Gold Penny 品味食館

Every time when I mention something is dirty at a Chinese restaurant such as the floor, chairs or tableware, BF anyways says, "Penny's Restaurant is still one of the worst." Honestly, I do not even remember Penny's being "that" dirty, probably because I was hungry or did not pay attention to the atmosphere. So, my man has been wanting to visit Gold Penny for quite some time because it is the new restaurant that took over the former Penny. And according to his mother, the one who only visits higher end Chinese restaurants and has very high standards, the food is not bad here.

When I heard the news, I was very sceptical and thinking he was joking. I mean, why the heck was she even in this area? She lives really far from here! Anyways, so fine, whatever, after weeks of him talking about Gold Penny, I caved. After we walked in, I could not stop laughing in my head. The interior looks the same and nothing has changed, except the owners.

BF tried saying the chairs have changed… but really? Hello, I have a blog. And yes, I actually pulled out my blog post and showed him the photo of the same chairs. Then he started defending himself by saying at least there is live seafood… but turns out there was none! So the joke is on him because he always has to order live seafood at a Chinese restaurant.

DEEP FRIED PRAWNS WITH SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE ($13.95).
Rating: 0/5.
We ordered the sweet and sour prawns along with a hot and sour soup to start while we continued to browse the menu. But before we ordered the prawns, we asked the waitress if the prawns are small and she mentioned they are large. When the dish arrived however, the restaurant does not even use prawns and uses shrimp! The shrimp tastes very stiff and dry too.

Furthermore, the batter is extremely thick. We have ordered these at the former Penny restaurant and the sweet and sour prawns were not bad. This may have been acceptable back in the 80s when Chinese restaurants had to cater to non-Asians, but what day and age is this? Even Chinese Canadian restaurants nowadays do not serve food like this because it is too competitive. Many non-Asians know what good Chinese food is too! Saying I was expecting something like Chong Lum Hin's would not be fair too, but I really was. Same price too… FML.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP, SMALL ($6.50).

Rating: 2.5/5.

The hot and sour soup is actually not bad, there is a medium spiciness from the chilli flakes and a rich tang. There are plenty of ingredients too which include shredded pork that tastes tender, bouncy small shrimp, carrot, tofu and fungus.

After the first couple of dishes arrived, we decided to order chow mein and a scallop dish. We also wanted to keep a copy of the menu to order more dishes later because with over 180 items (literally), it did take a while to figure out what we want. However, the waitress said we are not allowed to order more because it will confuse the kitchen. What? With only two seated tables in the restaurant, we have to order everything at once or the kitchen will get confused?

This is really stupid because the waitress was being lazy and did not want to go in and out to place our orders. At this time, BF wanted to leave after finishing the soup because the waitress was speaking very rudely, but I decided to stay since we were already here (and to spite him for wanting to come here…). So we only ordered a couple of more dishes because we were not allowed to add more food.

SIZZLING HOUSE SPECIAL CHOW MEIN ($13.95).

Rating: 1.5/5.
The chow mein did not arrive "sizzling" on the hot plate but we were only charged $11.95, so perhaps the waitress wrote down a regular order of chow mein instead (despite that we pointed, inquired, and ordered the sizzling chow mein). The house special includes limp as well as soggy green beans, a few pieces of dark chicken meat which tastes tender, soft broccoli that lacks a light crunch, one Chinese mushroom, and a couple of bouncy prawns. As for the sauce, it is very bland tastes like only soy sauce.

PAN FRIED SCALLOPS WITH VEGETABLES ($16.95).
Rating: 1/5.
We contemplated between the sautéed scallops with vegetables for $16.50 or the pan fried scallops with vegetables for $16.95 and chose the latter. Similar to the aforementioned chow mein, the presentation of the scallops and vegetables look very sloppy and unappetizing. There are thin slices of scallop with lots of mixed vegetables on the bottom which include celery, bok choy, button mushrooms and broccoli. The scallops are not overcooked and taste tender, but for $17.00? Wow, especially at this calibre of a Chinese restaurant? For the same price, there are many nice Chinese restaurants that serve whole scallops along with a nice presentation.

TOTAL: $47.25 + TIP $4.75 = $52.00

So, you take over a new business… renovate paint the walls and change the sign. From the former "Penny Restaurant" to "Gold Penny," the addition of "gold" should mean better and like a new generation. But, the food is worse than the former restaurant! As for that waitress, wow. I feel bad for the owner because he was actually friendly and thanked us when he dropped off the bill. About that waitress though, what is she here for? Should she sit down, eat my food, and I take her order? At the same time however, I should thank her because we did save money by not further ordering.

As for BFs mother, we forgot to ask her why she was in the area. We could not eat any of the food too (except for the soup) and I made sure to pack everything for her to see what we had, at this restaurant she dared to recommend. Her comment, "my chow mein did not look like that at all" when she ordered it to go.

POSITIVES
- Hot and sour soup is not bad
- 10% off during grand opening

NEGATIVES
- Prices are not cheap
- Restaurant is not clean
- What is the waitress here for?
- Food is worse than the former restaurant
- No live seafood at a seafood restaurant

LITTLE THINGS
- 186 items on the menu
- There are too many Chinese restaurants in this area to even consider coming here

Food: 1.5/5
Service: 0/5