I started looking over their very limited menu when a girl came from behind a new screen which gives a semblance of a hint of an idea that the front, ordering counter, eating tables area is separate from the back, storage/kitchen area. I said to the girl, in a questioning tone, "new management?" to which she replied that she has been there for about a year. I know I have stopped in less than a year ago and the old owners were still there.
My overall assessment:
The chicken is, for lack of a better description, pulverised. I can't really describe it any better: it's not ground; it's not minced; it's not chopped; it's almost powdered. The white stuff sprinkled amid the shredded cabbage and carrots and shrimp in my accompanying isolated picture of the egg rolls is what I take to be the chicken. If it's not, I probably don't want to know what it really is.
At first look, the egg rolls struck me as being on the rather small side, but maybe not.
Two things one can reasonably expect to find in won ton soup are some chopped green onion/scallion tops and a few pieces of julienned pork. The onions were present but the pork was not.
I give it 4 instead of 5 only because I have to give my name, address and phone every time - it's time to get efficient. The food however, is outstanding . I have been a customer for several years so I have been to the restaurant and now the take-out only and it's great. Maybe not the best skillset demonstrated on the phone, but it is 3 minutes out of my life so I choose to let that go.
Food carelessly made bland and a little costly. I won't order there again. Service mediocre
Considering the overstaffed kitchen, I expected more attention to be paid to the quality of food. If they don't care about the small items, then they're not going to care about the big ones, either.
The 2 x $1.75 Won Ton Soup:
As opposed to straight chicken broth, there seems to be some added flavouring in this soup. It's almost a fishy taste, but whatever it is, it is not what one would customarily find in won ton soup.
The noodles in wonton soup are usually folded to enclose a small lump of some type of ground meat. There was only one such lump enfolded into one of the noodles; the other two were plain, open squares of cooked won ton noodle dough. And overcooked, at that. [Think lasagna that is boiled for 20 minutes. Bleh!]
Considering this was supposed to be a large size order, you can see the skimpy portion of won tons which were included. As it turns out, this was probably a good thing!
From my initial order, I WILL *NOT* be going back to China Renaissance!
It occurred to me that this was a completely different restaurant, as far as I was concerned. With any new-to-me Chinese restaurant I visit, I have found that the only accurate way to assess the inherent nature of the entire establishment is to sample their egg rolls and won ton soup. How they pay attention to the little items will indicate, to me, how the rest of their selections will be prepared. So, before I waste my money on the more expensive items on the menu, I check the level of care the restaurateur takes with the more mundane, everyday items. In this case, it was a wise choice; the operative word in my previous sentence is "waste."
The shrimp are salad [smaller than a dime] size, which is entirely acceptable. I found three in one of my rolls. I didn't dissect the others.
Very polite people. Awesome customer service. Great food. Tasty and delicious. The parry tray is my family's favorite.
The $1.75 "Made with Chicken & Shrimp" Egg Rolls:
The rolls' overall texture was dry. For a brief moment, I considered that what I took to be pulverised chicken might, in fact, *be* sawdust! I'm sure it wasn't, but they were just that dry.
I ordered six egg rolls and two, large won ton soups. [There is no size distinction for their soups on the menu, nor separate pricing therefore. I simply asked for large and was charged double the menu price.]
As to their flavour, I found the egg rolls to be quite bland. None of the incorporated parts lent anything whatsoever to the taste of the whole. Not even the cabbage! I was glad of the duck sauce and mustard packets which were included in the bag; they were the only saving grace for the egg rolls.
the restroom now had a large, red, OUT OF ORDER! (their exclamation point, not mine) sign on the door.
This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in the Cleveland area. I used to eat here all the time when I was still living in Cleveland. I am unable to eat here as often anymore that I live over 700 miles away, however I will still make time to stop by for lunch/dinner every time I come to visit Cleveland.
I paid for my order, [waited a bit longer than I should have had to, for so simple an order and considering the number of cooks in the kitchen!] accepted my bags and her thanks, and drove home.
China Renaissance is a US Meal Delivery based in North Olmsted, Ohio. China Renaissance is located at 29336 Lorain Rd, North Olmsted, OH 44070, USA.
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