East Cafe Chinese — Restaurant in Maryland

EDIT 3/2024 unfortunately what was a good restaurant went under new ownership at some point I believe. While I’m not 100% certain I can definitely tell the same people are not there. The food used to be wonderful and it was my favorite Chinese place. I would go every week. Recently the quality of food has gone downhill. I can tell a difference in the flavor and textures. I also have noticed the price has gone up substantially… Which would not be that big of a deal if the quality of food remained. I know stuff has gotten more expensive but the food has just gone downhill. Also, one of my dinners was put into a Chinese food carton that had disintegrated completely by the time I got home. I suspected they knew that was going to be a problem because they put that carton inside of its own plastic bag… . If they knew the container was not strong enough to hold up they should’ve put it in a proper container to begin with. This food was not cheap so I would expect to at least be able to eat it by the time I got home. The fried rice was mushy and soggy Like eating a bowl of mush paste. All the food was about 10 times as greasy as it normally is… Which also made it un palatable. Overall huge disappointment probably will not be returning. This used to be a five star review.

There was nothing specifically wrong with the service, they were professional and approachable. However, I used to be able to call up to place my order and they knew who I was just by my order. The reason for mentioning this, is that we eat plant-based in my household so when I order without meat, if I would mistakenly order something and forget to say “no egg“ The lady taking my order would always confirm if I accidentally ordered something that contained egg or something animal-based in it.. This didn’t happen this time and a dish we didn’t normally get had egg in it when you would think it wouldn’t. So that was another part of the dinner that got thrown out. So this used to be five star service, it’s three stars at best now. There are plenty of other Chinese restaurants in the county… while this place is not horrible, if you’ve got the time to drive an extra 10 minutes I’m sure you can find it better somewhere in the county.

See below from my original review.

My favorite local Chinese place. Friendly people... Small town feel. They always remember me by my order :) ....

My food was ok. The lemon chicken is ok. Egg rolls are super greasy - roll them in a napkin or paper towel to absorb the grease before trying to eat them. That said - the service is comical. In the kitchen door - lots of yelling in the back - out the kitchen door …. over and over. While I waited (extra time) for the order I called in, that kitchen door had the two women running in and out - had to be 50 times. I get it - doing their jobs but when the main woman was out of the kitchen and back out front working the front, her back was towards everyone 95% of the time - totally flustered. It was almost sit-com-ish. The place is dingy and dirty looking which you notice while waiting the extra time for your called in order. Anyway - they clearly need more staff - at minimum someone who stays in the front of the house. Just seems very unorganized and unprofessional. Oh, and “cash is preferred due to slow...

Ugh. No.

We moved and none of our dishes or silverware were unpacked so we went looking for takeout and found East Cafe. It was lunch time and all we were really looking at was the menu on the wall above the counter...the lady behind the counter did not bother to tell us there was a lunch menu so we ended up paying $20 for General Tso Chicken and a large fried rice (I use the term "large" loosely). This is the most I've ever paid for 2 dishes at a Chinese place but figured if it was good then I wouldn't mind.

Nope. General Tso chicken was sweet, no spice at all. Just a goopy mess. The fried rice was tinged yellow for some reason I probably don't want to know and had no flavor at all.

There may not be a lot of options in Dunkirk but please don't waste your money here. I would've taken a pre-made sandwich from the Giant over this food...seriously. At least it would've...