Location: Goleta
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Top 4 Chinese food in Goleta, California, United States
Reviews on Chinese food in Goleta, California, United States. Goleta, home to University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the Santa Barbara Airport, hugs the coast 12 miles west of Santa Barbara. First called "The Good Land" by the Spanish, Goleta was once known for its rich agriculture, and smaller scale farms still pepper the landscape. The California Lemon Festival at Girsh Park is a must-see every October. Visitors seeking outdoor adventure can fish off Goleta Pier, surf at Campus Point and hike along bluffs overlooking untrammeled coastline.
Things to do in Goleta
1. Red Pepper
Overall Ratings
4 based on 27 reviews
Reviewed By Tom Y
Came her for business lunch. There are only a few Chinese restaurants in the area, so there are no competition. This place can never survive in Monterey Park or China Town because they serve American Chinese food. I came from Hong Kong and I was a Chinese chef for a few year while I was in college and I know what real Chinese food is.Someone from our table ordered roast duck. I tried one piece. It was terrible. They must have taken it from some left over from the refrigerator and fry it for a minute and serve. It was the worst roast duck I have ever seen. My stream with oyster sauce was OK. Personally , I would never go to this Chinese restaurant for Chinese food. Service was lousy. The place is clean. If you like real authentic Chinese food, this is not the place. Locals don't have a lot of Choices in the Goleta area. If you are in Van Guys area, try the Sam Woo BBQ. They have about 8 Sam Woo restaurant around LA. They have excellent Chinese food and it is cheap. You can read my Tripadvisor reviews on these restaurants.
2. Ming Dynasty
Overall Ratings
3 based on 35 reviews
Reviewed By JJJ099
Its a bit hard to review the Ming because it is several different restaurants depending on what you order. We have been coming here for years from time to time and its the only Chinese restaurant in town that we keep returning to. Over the years we have had some terrible and some wonderful meals as well as mostly good. Our criteria, as a Chinese/American couple that travels to China annually and seeks out the most authentic Chinese food, is for authentic Chinese dishes of quality. Usually if we want a good Chinese meal we either cook it at home or go to the San Gabriel/Monterey Park/Alhambra area of LA, but if we don't want to go so far the Ming has often been our choice. First, you can get a horrible meal or a really good meal at the Ming depending on what you order. The buffet, like all Chinese buffets, is a disgusting pandering to those who know little about Chinese food. Avoid! The Mongolian BBQ is not a bad choice if you want something tasty with good quantity but overall mediocre. If you order from the standard menu you are also unlikely to have a good meal. But the Secret menu, which has English as well as Chinese has some gems. The snow pea leaves are a wonderful vegetable. The spicy chilled beef tendon is a delicious starter seasoned with sichuan pepper. The Dragon fire hot pot with fish is a good rendition of the "boiled fish" dishes of Sichuan with a good flavoring of chili peppers and mala although we would have preferred more mala (sichuan peppercorn). The "three cup chicken" is a taiwanese dish that is relatively uncommon here, but the Ming version is excellent and highly recommended. This was the last meal we had at the Ming and it was very satisfying. (I notice the terrible review of the tea duck given by a recent visitor. We usually evaluate what we are ordering in relation to the turnover and prep time for a given dish. We love tea duck and frequently get it in LA or China, but have always thought that the turnover in a small restaurant was unlikely to be sufficient. A couple of years ago a waitress at the Ming also told us that it wasn't good. This illustrates the problem with evaluating a restaurant based on one or a few dishes.)
3. China King Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 11 reviews
Reviewed By kellygal_10
We visited the new China King restaurant the first week it opened (around mid-November). The place was quite busy which, to me, means that people are fairly anxious to have a good Chinese restaurant in Goleta at 5915 Calle Real (located in the Zodo's Bowling shopping center).The staff was eager to please and waited on us promptly. We ordered Egg Drop Soup and also the Cashew Nut Shrimp noodle dish (Shrimp Chow Mein). Our food was hot and tasty and we didn't have to wait long at all. Everything was good about this place. If it was any indication of how it will be when we go back, I would say that the people working at China King know what they are doing and know how to make delicious Chinese food dishes. Give them a try. Prices are reasonable.Parking is also easy and it's a fairly large lot.
Where to eat Cafe food in Goleta: The Best Restaurants and Bars
4. Lucky Dragon
Reviewed By OLDFirefighter
My wife and I have been waiting for this place to open for months. We were driving by the other night and noticed the restaurant was open and there was a line out front. We put our name on the list and waited 20 minutes or so. After we were seated a menu was presented we laughed, quietly but it was a laugh. What would you do if the first thing to caught your eye was Spiced Chengdu Duck Tongue or Savory Spicy Bullfrog!!! Yikes!!! That said we had the Beef with Onion and the Twice Cooked Pork These were wonderful dishes and when we go back we'll have at least one of these dishes plus a spicy Fried Chicken that sounded good. Everyone in the place other that us was having a huge bowl of soup. We are going to get that too. By the way, there is no fortune cookie and you pay for the tea. That's okay, I didn't miss either. Try it, it's fun and the staff was friendly and helpful.
Where to eat Soups food in Goleta: The Best Restaurants and Bars
