Chinese Kitchen

Location: 416 N. Valley Mills Drive, Waco, Texas 76710

Hours:

Ability to Loiter During Lunch: 7/10
Quality Rating (scale of 1-10): 5/10
Value Rating (scale of 1-10): 6/10
Staff Rating (scale of 1-10): 5/10

Recommended Items: Crab Rangoon (crab puff), General’s Chicken

“Off the Menu” Items: It is buffet style, what you see is what you get

Health Conscious Selection(s): Nice “salad” bar, and plenty of low-carb options

Review:

Chinese Kitchen is located in an out-parcel building at 416 N. Valley Mills Drive, sharing shopping center space with Tractor Supply and the discount theater. An ornate fountain greets you in the foyer, and you are quickly seated by an efficient, and all-Asian staff.

As a fan of Asian cuisine, I eat it as often as possible, I find the Chinese Kitchen to be a good place in terms of volume, and acceptable quality. The crab puffs are excellent, as is a nice chicken-skewer BBQ item. Ample seafood offerings are available, including boiled shrimp served cold in shell, and sauted dishes. While the sweet and sour sauce is disappointing, regardless of pork or chicken, the noodle dishes and broccoli and spicy beef are tender and fantastic.

Surprising to find is a solid salad-bar, with green salad, hard-boiled eggs, many dressings, and other sides.

Some American items are offered, including fajita fixings and pizza, among others, but the food on this section of the buffet frightened me. I chose to stay Asian, and I recommend the same to you.

Do not lose sight of the dessert buffet, including Blue Bell ice cream, cookies, cream puffs, and macaroons.

All in all, the Chinese Kitchen is as to Asian cuisine as Michna’s is to BBQ. Decent, but not super-quality, but great volume and a nice diversion from the norm.