35 Chinese Restaurant

I agree 100% with the reviewers who said don't listen to the bad reviews. I have been going to 35 Chinese for YEARS and they are NOT in Durham, they are in Cary, always have been, on Kildaire Farm road. The staff is SO friendly and the food is delicious!! They have two menus, one for the American's and one for Chinese so you can pick what you like. The Crispy Noodle is amazing, and the Americanize sweet and sour dishes the kids LOVE. If you have any questions about the food, the waiters are very knowledgeable and love to help! They have a little fountain with the fish in the water and I have never seen any dead fish. I wish the people who wrote the bad reviews would remove them and put them with the proper restaurant. more

Except for the over-the-top decor (e.g. 35 red lanterns, blue silk waiter-jackets) this restaurant was pleasingly Chinese. Big tables meant for ordering big communal dishes, waiters and hostess yelling orders in mandarin, no other white people, etc.. more

This place is amazing. The most authentic and best chinese restaurant in town more

Definitely does not deserve all the bad reviews given to it ...really liked the food and the service as well. Good ambiance and music. Not like other Chinese restaurants ..does serve really good authentic food....the chef graciously agreed to switch chicken for pork and the food turned out to be delicious...I did make a very good decision when we decided to try it out....Cheers ! more

For all of you rating this restaurant really low, you're on the wrong page for the wrong restaurant! The one you guys are referring to is located in Chapel Hill, this one is located in Cary, on the side of a bank. Ignore all the bad reviews, they are all written by people who obviously didn't look at the location of this restaurant before blabbering. When I first came here with my family, we were greeted warmly and taken to our table. This is NOT a buffet restaurant, it is one of the most authentic Chinese restaurant located near us that you order from a menu. The food is VERY authentic! I know because I'm Chinese, and I've lived in China for the first 9 years of my life, and I'm only 15, so I know what REAL Chinese food still tastes like. All the dishes we ordered came out quickly, and we ABSOLUTELY loved it! All the spicy dishes are ACTUALLY ""FOR REAL"" spicy! Not your American weak sauce spicy, but off-the-charts spicy! Everything tastes soooooo good! We ordered a lot of dishes, and enjoyed every one of them. The service was very friendly, the atmosphere was absolutely gorgeous, with almost all red decor. When we came here the second time, it was for a meet-up for my mom and her associates from work. There were 11 of us, and the waitress single handedly took all our orders, brought all the food out, gave us everything we asked for, and the whole time she was smiling and did not look angry one bit. Everyone loved the food, and they all plan on coming back again. The prices are very fair for such authenticity, and I would not hesitate to come here again. If you are a real Chinese, you know what I'm talking about when you take a bite of the food prepared in this restaurant. If you're American, don't eat the Americanized ""Chinese food"" anymore, come here, and see for yourself what real Chinese food is all about! more

This was the tenth or so time of eating at 35 Chinese. As an American, I have found that authentic Chinese food is not popular amongst my circle of friends. Tonight a few of my more adventurous friends came with me and had the Tai Ann spicy fish and Kung ching spicy chicken.. The food was fabulous and a warm welcome was given at the door from the beautiful hostess. The waiter was engaging and curious to know if we could ""stomach"" real spicy food and was quick to fill up our water glasses. My friends loved this restaurant and have planned to return. The entire menu is loaded with delicious appetizers and great dishes. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone seeking a fun atmosphere, great food and a warm reception from the employees. more

I think although the food was disgusting, oily, weak, and stale, this review can be summed up as follows: Black water (literally black filth) in foyer fish tank housing the ""food"" fish available for purchase. When a member of our party questioned the very dead former member of the tank floating by one of the ""food"" fish and remarked on it, he was told that it wasn't a big deal since ""cooking kills everything"" that might be affecting the live fish. Incomprehensible and disgusting! I was forced to pick a rating star above although they deserve less than none! Pros: Nice Wait Staff Cons: Greasy, Repulsive, Filthy more

This past Sat. evening my wife, daughter and I went to 35 for their chinese buffet. We were informed at the door that they no longer had a buffet. Ok, we had liked 35 in the past so ordering from the menu was no problem. We waited about 15 minutes for a table. They seated us at a table with metal fold up chairs next to a temporary divider separating us from a large Asian party. When I inquired about other empty tables and booths, I was told they were being held for reservations. It took about 15 minutes before the waitress took our order. 30 minutes later my order was served; 15 minutes later my wife and daughter were served even though we all ordered the same item. All this time it seemed every Asian family in Wake County was having a party there so we assumed the food must be top notch. The noise level was such that no conversation could be carried on at our table. I must say Asian families do not control there kids. They were running all over the place yelling; just totally out of control. The temporary divider beside us was partially knocked down on us twice. After all that the food was only so-so. Thank God I never have to eat at 35 again! Pros: Food was OK Cons: NOISY more

This past Sat. evening my wife, daughter and I went to 35 for their chinese buffet. We were informed at the door that they no longer had a buffet. Ok, we had liked 35 in the past so ordering from the menu was no problem. We waited about 15 minutes for a table. They seated us at a table with metal fold up chairs next to a temporary divider separating us from a large Asian party. When I inquired about other empty tables and booths, I was told they were being held for reservations. It took about 15 minutes before the waitress took our order. 30 minutes later my order was served; 15 minutes later my wife and daughter were served even though we all ordered the same item. All this time it seemed every Asian family in Wake County was having a party there so we assumed the food must be top notch. The noise level was such that no conversation could be carried on at our table. I must say Asian families do not control there kids. They were running all over the place yelling; just totally out of control. The temporary divider beside us was partially knocked down on us twice. After all that the food was only so-so. Thank God I never have to eat at 35 again! Pros: Food was OK Cons: NOISY more

Last Saturday, me and my wife drove from Durham to try out the ""most authentic Chinese food"", or what it has proclaimed. After all, the food was extraordinary, the waitress served us with great attitude. However, the atmosphere is not as quiet or relaxing as expected. The customers around us talked in really loud voices and were being really disrespectful to everyone else around them. I know the restaurant cannot control that factor, but at least they could TURN DOWN the volume of the music so me and my wife don't have to shout across the table to make a conversation. It is already DIFFICULT to communicate even without the music. I hope the restaurant would consider this little suggestion and satisfy more customer's dining experience. Pros: Good food, good waiting staffs Cons: Noisy enviroment and loud music more

Last Saturday, me and my wife drove from Durham to try out the "most authentic Chinese food", or what it has proclaimed. After all, the food was extraordinary, the waitress served us with great attitude. However, the atmosphere is not as quiet or relaxing as expected. The customers around us talked in really loud voices and were being really disrespectful to everyone else around them. I know the restaurant cannot control that factor, but at least they could TURN DOWN the volume of the music so me and my wife don't have to shout across the table to make a conversation. It is already DIFFICULT to communicate even without the music. I hope the restaurant would consider this little suggestion and satisfy more customer's dining experience. Pros: Good food, good waiting staffs Cons: Noisy enviroment and loud music more

I ordered take-out - three dishes. Pros: We once enjoyed eating there Cons: All around disinterest more

I liked this restaurant before and went there often. But after two very bad experiences, I totally gave it up. One time the waitress was very rude and food came up without well cooked and tasted very bad. Another time the female manager was extremely rude!!! I cannot believe how she could speak in that way, absolutely beyond my expectation. It seems this restaurant has earned a lot of money due to its good location (not to good food and service). It becomes disrespectful of each individual customer. It seems every customer owes something to them, and so it acts like a boss to every customer. I 120% dont recommend this restaurant if you want a basic respect as a customer. more

Service really needs work. Pros: Food was good, fresh tasting. Cons: Service. more

I hadn't been to 35 Chinese in quite a while. In the past, the buffet was great. I was in the area last night and decided to eat there. Much to my dismay, the buffet was gone, but I figured that ordering from the menu should be OK since the food in the past was very good. Well, the teriyaki chicken appetizer was burnt and dry and had to be sent back. The main dish of shrimp and noodles was so greasy and funny tasting that it was inedible. Please note that I am not a picky eater, but this stuff was so bad that we left and went to Goodberry's to get the taste out of our mouths. Bottom line - eat somewhere else. Pros: Nice hostess and waitress Cons: The food more

My original intention for eating in this restaurant was to have authentic Chinese food as claimed by several people including the waitress. Coming from big cities that truly serve authentic Chinese food such as LA, NY and Philly, I knew what I was expecting. However, some negative reviews of this restaurant cautioned me not to have high expectation?and thank goodness for those reviews because I was able to catch myself from the disappointing results. Not to drag this out farther, let me summarize the pros and cons after ordering 5 dishes ranging from soup to fresh steam fish. Pros: Pleasant waitresses. However, only three waitresses for the entire restaurant. Those whose tables were somewhere in the corner, they might not received the necessary attention. Pros: Hot spice flavored dishes. Some dishes claimed to have 35 spices/flavors. Unfortunately, there?s so much spices, you can?t literally taste anything. In fact, an after-taste persisted from one dish that I couldn?t taste the rest of the dishes. They all tasted ?numbed?. Cons: Can?t bring your own alcohol. Maybe it?s the ABC law in NC but I certainly didn?t have problem in other states. I decided to order Tsingtao (Chinese beer) but they were out. Can?t bring alcohol and they don?t have the most popular Chinese beer. Cons: NOT AUTHENTIC. Green peas in your seafood dish is not a Chinese ingredient. Its American Chinese substitute. Cons: Oil drenched dishes. Is that Chinese takeout food? Speaking of takeout, we got our food in minutes. I didn?t get to pour my Heineken before the dishes started to ?pour? on the table. Feels to me like a takeout/buffet restaurant than an authentic serving restaurant. Pros/Cons: After eating oil drenched food, we manage to clear our digestive track overnight. Now I'm ready to try a different restaurant in my quest for authentic Chinese food in the Triangle. Pros: Nicely decorated Cons: Food more

My husband and I love this place so much we have been there 3 times in two weeks. We ordered on the authentic chinese menu and took two great recommendations from the nicest waiter! Beef with Green Onions (sounds simple and it is simply delicous!) and Szen. Spicy Fish! You must order from the real chinese menu and you will be amazed! The staff is friendly and go out of there way for you!!!! A must! Pros: Everything! Cons: Decor more

We were very disappointed that they no longer have the buffet. We received extremely poor service, and the food was less than enjoyable. As we looked around at the other tables we realized that if you are of Chinese descent, you were treated very differently. We have gone there for the last time, and cannot recommend it to anyone. Pros: Good Parking Cons: Bad food more

I went to cary 35 around 5 times. The previous experiences are quite ok. Food taste is not as good as before. Previously I ranked 35 as one of the best in NC but now it's below average Service is bad..We waited for a long time for one dish and drink refill was slow. We asked at least three times before they refilled it for us. Even worse, we paid 15% tips and still the waitress looked quite unhappy and grumbled something Goodbye 35! more

35 Chinese is THE BEST traditional chinese food in North Carolina, in my opinion. They used to have a buffet, and I'm not sure if they still have it...., but the stars on their menu are truly their authentic dishes, the buffet is just for people who don't know the secret. Just went I thought they couldn't get any better, they recently hired a new chef. The spicy Szechuan (I think I spelled that wrong) fish is the crispiest, tastiest dish I've ever had in my whole life....I dream about it a night. My husband and I can't wait to try the new dishes on the menu. Don't be afraid to try something new! Pros: Amazing Food! Cons: Location isn't the easiest to find more