Ding's Kitchen — Restaurant in Newton

Read so many negative comments on how dirty the restaurant is, how rude the servers are, how the restaurant was suspended for opening due to rodent dropping and other serious violation of sanitation standards. Honestly, I didn’t have a really bad experience before their suspension.

Today I decided to give them a try despite all the negative comments warning about the food safety and poor sanitation for this restaurant.

We ordered their coconut chicken hotpot and some veggies to go with it. The soup doesn’t taste as crisp and sweet as they used to be. The servers are very nice and attentive.

But that’s the end of good impression and the beginning of the nightmare.

Dirty dinning wares:

2 out of 6 bowls had visible dried dirty stain inside the bowls. 1 out of 3 spoons had a dried chili flake. I have to ask our server to replace for us. Apparently they didn’t improve on their sanitation good enough.

Rotten meat! Extreme food safety concern:

When we finished our chicken, we started to add beef to the broth. The appearance of the raw beef didn’t look good even before we cook it. The moment I put the cooked beef into my mouth, the sour and rotten flavor just overwhelmed my mouth and made me want to throw up.

I reported this to our server and restaurant manager. They said they would refund on the things we didn’t eat and also gave us a 30% discount. However one of the comments from the manager really pissed me off. She commented: Different customers had different tolerance for flavor. She didn’t even admit it’s the problem of rotten meat but blame me for having a “high” standard.

When you read this review. You might think you will be the lucky one and will have good experience in this restaurant. I was thinking the same when I decided to give this restaurant a try despite all the negative reviews. The fact is they still couldn’t meet the minimum sanitation standards even the restaurant was revoked due to sanitation violation just a couple...

January 27, 2023, 5:30 pm. This restaurant is “authentic” Chinese cuisine, but the menu was not appealing, and food was not tasty and of low quality. Have eaten in Chinese restaurants in Taiwan & Singapore & Hong Kong (spectacular food), 3-4 cities in China & South Korea (good food), and in Chinese-American restaurants in many US and Canadian cities, including Boston area. This restaurant’s fare is mediocre. We started with 2 unsavory appetizers, and thereafter I limited order to one main course to prevent compounding the disappointment. This dish relied on hot peppers and an overwhelming amount of garlic as flavoring - so much garlic, will need to isolate from people for a few days. The Service was inattentive, indifferent. No request if we wanted water or beverages, and nearly begged waiter to bring drinks. Our table was hidden in a tiny corner of the restaurant flanked by chaotic junk and kitchen supplies. Chopsticks were only option unless you asked for fork and knife, which took long to arrive after food was served and became cold. Husband had hand surgery so could not eat with chopsticks. The small table was set with plastic tablecloths and a small salad plate to hold all courses. Prices were far too high for poor quality ingredients, mediocre food. Restaurant was crowded with young folks who seemed at home boiling their own dinners in large bowls of hot broth at every table. By the size of the crowd and demographics, the restaurant has captured a niche market among those familiar with this cuisine. The photos of multiple dishes posted by reviewers do not capture the experience we had-far from it. My photo would have been of a cramped, plastic-covered table in what was essentially a dirty storage area of the restaurant, far from other diners. One wonders why we were...

I was hesitant to come here as they had been shut down by the Board of Health for violations. Also, they posted a note that had contradicted the facts as others stated in their reviews. However, the place was full of patrons and I was hungry.

My dining companion and I had the coconut chicken soup. This is made on your table with the waiter's assistance. We also ordered a Chinese vegetable called __(?). It's a lacey looking kind of greens with a slight bitter taste when eaten raw but mellow when cooked. It was tasty in the soup.

My concern with the soup is as follows because I have been a caregiver for many years: Certain foods can become a choking hazard under the right conditions. One of the ingredients in the soup is raw chicken on the bone chopped into bite- sized pieces. These pieces when cooked can get soft and splinter off. My preference would have been to remove the bones prior to cooking, or put the bones in cheesecloth tied with string so the the soup is infused with the flavor but there's no possibility of a bone piece to swallow and potentially choke on. I realize this may be a cultural issue so maybe someone out there might respond. In any event, the soup was very tasty and I took home my leftovers and ate them the next day. My waiter was very helpful, friendly, engaging and efficient. Parking is available in the lot across the street with meters. Parking is also available on the street at metered spots. Free parking after 6 pm...