I really, really want to like this restaurant, especially considering the limited options on Fort Knox. We attempted to try China Bistro last summer, even after we heard some horrible reviews, only to discover that the advertised hours were not the actual hours. Now, 7 months later, we attempted to try it again.
For us, it was a Wednesday night at 6:30PM. When we walked in, the hostesses/waitresses seemed confused about where to seat us. We figured things must be busy. However, when we entered the dining room, there were only two other tables occupied (a single guy in a booth and a couple in another booth).
Two waitresses were on duty that night. One was handling the other two tables, and ours was only responsible for us. Ours was new, so we cut her some slack, but it was obvious that the other server was not doing anything to train her. When asked about certain items on the menu, our waitress replied with "I've never eaten here." We felt very bad for her, as she appeared very overwhelmed by her job. The other waitress appeared preoccupied with her friend at the bar.
We ordered a sampler appetizer (more than $10). It consisted of unseasoned, grilled beef on a skewer, unseasoned and unsauced chicken wings (two small ones), crab rangoon, egg rolls, dumplings, and coconut shrimp. Overall, everything on the sampler platter appeared to have been bought at Sam's Club.
I had sesame chicken for $9.99. It was about the same quality as you'd find at your average china buffet. Same goes for my son's General's chicken. My wife had a tofu plate, which was surprisingly good. Our two youngest ordered from the kid's menu. One got chicken nuggets and fries which were, predictably, from the freezer. The other ordered chicken fried rice, which appeared to be the best plate of the night. It looked great. Portion sizes were fine for everyone.
The three adult meals came with fried rice. The fried rice was very dry and unseasoned. You will do much better with the stuff you find at a local buffet.
It pains me to say this about the one hope for evening dining service without leaving the gates, but it just disappointed from top to bottom. It just seems that, if you are going to have a China Bistro, you must meet or exceed the quality of your average buffet or your typical PX Manchu Wok, and Lee's China Bistro misses the mark completely. Maybe Gordon Ramsey will bring Kitchen Nightmares to Knox and relaunch this place. Let's hope for that. Until then, keep driving until you reach the PX and grab a sandwich at Charlie's. read more