Zhang's Restaurant — Restaurant in Old Saybrook

Don't go here unless you're stranded and starving to death. In that case go to pizza works 200ft away because they at least care about food quality.

My fiance and I are not foodies, snobs or picky eaters. We have eaten chinese food all over the country and all over in CT where we reside and the vast majority of it was fine. You know that feeling when you try a new chinese place for the first time?..you are a little bummed that this part of the meal wasn't as good as the way some other place made it but some other part of the meal makes up for it right? Later on that chinese food experience fades into the background as just one more so so chinese joint..Zhangs is the exception I can't seem to get that taste out of my mouth..not only is the food over priced..the so called "cooks" back there do not care about flavor. Everything we ordered tasted foul..weird and..chemically? The veggie lo mein was tasteless, the veggie dumplings looked weird (bright green/tints of blue but had a consistency and taste similar to that bright colored play dough we all loved so much as kids.. Gross...I don't mind food coloring to help the cooks with identification but the shredded vegetables inside had an odd chemical taste.. My fiances steamed vegetables were way over cooked.. The dipping sauces were nothing more than salt in brown liquid..what is this? We asked eachother. This place doesn't even deserve to be called mediocre..We repeat we are not picky eaters or foodies we accept typical mediocre chinese food wherever we find it but Zhangs was over priced and tasted flat out bad. We threw almost all of it away. There are many better Chinese places around one of them(our favorite) is Hong Kong Chinese take out in essex ct. It's cheaper and the food looks and tastes better, no weird synthetic smells or colors. I repeat if you're a normal level chinese food fan like us go elsewhere, these guys don't care about food taste or quality. Foul tasting and smelling... Go...

Zhang's Restaurant - Old Saybrook, CT - 6/7/2015

This is probably my third or fourth trip to Zhang's Restaurant. Not much in decor to speak of... Your typical Chinese restaurant. What I do like is the wooden carved Asian Warrior statue near the entry way. Call me corny but I like taking a photo in my most bad-ass pose next to him... Although I am in the habit of making reservations, I don't really think the one I made for this evening was necessary.

The server was courteous and immediately seated us. I think mostly booths with a few tables... Actually comfortable as far as booths go...

The wonton noodles were a bit stale although once they hit the yummy Hot & Sour Soup that didn't seem to make a difference. I think if I ran the restaurant I'd make sure that the wonton noodles were fresh because a lot of people like that whole dip it in the duck sauce and wolf them down thing...

We had Kung Pao Chicken which was delicious. Served with Peanuts, Watercress, Roasted red Peppers Celery chunks (I don't care for Celery so I picked mine out) and a very flavorful Red Sauce with Hot Peppers. In addition to that we had Shrimp with Lobster Sauce and Steamed Chicken and Vegetables. We all split an order of Pork Fried Rice with extra Bean Sprouts. Can you believe they actually charged us 50 cents for the extra Bean Sprouts?! Really???!!! Get a grip pal, these are things that grow in a pan with moist towels under a bed... Do you really need to charge extra for accommodating a simple request? Some times a place will miss the whole big picture thing...

Despite the bean Sprout episode our dinner really was fabulous and we will be back. Great...

Been in the area for awhile and wanted to try a new place. The reviews sold me (that and I wanted to eat in somewhere; not have take out.) Perhaps it was an off night - during COVID and the staff seemed hurried - but I just don't get the positive reviews.

I ordered the Shrimp and Scallop Thai Curry ( my date ordered a few sushi rolls). They were fine to substitute broccoli for the zucchini in the dish but the food was not very hot when it was served and the fish was a bit undercooked although the produce seemed fresh and cooked al dente, which I appreciated. The flavoring was ok; nothing special. I did have to send it back to get it reheated and the friendly waitress was accommodating, however the service was a bit less than average and it was challenging to get someone's attention over the high booths when we needed something. Again I think they were understaffed so I won't hold that against them as COVID is likely the key factor. I won't be rushing back anytime soon but I will give it another try down the road but in the meantime, I'll be eating at our neighborhood favorite,...