Review Gourmet Kingdom - Carrboro

YOU MUST COME HERE, pick this one! I have been ruined to any other place now and forever. The tofu, I have never experienced any so good. We ate too much, it hurts, & it was worth it. Holy cow. OMG. The dumplings... also the best we have ever had. For Real! ❤❤ Thank you GK

It pains me to write that I would not go back here. The food was delicious and the server, whom I suspect has a higher stake in the business, was very kind. The problem is the conditions of the interior and the cleanliness. The dining area is in shambles and poorly lit, the serving ware chipped. It would not have bothered me as much if I hadn't visited the women's restroom. Only two stalls were operational, the third (handicapped stall) was closed with a board lying against the door, was being used for storage. One of the items was a menu board. The plumbing was very old and very dirty, there was a strong smell of old urine, and I noticed a big buildup of soap that dropped from the dispenser piled on the counter. The restaurant had just opened for the day, so this told me that it had not been cleaned in at least one day. I also noticed while in the stall a strange textured substance smeared on the door which is hard to see because of the maroon speckled paint, so I would not have been as offended if the rest of the premises were clean. But this restroom was beyond unclean, I felt extremely comfortable for the rest of the time I was there. Talking with my boyfriend after lunch he mentioned the men's restroom was also extremely unclean but he purposely didn't look around as much as I did as he simply wanted to get out as quickly as possible. If the customer facing areas are as run down and unsanitary as they are, I cringe at the thought of what the conditions are in the back of the house. Again, the food is really good, nothing like you can get in most restaurants, but I cannot recommend it to anyone. I would suggest that ownership close for serious repairs and deep cleaning before thinking of serving to the public again. I wish everyone there the best but I feel slightly nauseated after eating there thinking about the conditions. There is no reason why the sanitation could not be good considering the timing of the visit and the fact that there were not a ton of customers. Having been in the food service industry my whole life I understand better than many how the pandemic has affected staffing, but if it were my restaurant I would stay closed if I couldn't find staff to clean. Gourmet Kingdom needs a new lease on life.

Huge servings of delicious food! I got the beef and noodle soup and the pork and cabbage; I had no idea how much food I was ordering

3 years - the last time I was here. It seems like a lifetime ago, one that I’ve almost forgotten. The Bashu chicken is 🔥🔥🔥 and brings me back. While the world’s changed, the chicken hasn’t so 5/5.

I was misled by the reviews. I ordered Gen Tsos chicken, beef and broccoli, pan fried dumplings and house fried rice. The beef and broccoli was ok. The rest was just not good. And I’ve never seen Gen Tsos chicken like that before. It looked as if chili paste was dumped on top of it. There was no sweet flavor at all. The fried stuff tasted like it was cooked in oil that wasn’t hot enough. I was so hoping it would be good.

I've had Chinese food up and down the east coast. This is the best Chinese food I've eaten in my life. I particularly like the Kung Pao Chicken and the Salt & Pepper Fish. They have a lot of menu options, the wait can be on the longer side but the food is WORTH IT.

Absolutely horrible! Place was run down and smelled funny. They wiped down our booth with bleachy water. Our pants got wet where the seats were not dried. The menu that is shown on the internet is not the menu that was offered to us. Most of the traditional Chinese offerings have been omitted. We did find Kung Pow chicken. We ordered it. I have no idea what part of the chicken I was eating. Some of it was very chewy and gamey tasting. Couldn't wait to get out of that place.

April 2020 Gourmet Kingdom, or Gourmet Kholesterol, is one of my favorite Chinese eateries in the RTP area. Specializing in Szechuan cooking, GK contains a wide variety of authentic dishes - ranging from different proteins and vegetables. Here are some recommendations; Spicy 🌶 Szechuan Spicy Fish, Pecan Shrimp 🍤 , Twice Cooked Pork 👌🏼, Stringed Beans, Garlic Eggplant 🍆, and Mapo Tofu are all great dishes. However, I strayed from the typical pathing and got a soup this time. I tried two: Spicy Beef Noodle Soup and the Seafood Rice Noodle Soup. Both provide excellent portion sized. The spicy one definitely has some spice and heat to it. The seafood one is a little bland for my liking but definitely just for some chili 🌶 oil and douse that ish in like no tomorrow. It’s pretty good. But definitely try that beef noodle soup (comparable or even better, IMO, to Vietnamese Bun Bo Hue). Both are around $8.25 per bowl, definitely bigger servings than any Pho restaurants in the area. Try it 🤤