I am not sure where to start with this review of China Town Laguna restaurant. We’d heard some good mentions of this place, and the feedback on a couple of FB groups was of people recommending a visit. So we decided to give it a whirl on a Saturday while we were in the neighbourhood.
It didn’t bode well as we walked up to the building. The place next door had people sitting outside enjoying a drink, but here not a single table outdoors was in use. Oh well, we decided to eat inside. We walked in, and, yup, not a single customer in the building.
There were a couple of guys on duty, but both looked totally disinterested.
We quickly got seated and ordered drinks. I had a large beer, Soph had a Coke. We were brought out a basket of prawn crackers, but sadly these needed a sweet chilli sauce or something to accompany them.
What We Had To Eat
We chose 3 different starters then had a couple more starters to share.
Salt And Pepper Crispy Chicken
Found this to be bland; nothing to it, really. The chicken was very dry; it didn’t taste fresh, and there was absolutely no taste of chicken, salt, or pepper. Even the ‘crispy’ was negligible.
Mongolian Style Prawn Mini Skewers
These were the best of the starters we had, but being blunt, that doesn’t say much.
Prawn Roll With Mango
Bland and didn’t have a hint of mango.
Prawn Toasted With Sesame
Had it been crispy, it would have been ok, but this was not that great either.
Curry Triangles
After seeing these on their FB page, I was excited to try them. Sadly, what I got was nothing like what I’d seen in the images. Ours were dark brown, over cooked, and tasted of stale cooking oil.
For the mains we chose 3 dishes to share
Lamb With Ginger And Spring Onion
Out of the dishes, this was the better option for taste; however, the lamb looked grey and insipid. If you didn’t know thay you had ordered lamb, then you would have had no idea what the meat was. The vegetables did have a bit of flavour to them, as least.
Crispy Duck With Crepes
The most enjoyable dish from the selected mains. I’m not sure just how fresh the duck was, but it was rather dry. As we had ordered this as a sharing dish for two of us, not sure why they included 7 pancakes. Either 6 or 8 would have made more sense. Many of the pancakes were very dry around the edges, almost crispy, which makes me wonder how fresh or how many times they have been heated up.
Sweet Chilli Crispy Beef
This was another dish we selected as we’d seen this on their social media.
What we got was nothing like this, as you can see. Once again, it was bland, quite tasteless, and completely void of any ‘crisp’ or chilli.
And a portion of Egg Fried Rice, again to share. This was fine; nothing really wrong with this.
What We Liked
I could joke and say the drive home or something, but if I had to comment about the actual dining experience, the choices on the menu are good, and in theory the fact every dish is cooked to order.
The toilets were clean, but as I was the only male diner, I’d have expected that.
Plenty of parking outside, which is good.
What Could Be Improved
Where do we start here? The chair at the table next to ours was badly stained. Both the plates we were given were chipped. Staff were more interested in chatting to each other, spending time on their phones, or playing rock, paper, scissors. Then, every now and again to wipe down a couple of the tables out on the terrace.
They were not proactive, and for both the times we wanted to order, we had to call them across.
There should have been sweet chilli sauce served with some of the dishes from the starter’s selection, as these were dry and bland.
If their chef/cook and waiting staff were as good and creative as their social media person, this would have been an enjoyable meal.
How Much Did It Cost?
The cost for each buffet is €14.00; there is a small extra charge if you want dessert or coffee, drinks are not included. Our total bill came to € 33.50.
Would We Return To China Town Laguna
Nope, there was nothing that made me even think about saying to myself they are deserving of a second chance here. The food was below average at best, the service was poor, and there wasn’t anything that made me go ‘wow’. when there are so many great restaurants in the area such as Cantina in Rojales, there’s just no need to return to somewhere that is so substandard.
If a place is really busy, then slow staff service can be excused to a degree, and provided the food is great, it would warrant a second visit.
How To Find China Town Laguna
Go down the CV 905 from Ciudad Quesada to the roundabout where the garden centre is on the right. Take the 3rd exit (away from the garden centre) and follow that road to the next roundabout. Take the exit up the main street, and it’s your first left.
C. Pdte. de la Generalitat, 50, Local 11-12, 03170 Cdad. Quesada, Alicante
