Golden City Restaurant

Incredible ! Good service, clean, food very good.
I order white rice, and ginger chicken Sause as a
Side dish (ginger chicken Sause ONLY) place this on the white rice. wow. Prices are great !!!
… Got to go early ! … Thank you Golden City !

i ate here on new years day (2016) with my family about 8 of us. We order our usual, and boy it was a surprised. the PORTION was SO SMALL!!! i can’t believe it, i order salt pepper shrimp only had 6 piece of shrimp. Time to find a new Chinese restaurant for my family to enjoy. Im gonna miss coming here, but its not worth my MONEY anymore. The FOOD PORTION cut down way too much. Very disappointment with them, and we have been eating here since i was small.

We stopped here for a quick lunch prior to visiting Bishop Museum. We shared an order of black pepper chicken (swapped chicken for beef) and the daily lunch special of pork stew, char siu pork, and noodles.
The black pepper chicken was pretty good although it could have used more pepper to spice up the pepper taste. Overall, good. The lunch special was not great. The pork stew was tasty (but too sweet) and the meat was super tough — not at all tender. The char siu pork was great! Holy shit though, when I realized that small portion had 2000 mg sodium — never again! The noodles were plain. Overall the lunch special was a flop.
For quick decent Chinese, this works. But why of why does Oahu have such poor Chinese restaurants??? Still, unbelievably, Panda Express is the best Chinese we’ve had on-​island. And we live in Chinatown!

As my first time at the restaurant, I thought it looked decent. The plates were old and design on them were slowing coming off. Once we ordered, it took a long time for them to bring our dish. One of the dishes we order wasfried vegetable and tofu but the tofu tasted sour so we told them and they took the dish and remade it but it still tasted the same. We also the sar cha beef and we thought it would be spicy but all we got was a whole bunch of sweet bell peppers and pineapples. Would I go back? No.

We always like to stop by here whenever we’re filling gas around dinnertime, or we’re about to head to town, coming from my boyfriend’s parents’ house. I also like to call in my order sometimes on my way home, if I decide to take School St, and pick up a quick lunch combination plate. Get here quick though, parking does tend to fill up around dinnertime!
Recommendations are the Salt and Pepper Pork Chops, the garlic fried rice, the lunch combo plate, and the crispy gau gee. I absolutely LOVE the Salt and Pepper Pork Chops here, they’re just like eating salt and pepper bacon! You can also ask for it served over their garlic fried rice, which I recommend! That’s dinner right there! The lunch plate comes with steamed white rice, chow mein noodles, a piece of crispy gau gee, charsiu pork and cold ginger chicken. It’s a «best of everything» combination that is perfect for someone who can’t decide what to order, or needs a quick meal to-​go! I’m thinking of picking one up right after I finish this review!
Service here is… sorry to say, the same as you would ever get in another Chinese restaurant. The staff aren’t friendly, but they aren’t rude either. They’re just there to do their job and make sure you have your food, drinks, utensils, take-​out boxes and check. I don’t expect any more coming from a Chinese restaurant, but other people may disagree. I don’t know, this might just be because I’m from a Chinese family.
If you’re in the area, stop by! Or if you’re like me, you’ll make the drive over from wherever you are, specifically for that Salt and Pepper Pork Chop over garlic fried rice! Pass the Sriracha, please!

Bad service. Took almost 10 minutes to come to us and take our order. Never gave us water at all even after we got our food. So I had to get up and go ask for water and she gave an attitude about it. While I was eating I made a take out order so by the time I’m done eating it will be ready so I didn’t need to wait or anything. When I went to pay for the food, she went to the back and gave the cooks my take out order. So I literally had to wait 15 min. For my food. Bad service!

Service: Chinese restaurants are all the same. So don’t go in expecting it to be different. You have to be a little assertive, and the dishes come out when they come out.
Food: I recommend the Peking duck, steamed fish, minute chicken cake noodle, charsiu fried rice, and ginger chicken.

I have always liked this restaurant because they are one of the few Chinese restaurants that has crispy cake noodles. BUT I was very disappointed recently. I ordered take out. When I got there everything was already packed up in a large box. When I got to my car I found a dead roach in the carrier box. I was in a hurry so just removed it. Next at home we opened the cake noodles and there were 2 pieces of shrimp in the large pan. Two of my kids are allergic to shrimp so could not enjoy the cake noodles and were very disappointed. The crispy Gau gee was over cooked. Time to find another Chinese restaurant for my family to enjoy.

It pains me to write this review. This was one of our family’s go to spots for Chinese but never again will we be found here. Driving over from the windward side was worth it every time.
I don’t know if they have a new cook or what changed but it is not for the best and resulted in a meal so bad with service to match that it may be years before we try them again. (If they last that long with the new set up)
First let me set the mood as to how badly we were craving some good Chinese food. Two of us were gone for six weeks driving across the U.S. (12,000+ miles bucket list trip) and just landed at HNL. Whenever we return from a trip, Chinese food is among the first cravings satisfied. Our Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, loco moco, and plate lunch, cravings will have to wait a few days.
We had never seen this server before and the restaurant was unusually empty. When she came to the table and asked if we were ready we said yes then she left and went to another table. Looking at each other in bewilderment we waited for her to return. When she came back we placed our order, minus a few regular dishes as there were only three of us: crispy gau gee, shrimp canton, kau yuk, buns (bao), egg fu yung, pot roast chicken, beef with black mushrooms, house noodles, pork with sweet and sour cabbage, and of course steamed rice. We also had hot tea, ice water, and one coke.
As she took our order she had to keep asking us to repeat things because she was so involved on her hands free cell phone call. We had the same problem asking for more hot tea and utensils to serve our entrees. I’ve never at any restaurant experienced a server using their cellphones while «interacting» with customers. Not even at a fast food joint.
Surprisingly several entrees came out before the gau gee. This was already starting differently than all of our previous visits. One of the early dishes to arrive, somewhat resembled pork with sweet sour cabbage but there was very little cabbage and it didn’t look like the same variety as before. My wife volunteered to test it. The look on her face as she struggled to eat it let us know right away something was wrong. We sent it back and politely said that this was not what we were used to getting and didn’t want it. When the gau gee did arrive it looked as if it just made its second pass in the fryer as it was very dark, busting open at the seam, and not very tasty. The shrimp canton also looked like it was fried for the second time. They were dark, overly crunchy outside and the shrimp was tough. The pot roast chicken was fair but nothing exceptional. The pieces of duck in the house noodles tasted as if they were sitting in a pot of seafood before being incorporated into the noodle dish (everyone at the table could taste it). The egg fu yung was over cooked and under seasoned. It varied from dark to charred on the surface and was dry and tasteless as a whole. The kau yuk was pretty good. It was actually the best dish served. However the bao we ordered to go with it was not only tough but also cold (refrigeration cold). I don’t understand how a steamed bun can be tough or cold if served fresh. Last but certainly not least the rice. Like a lot of local people I am a lover of rice. When the rice made its appearance at the dinner table we all noticed immediately that this was not Chinese style rice. Most notable was that it was calrose and not long grain. Even more horrifying was that it was mushy and I do mean mushy. We could have pounded this rice into mochi it was so mushy.
I’m really bummed that I have to find a new go to spot for Chinese food. We have a few others we go to when in the area or eating near family members houses but this was our overall favorite. I hope they fix their problems.
I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

I really enjoy this place! Food is great, inexpensive, and service is always very good :). Sometimes it’s a little noisy because they allow kids (it makes me happy because I have kids but I can see how others could be annoyed by this). Overall I have zero complaints but I haven’t tried all the Chinese food restaurants on the island, so no 5 star yet, but it is definitely better than the others.
Thank you for the food!

Chow fun and orange chicken is our family’s favorite
I love their Dinner plate comes with fried rice, kau yuk, sweet & sour spare ribs, crispy gau gee, beef broccoli chow mein at a great price.

Looks can be deceiving never coming back lots of cars always busy thought the food gona be great… waitress ask if I was ready to order 3 in a row within 1 min kept telling my wife coming she getting out of the car then when she just sat she ask again if we were ready wtf… maybe we ordered the wrong food but it’s a Chinese restaurant right beef broccoli sucks how can you not know how to cook it every Chinese restaurant knows how. cold ginger chicken also not good… all in all enter at your own risk.

Older Chinese Restaurant, but food is consistently good. Reminds me of Golden Jade on Maui (for those that may remember). Service is quick, food tastes good. Dinner Plate for $ 9 is a great meal option with different food items to savor over. Take out is nice as well… in the event eating at home is preferred. Only draw back is parking when going on a busy night… Timing is everything.

I give this place 0 stars! Came here twice in 2014 for my sister’s birthday in May and my mom’s birthday in November. Both times, service was HORRIBLE! By the SAME person!!!
Speaking about the most recent time we visited in November…
I planned to order roast duck on chow fun, roast duck on rice, sweet and sour pork, and regular saimin for my family of 4. About halfway into telling our server our order, she cuts me off rudely *SO RUDE* and tells me that I cant have roast duck on half rice and half chow fun??? I clearly told her two separate orders which she misunderstood and took in the wrong way and gave me such a bad attitude about it. I told her it was two separate orders and she still tried to tell me I couldnt do half rice and half chow fun! Had to repeat myself again saying, «I want roast duck on rice AND roast duck on chowfun, two separate orders.» Lady had an annoyed look on her face… oh well!
FOOD:
Sweet and sour pork was COLD and WATERY! Tasted like pork fat tossed in sugar and boiled in water. Gross.
Roast duck on rice was COLD. Birthday celebrant (my mom) wasnt too happy, but she ate it all anyways. Poor thing :(
Chow «fun» was just tossed noodles with two small pieces of char siu… And yes, you guessed it. COLD!!!
My dad enjoyed his saimin though, LOL. Saimin was just noodles in broth with a few pieces of char siu and green onion. The only hot dish on our table.
Wouldnt recommend dining in just because of rude server!!!

Gon Lo Mein (takeout) $ 6.25
I am not sure if it’s just because it was exactly what I was looking for & craving or what — but it was so ONO — just the best! You can taste the hot sear from the wok! It is «dry» style & not too dry or too greasy — just enough! So flavorful — i had to make myself stop eating it! The portion size was more than enough! The place was crowded too (esp. since it was the night of hurricane iselle & area has several other chinese places nearby)!

We have eaten here numerous times. The food is really good here. We usually come here on special occasions because their portion of food is enough to feed our family.
The service is also pretty quick and accurate. We have been pretty regular customers so one of the employees remember the boys :).
Our usual orders is a whole duck, shrimp canton, egg fuyong, sweet sour spareribs and pork with egg plant.

In a very rare instance I have never rated something low, until now. For over a year I kept thinking yes or no and how it looks good, well only way to experience something is to enjoy it. Well the moment I walked in no one greeted and people just walked by. I sat myself and waited and was brought a menu. Cool that was ok.
The food names looked good so I thought to order something that I am used and compare it to what I had in the past. So I ordered Minute Chicken and Stuffed Duck. After much waiting the minute chicken was brought to me. I observed it and was a bit disappointed because all it was is boneless grilled chicken cut up. Really! Not the little chicken bites that makes minute chicken worth the taste. It had a bland taste and I swear it looked like the chicken from L&L just cut into strips. So that was a fail! Then the stuffed duck came.
So before I begin on that when I think of stuffed duck and ordered it in the past it was a roast duck with some sort of stuffing to make it stuffed duck. Well after ordering that I will now forever ask no matter what restaurant I go, if I see stuffed I will ask them to describe and tell me what it is made of. When I got my stuffed duck I looked at it and thought this is wrong because it was more of a soup! Duck, Rice, Mushrooms, Garbanzo Beans in some soup based gravy! Let me say I had two bites and stopped because I hate garbanzo beans 1 and 2 the taste was off and was bland with this bitterness like the ingredients did not blend well.
After a long time of thinking about eating there, I will not eat there again. Service was alright, but I get better service at Kin Sun, Kin Wah, even elsewhere. The food was disappointing and I felt like I had to force it down to enjoy it. This is my experience and I am sure everyone will have theirs and I can only hope yours was better then my experience and that is why I give it a 1 star. Who knows if they change the way they operate I just might, might go back. On to the next!

I’ve moved to the other state from Hawaii, but I had to write a review of this restaurant… just because it was horrible scary experience.
I’ve been to India, Sri Lanka or Vietnam where sanitary conditions would not be the best one… but I got scared at this restaurant the most. The chicken (I don’t remember the exact name of the menu) was pinkish/​brownish color and made me think I might get sick by eating it.
Phew, I had to let this experience out somehow… I’d not recommend anybody to go this restaurant.

Ate at Golden City Restaurant with some friends. It’s a small restaurant next to the gas station near Kam Shopping Center. There’s a mirror on the wall to make the place look roomier. It’s an average restaurant, but the food we ordered were a bit basic, and the servings were a bit smaller than usual chinese restaurants:
Scallop soup — 2 stars — we ordered hot sour soup for some and scallop soup for our table, however, the other table’s hot sour soup tasted better. The scallop soup looked good, but was hard to swallow because of the strong old bamboo shoot taste, and it was basic. Because of that strong taste, my son who usually likes scallop soup could not eat this one.
Crispy chicken — 3 stars — we ordered this dish so the kids could have shrimp chips, but what? There weren’t any served. The chicken was your usual crispy chicken, but a little dry.
Beef stir fry — 3 stars — beef, green pepper and onion — this dish was pretty tasty, considering I don’t like black bean sauce.
Salt & pepper pork chops — 3 stars cut thinly, that it was crispy and the kids loved it.
Beef Bitter melon — 3 stars — was ok, but the bitter melon was half cooked so it was really bitter and chewy.
Fried Rice — 3 stars — now that regular rice for 6 costs the same or more as a serving of fried rice, might as well order the fried rice. It was basic, but a little oily.
Salt pepper shrimp — 3 stars — pretty good, crispy\, but not crispy enough to eat the shell with a sweet taste to it. This was the best dish we had out of the rest.
Service — 3 stars — was ok. However, there was a drunk right outside the restaurant asking for money, and considering the location is in a secluded area, the outside isn’t somewhere you can hang out too long.

First to note, one of the scales I use to rate Chinese restaurants is whether I get headaches after consuming their food. I assume: Headache = contains lots of MSG, and probably low quality. No headache = passable. First and foremost, I ALWAYS get headaches from Golden City. Already at least a –1 in my book.
Taste: 3 stars
Most times I don’t, but the couple times when I did decide to suck it up, take an asprin, and go with my coworkers to lunch, the food was actually not bad-​tasting (thank you, MSG). I’ve tried: hot sour soup, cake noodles, sweet and sour spare ribs, honey walnut shrimp, some kind of crispy chicken, lemon chicken, and stuffed tofu. I’d say they’re all not anything special compared to other Chinese places I’ve tried in Oahu, but still satisfies a hungry mouth.
Location: 2 star
Located in Kalihi next to a gas station, and I think there is literally only 5 parking stalls fronting the restaurant. If you go during lunch, parking on the street can be a MESS since Mexico and Helena’s and other restaurants are in the area. Usually when I’ve gone, we’re one of only 2 or 3 parties (speaks of its popularity?) in the restaurant so we usually get a stall. Otherwise, it could be a walk.
Accommodations: 3 stars
Good for big parties with Chinese style big round tables (seats about 10). Cute girly music from the radio always playing. Also usually not very busy, at least when we go so we’re seated immediately. Service is on the slower side, my water glass hardly seems to get refilled, and the tea is usually lukewarm.
Price: 4 stars
Very reasonably priced. We usually order one dish per person and then share family-​style, and comes out to $ 10/​person including tax and tip! I have a hard time putting 5 stars here because of the overall lack of quality for what I am paying for.
Summary:
I think if not for the MSG, this could just be an average 3 star rating. However, this is the ONLY Chinese restaurant I’ve been to where I consistently get bad headaches after consuming their food. Sorry Golden City, where you make up in price, you lack in quality. And my nerve endings don’t lie.