I was a great fan of the House of Emperor many many years ago(late 1990’s/early 2000’s). Friendly service was never the hallmark of this restaurant, but the food was very good. But I came back to the restaurant a while ago(mid-2000’s) and was greatly disappointed. Nothing tasted as good as it did back in the old days, and they made multiple mistakes with my orders. One time I ordered Chicken With Cashew Nuts without scallions, and they misunderstood my order and I got Chicken With Cashew Nuts without cashew nuts! Who knew there even was such a thing? The last straw was when I ordered Dan Dan Noodles without scallions for a carry-out order. When I arrived, there were scallions embedded in the thick sauce and there was no way I could pick them all out, so I asked them to re-do it. The owner was clearly upset at taking the loss, went back to the kitchen to scream at the chef, then came back after a few minutes later with a new order. When I got it home, we opened up the new order and it literally looked, smelled and tasted like throw up. Possibly the chef was just terrible, perhaps the order was rushed, or maybe the food was deliberately«sabatoged» to punish us for complaining. Either way, I’ve never been back since.
Kevin K.
Classificação do local: 5 Ashburn, VA
This was kur favorite Chinese restaurant. Went there today and found it closed — out of business.
Kent M.
Classificação do local: 5 Ashburn, VA
I have eaten here many, many times. The food is always great. I have had Schezuan Beef, Chicken, Kung Pao Combo, Cripsy Beef, Fried Rice. The Staff is great, very polite and professional. They have been like Rocks in the Village Shopping Center — we can always count on them, since its all falling apart thanks Saul Mgmt. I strongly suggest your eat at House of Emperor. You will enjoy it!
Jenn K.
Classificação do local: 1 Marietta, GA
Metal shards in my food. Will never go back.
David K.
Classificação do local: 4 Saint Johns, FL
I was a little surprised to check the reviews here for my favorite local delivery place, and see that the 4 reviews averaged to 2 stars. I only order Chinese delivery four or five times a year, but have enjoyed their prompt delivery and good food for 6 years now. My 4 stars is for delivery service and food quality — compared to the other options in Ashburn. Granted, I’ve also only eaten in with my wife and/or kids twice, and it really is pretty desolate and shabby, like the other reviewers say. But old carpet, booths, cushioned chairs, and tablecloths are still a huge step up compared to the other strip mall Chinese in the area with fast food tables, linoleum, and photos of the dishes on a sign behind the register. A good example of the opposite problem was Fortune in Northpoint Village, Reston, when we lived over there. Nice décor, great dim sum, superb dishes, great dine-in experience, but then absolute crap when we got delivery. As though it came out of a completely different kitchen. So, for delivery, we’ve found no place better in Ashburn. The service is so fast, there’s a smiling happy driver ringing your doorbell practically before you even set the phone down. House of Emperor was better than China Taste, Chin Chin Café, Hong Kong, and Good Fortune when we tried each of them. I do want to give Café Opera another chance, because they have better variety on their menu, but the food was inferior on their first try. And the new place, Yen’s, in Ryan Park is getting great reviews, so I’ll have to try them soon, too.
Jesse C.
Classificação do local: 3 Leesburg, VA
I decided to try this place out on my way home. I took a detour from my normal route home and came across this place. When I arrived there was no one in the restaurant, that was a bad sign to me. The restaurant was dark and the décor was really out dated. It looked like the carped hasn’t been changed in years. Well as most might know. I always judge a Chinese restaurant by 3 dishes, Kung Pao Chicken, Hot and Sour Soup, and Mapo Tofu. Since I was the only one in the palace I was seated right away and I was presented with menu and a glass of water. After looking over the menu I ordered a bowl of hot ands sour soup and kung pao chicken. The soup came out pretty fast and it was nice and hot. Taking a look at the soup the color didn’t look right and it seemed like there was too much corn starch put into the broth. It just had a gelatinous look to it, if you know what I mean. When I tried it, it was spicy but not very sour. It has a very watered down taste to it and it was also lacking substance in it. There was lots of tofu in it, but that’s about it. The kung pao came out about 5 minutes later. It had a nice dark rich color to it. The prepared it the way I like it, no veggies, just chicken, peanuts, and spring onions. The dish was plenty spicy and it was very tasty, although it was a little on the sweet side. Of all the Chinese restaurants in Ashburn, I’d say they have the 2nd best kung pao chicken. Now since I was the only one in the place I had great service. My cup of water was never empty and they came by to check on me a lot. My main complaint was with the soy sauce bottle. Since the soup was very bland, I had to add soy sauce to add flavor to it. I don’t know when that bottle was checked last but, I tried to pour out the soy and noting came of both ends. It was jammed up with soy I guess. That really made me question how clean the place was. Well you know what they say about Asian restaurants. The dirtier they cook it the better it taste. Also the prices seem pretty high for your standard Chinese restaurant, but I think this is actually one of two full sit down places in Ashburn. The others are basically take outs with a small section of diners that want to eat in. Now how to rate this place? I see the other raters have given this place really low stars or star in some cases. The clogged up soy bottle really bother me and it did question how clean the kitchen was, but overall I really enjoyed my kung pao. The soup needs help. I should just give up on my quest to find the best soup at a restaurant. While I know mine is the best =), it’s just a pain make. I’ll go back again one day and try their Mapo Tofu and see how that goes, but for now, I’ll have to say they are an o.k. joint. But remember this is ONLY based off the two dishes I had. So if you want a safe bet get the kung pao. I won’t be responsible for he other dishes =)
Mitch R.
Classificação do local: 2 Vienna, VA
I am basing this review off of a single visit where I didn’t even get to try half of what I ordered. The lady taking my order was easy to understand and friendly when I called. The food arrived after what seemed like a very long wait but the delivery guy was friendly and apologized. The prices, to me, seemed a bit steep for Chinese food in Ashburn I waited to judge till I got the food. I was downright angry when I dug in and found that the dumpling filler appeared uncooked and some of the beef pieces in the beef and broccoli were raw. I immediately called the restaurant back and they refunded those two dishes with no questions asked, and the lady apologized a few times. Bonus point for that. As for the rest of the food, the beef fried rice was far from impressive as were the egg rolls. I guess I will have to try this place one more time, but given the other low reviews and since I think they are a bit on the expensive side I don’t know when that is going to be. I am impressed with the way the situation was handled, but the food was far from good.
Michael C.
Classificação do local: 1 Ashburn, VA
I never thought I’d ever go to a place where the Chinese food basics were all wrong. Soup was lukewarm. Egg rolls tasted microwaved. Chicken tasted old. The service is consistently terrible. It has actually gotten worse over the past five years. Please close down.
Brett B.
Classificação do local: 2 Chandler, AZ
Crackahh, pleeeeze! Why do my peeps fool me into coming here every couple of years? Nasty, nasty, nasty. H.O.E. is one of the worst mediocre Chinese restaurants I’ve had the misfortune to be subject to. 1. The iced tea was prepared with chlorinated water. 2. The egg roll was overcooked. 3. The sweet and sour chicken was more like a sweet and sour sopaipilla. How much breading does one need on deep fried chicken parts? 4. My fortune read: «Your luck has been completely changed tobay». What is a «tobay»? They get two stars for not desecrating my steamed veggie entrée. My friends were not impressed with their swill. Nice people… substandard fare… prices were decent.