China Gourmet — Restaurant in Paso Robles

This review cost us $186 and some change, so I hope you get some value out of it at least...

First off, m'lady is preggo and was big time craving some delicious Chinese grub after reading the most delightful reviews about this joint. I believe our 3 hour toddler infused road trip heavily influenced her ordering because she went ham on that menu.

Admittedly I'm usually the one ordering ridiculous quantities of food, but this time I just sat back and ordered one dish... but of course I had plans to graze the smorgasbord of far east delectables,

We ordered Egg Rolls, Pine‑Seed Lobster in Lettuce Cup, Fried Wonton, Chicken Chow Mein, Sesame Shrimp, Eight-Precious Duck and some Fried Rice.

I picked up the order and brought it back to the hotel. Upon biting into the first shrimp her enthusiasm dropped rapidly into the kind of disappointment one might feel if they just ran into their childhood hero strung out at a dive bar exchanging handies for shots of Black Velvet.

Needless to say, the energy in the room sank faster than the Oceangate submersible en route to explore the Titanic.

I did my darndest to salvage something from the situation, but the soggy stringed egg rolls and shoe leather lobster really stepped on my nuts. The chicken Chow Mein appeared to be composed of recycled cardboard and shoelaces, while the calamari had the textural and olfactory undertones of fermented varsity jockstraps. The shrimp must have been boiled to death in used carnival dough, but the wontons seemed only mildly disappointing in comparison. I suppose one of the stars of the show was the fried rice because the blandness seemed to soak up the juices of regret and transform them into temporary thoughts of, "eh, well at least this isn't so bad." The duck was perhaps precious in its prime, but I feel that must have been back in it's college days, because I think they had to knock some cobwebs off before roasting that bird... well, at least I hope they did.

All said and done, I'm glad I didn't force down anymore of that Chinese chicken because my guts feel like a Himalayan valley experiencing a crescendo of seven generations of Mongolian throat singers, and I feel that anymore of that chickity china, the Chinese chicken might've caused my brain to stop tickin'.

I recommend staying a minimum safe distance of at least one Panda Express away from this enigmatic catastrophe.

A better gamble would be to bet on gas station...

Over all food was okay but far from great. Last time we ordered from them we were told it would be here in 40mins. 80mins later I called, they had lost the phone apparently and then blamed me for them taking it to a vacant house at the wrong address on the wrong street (they had our address on file from previous orders + I gave it to them again when making the order). They then offered to re-deliver it, at which point I asked them if they were going to remake the food because I didn't want it if it was cold. I was told that it would take 20 mins to remake the food and deliver it as we only live a mile and a half from the restaurant. 8 mins later the delivery guy showed up with the food, quickly passed it to me and ran back to his car leaving my front yard gate open which lead to me having to chase my dogs down the street. So, open the containers and the food is old and cold. I call back and the person on the phone denies that it's the same food (which only took them 8 mins to make and drive over apparently), won't refund me, and when I offer to bring the food back as I would not pay for it he tells me "no one here now, you no come". I then tell him to either refund me or I will call my bank and tell them to refuse the charges, he tells me to "call back morning, manager give refund". I call back the next day and they deny it ever happened. So if your looking for chinese food of the same quality you can get from a pick your item hot tray place in L.A. with high prices that rip customers off, then this is the place for you... p.s. don't get anything fried to go as they throw it into the styrofoam container straight from the oil and it melts into...

Attention wine lovers! Huh? Wine in a Chinese restaurant? Yep, especially curated to go with Jack's excellent Chinese food. Among the whites: 21 Rieslings, Gruner Veltliners, Alsatian whites, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnays (including Bourgogne Blanc), sparkling, and rosés. Among the reds: Oregon and Santa Lucia Highlands Pinots, Red Burgundy (Volnay), Cru Beaujolais (Chénas), as well as Cabernets, Cab blends, Syrahs, and Zins if you prefer to go bigger. Our favorite dishes include the Pepper-Salt Spiced Prawns, the Chow Fun Dry Sautéed Noodles with beef (Chinese comfort food), Roast Duck, and Baby Book Choy with Chinese Black Mushrooms. The restaurant is nicely decorated with comfortable seating, the service is attentive, and Jack is a welcoming host. We’re local and dine here often. Update June 2022: My wife and just ate dinner once again at China Gourmet. The food and wine were excellent, as always. I note that there is a recent review that begins, “Oh god. So nasty.” Of course, we all have different tastes and experiences, but I would point out that the vast majority of reviews for China Gourmet are overwhelmingly positive. And the wine list is still...