China House — Restaurant in Putnam Township

Good "American" Chinese food. Good variety, good quality - our favorites include General Tso chicken, Chicken Lo Mein, Mongolian Beef, and Fried Rice. Would love to have more vegetables in some dishes. I don't see some of the more "traditional" Chinese dishes you might be lucky enough to find in some "American" Chinese restaurants (e.g., Bao buns, Peking Duck (both of which are awesome), a "fried sauce noodle" dish (I can't spell it), a few others); their fried rice and sweet & sour chicken are more "American" versions, and we haven't tried their chow mein or kung pao. They provide generous portions, and overall are a solid option, especially in a small town like Pinckney.

For those reading this who are thinking thisbis too critical, or want to discount this or slam me about this opinion since I am not Chinese - no, I am not Chinese (nor trying to represent that I am) and I am not an expert, and these are just my opinions - I hope theyhelp inform your choice. But I've been fortunate to travel to 5 different cities in China and sample cuisine (with a colleague who is Chinese and was kind enough to teach us along the way). "American" versions of these dishes definitely use a lot more sugar/sweetened sauces (vs a more subtle sweetness, sometimes with a little more tart profile), more salt and/or MSG, spicy dishes are usually less spicy, and there is a more narrow variety of proteins and vegetables used (in places I went, there were a lot more types of fish used, more variety of vegetables, and even more animal proteins used......we had dishes with turtle and donkey.....the donkey dish was a spicy Szechuan dish with a sauce somewhere between kung pao and General Tso but way less sweet and more spicy, it was actually very good, I just wish I could remember what it was called). And some dishes in the U.S. are not Chinese at all (like General Tso Chicken) - that doesn't mean or imply they are "bad", that's a matter of opinion - it just means they are not traditional Chinese dishes, that's all. Some of my favorite traditional dishes were some spicy Szechuan dishes (like the donkey mentioned above), Peking Duck, and Bao buns (a few different flavor profiles depending on region but mostly similar). They were all awesome - if you find those in a more authentic restaurant in the U.S., or have an opportunity to travel to China, I highly...

Ordered dinner for three with crab Rangoon and shrimp fried rice instead witch is expected to have an up charge since it’s not regular fried rice and a qt of wonton soup. Ended up being charged 53$! Obviously I was over charged! The rice was not fried and blan the shrimp was not cooked into the rice just placed on top and not fully cooked. The chicken taste horrible and was drenched in sauce more than normal probably hoping it would hide what ever they did to it to make it taste bad. Took two bites and was done! I didn’t even know I was over charged till my mother told me Because she’s been there before and came back with twice the amount of food for less than what I payed! And she wouldn’t even eat the food her self Because it looked horrible! She even said it’s never been bad like that before and told me to go up there and demand a refund! So I did, I was nice about it but the older woman was flipping out in Chinese and flinging her arms all over the place and inspected all the food and wanted to charge me full price for one chicken meal because two bite were missing. I was calm and said I am not paying for it that is how I found out it tasted horrible nothing else was touched and I was over charged for it anyways. I swear to god she called me and my little brother stupid Americans as she threw her arms up again and left leaving the younger girl to take care of me. I did pay for the soup tho because that was the Only thing made right. I’ve had there food more than once and it has always been good this was the ONE time I actually went there myself and got food and I am NEVER going back. I still can’t beli they even argued with me! They even admitted to over charging me when I mentioned it the first time and didn’t...

The food is good. Hot and sour soup was really tasty. Spring rolls, egg rolls, and crab rangoon are NOT good at all. Spring rolls were mushy inside and tasted like the filling was 90% pure garlic. Egg rolls were also mushy and tasted like the cheap frozen kind from the grocery store that are all celery inside. Rangoons were cold, hard on the outside, with almost no filling, and the filling was bland. Every time we order sweet and sour we have to check our bag before leaving because they ALWAYS forget the sweet and sour sauce. The lo mein and fried rice could definitely use more meat. Every time we order it takes FOREVER to get our food. We live about 20-25 min away, and will call from home to order, drive out right after, and still end up having to wait 10-20 extra minutes, even when there's not many other...