Go China
Go China restaurant in Glendora has exactly the nondescript strip-mall exterior that so often hides real gems. Unfortunately, while Go China offers tasty BBQ-pork fried rice and a wide range of generously portioned $5-$6 lunch options, calling it a “gem” would be too kind.
The $5 BBQ-pork fried rice, which is all I must have from a Chinese restaurant, passes the taste test deliciously. Too many restaurants fill their fried rice with peas and carrots flavored by freezer burn, so it was good to find an inexpensive place where the rice dish tasted fresh and they don't skimp on the egg. The slices of barbecued pork can be forgiven for being fatty, and given credit for flavoring the rice. The ample portion makes at least two meals all on its own.
But the inexpensive lunch specials, though also two-fers, seem less promising.
Your choice of a main course comes with soup, a nice, crispy egg roll full of crunchy cabbage, and white rice or uninspired fried rice. An order of orange chicken disappointed. While the bready coating was crispy with a satisfying crunch, the chicken was unpleasantly – almost unacceptably – tough. The orange sauce had no particular sweetness or flavor to recommend it, and instead tasted slightly burnt, despite the honest-to-goodness pieces of orange peel that were mixed in.
The prices here make the restaurant a tempting option, and the rave reviews overheard from another table – one of very few occupied tables – mean I'm not giving up on Go China yet. If nothing else, I'll be going back for BBQ pork fried rice, but I'm wary of the rest. San Gabriel Valley foodies, let me know if you find there is something better on the menu to tout to readers: alison.hewitt@sgvn.com.
Go China
Mandarin and Szechuan Cuisine
150 S. Grand Avenue
Glendora, CA 91741
(626) 914-5088
7 days a week, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
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