Jing's — Restaurant in Milwaukee

I think what keeps this restaurant busy its convenient location to those who live in Third Ward.

The restaurant has been recently closed for a few month so I was really looking forward to trying it for the first time.

I have tried numerous Chinese restaurants in the area and they vary. Some taste like Chinese fast food but overall still a nice garlicky flavor and some with some higher end flavors. Some have lunch specials, some have one size, some of the more carry out focused restaurants sell quart and pint.

So which one is Jing's on a Saturday evening?

Well, I was extremely disappointed. We had carry out, I ordered the chicken in garlic sauce and the other chicken was sweet and sour. We also ordered spring rolls.

Well, the size of my garlic chicken order was smaller than a lunch special in some local Chinese restaurants. The flavor was OK at best. It is not that I need endless left overs, but not feeling constrained about having seconds should not be a sentiment. Or if they specialize in small portions, great, but the prices should reflect somewhat the portion that you are getting. I was getting roughly $7worth of food for for $14. Understood that rents are higher in the Third Ward and so on, but this price differential is somewhat absurd. No, they don't need to have the same price and portion as another more outlying area, but again, this was a huge difference.

The spring rolls also were not interesting, they tasted as if they were out of a frozen Costco bag. They also forgot to give us the hot mustard.

It is a pity that such a great location has to be a disappointment. Did they have an off night and run out of food? I doubt it based on some of the...

Both the curried chicken and general tso chicken were, unfortunately, very bland. The friend chicken used for the latter was not crispy at all, but instead gummy in a way that seemed reheated or microwaved, rather than freshly fried and then coated with sauce in a hot wok. The sauce was either store-bought, or incredibly underdeveloped.

The curry seemed almost entirely missing from the curry chicken, instead being somewhat watery. This is surprising, given how easy it would be to (at the very least) use a premade seasoning to a proper amount. The chicken was also overcooked and not velveted properly, which led to the texture being slightly rubbery and sticking to the teeth when chewing. The veggies were ok, if not also slightly overcooked.

Service was good. The atmosphere, minus the giant holding station against the wall, was just fine.

In any case, there was an overall lack of freshness, execution, flavor, or any inspiration in what both me and my partner had. After trying our food, we both just sort of looked up at one another with disappointment. Quality Chinese-American cuisine seems to be increasingly hard to find, and Jing's continues that trend - regardless of any supposed accolades from the past.

(Please don't argue with your disappointed patrons online voicing legitimate concerns - it's incredibly embarrassing to read. With all due respect, your energy would be much better spent improving on and delivering...

I called ahead and ordered three chicken dishes on a Friday night. When I arrived, I told them my name, paid, and left. When I got home, I saw that what was in the bag was not what I ordered. I called and initially was greeted by a friendly and courteous employee. I was passed off to someone else though to try and figure out the error. The person asked for me name and told me that they took my order and that I very clearly stated the wrong order I was given. I told them that they were incorrect because I spoke to a woman, not a man and that I had clearly ordered nothing that sounded like what I was given. I was then told I was out of the delivery area (ten minutes away) and would have to come back to swap out the food for what I actually ordered because, as it turns out, two people of the same name put in orders. I drove back to retrieve my food, and was charged the difference with a half hearted apology and no attempt at trying to make up the inconvenience. I worked in the restaurant industry for two years and even ran one. I was perfectly fine with running back to the restaurant if that's what was needed, because mistakes happen, but the attitude soured me on this place. And on top of that, the food wasn't even that spectacular, and my roommate had a long black hair...