When it comes to food, in general, I pay close attention to quality over everything else. To my surprise, during a recent outing to National City, I discovered a hidden treasure by the name of ‘Golden Chopsticks’. Now, giving credence to the motto ‘you should never judge a book by its cover’, by the outside of it, one would expect such a place to be no different than any common Chinese restaurant, with entrees having the consistency of something a tad bit better than the local $.99 eateries found as far as the eye can see.

Not knowing what to expect, I did know that on that day I was hungry and the fantastic aroma’s coming from beyond the entrance door were enough to capture my fancy. Upon walking in, I was taken aback by how busy the restaurant was, as there wasn’t a free table in sight, and the polite host informed me that I had more than a fifteen-minute wait. Licking my chops as I caught sight of the savory dishes coming out on platters from the kitchen, I agreed.

The wait time went by in the blink of an eye and before I knew it, I was being seated. The menu offered tantalizing twists on age-old Chinese favorites I’ve grown accustomed to: broccoli chicken, sweet and sour pork, duck noodle soup with wontons, and their most famous dish: salt and pepper chicken wings.

As they usually do when I’m at a fancy restaurant, my eyes went straight to the lunch specials, which I found very economical. For less than $8.00, I could order two dishes, which were accompanied by rice, corn soup, barbeque pork, an eggroll, and wontons. The dishes that I chose were the sweet and sour pork and broccoli chicken. For only $1.50 extra, I enjoyed hot tea as well.

Now, believe me when I say the quality of the meal I had is what separates such a place from the rest of the pack. Everything was savory beyond comprehension, all the way to the fortune cookie that finalized it, coming by way of the check. So good it was that I haven’t seen any place around my city that even compares, and from me that is saying a lot. Even my leftovers tasted just as good the next day as when I was served.

However, don’t take my word for it. Try it out yourself. Golden Chopsticks is open daily from 10:00 AM till 11:00 PM and located at 1430 E Plaza Blvd E23 A, National City, CA 91950
Phone number: (619) 336-1888