Classic Asia — Restaurant in Haddon Heights

I wish I could give this place four stars. It's a cute restaurant in downtown Haddon Heights with a cozy seating area and food that's definitely a step above normal suburban Chinese fare (we had the salt baked squid, Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce, and I got a pumpkin soup that was actually extremely good). However, the service was incredibly poor.

When we arrived, we stood by the front desk for a full four or five minutes before someone came up to it, at which point we were directed to sit down at any table we wanted. We passed a table that had dishes still on it but no people at it, and it stayed that way the entire time we were there. We were given menus, but it took much longer than it should have for our orders to be taken. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. We finally got our soups, which you'd think would just be in the back waiting to be scooped into bowls. We were starving at this point, so we finished them quickly. Then we waited again, for what felt like forever, for our entrees to show up. The entire time, people kept coming in for their take out orders, and the phone kept ringing, so clearly they're very busy on Friday nights. Why they don't hire more people to take care of the dinner rush is beyond me. Eventually our food came and it was delicious, but having to spend nearly two hours for dinner is just crazy.

Also, there are two TVs here for some reason, one of which points directly toward the seating area. It was playing children's shows the entire time we were there. Not great for trying to have a conversation.

So, I would love to rate this place better, but they have to get it together during busy times. You can't make people wait an insanely long...

I remember when the new owners took over this restaurant. It took me a few months to give it a try, because I was not happy with the previous ownership. My first foray was a take-out order. I was pleasantly surprised with the way that the interior had been redecorated, elevating it from the metal diner-style tables and chairs to wood dining furniture. The new menu was intriguing, with a variety of non-traditional dishes.

So I took a friend there for dinner. Bear in mind that this is a local, family-owned Chinese restaurant, so they also offer take-out and delivery service. Despite the occasional comings and goings, the owner was very welcoming and attentive.

We made selections off the Chef's Specialties, items which we had never heard of. The food was both beautifully presented and deliciously prepared.

I have returned on several occasions since, and have had the same satisfactory result each time. Now that the restaurant is more popular, the comings and goings are more frequent, which means that the service is a little slower. But the food is consistently creative...

Moved into the area relatively recently and was craving Chinese, saw the 4+ star reviews and gave it a shot.

It’s not particularly horrible but it’s really not good and definitely not for the price. It’s one of those places where if you order a dish that’s called roast pork, or a seafood noodle, it’s like 90% vegetables covered in sauce, clearly to keep costs down.

I ordered the Szechuan roast pork and it probably had only 10 percent protein, the rest was a bunch of sliced peppers, onions, and other veggies. The house special pan fried noodles were the same, not only was it mostly veggies, I had to dig just to find a tiny amount of noodles, I thought I had gotten the wrong order there were so little noodles.

It’s sad cause reading the reviews more carefully, it definitely used to be much better and has slid far in quality, I guess in an attempt reduce overhead, but I also won’t be coming back, and would not...