Golden Inn Restaurant

As a visitor from Toronto I had heard of the famous Calgary invented Crispy Ginger Beef. A friend of mine said I’d have to try it because nobody can make it anywhere as well as in Calgary.
I asked a few people for recommendations and wound up going to Golden Inn Restaurant. My two dinner partners and I walked in on a cold Monday night and ordered.
1. Crispy Ginger Beef
2. Tofu
3. Yang Chow Fried Rice
4. Squid
Everything tasted and looked the way it should. Flavours abound and fresh, we were very satisfied. Interesting enough they had a football game on the TV… never seen that in any Chinese restaurant!
My first every authentic crispy ginger beef, so I now have a standard to compare all others to follow.
Rating: ⁵⁄₅

The people watching is even better than the food. And the food is great!
Golden Inn Restaurant is an elaborate cuckoo clock. As soon as 2AM hit, the doors fly open and a train of drunk people spin around the restaurant. It’s as if every bar in the city has a closing time portal that leads directly to Golden Inn.
With so many drunks, you’d think it would be chaos in there, and well it is, but it’s controlled chaos. The guys who run this business have incredible control of the crowd. They get people seated (one girl did fall out of her chair) and keep them there for their whole visit. I feel like cattle wrangling would be a useful skill set if you were ever applying for a job here.
The menu is enormous, and yet they still seem to manage to translate through all the drunk slurring and get the orders right.
While it’s definitely a haven for the 2am post bar crowd, it by no means needs to be. The food is entirely tasty enough that you can, in fact, eat it sober and during regular eating hours. Until 2AM drunkpocalypse rolled around our visit was actually quite peaceful. It’s satisfying when you’ve got a brain full of toxins, but it’s not so greasy that you need to be boozed up to enjoy it. Definitely check it out.
Fun game: Count the number of times that one table says «bro.» It’s impossible not to lose track!

Food 5 – 5
The food here is alway great! Their 2 sauce fried rice is my favourite. Their prawn and sweet pea is always fresh.
Service ⁵⁄₅
Their staff regardless of long it has been remembers when I done in or come in to pick up my place. Staff speaks English and understands when I call in for an order.
Atmosphere ³⁄₅
Staff is great when you come in greets you and everything. They could really use a renovation though… the place is very old hence why I order delivery or take out.
Delivery ⁴⁄₅
They do not have a wireless machine so you are only able to pay cash or credit card over the phone.

After reading all the amazing reviews I was a bit bummed after taking my order back and diving in.
I ordered Special Chow Mein, but the noodles were not chow mein noodles but rather fried glass/​egg noodles? Very thin and loads of grease. The items mixed in were okay, seafood, chicken, beef, etc. but it was all a bit over cooked and there was next to no seasoning save for the grease it was cooked in.
I also had an order of pork dumplings, which looked like a hot dog wrapped and fried in a pig-​in-​the-​blanket kind of dough. It was not good.
The service I got took a really long time to take my order and it was about a 20 minute wait for my food.
I felt like I was inconveniencing them being there.
I wanted to be blown away, but instead I was left wishing I had gone somewhere else.

This restaurant is not as it advertises. Do not plan to attend during the hours advertised. Questionable behaviour. …

Great food ! the people are nice, except the customers –_–
The fried rice is bomb !

This place is an old Calgary institution, I have been coming here for years and years, mainly after the bar on Fridays or Saturday nights, but since I don’t stay out late anymore, I now do takeouts from here, it’s still good as always, there is still an occasional Saturday night out where I end up here, the food to stay is always great, the common ginger beef, soups, but i love the crab, in whatever style of sauce you’re craving, they are fast, and good. A staple in my view!

Wow.
It’s Jan 1 and no restaurant is open… except all the restaurants in China town! The Golden Inn has always been a favorite and the food always fresh. I shouldn’t be surprised how busy this place is but either all of Calgary is clued into the fact that no other restaurants are open or this place is that good. Maybe a little bit of both?
Here are my notes:
If you’re starving and it’s a statutory holiday… yup.
If you’re drunk and it’s 1am… bingo!
If you’re lonely and don’t have a date… go rent a movie.
Get the Gailan in garlic sauce!

All you need to know about Golden Inn is that it is golden (that was intentional) It’s the perfect spot to hit up when you’re craving some 2/​¾am (!!) Chinese goodness. My sis and I went here at 3am on a Friday night/​Saturday if you want to get technical and the place was packed with an eclectic group of people. People were dressed up (partying for Halloween already?) from what looked like a masquerade party. Interesting Calgary, very interesting.
Anyways, we decided to share two dishes (we tried to order duck but they were out of it, blasphemy):
— Fried rice noodle with shrimp and red ginger ($ 10.95) — essentially Singapore yellow fried noodles. Lightly fried and not greasy which meant we kept on eating till there was nothing left. Oops. You can’t go wrong ever ordering this dish.
— Special hot pot with tofu, mushroom and cabbage ($ 18.95) — piping hot, awesome sauce and perfectly cooked tofu. This one took awhile to come out but the wait was worthwhile.
I don’t usually go for Chinese food but I have to say I’m a fan of Golden Inn. Even more so that they are open so late everyday! Calgary, you are so much betterer than Edmonton (yeah, I stole that slogan from Federer).

Best Peking style fillet mignon in calgary that I have tried. Other dishes are good also. Friendly staff and open late. Stop in for some people watching late night, it can be interesting.

Very straight forward delicious normal chinese food… unadventurous lacking spice… made for the unfortunately persuasive ($) taste of occidental patronage that dominates Calgary’s culinary scene… if you like safe,…then this indigestion free atmosphere is the perfect place to bring your lactose intolerant christian singles group out for a night of speed dating…

I actually flew to Calgary from Los Angeles to eat here.
Always amazing

The Golden Inn is my favourite restaurant Cantonese-​style Chinese restaurant in the city. There’s a reason why this place has been around for so long and it’s because of the great food and fast service. These guys are very efficient and never mess up your food order. As Al B. and Spencer B. mentioned, you can order things that aren’t on your menu. They’ll accommodate everyone, including my mother’s «little salt, little oil» requests.
They also cater to the late night after-​bar crowd. Don’t go to Singapore Sam’s, guys. Make the trek to Golden Inn because it’s less greasy and they have an amazing seafood tank.

Good chinese food. Banquet course meal, was okay, crab claws were good. But one dish, either sharks find soup or seafood fried rice had bits of shells in it. Then sweet and sour beef and pork cutlets were excellent though.

As a relatively recent resident of Calgary via Vancouver, I’m a bit spoiled when it comes to Asian cuisine.
Thankfully I’ve discovered the Golden Inn. Every time I’ve eaten there (several times a month) I’ve never been disappointed by the quality of the food, nor the portion size.
Service can be entertaining at times but very efficient. For instance, one of the late night waiters is convinced I don’t eat pork and asks me if I want the pork that normally comes in the Singapore noodles (for the record, bring it on, I’m an omnivore) It’s become a dance we do now. :)
If you know your Chinese cuisine, don’t be afraid to ask for things that aren’t on the menu. I often order dou miau in garlic sauce (Pea shoots), they’re always surprised I know that particular dish. They also make a great congee (again, not on the menu).
Prices are reasonable and the food comes out quickly.
Check it out, you’ll like it. Just don’t be afraid to try something other than sweet and sour.
³⁄₃₀

Late night diners and fans of Cantonese, your prayers have been answered.
Golden Inn is only open at night, from 4pm to sometimes 4am and serve some of the best Chinese in the city.
The portions are huge, the ingredients (especially the vegetables) are fresh and the service is well … unique to the Golden Inn. Don’t expect to make friends, but you will get your food promptly.
Prices are decent, about $ 15/​plate depending and if you really, really want that whole crab or lobster at 3am, you can.
They’ll also make anything not on the menu if you ask (ex. Salt and Pepper Tofu for my vegetarian/​vegan friends).
After a night on the town, sometimes nothing like Golden Inn and it’s heaping portions will do.
Not to mention some of the best people watching on the weekend, who needs TLC?