Jade Dynasty Restaurant — Restaurant in Manitou Springs

So...We came here since the reviews were so high and close to our hotel. The staff was attentive, but dine in wasn't busy. The building and interior was worn and in need of renovation. I'm sure everything was clean, but the old beige makes you question the decision to eat there. Of course, its all about the food.

Appetizers - Got the Pu Pu Platter: The vegetable egg roll was crisp but smallish and fairly bland. I suggest trying the chicken and shrimp version. I don't remember getting the paper wrapped chicken, The BBQ spare rib was not good. I didn't taste any marinade or seasoning. It was just overcooked on high heat making it tough and dry. The Beef Stick on the other hand was awesome. Great flavor and tender. The fried shrimp was also good. Lastly the fried cheese wonton was just normal. Nice and crisp, but not much flavor. No chili or sweet sauces were on the plate, but we were able to get some duck and mustard sauce.

Main Course - Its true the main entrees do not include any rice. Its $4-6 dollars for a plain side of rice. So we decided to order off the noodle section with the added protein. My wife got the chicken fried rice and it was great. I on the other hand, being adventurous, got the BBQ Pork Pan Fried Noodles. Sigh... Sadly the pork was tough, Pan frying the noodles made them tough almost uneatable, and the "brown gravy" seemed to be just soy sauce, maybe Worcestershire sauce, with corn starch. So thick and salty. I couldn't taste any sweetness from molasses or sugar, no garlic or ginger, no punch of mirin or sake, or any optional complexity from bean paste, hoisin, or fish sauce. Just salt which was too much for me.

Summary - Don't order anything with Bar-B-Q pork. Pan Fried Noodles are not airy and crisp. Beef, Shrimp or Chicken should be good based on our sampling. If you want a rice or noodle, order with the protein to match the entree. The burnt smell/taste some have mentioned is probably from sesame seeds being over toasted or in the oil. They are very temperature sensitive and if sesame oil is homemade to add flavor, it can be overdone depending on different peoples flavor profiles. You could kind of smell it coming from the kitchen, but our food was not...

Best tasting Chinese food we’ve found after 3 years in Colorado Springs. We ordered pickup-the seafood combo, shrimp/ckn eggrolls, shrimp fried rice, war wonton soup & lemonade.

Not a fan of the lemonade. It tastes kind of watered down and artificial.

The soup is the best war we’ve had, ever, but I found an onion skin stuck to my tongue. No big deal, just a weird experience.

Eggrolls are tiny- a whole shrimp wrapped up in some kind of wonton wrapper and fried. These little gems are tasty, especially with the accompanying sauce that I don’t use or like, typically.

It seafood combo is SO good!

I wasn’t too sure about the shrimp fried rice, but it’s one of those things- the more you eat, the better it gets. At first I thought there was a bit too much soy sauce and was missing sesame oil, but it still hit the spot.

Pickup was a bit awkward as the lady giving us the food couldn’t bother to look up or acknowledge that I was speaking to her. I said we found the restaurant on Google and it’s highly rated. Some restaurants appreciate knowing what’s said online about their business. I get the job. I’ve done it. 10 seconds of attentiveness to the customer would’ve improved the experience. The standard of service is set now, so I’ll adjust my expectations and return for more...

We were visiting Manitou and were craving Chinese food. This restaurant had received 4.5 stars so we decided to try it out.

The inside is definitely run down. The walls were dirty and our tablecloth had food stains on it. It didn't look like it had been washed in a year. I'm not sure what the condition of their bathrooms were since I didn't use it, but this table next to us had a 3 or 4 year old girl that refused to use the restroom because she didn't like it. If it was anything like the rest of their restaurant, I'm sure it was not in the greatest condition.

If you want rice with your entree, it's $2.00 extra otherwise you don't get anything else with your entree. I'm not sure if that's a normal practice here? I've been to many Asian and Chinese restaurants, and I have never encountered that before.

My boyfriend and I each got an entree and one side of their plain white rice. The entrees were large portions, but our $2.00 rice came in this tiny rice bowl so definitely not worth $2.00. I had the chicken and broccoli which had too much salt/sodium in it. My boyfriend had their Kung Pao chicken which he liked. If you come here, save your $2.00 and bring your own rice.

Definitely won't be returning here again. I'm not sure how they...