less than Golden Horse....

So it's been awhile since I've done a proper review... you're getting this one without pics because frankly... we didn't get anything worth taking pics of.. It was your standard white boy combo plate with a side of potstickers, and since the meal wasn't that exciting, I didn't bother.

We are still looking for a local (near our neighborhood of Gettysburg/Blackstone), fairly priced, delicious goto for basic Americanized Chinese Takeout. Please don't get the idea that is the only type of Chinese we enjoy, as we also like the "secret Chinese menu" stuff and the odd parts and pieces. But sometimes, you get a hankering for sweet, gloppy, crap, but still tasty and well made sweet gloppy crap.

The Golden Horse (which replaced the Golden Palace on Blackstone between Ashlan and Gettysburg) didn't quite fit the bill. It was local. And other than unusually dark bloody red sweet & sour sauce, and unsually light fried rice, there was nothing oomphy about it. And it's more expensive than other Chinese places by at least 2 dollars per item or more.

We had the #2 (that should have been a hint) lunch combo: Sweet n sour pork, fried shrimp, pork fried rice, and pork chow mein. We also got a side of potstickers that came with some odd black bean dipping sauce.

First off, even though the lunch combo was steaming, it wasn't actually hot, (and it was ready WAYYYY too quickly for it not to have been premade..when they give the standard line about 10 minutes, they aren't kidding). The S & S pork as I mentioned was extremely dark and disturbing in its sanguinity. The flavor was alright, nothing horrible but nothing to write home about. It wasn't very crunchy but not horribly soggy. And drowning in sauce.

The fried shrimp was bland and mostly batter..the shrimp were like shrimp strips. The chow mein had more pork in it than the fried rice, but both were tasty enough. Which surprised me because the rice was verging on whiteness, as if there were no soy in it. The potstickers were the one hot item, very juioy with almost no flavor.

These two items cost a litte over 12 dollars. And that was only because it was 10 percent off everything for their Grand Opening.br> I've heard they have a "secret authentic Chinese menu" as well as offering dim sum on weekends. If the prices weren't so high, I'd consider dining in and trying other things, but with other places in town to try yet, I didn't feel a strong urge to go back. I'd like to think if a place can't do something as simple as a lunch combo well, it won't get more complicated dishes right.

Sorry Golden Horse, but we tried, and you just didn't do it for us.