Chong's Chinese Restaurant (Reported Closed)

Doesn't Recommend

twomeows

Joined 3 years ago

Lousy food; waitress with attitude; AWFUL!!!. My friends I decided to visit this restaurant before seeing a show at the nearby Manuel Artime Theatre. We regretted our decision.

This tiny, storefront restaurant is located in the heart of "Little Havana." The overall condition of the place is fair, at best. It is not very clean, and one of our party was the victim of dripping condensation from an A/C vent; numerous water stains are present on the cheap, drop-down ceiling.

The waitress was prompt and efficient. Tea was not offered, which is customary in the most Americanized (or Latinicized) Chinese restaurants. We started with the Fried Wontons ("Mariposas"), which were very large (not true won-tons) and came with a squeeze bottle of some sort of sweet sauce- not honey- tasted like corn syrup +/- something else. The food- well, I think one might do better ordering plain Cuban food, rather than the "pseudo-Chinese" served here. Two in our party ordered Chicken and Broccoli- the dish consisted of white rice, and a heaping-helping of mostly broccoli stems with a few florets and thin shreds of commercially prepared chicken meat here and there. My friend and I split an order of Shrimp Creole, served with white rice and ripe plantains(!). It was fairly tasty- but definitely NOT EVEN CLOSE to what Shrimp Creole is supposed to be- and had abundant green pepper and onions with a minimum of shrimp- which were small, and despite the sauce, tasted fishy- obviously frozen.

Also, our party noted a problem with the bill- we were overcharged. One of the people in our party was a native Spanish-speaker, and could not get the problem resolved- we then decided it wasn't worth the time or the hassle of dealing with the waitress, and so we let it go. Also, one of our party is a native of China, so you can imagine her surprise at the food- and at the manners of the waitress!

Eating in Miami can be an adventure- and I have found the surprises to be a pleasant ones, for the most part. This was an exception to the many good experiences I have had in the city.

PS If you do decide to eat here (despite my advice not to do so), there is parking in the back- accessible off 12th Avenue.