Closed Aug. 27/23 after 41 years. Was great food We miss…read morethem Good prices Dumplings were schmooze

I had the buffet lunch ($14.50) at Golden Bowl with a couple of girlfriends and I can sum up my…read morefeelings in two words, or one emoticon: sad face :( The buffet was incredibly small, only about 10 items, and the food in my opinion was on par with the likes of Manchu Wok and other such food court Westernized Chinese food vendors. Actually, the best of the food was Manchu Wok caliber, some items did not even meet this low standard, at least not in my opinion. The place has been around for decades and it would appear to me that no renovations have been made for decades. On the buffet was: wonton soup, egg rolls, chicken balls, salt and pepper fried chicken pieces, garlic spare ribs, vegetarian fried noodles, chicken fried rice, beef and vegetables stir-fry, fried chicken wings, and chow mein. So only 10 "real items" then they had stuff like pineapple sauce, sweet and sour sauce, almond cookies, and some sort of deep-fried dough pieces. No ice cream! :( Let's start with the good: the chicken balls were filled with lean white breast meat and the meat to batter ratio was pretty good. They weren't all dough. They were crispy, and if one were to like sweet and sour chicken balls in general, I think that one would enjoy these. The egg rolls were also pretty good. They were very crispy and the wrapper was thinner and crunchier than I've had at other places. The filling was ground pork and vegetables and had a strong five-spice fragrance to it. The wonton soup was also not bad. I liked that the soup had some leafy greens in it and wasn't overly oily/greasy. The actual wontons were a bit mushy, but the filling to wrapper ratio was good. The flavour was good. The unremarkable: chicken fried rice, vegetarian noodles, beef and vegetables stir-fry, and garlic spare ribs. The bad: the salt and pepper fried chicken pieces I found very weird. The meat was dark meat and had a strange texture. It was too salty and not that peppery to me. The "I did not try it because it did not look appetizing to me": fried chicken wings (looked really dry and greyish), the chow mein (I hate bean sprouts), the almond cookies (looked store bought) and the crunchy fried dough things. Service was nice and efficient. We were greeted right away and led to our seats. We were given water shortly after and our waters were refilled often and without having to ask. When we first arrived a bit before noon, there were only a few patrons, but after 12pm the place got really busy, so it looks like there's definitely a market for this kind of food, it's just not my jam. There's free parking in their private parking lot beside the restaurant.

Food was great except for the fried rice with shrimp. The crispy beef was the best. The chicken…read morecashew was tasty hoping there was snow peas. The crispy noodle was fresh . The eggplant with garlic sauce was good. It was a long walk from our hotel but worthy and we got to exercise. Winnie our server was great including the young man giving us water. Ambiance is ok .

Grabbed this for takeout after work one day and really wanted to love it, but unfortunately wasn't…read moretoo impressed. The hot n sour soup was very good with a dark soy flavor and subtle warmth. The potstickers were fantastic and you could tell were made in house. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the price for just 4. I should've stopped my order there, but I made the mistake of adding some General Chicken. It was made using dark meat which is fine, but the meat itself was very fatty and grisly. The sauce had good flavor, but I couldn't get past the texture of the chicken. I ended up only eat 3-4 pieces and throwing out the rest. I wonder if there's an option for white meat chicken instead.

The Short Version: Instant hot pot restaurant. I had the…read morevegetable set meal for one and it was delicious. "Mild" was quite spicy, lol. Service was excellent. The Long Version: My first time having "instant hot pot" where the kitchen cooks all the ingredients for you and your soup comes out in a bowl (as opposed to traditional hot pot, where you're brought raw ingredients and you cook it yourself in the boiling broth at your table). This is great when you're by yourself (which I was), because hot pot is like a communal and social meal, but I was hungry and just wanted to eat, lol. They have two options for instant hot pot at Mr. Maocai, they have set meals and choose your own ingredients meals. If you choose your own ingredients you are charged by the ingredients (starting at $2.39 each for vegetables, the price is higher for meat ingredients). The set meals are a better deal if you like all the ingredients in the set meal. I chose the vegetable set meal for one ($18.80). This came with cauliflower, konjac knots, tofu skin, enoki mushrooms, tribute vegetable, potato slices, black fungus, Napa cabbage and potato noodles. I got it in the mild spicy hot pot broth. So the spiciness levels are mild, medium, hot, and hell (LOL). I don't want to know what hell tastes like because the mild was quite spicy for me. Haha. My nose was running and I had tingly lips. Nonetheless I enjoyed it. The broth was flavourful although it had a bit of a sour taste that I wasn't too fond of, but the sourness wasn't overpowering. The meal usually comes with a bowl of rice, but they ran out of rice so offered me Shanghai noodles or instant noodles and I chose Shanghai noodles. I think I actually prefer to have noodles in the soup over a bowl of rice on the side. So lucky me (especially since the a la carte price of the noodles is more than that of the rice). The Sweet potato noodles were thick and chewy and so delicious. My favourite ingredient in my hot pot. The konjac knots were konjac noodles tied up in a knot. I loved these. It was my first time having Tribute vegetable. It's the stem of a leafy green vegetable that it shaved, then dehydrated and then later rehydrated. It had an interesting crunchy texture and I quite enjoyed it. The black fungus was cut into little strands. They were nice and chewy. The cauliflower was still al dente which I liked. It wasn't soft and mushy. The potato slices were also al dente. I always love enoki mushrooms, so was thrilled that these were in my soup. The Napa cabbage was soft, but I didn't mind this. The tofu skins were chewy. I actually prefer the dehydrated bean curd sheets over these fresh tofu sheets, but that's just a personal preference. The Shanghai noodles were a little thinner than I expected, but they were nice and chewy and I'm really glad they ran out of rice for my order. Haha. The portion size was excellent. I had enough for lunch and had leftovers for dinner. They give you a pitcher of water for your tablet, which I appreciated because my "mild" soup was spicy! Lol. Service was courteous and efficient. The server asked if it was my first time there and when I said it was, she explained their process to me. She checked in on me and was helpful in getting me containers to pack up my leftovers. They have a sauce bar, but I didn't use it. Decor is nice with a bright red and yellow colour scheme. Street parking only. I highly recommend Mr. Maocai for instant hot pot. Review #61 (2026)

Had a delicious dinner here. There are a few value sets and combo for one. I got the dry pot while…read moremy friend got the soup one. Spice level was great and tasty.

I dunno why I don't come more often. I had the same sherpherd's purse and pork wontons in soup and…read morealso had the pork wonton in peanut sauce. So fresh and tasty. You order at the counter and they bring you the food at the table. The wontons are piping hot. Vinegar, sriracha, soy sauce and hot oil is on each table for self serve. The decor is the same minimalist one as when it opened. They seem to have opened up the back room. If this keeps the price down, it's fine with me.

The restaurant is pretty popular and busy especially around the lunch hour (when I went). There are…read moresome sitting in front and farther back. I had the pork mushroom wontons with peanut sauce and tried some noodles from a family memeber. The wontons, peanut sauce and the noodles were delicious and flavorful. For the wontons, the portions were great. For the noodles, the portions seems slightly larger a bit (in general).

Saturday night, takeout night! The fam and I went with Nom Nom tonight and chose a couple of…read moredifferent dishes out. The hubby recently got takeout from Nom Nom a couple of weeks ago, and forgot how good it was, while it has been a couple of years since I've had takeout from here. We ordered the sesame balls, veggie spring rolls, sweet potato croquettes, tofu spicy fried noodles, and Singapore noodles. The sesame balls and the veggie spring rolls were reminiscent of the stuff you'd get at an AYCE restaurant, but they were still good. The sweet potato croquettes was a first for me, and they were very much like a large hash brown, but super fluffy inside. My suggestion is to wait for them to cool down a bit and eat them warm or room temperature. My toddler loved these, but I thought they were just OK. The Korean spicy fried noodles was the star of the show, although a bit too greasy for my liking, they did hit the spot. I really enjoyed their take on cooking tofu. I think they took deep fried puffed tofu, flattened it down and fried it with the noodles, where it resembled sliced pork. There was a lot of nice color to it, as well as a slight char, and the texture was amazing. Keep it mind, it was a tad greasy as well. I didn't care for the Singapore noodles. My hubby loves this dish, but said he's had it made better else where, so its all personal preference. I do like that you can customize a lot of the meals into vegetarian meals, so major kudos to that. I don't crave Asian cuisine all that often, so I don't think I will be rushing back, but it was nice to switch things up and try out something new.

Food was super yummy and will definitely be coming back! I got the bulgogi and rice while my…read moreboyfriend got the spicy beef bibimbap and both were amazing! The staff was super friendly and helpful when asking questions.

This is my husband and I favorite Chinese restaurant. We are regulars every weekend. Food is great…read moreservers are very friendly. We really miss you. Please come back. Darlene and Bob

I showed up on a week night. Tiny little spot ideally for takeout. A few Uber eats drivers come in…read moreand out. It took 20 minutes for my order. Friendly cashier took my order. I had the wonton soup, quite good. The dumplings were a little small but ok. The cantonese noodles huge. Big plate, plenty of meat and veggies. All the flavours were delicious. They forgot my utensils :(

Big variety of menu options at reasonable prices. My favourite Chinese food place in the…read moreneighbourhood!

I was placing a large order for delivery, for a party of 14, and explained that we had a number of…read moreour group who had different food allergies. Not only did the person I was dealing with identify that they could accommodate all of our needs (GF, no bell peppers, no shellfish), but she also checked with the chef twice about hidden ingredients and offered very good alternatives when necessary. She even phoned a few minutes after the order was placed, to confirm one ingredient. Even after all the customization on our order was complete, the food was still excellent.

I was a bit surprised at the size of their open ended egg rolls(a bit on the smaller side), but…read morethey tasted awesome. Overall I would give this a A++

This was my first time here. I always passed by but today the wife and I decided to give it a shot…read more We ordered the Kung Pao Chicken and the chicken fried rice. I have to say it was pretty darn good. The Kung Pao was sweet and had a very mild kick. And as for the chicken fired rice, it was very tasty and savory. The waiters are extraordinarily nice and the main dining area is beautiful. Its a perfect place for date night or entertaining visitors. 5 stars all the way.

I asked my wife what she would rate this place. She said 4.6 In general, we've been fairly…read moreunderwhelmed with Chinese food in Ottawa, so much so that my wife, by the end of our trip said "the best Chinese food in Ottawa is now when I make it at home after going to T&T." This is not because she is the world's greatest cook but because most of the offerings are pretty ordinary. All that said Peking Duck is an exception. We ordered the Peking Duck and while expensive at 88 dollars it was enough for a meal for the two of us. It felt elegant and of very high quality. I've had Peking duck a few times and no where near as good as this. In any case, this was our favorite Chinese place after 4 months living in Ottawa. Not sure about the rest of the menu, but probably worth a try and we might go back. Only downsides are it might be a bit expensive for what it is, and the restaurant is near the Byward Market. The restaurant is very nice but Byward is one of the few spots in Ottawa, that as an American I find to feel a bit sketchy at night.

Mainstay authentic Chinese Canadian cuisine! Service and order ahead is seamless and frequently on…read moretime. Preset dinners are delicious, well portioned, and convenient for large events, especially if you order ahead. Particularly love the Shanghai Noodles and Cantonese chow mein.

What can I say about Lucky Star? This is 100% authentic American Chinese food…read more Spare ribs so sweet you'd swear they were cooked in a vat of sugar (they were), Deep-fried egg rolls with ends burnt black as the devil's heart lemon chicken with batter and lemon sauce so thick you'd think it was prepared with the expressed purpose of spiking your already agitated blood glucose levels. Leave all your expectations about sampling actual Chinese cuisine at the door and slide up to the white melamine counter and get ready for some nostalgia.