China Moon — Restaurant in Laguna Niguel

RATINGS ADJUSTED FOR COVID-19 Food ⭐⭐⭐ Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ready for Covid-19 Factor ⭐⭐ Indoor Dining ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Cleanliness ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Made a reservation. Drove an hour to eat here because they had dine-in. When we arrived, we stood at the door waiting because there's a sign that only one person at a time. The manager was outside having out with a group and didn't even ask to assist us. There were people there to pick-up orders who weren't being helped. Others who just walked up, tried to cut ahead of us. It was very disorganized at best.

We were told 3 times that the table was ready. We had a 80 year old disabled guest who had at this time walked in to be seated. She was told to go stand outside again in the cold even after the table was ready.

The Beef with Broccoli barely had beef. See picture. The Tofu With Vegetable was a good size. Combination Crispy Noodles was okay. ALL THREE had the same base which was being drenched in Soy Sauce. This was not authentic Chinese food. It was okay at best, if you are hungry like we were. Had we driven a bit further to Westminister, we could have enjoyed a great Chinese meal.

The Manager Shu doesn't seem to understand how to run the place. Its too disorganized. People stand around outside clueless what to do. Sandy, our server was very friendly and took care of us. Eduardo, the runner was awesome. Very attentive and polite.

If you are hungry and craving for Chinese food, this might work, but Chinese food isn't anything with Soy Sauce poured all over it. Each dish has its own flavor, texture and the combination of those flavors is what makes for a great Chinese meal. I didn't want to ruin their overall score, so I gave 4 ⭐. If not for Covid-19 and everyone struggling, I would have given no...

IMPORTANT INFO FOR VEGANS AND VEGETARIANS: ALL OF THE ITEMS ON THE MENU LABELED "VEGETARIAN" CONTAIN CHICKEN AND THIS IS NOT DISCLOSED ON THE MENU.

I didn't have a good experience here. I called and asked about options suitable for vegans. The staff member checked and listed all of the options on the vegetarian menu as vegan. That's disappointing but obviously not unheard of -- they just need to train their staff better. The reason for the one star review is that once you attempt to order a vegetarian item, the server discloses that they're made with chicken broth. I got the impression that this was a known issue and they are aware of it. I spoke with the manager and we (calmly) argued back and forth that the commonly understood meaning of vegetarian is that it will not contain meat, and broth is made by simmering meat. Their stance is that they do have vegetarian and vegan options if someone orders a "vegetarian" item and gets it without any sauce. Aka unflavored steamed veggies for $20. This is illegal, unethical, and could harm someone with a food allergy.

My dining companion said that the food she ate was delicious. The edamame (the only actual vegan item on the menu...hopefully?) was very tasty too.

Based on my perception that they are knowingly putting customers at risk, I am leaving this review at 1 star until they change the menu to reflect the reality of the situation. Put those pictures up then reply to this review and I will add stars to reflect the high quality...

I ordered hot and sour soup, crab wontons, spring rolls, orange chicken, chicken lo mein and sesame chicken to go for my family. The hot and sour soup has an added herb no Chinese restaurant puts in it -- maybe taragon? It was awful and disappointing, because this is typically my favorite soup. The wontons and spring rolls were lukewarm. None of the entrees had any liquid or sauce, pretty much dry. The orange chicken was tasty, but still needed some sauce to go with the rice. The sesame chicken didn't look like any I'd seen before and certainly didn't taste like it, either. The chicken lo mein was actually very tasty and had a bit of sauce clinging to the noodles, so they somewhat flavored the rice ... sort of. I only received one container of rice for all three entrees. Not enough!

And they sent me home with ketchup. Not sweet/sour sauce ... but ketchup. I'm from Kansas and just moved here last year. So ... maybe this is a California thing? Don't know.

Although, the staff here is very friendly, I would strongly recommend that you avoid this Chinese restaurant if you're looking for quality and quantity.

On the other hand, I would highly recommend Kaleyard for quality Chinese food at a reasonable price. I just had this delivered a few days ago and it was delicious.

China Moon ... well ... it was a huge...