Golden City Restaurant

Golden City is the OG of Chinese Restaurants which has been in San Diego for decades from my parents generation. We had a family gathering with two tables of 10.
We had to video call those who couldn’t attend.
GC offered free wifi that I was able to use on my iPad. The kids table ordered mainly fried foods but our adult table ordered the below.
We ordered too much that the lazy Susan ran out of room and had to use the empty table next to us. -Braised yee noodles w mushroom - much chewier than chow mein, mushroom sauce was yummy -Vegetarian chow fun - choice of dry or wet (gravy).
I like dry but decided for gravy and never again.
I like the char not drenched in sauce. -Mu shu vegetable - it’s like a burrito wrapped in thin flour tortilla.
Came in 4 which was filling after one. -Salted fish fried rice w chicken - a must whenever at a Chinese restaurant -Honey walnut shrimp - a must -Fisherman style crab - only had one level of spice -Crabmeat & fish maw soup - very little crab and lots of maw -Peking duck lettuce wrap two course: first course came with crispy thin duck skin with baos and the second came with lettuce -Egg plant w spicy garlic sauce - had onions, bamboo shoots and green bell peppers, not spicy Overall, a nostalgic place for the elders.
Food was average and came out quick.
Service was exceptional.
3.5 rounding to 4.

Golden City Restaurant is located in a strip mall and shares the parking lot with other businesses.
No problems finding parking here.
Interior deco is outdated.
People come here for the authentic casual Chinese dining experiences and definitely not for upscale ambiance.
We got to the restaurant around 8:40pm after got rejected by two Vietnamese restaurants because they were closing at 9pm.
Half of the restaurant was occupied by a large group celebrating the Chinese Moon Festival.
We managed to wave down a waitress with our fingers crossed that they would serve us.
We got lucky and we were seated but she warned us that we needed to order immediately as kitchen is about to close.
Three minutes after we sat down, waitress came back with hot tea and asked us to order.
We hadn’t even look at the menu thoroughly at the point.
So, under some pressure, we ordered some typical Cantonese dishes we had at other Chinese restaurants and then we also asked the waitress to suggest couple dishes.
Dishes came out fast and we ate fast because we were extremely hungry and also we knew that the restaurant was closing soon.
We were grateful that they served us a delicious meal.
All of us really liked the crab meat with fish maw soup (even the picky eater).
We also ordered honey walnut shrimp, garlic stir fried veggie, cubed beef with green peppers and jalapeño, beef chow fun dry style and salted fish with chicken fried rice.
All dishes were very good and authentic.
We didn’t get a chance to take pictures of some of the dishes we really liked because we had to eat fast: tasty soup and fried rice but they were very good and fried rice portion was big and we had a boxful of leftover fried rice to take home.
Because it was closing time, they didn’t give us the free sweetened bean soup dessert which was usually given to customers after dinner.
Free hot tea was served with meal.
As we were leaving, we thanked the waitress for letting us in.
She was gracious and said we were welcome and invited us back.
Nice staff! 10/2023 update.
We went back to the restaurant as most places were busy on Friday nights.
Once again, we were able to get seated for a large group within 5 minutes.
We order Peking duck, roasted duck, beef chow fun noodle, egg drop soup, string beans, fried rice and spicy fried chicken wings.
All dishes were delicious especially the roasted duck which was juicy, super tender and served warm.
Waitstaff gave us free red bean soup for dessert.
We will be back to try other dishes for sure.

I wouldn't say it is a hidden gem since it is well known among the oldies but it is a sweet surprise for me for sure. I attended my first group dining since Pandemic and this restaurant didn't disappoint me, lucky me! The local favorite is Fried Cruller Porridge as I was told.
We didn't order any of the porridge dishes.
Fried pork chop with spicy salt was a big hit.
If you opt for seafood and are a big fan of shrimp, try out shrimp with honey glazed walnut, it is flavorful and melts in your mouth.
Cube Beef with Black Pepper is pretty good too. The reason I only gave four stars instead of five star is that the service is a bit slow. Highly recommend this restaurant, especially if you are in the mood of some really authentic Chinese food ( HK style ).