New China Gate

Reviews 4

TE

Terri S

I have been longing for a decent Chinese restaurant close to home. I had driven past New China Gate many times, but it just didnt look like much so I didnt give it much thought. Yesterday, really craving Chinese, I finally took time to read reviews about New China Gate from 3 different sources. While there were lots of digs about other aspects of New China Gate, the reviews of the food were generally good. Thank goodness those reviewers were generally specific. In particular, reviews of their Garlic Chicken intrigued me. My taste was for something not too heavy, and not breaded or fried - but with lots of flavor. The Garlic Chicken reviews made me get in my car and drive to New China Gate. When I arrived there were plenty of tables available, and I was invited to sit where I wanted by a very friendly woman who was working there. She brought me a menu and water right away. I asked her for a few minutes to consider the menu. Looking around, the place was pretty drab, dreary and loud. Lots of conversations, cell phone and in person, filled the air, with nothing to absorb all of the sound. Ambience was, as the reviews had warned me, not on the menu. There was nothing even pleasant about the setting other than the smell of good food. It was VERY "divey" in every imaginable way. When my server returned, I asked what vegetables were cooked with the Garlic Chicken, she indicated zucchini, onions, garlic, mushrooms, green peppers, and water chestnuts. I absolutely DETEST zucchini, and when I asked her if they could substitute broccoli for it, she quickly agreed that they would be very happy to do that. I asked her if I could get my dish made with white meat. She explained that for quality reasons, they use nothing but white meat for the dish, which also made me very happy. Finally, I asked for hot tea to complete my order. I sat back to read my book and wait. It wasnt long before my place setting, and a dish of steamed white rice arrived, and right behind it, a delightful smelling and generous dish of Garlic Chicken. It was in a light, flavorful, aromatic sauce with ample amounts of thickly sliced chicken, broccoli, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic and lots of water chestnuts. Everything was perfectly done! The onions were in nice sized pieces and still had a nice, but not overpowering bite to them.. The broccoli, mushrooms and green peppers were still a little crisp, but cooked enough to have absorbed the flavors of the sauce. The water chestnuts brought a nice crunch but flavorful presence to the dish. I spooned rice and garlic chicken onto my plate, added a touch of soy sauce, and lost myself in mouthful after mouthful of savory delight. (I am not exaggerating here - I was in Chinese food heaven.) I completely forgot about the setting, and the noise of other diners conversations and just ate for as long as I could. I finally had to surrender to the fact that I was going to take the other half of my dinner home. perhaps for lunch the next day. I emerged from my haze of food enjoyment to realize that I never got my hot tea. I also realized that my server had never returned to check on me, or anything. Luckily, everything had been perfect, so no problems there. So, I waited, and waited. Eventually, my server reappeared with my check, and a take out container. I supposed I could have looked for her, but no big deal. I was pleased to see that I wasnt charged for the tea that I never got. It would have been good with my food, but I was so pleased with the meal that I couldnt bring myself to even mention it. There was also no charge for the change from zucchini to broccoli, which many other places would have decided to profit from. The dish was actually a great value for the quality and quantity I received. I left feeling satisfied with having just consumed an excellent Chinese meal. Im glad I took to heart the reviews of the food, and didnt let the ambience throw me off the scent. This was an experience I will be repeating. I think Ill try their delivery as well.

MI

Mike Sargent

Well I have been ordering food from this place over 5 years. I will say the service has gone down hill, and I was willing to bite my lip and move forward and forget about all the recent orders, but I have to share how bad the customer service has gotten. I ordered for delivery recently. As usual the order was simple to make over the phone. However this time around it took them a little longer to then normal. About 50 mins had gone by, checking my phone the last time I called to place the order. So naturally i called to ask if it had left yet, considering I am only 3 miles from them and I can swing by and pick it up. This is where they lost me as a customer.... I called and a rude lade answered the phone and said "You called me at 4:40! I am very busy! Other lady will be here after 5! Call back then if you dont want to order, my time is too busy!" I called back, and she answered again, and I explained that I had not received my order yet, and was wondering when it would arrive. She said "I dont know where he is, you will get delivery, call back later! I am too busy right now, call after 5!" About 10 mins after the chaos of disturbing her time, the driver showed up. I told him that I was going to call to cancel it, and that this is horrible service. All she could have said was let me check to see where he is... or we are really busy but I will have my driver call you... none of that was offered. The driver didnt seem to care so much, and told me that next time I order I can get free order of crab pubs. I told him there wont be no next time. I paid the full price, as I never asked for a discount, but I told him that I would write a review. He walked out and didnt seem to care. So they get a 2 stars, one Star for decent food, and one star for decent lunch prices, and rest is for absolute s |-| ! t service from a customer for over 5 years.

WI

Will

Ive gone here a couple times a year to try and give this place a decent chance but its always disappointed. I recently tried their lunch special, which comes with an entree,fried rice, crab puffs and an egg roll. I didnt get anything but some brown rice and my entree, volcano beef. Aside from only receiving half the things I ordered the volcano beef had no flavor and no heat, seriously, they warn you its hot but in reality its some beef scraps buried underneath a mountain of broccoli and coated in a flat, flavorless brown sauce. The cherry on top was that the person working seemed pissed off that I should have the gall to order something at 3 pm on a Wednesday, throwing the receipt and pen at my girlfriend after we ordered.

A

A Private User

Weve tried in vain to find a decent Chinese place in Phoenix and the surrounding area. This place was just as bad as the rest. The food smelled delicious, but once we got home the noodles were too chewy and there were hard bits among them, either from overcooking or being dried out. The beef and broccoli, along with the pan fried noodles, was gelatinized, which comes from reheating some chinese food (youll get that when you reheat it for leftovers sometimes). The only saving grace was that all of the veggies were delicious once you scraped all the gelatinized goo off of it. If we werent starving I wouldnt have gotten past my first bite. Its a good thing they have cheap beer; its the only way youll get through your meal.