Temple Gourmet Chinese

Went to Temple for a friends birthday. We ordered a bunch of apps and dinners to share. The lobster fried rice was unbelievable, the shrimp with the grande mariner sauce (sorry for bad spelling) was to die for. I’m pretty sure we were the only table in the restaurant. They have a fully stocked bar set up, but I’m not sure why, they informed us it was byob. Overall the food was great and it byob. I have a feeling this place is a hit or miss. Give it a try though!

I can’t seem to figure out why this place isn’t rated higher, the ONLY thing I can think of is that sometimes the wait for your main course is a bit long, but with a couple of drinks and good company you barely even notice… other than that I LOVE temple! Our ‘go to’ order is pan seared dumplings (well done), vegetable spring rolls, temple fried rice w/​pineapple chunks and beef w/​broccoli– the rice is never greasy, the beef is always so tender and flavorful. I have ventured and had some of their featured specials from time to time, the lobster fried rice is sooo good! Their pepper steak is also very very good! The plus side is that it’s reasonably priced and its BYOB! If you go on a nice day they have inside/​outside seating and you can hear the tunes of those playing music on the corner, really is a super cute place with good food and a good location! Definitively one of my top dinner spots in the area!

Average, average average… service was very good.
The place is VERY LOUD and the food was OK.
It seemed either spicy or bland, nothing in between.
I had he filet over spinach which was floating in a
watery/​oily sauce. Meat was tender but tasteless.
I am giving it 3 stars since ther service was great.
I perfer phở-​le across the street.

My expectations going to «upscale» Chinese restaurants aren’t real high. I expect a gaudy over decorated décor with reds and golds dominating the room. I also expect small portion exotic dishes that a regular person in China wouldn’t see in ten lifetimes. The aforementioned items aren’t necessarily a good thing.
Four of us dined here at Temple last night at 6:30 and were seated immediately. While being taken to our table we passed a well stocked bar. Normally I wouldn’t have even given it a second thought except I brought with me a couple of bottles of my own. I asked if the restaurant was BYOB and I was assured that it was, which begged the question, why the hell is there a bar? I was told they were denied a liquor license and an appeal was pending. Whatever.
The atmosphere in the room was subdued; rather dimly lit with no lavish wall hangings nor garish colors. Very mellow. #1 stereotype quashed. George our waiter was extremely polite, informed, & thorough. Dining was comfortable, quiet, & relaxing.
We got two appies and fried rice for the table along with our entrées. Our appies were good but I thought the fried rice was bland. I got the Kung Pao Scallops with not so hot peppers, rice, onion, peas, cashews, and red and green pepper. The scallops were tender and moist with generally good flavor but the dish was loaded with green bell peppers (not mentioned in description); not a fan. My wife enjoyed her Velvet Shrimp more than I did my entrée while one of us raved about their shrimp dish. I noticed everyone at our table avoided their green peppers as well. I must say portions were large enough to warrant doggy bags for all. #2 stereotype dispelled.
I would probably go back but if they ever get that liquor license I might be compelled to reconsider.

Delicious! They have a pretty big gluten free menu. I ordered the Peking duck. I did not expect a while duck! It was very good. I took most of it home and had it the next day. My husband enjoyed his dinner as well. We will definitely be back.

Terrible!!! Service décor, FOOD!!! Not good chicken was really tough! The waiter didn’t even care one bit, way over priced for what it is, very sad!

I’ll recommend Ma Po Tofu. Also the appetizer platter if there won’t just two of us eating it… the platter was too much… otherwise it tasted good.

The best Chinese food ever! No mystery meat in these dishes! A little more expensive than the norm but well worth it!

Absolutely the best Chinese food I have ever had. The Mango Chicken was superb. I have walked by many times but finally stopped in tonight. I will definitely go back again. The staff friendly and the service excellent. The restaurant was also spotless.
Would highly recommend.

Service was great and food was even better. It really is just gourmet Chinese food. It’s pricey for sure but the portions are pretty good. I ordered the chicken and broccoli and I will say that it’s definitely one of the better chicken and broccoli meals I’ve had but I wouldn’t go as bold to say «the best.» If you don’t mind spending the money, I’d definitely recommend checking this place out.

I have been here 6 times bc they have gluten free food from rice dumplings, corn egg drop soup, to sesame chicken. However each time I’m here I find the food is not consistent, which is disappointing. Also if you have a severe allergy, be very clear to your server and look over your food prior to eating. We were clear about a mushroom allergy, told our server and when he brought it out there were clearly mushrooms in the dish and he said there wasn’t. Mushrooms were also in the rice we ordered. Now he should have taken everything back and either had the dish remade and not charged us. He took one dish back but didn’t take the rice. At that point the person with the allergy wouldn’t eat because she didn’t trust the food. When you have an allergy that is severe you would hope your server would relay this to the kitchen. Handled poorly.
Now another person ordered a chicken dish that said it was accompanied with a relish and had a nice description. It wound up being 6 chicken fingers with a little garnish for $ 17. It wasn’t even good.
Definitely another off night at this restaurant. Will not return.

Great food and great service as long as you don’t mind a noise level akin to the Port Authority in New York, and tables that are squished so close together that you feel like you’re in a sardine can.

The food is always delicious and I’ve never been disappointed. I’ve eaten here many times for both lunch take-​out and sit down dinner with friends. But this review is based more on the service because I feel like that needs to be highly recognized.
This evening I went to dinner with my friend and we brought a bottle of wine with us to enjoy since the restaurant is BYOB. When the server tried to open it, the top of the bottle shattered in his hand! It was such a freak incident and we felt absolutely terrible, but thankfully he was not hurt. Both the manager and owner came over to apologize and to offer us another bottle of their wine, but I explained that I had just purchased it around the corner and would prefer that particular wine, so I would just go and run to grab another bottle. The owner insisted he call the store where I got it and asked for my receipt. He returned shortly after and said that he spoke with the store and would be sending a bus boy to grab another bottle. I felt terrible and kept offering to go myself, but he insisted. Then our waiter came over and said that our wine would be there shortly, and the owner himself went to get it for us! We were so blown away. It’s not every day that a restaurant would go to those lengths to accommodate their guests like that. He was extremely kind, accommodating, understanding, and professional. He truly cared about our experience and went above and beyond to fix the problem. Five stars for a combination of both the food and service — truly a wonderful experience overall. Highly recommend!

I was thrown by the prices. Ordered take out from menu online that doesn’t have prices. Lobster Fried Rice is not a side… It costs $ 36.00

I’m really not sure why so many people gave so-​so reviews for this place… Because I love it! I’m very picky when it comes to Chinese food and Temple certainly does not disappoint. I always get the chicken and broccoli with brown rice because it’s just so good but I’ve tried many other things on the menu and enjoyed every single one. The prices are a bit high for dinner but you can’t beat their lunch specials. For 10 bucks you get a generous portion (similar to the size of some places dinner portions) Plus soup or salad. The dinners are a bit more expensive but in my opinion are enough for two people to share. The flavor of the food is amazing and you can tell the ingredients are of good quality. The staff has never wow-​ed me with their friendliness but they’ve never been rude either. I would definitely recommend temple for lunch or dinner!

So sometimes you should stick w the original and Temple tries but cannot hold a candle to its parent, the untouchable Peking Pavilion!
The good: chicken w broccoli. Light and fresh and absolutely delicious.
The not as good: pork lo mein. Thick noodles, dull flavor and just not as fresh as the mother ship in Manalapan.
The ugly: filet mignon eggroll. Awful — completely undermines the original and tastes like cheap chopped meat.
One plus, a lovely hostess serving the take out, but honestly I’ll drive the 30 minutes vs visiting Temple again.

Got the last table in the place that was not reserved… at 6 PM. Since we were seated by the entrance, we witnessed many potential clients turned away during the 2 hours we were there because these clients had no reservations. Of course we saw all the people with their BYOB treats checking in who were smart enough to reserve on a Saturday night.
The restaurant atmosphere is a thousand times nicer décor than other Chinese restaurants and is located on the main drag of Red Bank. If it wasn’t a cold night I would have walked Broad Street to compensate for all the calories eaten! However the place was loud. I couldn’t hear my family talk to me!
We enjoyed the «family style» dishes — although it took some time to come to our table. The appetizer and soup were served in minutes, so the time gap between that and the main entrees was very obvious. The waiter (Jonathan) was attentive, so I suspect that the kitchen was swamped being that it was a Saturday night of Red Bank’s Restaurant Week.
My daughter and mother-​in-​law ordered the Pan-​fried Dumplings and Won Ton Soup respectively. The entrees ordered: 1) Temple Rice; 2) Pork Lo Mein; 3) «Velvet» Shrimp and 4) Temple Three Delicacies.
Presentation was good, highlighting the bountiful dishes. We easily had leftovers to take home. My mother-​in-​law was overwhelmed, but she easily recovered to clean her plate. I served a little of everything to her. As a first timer with different Chinese dishes, she enjoyed them and cleaned her plate that there was no room for her dessert which came with her Pre Fixe meal. No worries… her son finished off her Won Ton Soup that both said was really good and the dessert of vanilla ice cream.
Being Filipino and having grown up with Asian /​Chinese food, I personally thought the food was bland. I did appreciate the fact it was less salty, but I probably should have asked for black pepper to give some flavor to my servings.
My daughter thought the dumplings were the best, and my husband agreed. My daughter always gets dumplings wherever Asian we go. As for me I didn’t think the dumplings were that good. I couldn’t finish one. The pork had no taste. The dipping sauce was not «sweet» enough for me either.
The rice had tender shrimp (were very good) in barely fried rice… I found myself longing for the fried rice at Bangkok Garden in Eatontown. Yes, I know Thai fried rice is different from Chinese, but that’s what I was thinking at the table. I bet just adding some black pepper would have made a difference.
The noodles had tender small strips (made me think of «chiffonade» even though it is not basil) of pork that my daughter enjoyed. My husband also thought it was good. Again for me it was «bland» but I bet you this version was healthier with the less salt. I know they used some soy sauce because the dish had that expected brown.
The velvet shrimp which is recommended as a healthy dish was beautiful with its large prawns and broccoli florets. This was the perfect dish for my MiL. I also enjoyed it… because my mouth knew not to expect salt! I have had this at other places, and Temple’s is the best I have had.
The best dish of the night was the Three Delicacies of beef (YUM), chicken (so tender) and shrimp. It could have included more snow peas. I would definitely get this again. This became the smallest «doggie» bag. LOL
I have had lunch here many years ago. I think there was a reason I hadn’t visited…
I will stick with Little Sczechuan in Little Silver.

Best food outside of wo hop in china town
Fried calamari is amazing beef and broc is great a must visit if in red bank

You have to have the dumplings and the duck

I was eagerly anticipating trying this spot. The curb appeal is awesome and it touts being fancy CHinese food.
One couple was there when we got there for lunch. They left shortly after and it was dead until we left.
Filet mignon egg roll was dry and not worth four dollars.
I got a chicken dish so unremarkable I can’t remember the name. Friend got sweet and sour chicken and it was nothing special
We got our leftovers to go, and they gave us the wrong bags. Didn’t realIze til I went to make leftovers. Pretty obnoxious.
Overpriced, no lunch portions. Cute place but the fake bar and disjointed rooms make it awkward and it feels like they try too hard.