China Dragon Star — Restaurant in Florida

Anyone who feels this is the best "authentic" Chinese food in town is delusional. *likely the food was ready fast because most of it was preprepared well in advance early in the day. Most everything except the egg rolls and soup was luke warm at best. The rice was almost cold. *the chicken for the sweet and sour chicken was only slightly warm and very hard as if it were either old or over cooked. *our egg rolls, though freshly cooked, were over cooked and had burnt, hard parts. They tasted like old grease and were saturated with it. Inedible. *the entrees were very large portions, yes, but both the Mongolian Beef and the Chicken and mixed vegetables had very little meat and was mostly vegetables. The mixed vegetables, which for some reason included zucchini, were over cooked and mushy. While the flavor of the sauces was good both dishes were swimming in it; way too much. Neither entree was very hot. *the order of steamed dumplings? where to begin. They did not use traditional wrappers which is normally thin, the wrapping was extremely thick and doughy, more like a flour pasta dough. They were prepared extremely well in advance and the wrappings were gummy, pasty, and stuck together into a lump so that when the dumplings were pulled apart they stuck together and had to be torn to pieces to be eaten. They were not fresh and less than room temperature even. There was little filling to speak of, maybe almost a teaspoon, so the bulk of it was the gummy, pasty, thick dough. *the hot and sour soup, which is my #1 favorite thing to get, I have had it many dozens of places so I feel I know how it is traditionally made, was very poorly made. The mushrooms were nearly whole and fairly uncooked, the bamboo shoots were very thick, undercooked, fibrous, and tough, some of the pieces were too difficult to chew they were so tough. There was very little egg, no pork, no tofu, red cabbage, or other typical ingredients other than a few scant shreds of carrot. The soup base was very thick, almost a jelly, with a very underwhelming flavor. This ranks among the worst h&s soups I have ever had. Oh, and the fried noodles were beyond stale to the point they were inedible.

In summary, the food was not fresh, poor ingredients, very skimpy on meat, too much sauce, and over cooked. For the "quality" we received it was extremely over priced. I will absolutely not be returning. Side note, the man who took our order was very unfriendly and nearly yelled at me when I asked for my soup which he had forgotten to include. At one point he was yelling at someone on the phone about an order at the top of his lungs then yelled at someone who came in to complain that they got the wrong food. Such a rude man, not how you should treat people. They must have burned something, my egg rolls maybe, and the rather large dinning room filled with greasy smoke that was choking me so that I had to...

I want to give this two stars but cannot. First it should be known that this visit was my FIRST. So this review is based upon one purchase experience.

I decided Not to read the reviews before I went. This is the opposite of the norm. The reason is because we were ordering one main entree (Orange Chicken/me) and a bowl of soup (Shrimp with Mixed Vegetable soup/wife). With such a small order we were willing to just see what we received. Also, the restaurant is 1.1 mile from our location and it was getting late.

I have now read the reviews...there are a LOT of one star reviews with a smattering of people who think the food is delicious. This tells me that the few good reviews means that there may be a few food items that are done well enough or that the reviews are planted(?).

I am a retired chef, from that perspective, based upon the food I reviewed I have to say that the person that prepared our food does not know how to cook. Anyone who knows how to cook would never send what we received out of the kitchen. The Orange Chicken was made with a brown paste and the food remained pasty rather than a nice fresh orange sauce. This was not a good preparation/recipe. The rice was mushy and not close to even a mediocre example of fried rice. The egg roll was ruined by the oil used for cooking. This was a combination dinner at $12.95 and is about 20% higher than the cost we usually pay (for well prepared Chinese food) at home in Virginia.

The soup was good w large pieces of vegetable including eggplant. The shrimp was small salad shrimp and added nothing to the dish. But at $5.95 for a quart there are no complaints.

I ordered by phone, from home, and i was told that it would be "ready in five minutes". I arrive and waited about ten minutes (no problem). I sat down at the closest table to the order counter and immediately noticed that the table top was very oily. Not just in a few places - kind of what you would expect if young children were eating at the table. This is, overall more troubling than the poor food preparation because it comes naturally to most people in the restaurant business to clean surfaces - especially in the dining room. This is not the case at this restaurant. This was mentioned repeatedly in the many reviews. If this is how the dining room is handled then I can be fairly certain that the kitchen is not going to be better nor is the handing of the food. My mushy rice is an example of holding food for service too long. There were many examples in the other reviews.

It is disappointing that this is not good Chinese food - so close to our location. We cannot go back to this restaurant. We'll read the reviews and hopefully find great Chinese food nearby at...

Was There Last Night The Food Was Greasy And The owner was loud and he tried to yell @ me saying his food was good that is why his egg rolls were dripping oil Never Going Back!!!! then i found this on collier countys site Inspection Number Date Disposition Number of Violations 2870444 March 26, 2019 Inspection Completed - No Further Action (Met Inspection Standards) 10 Inspector's Note Basic - Case/container/bag of food stored on floor in walk-in cooler/freezer. Observed tubs of sauce on the floor in the walk in cooler . Basic - Covered waste receptacle not provided in women's bathroom. Observed no covered waste receptacle in the ladies room. Basic - Employee beverage container on a food preparation table or over/next to clean equipment/utensils. Observed a soda bottle on top of the prep table by the hand wash sink. Basic - Hood filter missing from automatic fire suppression/exhaust system. Observed missing hood filters . Basic - Ice buildup in walk-in freezer. Observed ice build up in the walk in freezer . Basic - Stored food not covered in walk-in freezer. Observed uncovered food in the walk in cooler . High Priority - Pesticide/insecticide labeled for household use only present in establishment. Observed a pesticide labeled for home use. Operator removed the pesticide . Corrected On-Site Intermediate - Handwash sink not accessible for employee use due to items stored in the sink. Observed pans in the hand wash sink by the three compartment sink. Corrected On-Site Intermediate - No probe thermometer provided to measure temperature of food products. Observed no probe thermometer. Intermediate - Ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food prepared onsite and held more than 24 hours not properly date marked. Observed several pans of egg rolls made the day before per the operator not labeled . Count Violation 1 + Original container: properly labeled, date marking, consumer advisory 2 + Food protection, cross-contamination 1 + Hands washed and clean, good hygienic practices, eating / drinking / smoking 1 + Handwash sinks, handwashing supplies and handwash sign 1 + Chemicals / toxic substances 1 * Food and food equipment thermometers provided and accurate 2 Food-contact and nonfood-contact surfaces designed, constructed, maintained, installed, located 1 Bathrooms 2815095 Jan. 16, 2019 Inspection Completed - No Further Action (Met...