Golden Crown Restaurant — Restaurant in Salem

My fiancee and I came here because of the good reviews. The "Chinese and American food" tagline was a small red flag, but we figured we'd give it a shot anyway.

The wonton soup is okay, but don't order the chow mein if you want actual chow mein. It's listed under their "noodle dishes", but uses the La Choy Chow Mein (puffy bits of toasted bread meant to be used as a salad or rice topping) instead of actual pan fried egg noodles.

When I ordered, the waitress asked, "Do you want lo mein, the soft noodles, or chow mein, the crunchy noodles?" and I said chow mein.

When I received it, I was confused and asked if the dish was correct. The waitress said yes, those are their crunchy noodles. I pointed out that those aren't chow mein noodles, those are a salad topping, and she started arguing, "Chow mein. It's chow mein. I asked if you wanted lo mein, the soft noodles, but you said you wanted crunchy noodles. These are the crunchy noodles." I was a bit stunned at the outburst, but she left, and I tried to eat it. It was just a big plate of veggies with some sad, soggy bits of bread at the bottom. I was honestly disappointed and only had a couple bites.

When the waitress came back to fill water, my fiancee told her we didn't want the dish, and she stormed off and brought over someone else (Possibly the manager? It was never clarified.) He repeated the same thing she said earlier then argued with my fiancee in Chinese for a bit, so I didn't understand most of it. He brought over a small bowl of the La Choy topping to show us what it is, as if we were confused about that. I agreed that it may be called chow mein, but it can't be listed under a noodle dish and claim to be chow mein noodles. Eventually he said, "I've been working here for 20 years and this is the way we've always done it." Then he walked away before anything else could be said.

I ate the rest of my soup, but didn't touch the "noodle dish". We did not take anything in to-go containers. We went to the counter to pay, and of course, had to pay for the dish we didn't touch... We're never going back.

I did notice on the way out, however, that another customer was ordering the chow mein. The waitress clarified to her that there are NO noodles in the dish, instead of asking if she wanted crunchy noodles or soft noodles, so I thought that was amusing.

Edit: I went back to read some of the other 1 star reviews people left. Apparently this place has a habit of making black patrons (even if they're with a group of white friends) pay for their meal before eating. Of course, all the other races get to pay after eating like normal people. We never should have gone here.

Edit 2: I just learned that apparently the bits-of-puffy-toasted-bread version was popular during the 1950s in America. The menu or waitress should have definitely clarified. By only saying "crunchy noodles" I fully expected pan fried egg noodles. I would have been happy enough if they brought me a bowl of plain egg noodles or lo mein noodles I could mix in after the misunderstanding, but nope. I just got argued with. I never even really had the opportunity to ask for that solution, but the veggies were pretty overcooked and not...

This place was something to remember. The booths were extra sticky. The table top stuck to my forearms… all of the condiments, sitting on top of it, were also extra sticky. We ordered crap puffs and a combination D dinner.

They brought us egg drop soup and it was very good. My dining partner did ask if he could have hot and sour soup and was told no because that was extra. This was the first time we have visited an Asian restaurant and not been able to have either soup with a combination meal.

The crab puffs were big, but they did not have any of that fake crab in them. It was all cream cheese, and zero seasoning.

The appetizer plate was fried shrimp and barbecue pork. The fried shrimp was fine but the barbecue pork was dry and tasteless. It was really bad.

Next came the Mandarin chicken, which was a delight. It was actually really good, but it was not mandarin at all. It was more of the sweet-and-sour sauce that came with the crab puffs just poured on top. It was a big portion and our favorite thing that was brought to the table.

The fried rice was also pretty good. It had big chunks of what looked to be frozen peas and carrots in it and it well seasoned.

They brought us something called Cantonese steak and it was 100% not steak I could not physically chew through it, so I cannot tell you how it tasted because it was too tough to eat.

There was a vegetable dish that was good. It had normal vegetables, but they were also too big to eat in one bite, and we weren’t given knives to cut these vegetables to eat them. It was also covered in more of that nasty barbecue pork.

The service was great. Everybody was really nice. The bathroom was mostly clean, but if you do go and visit, please look up to the ceiling because by the look of their vent, it has not been cleaned in half a century. It was gross.

I probably will not return to this restaurant, because there are so many other places that make better food in my opinion. If you’re looking for quantity over quality, however this place gives you a ton of food. There’s not a lot of parking, but there’s a sees candy store next-door if you come out looking for...

Was there just before 6 pm on aTuesday night. Not too busy. Seating was instant. They even put me into a booth, despite it being just me. I have a small pallet for most foods, so cannot provide any useful observations about the selection. I focused on the sweet and sour options. Surprised to see sweat and sour shrimp, but again, not my thing. I zoned in on the chicken. I did struggle understanding the individual I presumed was an owner. After a few exchanges back and forth, I figured whatever I just agreed to was more likely than not going to be fine. Received my order in a short time, that was nice not having to wait. I was very happy to see a little more than just chicken on the plate. There was chunks of pineapple and what I originally thought to be red bell pepper. One bite later, discovered, not a proper, but chunk of tomato. My first time seeing a tomato on this dish. Again, not my thing, so I removed the tomatos and continued eating. Would have loved to see more variety of toppings, like some different colored diced bell peppers, or onion with the pineapple. Overall, the food tasted great. Average attention provided for service, regarding water refills in addition to just walking by. I was done pretty quick (my usual half plate), when they witnessed me waiting, they brought over the check, fortune cookie and even a box for leftovers, I did not have to request one! Paid the bill, the lady that assisted seemed to be a bit too busy to talk or acknowledge me beyond the check and going back to assist with other tables. Only heads up is that they do not take checks and if you pay with a card, there u.s a minimum $10 charge. Most options were above that mark, so should not impact anyone regarding...