Golden Empress Garden

We order from here ALL the time. They are fast for both delivery and pickup and we have always enjoyed our food. It is not greasy and tastes fresh every time. I also love that you can order through Unilocal and customize spiciness/​salt/​fat.
I love the mei fun, orange chicken, and their crab rangoon [cheese wontons on their menu].
They always throw in extras for free, like egg rolls, crunchy wontons, sesame noodles, etc…

When I first became vegan nearly 20 years ago, there was little more in the dedicated veg variety in the city than Chinese restaurants — some of them very good, or at least memorable, like Cherry Street, where I had mock duck for the first time.
But since then, the bar on veg or even semi-​veg restaurants has raised quite a bit, and honestly — not picking on Golden Empress — I think all of the veg-​friendly Chinese restaurants in the city are pretty bad (the exception being Su Xing House, which has a few truly remarkable dishes, but even then they’re more «General Asian Buddhist» than «Straight-​up Chinese» i.e. the miso soup at Su Xing is fantastic.)
I have been re-​visiting Golden Empress here and there over the years, first the original location and now the newer one, and I just have never been able to get into it. On my most recent visit, I picked the most flavorful sounding vegan thing — the garlic chicken — and even requested spicy, and I couldn’t believe how one dimensional it was. It seemed to be seasoned with soy sauce and maybe a dash of white pepper, with the cloves of garlic in the dish were still pretty raw. (note: not everything on the vegetarian menu is vegan. you have to ask, hence why I got that and not General Tso’s or something more obvious. GT uses eggs.)
The wonton soup that proceeded it was so incredibly boring it tasted like dumplings in soy sauce. I couldn’t finish it.
Overall I just can’t really imagine going here (or any of the other veg-​friendly Chinese restaurants in the city) with so many other good options nearby, especially all the flavorful Thai & Vietnamese places. I’d go to Tamarind, Erawan, or Vietnam Palace any day over these.
On the plus side I did get a good fortune tonight and overall I’m glad they cater to veg folks. Hopefully someone can point me to their good dishes on their menu. I’d love to support them.

Vegetarians Beware– You will be able to order anything on this menu and the decision making process of what to order will be overwhelming. Do you want the veggie chicken or the veggie steak? How about won ton soup? ALL THE OPTIONS WILL BE OPEN TO YOU. Come prepared.

We’ve ordered from this restaurant multiple times and yes the food is great, but just now, 45 minutes after ordering their food through GrubHub, we get a call saying that our order has been cancelled. So my husband calls the restaurant asking why and they tell him it’s because they are «too busy». The least they could’ve done is called right away to notify us, not have GrubHub do it almost an hour later!!! We are furious!

If you want cheap and filling the lunch specials are perfect. The vegetarian menu. I’m a carnivore anywhere else but when I come here I always get the vegetarian meal. The hot and sour soup can cure any disease. If you are sick get that delivered and you will be miraculously cured.

I ordered from here with my boyfriend one night. He ordered his usual General Tso’s chicken, but what we got tasted like Sweet & Sour Chicken. We also ordered Pork with Garlic sauce, and I’m used to it being spicy, but it wasn’t at all. The steamed dumplings were pretty good though. I’ll probably try to find a different place for Chinese food next time.

I order delivery from Golden Empress at least once a month. The menu has a lot of variety. The prices are great. Food is tasty. Ordering is convenient. Delivery is fast. And I don’t think they’ve made a single ordering mistake ion my order in over 10 years.

I almost didn’t order from here because of some of the poor reviews, but it’s so close to my apartment that I had to check it out and man, am I glad I did! I’ve now ordered take out twice and both times it’s been ready super fast, the folks working there were really nice and, most importantly, the food was absolutely delicious!

Per my spouse because I do not eat Chinese food, spot is clean and food was average. They are on South St and have take out, dine in, and delivery. Beverages come in plastic bottles not cups. Venue is small. Only 7 tables and 1 unisex restroom.

Almost gave it 3 stars, but because of all the vegetarian options and the fact that Chinese food generally sucks in Philly, I’ll bump it to 4. I only get take out from this place, and it always arrives fast and hot. The house special vegetarian soup is great (the veggie meatballs are the best part). The mock beef is also pretty good in all of their dishes. Again, my expectations for Chinese food in Philly are pretty low, and this place is better than most in the city.

I like that they’re open late and serve vegetarian dishes.
Tried them for the first time and heres my breakdown:
— Veggie roll was on the bigger side, deep fried and crunchy, as they should be!
— Chinese pickle salad comes in a pint container and is mostly cabbage with some vinegar (think healthy coleslaw). It was surprisingly good and for the price is a good deal.
— Fried tofu app was 6 large pieces of tofu with a lightly fried outside. Not bad but I thought the accompanying sauce was lacking in flavor so I used some sweet and sour sauce.
— Mock sweet and sour «chicken». Now this was my first time ordering fake meat from a Chinese place… didn’t love it didn’t hate it, just don’t think it’s for me. I also didn’t like that all the vegetables were at the bottom of the container.
— bonus: Bag (yes, bag) of free fortune cookies!
Delivery took about 45 minutes which was actually 10 under the estimated time. Delivery person was nice and everything was still warm/​hot!
While the fake chicken didn’t really do it for me (it was a gamble) I’m really interested in trying their tofu dishes and other staples such as lo mein and fried rice. Will order again.

Staying near Independence Park while here from California. I wanted some food after a long day of sight seeing. Ordered garlic chicken that came with white rice and a side of three egg rolls. Everything was very bland tasting. The garlic chicken had no hint of garlic to it. The egg rolls were basically veggies and bread like, no spice or flavor. I paid $ 17 enough food for two. I ordered delivery straight off Unilocal which was convenient but the food was way too plain and flavorless. The food was delivered within an hour at 930 pm on Monday night and was hot when I got it delivered straight to my hotel room door. I’m giving this 3 generous stars..

Food was pretty gross, but I was so hungry I ate a bit of it anyway… I’d call that an act of desperation.
Ordered thru grub hub, delivery time was accurate (about and hour at 9pm on a Friday), but that’s the only positive thing I have to say.
General tso chicken was just slimy/​mushy but somehow had very little sauce. They have those triangle shaped crab rangoons that were kind of stale and soggy (although the filling had a decent flavor), Probably the absolute worst wonton soup i’ve ever had. Shrimp lo mein was waaaay overcooked and the tiny shrimp were dry and chewy.

I try to keep it positive, but not here.
Likely the worst Chinese food I’ve ever eaten.
Ordered delivery and it took an hour and 10 minutes to arrive. Fine, it was a Saturday night, but I live 7 blocks away.
The food: the breading to the sesame chicken was soggy and bloated from being contained in the package for 30 minutes. It was bland and had very minimal sauce. What sauce it may have once had, had been reabsorbed back into the rice and chicken, which further made it soggy. The dumplings were OK at best, but the dumpling sauce was half water, half… I don’t know. The pork fried rice was the only thing that was half-​decent.
I will not be ordering from here again.

Went there on a warm sunny afternoon with my Fiancé and my young daughter. The service was like Jedi fast. Like… The Flash fast. Service was amazing. Had the teriyaki bean curd and shrimp pad Thai. Loved both. Only quam is that the shrimp are not as big as others in the area, for a price that is more expensive than others.
Ambience was relaxing.
Looking forward to go back again.
A-​.

One star, just because the place is nice, for Chinese takeout it’s REALLY NICE. That’s it though, compliments end there.
This is hands down the WORST Chinese food I’ve ever eaten. I saw some of the reviews but I thought I’d give it a try considering the venue looked pretty decent.
I ordered steamed chicken and shrimp and steamed dumplings. Both were pretty much inedible. I had never been so disappointed before! It’s chinese takeout! how did you screw that one up??? Even if you tried adding some flavor with the sauces provided, it just made it infinitely worse. There was nothing I could do to revive this meal.
There’s a place down the street… No. 1 Chinese… it looks a bit run down, but the food is infinitely better. GO THERE. Idk if they are actually #1 but they are definitely in first place on that block!

The worst things about the Golden Empress are that I got white rice instead of the brown, and that the ringer on their door is wayyyy too loud. Seriously, their food is incredible. I’m actually thinking about how long till I go back, two days in a row is too much right?
Get your favourites as veg, somehow they’re better.
Go here.

They have gotten better. They moved and the quality and service has improved. Going to give them another try.
Question though… why does Golden Empress come up when you search Gluten Free Chinese but when you call them no one knows what has flour in it and what doesn’t
If there was one chinese food place that used gluten free soy sauce (corn starch instead of flour) in their meals they would MAKE A KILLING.
Such a simple switch with absolutely no taste change. Anyone want to make some money?

Pretty much gonna say the same thing as other people in regards to the ridiculous delivery times and overall quality of the food.
Took an hour and fifteen minutes which is absurd. Ordered 3 cans of soda with my meal then put in the online «discount code» for one more free can of soda which my purchase qualified for since it was more than $ 10.
I not only didn’t get the free soda (no biggie) but didn’t even get the original 3 I actually paid for. On top of no fortune cookies or plasticware in the bag and the food only being just okay and the sesame chicken scarce, I probably won’t order from here again. The Lo Mein was tasty, I’ll throw them that bone, but that’s about it.
Plus who doesn’t offer two liters of soda? Lame.

It’s been awhile since the GF and I have had Americanized Chinese takeout so after a run, we decided to order in from Golden Empress Garden via Grubhub. Not to be confused with Empress Garden on 10^th Street, this is the «golden» version on 5^th.
Egg Roll ($ 1.25)
Since our order was at least $ 15, Empress Garden included a pair of egg rolls gratis (not just one — score!). The egg rolls were crispy and laden with shredded, braised cabbage and bits of roast pork too.
Crab Rangoon ($ 3.75)
Crab rangoon at American Chinese takeout places are pretty commonplace. A somewhat thick wonton wrapper with cream cheese and artificial crab innards — this was a fairly standard iteration, yet still hit the spot. This is nothing fancy, but paired with the sweet and sour dipping sauce, it provided a satisfying bite. No shame here!
Chicken Lo Mein ($ 6.50)
The GF was itching for some lo mein and this was a decent interation. The noodles were lusciously coated with the salty brown sauce and the chicken chunks were juicy. Sometimes you just need the greasy, salty goodness that Chinese takeout can offer.
Sesame Chicken ($ 9.50)
Of course, the epitome of Americanized Chinese food is General Tso’s or sesame chicken. We went with the latter. Unfortunately, the sauce was really soupy and the chicken was not crispy, as was advertised on the menu. Still, the chicken was incredibly succulent and the broccoli was nicely al dente.
Overall, if you’re looking for decent Chinese takeout, I wouldn’t hesitate to order from Golden Empress Garden. Delivery costs only $ 1 and they get the job done for the most part. Nothing wrong with a little grease and salt in your diet every once in awhile. Right?