Cheng Du Chinese restaurant — Restaurant in Short Pump

Reasonably priced entrees that are okay in terms of quality but great in terms of portion sizes.

I come into this restaurant and I am greeted by a Chinese host who knows English pretty well. First thing I notice is how the restaurant feels kind of divided. The tables for people to eat are located in an L-formation area where there are two parts to the L. The bottom part of the L is one part where people can be seated. And the stick part of the L is another part where people can be seated. It feels like I'm separated from the other customers. The restaurant follows a Chinese theme however and looks somewhat classy. This place has a lot of natural lighting coming through their front windows so I can easily see the parking lot. I've been at a lot of Chinese restaurants and with all this natural lighting, it feels like one of those Chinese restaurants where you can walk straight in, order your food, and get out.

Anyways I am seated by the host, given the menu, and I just stare at the menu at the bajillion food options. I stare at the menu for awhile and then finally the waitress finally asks me what I want to drink. She did not look too happy though while asking me. She look a little impatient. Then she takes my order and goes to the back into the kitchen. As I wait for my food there's another lady walking around the restaurant with a cart of dim sums. She go back and forth in the restaurant and it adds a nice little touch to this restaurant. She makes it feel a bit more lively with her energy and just walking around with a cart with food. So the waitress comes back with my drink and food. She periodically checks on my table as well for refills.

The food itself is alright. I am not blown away by the quality. The rice however... I can't cook but even I can make better with my rice cooker at home. The vegetables are okay. The meats is just a level above the average Chinese food. The price is around 10-20 dollars. So if I am paying that much for just above average quality Chinese food, what am I getting? Well, I'm getting a good lunch/dinner and an okay leftover for tomorrow. The portion size is really big. Two...

I came today with my family for lunch, the first three dishes we had were pretty good. Beef noodle soup, scallion pancakes and steamed Buns. But the dish I ordered for me- pork intestines dry pot did not taste good. I told the server that the pork intestines were too fatty and smells sticky. I will pay for it still, is it possible just add a little bit vegetable in there so that I can finish my bowl of rice because I am really hungry. The server told the boss, the boss just brushed off saying: it might be a little late and went back to kitchen. I thought she went to get the dish fixed for me. Ten minutes later, I asked the server again. The boss came to my table just started arguing with me to charge $5 for the vegetables. She stood at my table literally arguing with me for solid 10 minutes, did not apologize for the food, just keep arguing that the dish is just the way it is. No customers have ever complained about it before. I should known better before I order the food blah blah…..I ran restaurants before so I understand it is hard to deal with difficult customers. But I also know from the restaurant side when the customers are being reasonable, and you always make great effort to please the customer.

I paid for $25 for that dish, but I only had five bites of the vegetable, and I am willing to pay for the $25 even thought the food tasted bad, I was just asking the boss to fix up a little bit for so that I do not have to be hungry. Nope, she was there just on and on arguing with me. So I just paid for the bill included the dish I had five bites and left with empty tummy.

I want to give her the benefit of doubt, maybe she was just in a fighting mood. But as the owner, if you keep treating customers like that, the business will not last. There are plenty other nice restaurants here. I know I will not be back again, which she does not...

Got a menu from next door Asian grocery store. Decided to order 4 items from the menu. Go inside and order from the lady up front, showed her exactly what we want on the menu. So I pay the almost $70 dollar bill. Seemed high to me, so I go out and show my wife the paid bill and we discover the total should be at least $10 less than what was paid. I go back and ask the lady if the price is right and she says oh yes and oh by the way this menu you ordered from is 10 years old. Ah ha now you tell me! Ok we let that go. Finally 20 minutes later she comes out with the food we ordered, and I left as we need to get home near Charlottesville. So on our way we begin to open our order and eat on the way. Never seen such a mess. The small roast pork buns (3) were probably bought next door from the grocery store, the the beef tendon w/chili sauce was way too sweet, the pig ear in chili sauce was SUBSTITUTED for wontons in chili oil, and the worst thing of all (pictured below) was the sautéed chitterlings w/ bell peppers and leek! Look at it carefully, this has no bell peppers and no leeks and yes those are FRENCH FRIES! Super extra spicy and all this for what was 10 years ago $18.95 and now a whopping 28.95! We had to throw most of this $70 order in the TRASH. Hey go if you dare, but I would...