Review: Golden Chopsticks

Today’s review from your intrepid food reporter comes from a few weeks ago. Eating out was a non-starter this week. Payday is a week away still and two days ago, our fridge here at Casa de Hughes decided to die.

A positive aside, our landlord, after being notified of said problem, showed up less than 24 hours later with a brand-new fridge. That’s clutch and goes to show there are great landlords out there. I have one.

Our fridge had a slow, multi-day roll to the great appliance store in the sky. What that meant was the $100-plus of meat in the fridge—all gone.

So, what little money we had left was spent at Aldi outfitting a new fridge in emergency status. So, I’ll recall a trip the girlfriend and I made about a month ago, one of a few we’ve made recently actually to Golden Chopsticks on Wheeling Island.

Located at 329 North York Street on the Island, Golden Chopsticks has been a fixture in Asian cuisine in the Ohio Valley for a number of decades.

There are plenty of fine Asian-style establishments in the valley, from take-out options to hibachi-style restaurants where skilled chefs, both in the art of fanciful cooking but also humor, entertain guests with their showy talents and bountiful saki pours. Golden Chopsticks offers takeout, but the atmosphere is what sets the tone. This is sit down and enjoy Chinese cuisine. It’s great for a family night out, a small party, and yes, even date night, as we’ve discovered.

You enter into what feels like a parlor from the older-style houses found throughout Wheeling Island. Friendly staff greats you and takes you to your table, where the dining room has multiple levels of dining, including a second floor that overlooks the main dining area below.

Once seated, you have the option of enjoying hot tea while you wait for your server to come take your order. It’s the nice little touches that set Golden Chopsticks above some of its competitors. But while the experience is high in terms of quality, the prices are not. The majority of the menu is more than affordable, and there are plenty of delicious options to be found.

The Food

I decided to veer off my usual sweet and sour chicken, or General Tso’s order, and selected an order of Kung Pao chicken and peanuts. It came with fried rice and vegetables, which I didn’t like. They weren’t bad, but I’m one of those supertasters where most veggies taste extremely bitter to me. The rice, however, was great as usual.

I’d never tried Kung Pao chicken before and honestly didn’t know what flavor profile to expect. But I thoroughly enjoyed this style of chicken. There was just enough spicy heat to light up my taste buds, and when combined with the rice and peanuts, was a tasty combo.

She ordered her usual of sweet and sour chicken and fried rice, no veggies. I’ve had the sweet and sour here on previous occasions, and we both agree it’s one of the better versions of the dish we’ve sampled.

But in all honesty, the best part of our meal was the appetizer. This was the first place we ever opted for an order of fried dumplings. The taste was incredible, and the sauce used for dipping, I’m thinking some type of honey sesame sauce, only added to the flavor. I know the meat portion of the dumpling filling was pork-based, but aside from that, no clue what was in it.

Like the Kung Pao, that was my first time trying dumplings at a Chinese restaurant. It certainly won’t be the last. We’ve since tried dumplings at every Asian-style restaurant we’ve gone to, and no dumplings have compared to Golden Chopsticks’ version yet.

When you visit, be mindful of the parking situation, as the lot across from the restaurant that looks like it would be the proper parking lot actually belongs to an apartment complex. There are usually plenty of spots along the street, however, for patrons to find.