China King — Restaurant in Florida

Veggies were fresh but that’s about it, folks. I tried this spot because my brother wanted to try them. When I try a new place I try many different things before making a decision on whether I like it or not. This was a no go for me. The wonton soup was subpar at best. More of a soy sauce based soup with little flavor. Fried wontons weren’t bad. The two chicken dishes, a fried rice and a Kung Pao were bad. What I’m finding down here in this area is that restaurants aren’t using the correct ingredients when making their dishes like big city. I grew up in Maryland near DC. Then moving to San Diego being able to find consistent dishes I know what I’m looking for. Same with LA and San Francisco. Consistent ingredients and sauces. Then I come here and it’s all blah and bland. I have found that restaurants down here are not using one of the most important ingredients when making Kung Pao and General Taos: Guilin style chili paste. This restaurant used chili oil to make it hot. No no no. Wrong wrong. They also didn’t use hoisin sauce. Wrong wrong. I shouldn’t have to get my food home and have to doctor it up to make it somewhat edible. No dried chili’s either. Now these two chicken dishes seemed to use the same chicken. What I feel they did was that their chicken was getting close to expiring so they precooked it. Then when they put it into these dishes, it only made them harder and more overcooked. Not good. The beef lomein wasn’t horrible but if I can’t get two or three home runs when buying 4-5 dishes then I don’t go back. Sorry folks. I will kept driving out to Crystal River to Chopstix Express. Not everything is correct there either, but at least their Kung Pao has the correct veggies: bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and celery for the most part. And real dried chili’s and not an oil. So many places are using short cuts and it’s not good. I at least had to try you out. My search continues for real General Taos. Really dark, spicy...

Review for China King – Ocala (SR 200) This was my second time visiting China King on SR 200 for takeout. The food is decent, and the wings are actually quite good. However, both visits were overshadowed by the poor customer service I experienced—specifically from the gentleman working the front counter. During my first visit, I noticed his demeanor was aggressive, rude, and somewhat arrogant. I initially gave him the benefit of the doubt, assuming he might have been having a bad day. Unfortunately, my second visit confirmed that this behavior wasn’t an isolated incident. What stood out this time was witnessing the same employee interact with a white gentleman ahead of me—he was kind, respectful, and even cheerful in tone. When it was my turn, the tone immediately shifted. He slammed my food on the counter and spoke to me with the same dismissive and hostile attitude as before. As an African-American man who is new to the area, having recently built a home here, I’ve made it a point to approach every place and person with kindness and respect. To be treated with such hostility—especially in contrast to how others were treated right before me—is deeply disheartening and unacceptable. I don’t know this man’s experiences or mindset, but the difference in treatment was noticeable, and I can’t ignore the possibility that it was racially motivated. Regardless of the reason, no one should have to pay to be treated with such disrespect. This is the first time I’ve encountered this kind of treatment in the Ocala area, and while I had hoped to support local businesses, I’ve made the decision not to return to this location. I believe it’s important for others to be aware of how customers may be treated here. We all deserve to be acknowledged with basic decency and...

I don't understand all these people who say their food is great. Their fried rice is the most disgusting I have ever had. If you order anything other than the basic, you get the same dry rice that tastes like it's been fried in oil taken out of the deep fryer and then fried and left sit somewhere till it's hard as a rock. Then they take a whole dried out till it's looks like leather, chicken breast, & slap it on the side and call it chicken fried rice. If you order shrimp, they put three pieces of shrimp on the side. Stuff is never cut up and mixed together. Which is the way fried rice is supposed to be made. There's no flavor in any of it whatsoever! I used to go here all the time when I first moved to Florida in 2019 because I live right next door in Oak Run. Then I stopped going because the food was horrible. Went again about 6 months ago, and it was worse than before. Won't go back! People here in Florida don't understand what real Chinese food is. This is Mall food here! An entree with rice and an egg roll. Back home in the pnw, we had many different combinations to choose from. Then, from east of the Mississippi, it changed. But I wouldn't eat at this place if you paid me to. And they don't even care when...