Now that the China-Restaurant Lotus has closed, the title of "best Chinese restaurant in Bitburg"…read moreis a toss-up between several lesser places. Among these is the Asia Golden Wok, a fairly good diner held back by a handful of flaws. Here's an overview of major aspects of my experience.
VENUE: Parking can be a little tough at the end of the Fussgaengerzone, but there's always the Parkplatz by the bus stop, a few hundred feet away. The locale itself is generally pleasing, with a medium-sized layout and rosy furniture. The kitschy placemats look a little out of place, and the bathrooms (at least the men's) are almost always chilly. There's a big screen TV on the wall and an exotic fish tank, but both are positioned so that only a few customers can view them and the television only ever plays Vietnamese programming.
MENU: The place offers a basic variety of East Asian cuisine like you can find in any similar locale in Germany, with most conventional dishes (chop suey, sweet & sour chicken/beef/pork, fried noodles and rice, etc.) and a couple of national specialties like bami goreng. Portions are always generous. The food itself is usually appetizing, sometimes plain, occasionally tasty, but never outright delicious. The daily buffet can be remarkably lazy, with broccoli and cauliflower clearly purchased frozen from the supermarket and discounter brand yogurt for dessert.
SERVICE: Easily the worst aspect of the restaurant. Orders are usually taken by the manager, who is terse, impatient, full of dirty looks (especially for kids), and generally unprofessional. A fellow who I think is the head chef sometimes helps waiting, but even though he's infinitely more gracious, he clearly doesn't understand more than the most basic German, so that even compliments about his food seem to go over his head.
PRICE: The place offers pretty darn good values, and this is what makes it worth visiting every once in a while. Two people looking for a full meal with drinks and appetizers can easily dine here for well under 30 Euros, especially if they share a hot plate. My usual meal - spring rolls, roast duck in peanut sauce, and lychee juice - comes to 12.60 Euros, without tip, and I'll usually bring home leftovers. Disappointingly, it's a cash-only place: no credit cards.
Overall, Asia Golden Wok marks the midpoint of what Bitburg currently has to offer in the way of East Asian cooking: not as good as the Thai Wok Imbiss, but better than that dreadful place next to Hellas. Check it out if you're starved for Chinese, but keep your expectations level.
