My gut says to give this place two stars, for a number of reasons. But I just can't, (also for a number of reasons). My friend and I came across this place after she tried to take me to one of her favorite Chinese restaurants in the area, Plum Garden, but it was closed. She knew that I loved Chinese food, and also that I had recently moved from Los Angeles to Crystal Lake, and that I was really missing the authentic and delicious Asian cuisine of my former home. But upon discovering that Plum Garden's doors were locked, we decided to just drive around McHenry and look for another Chinese place, descending into the culinary blue skies of the Midwest's great unknown. So we drove - looking for any place that even hinted at being a good Asian joint. Then, from the blond brick rectangles of an innocuous McHenry Strip mall, the New China restaurants' storefront emerged. Needless to say, when it comes to authentic Chinese restaurants, McHenry is NOT Los Angeles. And that's why I cannot give New China any less stars. Because it is what it is, and it is where it is, and I am sure that the people who work at New China are trying hard to make food that their customers will buy; so who am I to judge. But I was given hope, when I looked at the wall-menu through the front window. New China actually had a few good sounding dishes that suggested there was an actual chef born in China cooking inside. Also, there were some authentic dish names that suggested that New China sometimes served a clientele that was really Chinese. So I was excited, even if I ended up being pretty much 'Dead Wrong'. So here were my problems...
First: in truth, this is just a take-out place. Sure there were a couple of small, stained Formica-topped tables pressed against the hallway wall, and yes there were some cheap white plastic lawn-chairs stacked four high by the door. But other than that this place was take-out all the way. And there was absolutely NOTHING Like Table-Service. Food was collected at the counter by the customer after paying, and we got our own cans of drinks from the cooler. No hot tea. No Mai Tai. No Chinese music. And not even a traditional ancestral shrine.
Second: There were NO plates for the food. Everything was given to us in Styrofoam to-go containers, even to eat at our table. Likewise, drinks came with a Styrofoam cup if we asked for one. Plastic forks & teaspoons were in a box near the March of Dimes donation plaque. Short wooden chopsticks, plus soy sauce and sweet & sour sauce packets too. I didn't take the mustard packet as it was a greyish-brown.
Third: There was no designated chef, just three cook-aunties who worked the woks, the steamers, the kettles, the fryer, the chopping block & cleavers, the brooms & mops, they pulled the vegies from the fridge, the meat & seafood from the freezer, washed the pans and bowls, collected the garbage, took the customers' money, packed the to-go boxes & bags, and pretty much did everything else, including probably cleaning the bathrooms. The overused saying, "a Jack of All Trades and a Master of None" truly applied here.
Fourth: We ordered a lot of food, not only to try different dishes in order to know what's good for next time, but also because having a refrigerator full of Chinese leftovers has always seemed like a 'good thing' to me, especially in college. Also, I wanted to try what the people in McHenry believe is "Tasty" Chinese take-out. But I also wanted to try the more authentic seeming dishes that were clearly meant for an all-Chinese clientele to eat - just as a comparison. So we ordered Hot & Sour Soup, Won Ton Soup, Shrimp Egg Rolls, Vegetable Spring Rolls, Steamed Dumplings, Chicken Egg Foo Young with Gravy, Sweet & Sour Shrimp (all breading & old dry shrimp), Mongolian Beef, Fried Rice, General Tso's Chicken, Mapo Tofu, Pork in Garlic Sauce, Beef Chow Fun, Shrimp in Lobster Sauce, and Szechuan Green Beans. It sounds like a gluttonous feast, but New China has a lot of combo-plates, so we really only order two of those and then a couple of extra ala carte mains, a noodle, and a veg. But then the gluttonous feast arrived, and the problem with it was that almost every dish except for the appetizers and the sweet & sour was composed mostly of thin dark brown liquid, and it all had way too many overcooked onions & carrots, and too many undercooked broccoli flowers & green pepper slices. Every dish had an identical texture, and everything tasted the same: a little sweet, a little salty, with no chili-heat, no ginger, no vinegar, and hardly any garlic or scallions. And worst of all, it was mostly mushy. I craved some crunch, and some burny-burny spice. I craved more bright colors, and the satisfying chew of meat & shrimp. But the beef and pork and chicken were all mealy, and all pulp. This was maybe the first time in my life that I actually threw away all my Chinese leftovers that were less than three weeks old.
Sorry New China. I really tried so hard to like you. read more