I've been going to this restaurant since I was a little kid, and recently returned last weekend when I was back home visiting my parents. It's changed a bit over the years, but for the better, I think. The restaurant is open, welcoming, and clean, lots of cool decor around. The service is pretty decent as well, even for going there on such a busy Saturday evening. I was pretty impressed. The menu -- I think it's pretty decent. My parents generally order off the "Asian" menu which is a separate one-page menu that you ask for, and has less egg rolls and crab ragoons (not that those aren't delicious, I love crab ragoons!) and more seafood, intestines, etc. I was really pleasantly surprised by their duck. I think it must be fried, because the skin is perfectly golden and crispy, and the flavors are rich and delicious throughout. Their "Happy Family" soup pot is also really good, lots of different variety of seafood, veggies, tofu, etc. Their three-cup chicken is also pretty authentic tasting -- the portion for that dish is a little small particularly if you're sharing with a family, but otherwise really good. They also have a pork/bamboo sauteed dish that is reliably delicious every time. Overall, I do enjoy coming here. They have a pretty quick take-out service too that our family has often done in the past. read more

China Cottage has THE BEST lunch available daily (not just M-F like most places). For $9.99 you get soup, rice, and the main course. The soup was a creamy chicken soup, which on a cold day was very welcoming. I had the fried rice and pepper steak. The entree is served on a platter and they give you a huge bowl of rice. I ate it for 3 days! My friend got the garlic chicken which I will most definitely get next time. Awesome food at a very reasonable price! Thank you for making it easier in these tough times! read more

Food was perfect! Literally everything was amazing. All of the food was cooked perfectly and no one complained that we can in close to closing time. Our waitress was super friendly and very aware of us. read more

Hello my foodie friends! Welcome to my world of restaurant mania! Tonight the 5 star show resides at China Cottage. Perhaps the name Cottage should be changed to Palace, especially when ordering off the Chinese Menu. If you have never experienced the thrill of eating jellyfish, you have not lived the sea life. Cold, gelatinous, mild crunchiness, and mixed with a pickled radish, cabbage, and cucumber. Refreshing with a wonderful taste to be experienced by all. And then the seafood pot arrives. Wow! Food for three and my girlfriend was full from her delicious shrimp appetizer. You talk about a simmering seafood smorgasbord in a decadent broth and fine Chinese noodles! Whole shrimp with eyes and tentacles, huge clams, scallops, squid, sharks fin?(not sure), beautiful mushrooms and varieties of vegetables. Ok! I am stuffed to the gills! No pun intended of course. Feeling as if I should join the aquarium population located in the restaurant, I proceeded to take the remainder of food home. Service was excellent and very attentive. Restroom was very clean and beautifully decorated! My advice; go to the Centerville location and request the Chinese Menu specifically. And try the jellyfish! Bon Apetit!! Dr Jeff read more

China Cottage - Don't let the appearance of jellyfish scare you! Delicious!!! - Chinese Near Me - Dayton, Ohio

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I'm not sure why I haven't reviewed this before, but hands down the best Chinese in Dayton. I love the atmosphere. We've only ever been for lunch and prices are fantastic. The crab rangoon, pot stickers, spring and egg rolls are amazing. Best I've had from anywhere. The Wonton Soup is awesome. The tea is fabulous. I've eaten different things every time and I haven't been disappointed. I really like the Beef Broccoli the best. The fried rice is delicious and well cooked. Service has always been wonderful as well. read more

Disappointing once again, China Cottage seems to be taking shortcuts in food preparation. Our last visit my husband was very disappointed in the fried rice that is actually just flavored rice that is prepared in advance and held in a steam pot. Our server today asked if we wanted steamed rice or fried rice with our lunch special, we were once again served the shortcut 'fried' rice. After lunch we were told that you can order a dinner of fried rice but that is the only way it is served. The fried rice on the menu listed as an accompaniment with lunch is not fried rice. Service was not up to par and the staff had no idea how to answer our questions regarding the menu substitutions. We will not be back. read more

The chef doesn't know Chinese cooking. We ordered Szechuan chicken, General Tso's chicken, and Orange chicken among several other dishes for our large party. All the chicken dishes tasted exactly the same. Szechuan chicken is supposed to contain Szechuan peppercorns and peanuts. None. The Orange chicken had no orange flavor at all. The fried rice was mushy and contained nothing but rice. The Hot and Sour soup was neither hot nor sour. We were very disappointed and will not be returning. China Cottage used to be good but is a sad shadow of itself. read more

My friends and I went to cottage China last Sunday July 6 2019. I ordered Triple Meat plate when waitress brought me the plate I only found 2 shrimps and 2 scallops with along plenty of chicken and asked the waitress about shrimp and scallops. She said that was that way. So she brought one more shrimp. Unbelievable! read more

The food is below average and the service is worse. We waited for several minutes and finally got the attention of a server. She took our order for two hot teas so she brought one cup. Our food order was for two spring rolls, two s/s chicken and one egg drop soup. The soup came, the entrees came, no spring rolls until I asked. So they came out after the entrees, but alas, no table knives to cut any of the rubbery chicken or the tough spring rolls. I asked for two of those, mine came with someone else's lettuce attached. I think I'm done. read more

China Cottage has been a family favorite at our house since 1987. We try other Chinese restaurants from time to time but they never compare. Until today. We ordered 3 dishes and egg rolls for carryout. The food was ready in a timely manner and we took it home, looking forward to their yummy food. Boy were we disappointed. The General Tso's chicken was awful. Hardly any sauce and no spiciness at all. The chicken was fatty and chewy. Ew. The Beef Lo Mein was okay and so was the Beef with Garlic Sauce, but the bad General Tao's ruined the experience. We are hoping this was just a one time thing because we would hate to lose the China Cottage we have loved for so many years. read more

One of the very best Chinese/Asian Restaurants in our area. HS soup is great and different from "traditional" Chinese Restaurants. If you're a vegie try tofu dishes. Seafood big shrimps... read more

We ordered take out. One of the entrees was wrong, another was suppose to have scallops and mushrooms in it. There was not one scallop and I found one small mushroom .It consisted mostly of celery and pea shoots! I really don't mind paying more for quality food. This was very disappointing. This not the first time this has happened but will be the last read more

Called on 12/22 to check the opening hours on Christmas Eve and tried to make reservation. The receptionist said the restaurant only takes reservations for groups of 7 or more. Since we have 6 people, we were told that we don't need reservation. We (6 people) arrived at 5pm on Christmas Eve and the front receptionist told us they can't have us since we don't have reservation. I guess this place will only host big groups? Anyway, it's a very pleasant experience to find a restaurant to have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve read more

Several disclaimers: 1) I'm Chinese. and I know my Chinese food. 2) This restaurant is located in Dayton, Ohio. Not exactly foodie-heaven. 3) Every time I come here, I order off menu. That is, off the Chinese only menu. Chinese food, by Chinese for Chinese written in Chinese. Ok so this place is pretty solid. And if you're a random white person who hasn't left the state in awhile, it's probably pretty delicious to you. I'm giving it 3 stars. read more

Some of the best Chinese food in Dayton! What separates China Cottage from the other restaurants is their offering of a menu of traditional Chinese options. Try the five spicy bean curd with shredded pork! Other recommendations: Sizzling rice soup - So fun to see and hear the sizzling rice before they add it to the soup! Also enough to share between 2-4 people. Calamari - Well seasoned, thick strips. For the predictable: General Tso's Chicken And since now there are four locations (Centerville, Kettering, Springboro and Trotwood) there's no excuse to not give them a try. read more

Anyone else notice a little price hike?? Anyone else notice a change in food quality?? IMO all the lunch specials are bleh. A vegetable stir fry with white sauce, fried rice, and crab rangoon (rangoon is no longer part of lunch special!). The stir fry was a joke. I could easily have crafted something more delicious in my own kitchen. Which I won't normally say when ordering Asian foods because their dishes seem to be complex and something I can't replicate with my cooking skills. The sauce was a watery mess, my veggies were fresh but I should have just ordered a salad in this case. The fried rice, was not really fried! Just skip the lunch menu, the dinner food is always on point. I'll consider 4 stars when they don't do a price hike for a year. read more

Have to update this one, hubby and I have eaten here several times lately and have also ordered carry out from here. SOMETHING has changed in a BIG way in terms of service ! It's way better! The grumpy "hostess of doom" has not been there ! The food was always delish! Missed this place. Glad they figured out how to be nice to people. We will be back. read more

we eat here quite regularly. This trip was one of the worst trips we have made here. The gentleman server walked by us four times before even greeting us at our table. Sat at our table over five minutes and still had no drinks not even ordered. I got up and asked if I could be sat in a section where I could at least have my order taken she sent the gentleman server back over to my table. Everybody in his section was complaining he took our drink order and brought us the wrong drinks so we asked to move tables were told we could move tables , then the female server came over and told us that she could not wait on us that he had to and I told her I did not want him at my table at all anymore. She had to go get a manager to OK it this Young, Bella wouldn't know his head from the hole in the ground if you were handing it to him with a big red banner, saying here it is worst server ever , then the female server came over and told us that she could not wait on us that he had to and I told her I did not want him at my table at all anymore. She had to go get a manager to OK it this Young, Bella wouldn't know his head from the hole in the ground if you were handing it to him with a big red banner, saying here it is worst server ever . 30 minutes later still no food read more

My fiancé and I just moved into the area. This was our second time there, and both times everything we ate was fantastic. I am very picky about my crab rangoon and the rangoon they served is the best I've ever tasted. I think that makes it is the garlic. Between this time and the last, we've tried sweet and sour chicken, cashew chicken, sizzling combo, and triple delight. The cashew chicken had so many cashews! They don't skimp out like many restaurants I've had before. The triple delight was amazing too. My fiancé loves spicy things while I can't take very much heat. The triple delight had roasted chilis, giving it more of a slow, warm burn that even I could handle. I can't wait to go again and try more dishes, and to get some more crab rangoon. Yum! read more

I have visited all the three restaurants. The food is great at all of them. However I will never visit the one on Far Hills in Kettering again. The room we had dinner in was a disgrace. There was food on the floor and every empty table was dirty with dishes and food. It remained that way for the whole time we ate dinner. I always felt this store was not as clean as the others but this was over the top. From now on I eating at the one in Springboro read more

I decided to update my review because this restaurant remains one of the top ones in Dayton. I have eaten there with my in laws, (who find it extra enjoyable to treat servers like dirt). I thinks it's unfair to expect the same service during peak hours and Saturdays. I also think that they should raise their prices to keep upper clientele. The food is exellent. My father in law found another tasty dish with the Chefs special. I think the reason that locals have problems is that they expect the food to taste like their corner cardboard carry outs in their neighborhood. I for one value the uniqueness of every dish. For example, my favorite Chinese dish is Mongolian beef but often order the sizzling steak and it's to die for. I have also noticed that the sizzling soup no longer sizzles and pops. I often attempt to look at their secret menu. Is there any way somebody can take pictures of these dishes? read more

Best Chinese I've had in a LONG time! Great tasting spring roll, pot stickers and sizzling platter of shrimp, crab, scallops and chicken! Great server. Beautiful decor. Only problem was: I bit into a one inch piece of sharp white plastic (size of a toothpick) in the spring roll, that stuck in my cheek. Truly unappetizing. BUT, try them anyway. read more

We carried out from China Cottage. The crab Rangoon was pretty good and the sweet & sour chicken was delicious. I love their sweet & sour sauce! read more

I wouldn't even give this place one star! My husband and myself took our son there today! First time ever. I not only found a bug on my plate, but a hair on his. The manager did not even come to our table. We paid our entire bill and left. I will never go back to that so called restaurant ever again! read more

I grew up eating China Cottage as it's not only the best Chinese restaurant in Dayton, but it's also owned by a family friend! The decor is great for a date, family dinner or group gathering and all the landscaping was done by the owner himself! If you're Chinese, make sure to order off the Chinese menu! There are plenty of options and the food comes out fresh and hot, so it's definitely a great option for take out! I'd post some of my fav dishes, but I don't have a menu in front of me. I'll update next time I'm back! read more

Horrible service ending up walking out after waiting for ten minutes for a server, people came in after us was served their drinks and soup before our drink order was even taken!!! We left and went to the Springboro Location much much better service!!! Never going back there again after driving all the way up from Cincinnati just eat there!!! read more

Great food & large portion sizes. I think they have the best Lo Mein out of all other Chinese restaurants around. They are very accommodating! I came here with a large carry-out order for work. Each person had a main entree, side of rice & soup. I asked that they label the boxes with names so I could keep everything in order, however they did one better by bagging each person's meal individually with a fortune cookie, silverware, soy sauce packets & stapled the name on the bag, which made it very easy for distributing the food. They had all my orders done just 30 minutes into opening and all the food was fresh & hot! Very pleased! read more

I've eaten here many times, and the food is consistently pretty good. It's not the most spectacular Chinese food around but it definitely is tasty. The classic dishes such as the Mongolian beef and general tso's chicken are very good, decent level of spice. The fried rice noodles are good as well. I loved the firecracker shrimp appetizers which have a solid kick to your palate. The decor of the restaurant is upscale and nice. Great flow to the restaurant. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you like decent Asian food. read more

This restaurant has the feel of a nice fancy restaurant but with the prices of a take out Chinese restaurant! And the food was pretty good! I had the Hot and sour soup which was on point. For my entree I had chicken and broccoli. Overall it was a little salty for my taste but the rice balanced it out. The service and ambience was good. This is definitely a place I would come to again. read more

When I first got to the restaurant, I thought I would eat there, the inside is highly decorated in Chinese 1980's style. It is a pretty big place, it looked clean. Once inside I decided to get a to go order instead of eating there. The lady taking the order was impatient and when asked questions she ignored them, luckily there was a nice lady sitting at the bar area that helped me. The General Tso Chicken was so bad, it was drowning in a thick brown syrup. It was sweeter and thicker than pancake or corn syrup with a chemical smell and had no spice to it. I've never had Tso's so sweet and flavorless like that before but I could not eat it. No broccoli or any veg in the whole dish. The fried rice was grey with hard dried rice and had no flavor at all. It was truly disgusting. The crab Rangoon was ok, crunchy but not much filling. The only thing I actually liked and would like to have again was the chicken creamy soup, I had never had it before and it tasted good, wish I had just ordered a large soup. It was also pricy for a lunch portion. While waiting for my order I did notice other dinners with their orders and the portions seemed large and the food I saw looked like it would be good, not sure why I was given such bad food. Maybe because I ordered at about 3pm? That is no excuse to me, the food should be very fresh order out or dine in and at any time. You don't give people dried out rice and the dregs of a dish. If I ever do eat there again I will not order General Tso Chicken and I will check and taste my order before leaving. read more

It's a nice clean establishment. We ordered the pot stickers and crab ragoon oh my heavens the crab ragoon was off the charts the best I have ever had to be honest!! Potstickers the same best I've ever had! Then the entree came it was still lunch so got their chicken creamy soup yum with a shrimp in spicy sauce it was good but not really spicy! I will definitely return. The service was fast and great! Can't wait to go back!!! read more

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No better lunch deal than this place. $6.95 got me soup, broccoli chicken and rice. Not the best Chinese I've ever had, but it was a little above average and for that price, you can't beat it. Really interesting place too. For $6.95 you'd think the place would be a dump, totally not the case. The place is very over-the-top in kind of a cool way. I'd go back. read more

Really enjoyed the experience! We were here a few months ago and the food was great, however the service was poor. The food was sooo good we decided to try again and glad we did! As before our meals were exceptional! We had the Firecracker Shrimp and Crab Rangoons for an appetizer, the triple spicy delight for me and my wife had Hot and Sour soup - amazing I tried it and General Tso's Chicken. Everyone was gracious and polite despite it being busy! Great atmosphere, excellent service and wonderful food! read more

China Cottage - Chinese Near Me - Dayton, Ohio

I ordered.shrimp with Chinese vegetables after being told by the waiter it had broccoli in it. There was.no broccoli but almost a whole green pepper and celery that was not well cooked. I asked to get another dish as substitute and was told they don't do that. I would have to have them take it away and buy another meal. Said that is their policy. I will never go back there Poor food and service. read more

On the sign of this restaurant it reads "One of the best". That really raised the expectation level for me. Chinese food is a favorite of ours and we had hoped we were in for a treat. The outside of the building was a mixture of a Swiss Bistro with an Asian style roof but the Golden lions that greet you at the door assured you that you were at a Chinese joint. As you enter the restaurant you will be pleased that it actually looks Asian and a long hallway leads you through a crisp clean restaurant to your table. The restrooms were immaculate and up to date just as the rest of the restaurant. An especially nice feature is that there is a pretty clear view of a partially open kitchen. Now for the food. We ordered pot stickers as an appetizer and they were adequate but the filling was more beefy than sausagy and they needed to be "stuck" more.as they were pretty gummy on three sides. But overall they were okay. My wife got the creamy chicken soup which she was very happy with. I snuck a taste of it had a nice balanced flavor and a medium thickness which suited it well. I had the egg drop soup which had a flavorful broth and plenty of egg. For entrees, my wife ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken and I ordered triple delight that is actually called "Triple Ingredient" on the menu. We ordered a spring roll with the meal. That was when it all.went bad for us. The rolls tasted as if they had been refried and were dripping with oil. The inside veggies had zero crispness to them. Very soggy and very disappointing. Then came our entrees. Then it only got worse. We ordered them with fried rice and I have seen white rice more fried than this. On top of that the rice had almost no flavor. If that weren't enough, it was clumpy and cakey. We couldn't eat it. The sweet and sour chicken was chewy and had little flavor. I've never tasted sweet and sour chicken that needed more sweetness. My Triple Ingredient dish was so salty that I barely ate any of it. We were so disappointed with our meal. I truly hate to say that too. I love Chinese food and I have a broad acceptance level as well. But this meal was just lousy. I can't forget to mention the service though. It was absolutely perfect. So, our experience was that this restaurant is wonderful except for the food. Maybe it was just a bad day but if I am honest, I probably won't be back to find out. read more

This is a great place for Chinese food, after years, I still remember their three-cup chicken, which is pretty authentic and I cannot find from anywhere else who can cook such good one. read more

Service was great. Homemade raspberry iced tea. Lunch special u can't beat. 6 bucks for meal, soup and Rangoon. Full and taking leftovers home. 3 of us ate and took leftovers for just over 20 bucks on Friday afternoon! read more

Ok this place just misses a 4th star because I thought the food a bit too salty (I don't generally put salt on anything but still, thought it was a tad too much). Atmosphere: Nice place and family oriented. Good mix of decor and a full bar. Also, very clean. Service: I was alone on a Tuesday so it wasn't like they were busy but my waitress was very pleasant and attentive. Service was fast. Food: Very good menu selection. Also very reasonably priced and portions were very large. I ordered beef with garlic sauce and it was very flavorful albeit salty as mentioned above. My fortune cookie did not have a fortune? Maybe a bad omen... read more

Arrived as a party of 6 + a very young child. Service wasn't good and it took about 2 hours to eat lunch there. Ordered hot tea - it was delivered to the table piping hot, way too hot to handle, much less drink. The teabag was left in the pot itself, so the last cup of tea was way too bitter and astringent - there was no way for me to remove the teabag, since there wasn't anywhere to place the bag. Then the soup came - the egg drop soup was lukewarm and appeared to be literally coagulated. It would stick and ooze off of the spoon, and I didn't take more than two spoonfuls of the soup. The other soups weren't good either. The 'creamy chicken' soup appeared to be bad chicken chow mein pureed in a blender. The entrees finally came - each entree had two horrible deep fried crab rangoons that appeared to be mostly cream cheese and garlic. The chicken chow mein was the worst chow mein dish that I've tasted, plus it had a mountain of crispy straws on it. Moo goo gai pan was very bland, and the only redeeming dish was the General Tso's chicken, which was pretty much comparable to a substandard Panda Express entree. All the food was lukewarm, which confuses me greatly. Decor was excellent, but when I go out to eat, I go for the food, not the decor. We won't be making a return trip. read more

So on a day trip to Dayton I wanted to try something different than my usual FAVE... White Lotus. I didn't notice there was more than one location of China Cottage, only searched for "BEST CHINESE" and it came up. Went to the Far Hills location. Maybe the other locations are better but a big EHHHH from me. I love the way they try to cover up whatever the previous decor was by throwing Buddha's and other Asian knick Knacks around. Service was fine. But...what dine-in restaurant in this universe doesn't have fountain drinks? I ordered a Coke and the server plops a bottle on the table with a glass of ice. OYE VEY...and never offered me water. I ordered a spicy shrimp dish and while the portion was beyond generous the flavor was off. The white rice didn't smell fresh, the shrimp were odd to say the least...not horrible, just off. read more