Golden Harbor Chinese Restaurant in Royal Plaza: Almost There!
Just a quick one to let you know that I stopped by Golden Harbor last evening, and this is the note I saw in the window:
Hours of operation are already posted; looks like they'll be open every day except Monday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and they'll be closed from something like 3 to 5 p.m. daily, between lunch and dinner.
Your table is just about ready . . .
Labels: restaurants
posted by Lisa at 6:36 AM
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32 Comments:
Sweet! I hope dim sum will be on the menu! I was saddened when Saigon lost its dim sum items when the ownership changed.
Excellent! We can't wait to try this place that everyone's been talking about. Thank you for sharing this information!!! (Two weeks ago, my husband and I actually CALLed (haha) the restaurant and bothered them about when they were going to finally open.)
drooooooooool
So disappointed. A really great restaurant left that space and has been replaced with yet another Chinese restaurant. Hasn't his town hit saturation point with Chinese restaurants yet? :(
it won't just be any restaurant it'll be the best taiwanese restaurant... i talked with the lady owner... it'll actually be opening earlier than anticipated so earlier than 23rd... it'll open tomorrow the 22nd...
Hey, all, thanks for the comments. And Kim, thank you also for the heads-up about the earlier opening! They must be working round the clock over there...
Good to hear it will be open soon.
Hope the price is right though.
Lisa, I read your twitter posting on Thara Thai.
How absurd indeed it is to have to pay for a bowl of noodle soup for $17+.
Anon, thanks for the comment. To be clear about my Twitter post: the tom kha gai (chicken soup with coconut milk, not noodle soup) at Thara Thai cost $12.99; the $17 I referred to was with tax and tip added. However, even $12.99 for chicken and vegetable soup is way high, to me. It's beautiful soup, and delicious, but man, that's just too expensive in my view. If they were using organic, free-range chicken and organic veggies, or something like that, which would increase the restaurant's food cost, I could see it, and I would feel more willing to pay that kind of price.
Thanks for the clarificaiton, Lisa.
Maybe I'm just too cheap or too poor or probably both, but I ain't gonna pay $15 and more for a chicken soup either. So yeah, with sadness and acceptance (and some bitterness too), I stopped going to Thara Thai a few years go when their prices went through the roof [in my view of course].
Anon, I understand. I should note that Thara still has lunch specials, and there are quite a few dishes to choose from at $7.29. I just always seem to want to stray from the specials menu...and that's my downfall. :)
But—ahem!—back to Golden Harbor, the subject at hand.
I'm hoping somebody will post here the minute it opens.
Yes, we have a lot of Chinese places, some of them even pretty good. But this could be the best.
I love Greek food, but was not a fan of Papa George's--only went once but the cooking was just not acceptable. Lamb shanks not cooked long enough to be tender, which should be absolutely impossible for even a novice cook with a recipe. Not sorry to see the change-over in that space.
This place is open now, and they've got like literally 500 things you can order. Also, they seem to have translated the Chinese dishes into an English menu!
My boyfriend and I got our usual yellow bean fish and then also tried stewed goat with spicy garlic sauce. I think that's what it was called, anyway. The goat was really tender and amazing, definitely recommended. :)
Another confirmation from my friend that it opened today!!!
Thanks, Jill, for the news, and the tips on dishes to order. You got there super fast! I'm glad to hear about the English translations; I was a bit worried, because when I peeked in, I saw a wall full of menus in Chinese only—and I don't read Chinese. :)
Lek: Open, indeed. Thanks for the news. They must have opened for dinner, because I was there in either the late morning or early afternoon, and they hadn't opened yet. In any case, this is good news!
There was a sign this morning that said their credit card machine is down, cash only. Just so you know if you want to go there today.
Friend said that it took her over 2 hours to get their order in. Too many complications and too much disorganization.
Anon, yes, I saw the "cash only" sign later, after I did this post. Thanks for pointing that out.
Alan, that's too bad. I've been wondering how they're going to handle the much larger space. I'm sure we can expect some problems with organization at the beginning...
Drove by today (5/24) during lunch time and there is a HUGE deep hole being dug in front of the door. I couldn't tell if they were open or not?
Hi Fern's mom: They'll be closed on Mondays as a regular thing, so they would've been closed today anyway, but the hole sounds ominous, though...wonder what that's all about.
My boyfriend and I tried this place yesterday. Although they seem not completely ready yet, the food is awesome!!!
Hope they deliver!!! (a girl can dream, right?)
Four of us ate there for lunch today. Food was very tasty. Fine portion size. Friendly staff. Clean (though I can't figure out why an employee took a tea pot into the restroom). Food came in a reasonable amount of time. Complimentary hot tea.
Three reasons I won't be back:
1) Confusing ordering system (involving small notebooks and 'Scantron' forms).
2) $2.60 or $2.65 for fountain sodas (can't remember). Yes, refills included.
3) Extra charge if you won't bus your own table at the end of the meal.
Really!
I hope it is good!
Mecca is calling! I was thinking of figuring out where Tina was living and holding a hunger strike until I got my yummy food!! :) I can't wait to go!! :)
anon-it'll be really sad if you don't go back...your taste buds will surely never understand wonderful chinese food.
I've been following the owners since I was an undergrad- 12 years ago. From Mandarin Wok to the Wok in Mahomet- i'm soooo happy they decided to come back to Chambana.
Things to try- Crispy Tofu and Salted Chicken.
oh and don't forget the bokchoy with ginger and garlic. I'm drooling as I type...
Thanks, all, for the further comments and suggestions of dishes to try. I've been once but need to go at least one more time before doing a write-up. Look for it in the near future...
>>Three reasons I won't be back:
1) Confusing ordering system (involving small notebooks and 'Scantron' forms).
2) $2.60 or $2.65 for fountain sodas (can't remember). Yes, refills included.
3) Extra charge if you won't bus your own table at the end of the meal.<<
re 1: im not sure what is making tina and her family do this except maybe they just dont want to hire+train extra staff (which is a pain, but thats usually part of the restaurant/retail business as i see it). that said, if you really prefer being taken care of, you can ask of it from tina, and she will personally oblige you.
re 2: it is steep. but the tea + water is free and besides, soda is bad! :P
re 3: this is true, but it is also true that they do not accept tips! if it truly bothers you to bus, leave your mess, but "tip" them with the bussing charge.
these are strange quirks, but the food is very, very good. ill put up with the weirdness gladly.
we just had some lunch there and we will be regulars!
ps, the menu is crazy. though there are gaps in the numbering (from what i can tell so that sections can grow or so that most sections can start w #s that end in a zero), the numbers go up to almost 1000. there are prob 800+ menu items!
also do yourself a favor and dont order off of the single sheet menu, made up of typical american chinese dishes. order from the massive menu. if lost, look here at the comments, or ask tina to help you choose good dishes.
I had lunch there a few days ago. They were out of my first choice, along with a lot of other dishes. Eventually I decided to experiment, and ordered pork skins with Chinese chives. I won't repeat that particular experiment (the pieces of pork skin had an interesting texture but virtually no taste), but I'm looking forward to going back.
My big worry for Golden Harbor is the prices. Aside from the rice and noodle dishes, it's hard to find an entree under ten dollars. That's not too expensive for me if the food is good, but I wonder how many people in C-U will be willing to pay that much given the fast-food ambience of the place.
I've been twice (well, three times, but once at dinner the wait was 1.5 hours and we couldn't wait). Both times the food was excellent. I don't drink soda, so I don't care about the high drink prices (but I did notice them). I'm fine to bus my own table, I do it at Za's all the time. Worth the tip price to me. The ordering is a bit strange, but not a big deal. I can *HIGHLY* recommend the crispy tofu (or it might be called fried tofu .. first item in the tofu section) ... OH MY GOSH ... it is SO good. The green beans and garlic were also amazing. A little expensive, but it's 2 meals, since you get big servings.
We tried to go the other day for lunch. There were a lot of rules.
Pick up a number, a guest check pad, a menu and a pen.
Sit down, find what you want, mark your orders on the guest check pad (#801x2, #124x1, #567x1, etc).
Put your table number on a stand on your table and then take order up to counter and pay. Only one credit/debit card transaction per group (which ended up being the deal breaker as we were a party of 8 from work and no had cash nor did any one person want to pay for the whole group).
Then, there was the bit about no tip but clean your own table.
We got up and left and went to Fiesta Cafe and sat outside.
Probably won't be back. Especially with these rumors here about waiting 1.5 hours for food. I don't have that long for lunch....
Gamera and others: I commiserate, about the ordering/payment system. I'll have more to say on that when I (finally) get a review up. I've been to GH a number of times now...
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