutes. It took 30 minutes. I know, this is a minor gripe, but I was trying to time things well, and this was just the start of my disappointment.

When I arrived and the order wasn't ready, I had to prompt him to let me pay before the food was done so that I could just go when it was ready. Then I noticed a bag sitting around for a while that I thought might be mine, but I had just been up to the counter 10 minutes ago, and I assumed the guy knew more than I did. There were only maybe 8 people that went through the restaurant the whole time I was there. Turns out it was my food, but it wasn't until I asked and finally received my food 40 minutes after I had placed it.

The packaging overall was good. No plastic utensils and sauce packets thrown in the bag (they were available on the counter if you needed any). No styrofoam either, which was nice to see.

The food overall was bland: Wonton Soup: nothing wrong with this. In fact I was surprised to see 4 wontons in a pint worth of soup. If I ever just wanted wonton soup I would consider coming here.

Hot and Sour Soup: not tangy enough (bland)

Sesame Chicken: The sauce on this wasn't very tangy or sweet. Couldn't taste the sesame.

Mongolian Beef: The sauce was bland. There were way too many onions relative to everything else.

Mixed Veggie Fried Rice: No eggs that I could see. The rice just seemed like regular rice with flavoring added (not actually fried).

So overall unpredictable timing, snafus at the counter, and...

I've been going to this place for years and have always had good food and good service. A while back, I had shrimp fried rice that tasted awful. So I called to let them know. Their response:" bring back now"! I was already at my residence and didn't want to leave and go back the same day. They would not write my name down so I could come another time and replace the bad order. I decided I wouldn't go back again. In a moment of weakness I decided to try them again. The food and the service ( my opinion) was absolutely terrible! Two small shrimp fried rice and two egg drop soups for $17 in change. Absolutely outrageous! Notice: The above was my experience ànd my opinion. C.Ĺ.H.

Fact: The bathrooms,(before the Pandemic) were very nasty. It's been said: A restaurant's lavatory (restroom for u dropouts) is a great indication of of the cleanliness, of the kitchen/food prep area,etc.

For Good Chinese Food try to Bamboo House at North Duke Mall. Or the one one on the corner of Guess Rd. and Fawn, ( I can't remember the name) it's adjacent to the car wash. Great Food! I promise you'll love it.

My name is Chad and I'm a...

My parents recently bought a house in northern Durham, less than 2 miles from Handy Kitchen. Turns out this is going to be a problem because it's so good and fast that I end up eating there way too much. The egg drop soup can be a little gloppy like they didn't wisk the thickener enough, but the taste and ratio of egg to liquid is great. The sweet and sour pork was nicely crisp and good quality meat. The chicken lo main has been a crowd favorite. So was the honey chicken, btw they give you a ton of sauce so you can douse your food. Pork fried rice has nice chunks of meat in it. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is their definition of spicy. I've asked for spicy twice and feel both time it was...