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China Tom's
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
6 reviews for China Tom's
6 reviews in English
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Review from Arthur C.
Kansas City, MO
3/16/2009
This place is famous for its Saturday and Sunday lunch buffets. Many Chinese families travel far to this place for its traditional, authentic, hometown style Chinese buffet. They also serve couple Americanized dishes, maybe just to counter balance the exotic wonderfulness. If you are a true Chinese food connoisseur, go there during the weekend (11am to 2pm?) and march toward its buffet bar. This is a place you cannot miss.
Btw, this place is not too far from The Plaza (cross the state line). So usually we will head towards Plaza after our big meal. -
Review from Danny L.
Kansas City, MO
1/29/2011
As many Chinese places as there are around the KCK/midtown/stateline area this one does not stand out. The inside is filthy and there was nobody there and no music over the PA which made the entire place creepy and uncomfortable. The Hot & sour soup was like luke warm goo and it was terrible. The entrees themselves were very authentic but nothing exceptional. We had a hair in one of our entrees and while they did remake the entree they did not apologize let alone comp the entree. We will not be going back.
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Review from Claire C.
Denver, CO
7/7/2008
I have to give China Tom's (CT) credit--the food is better than the location and decor would portend. CT is located in a strip mall in Kansas City, Kansas--right next to a liquor store and various and sundry other strip-mallish shops. Strike one. Next, the entire restaurant was empty when we entered. Granted, we ate at 8:30pm, which musn't be a bustling dinner time for most Kansans. Still, no patrons at all is usually a warning sign that the food is sub-par. Strike two. Addendum to strike two, CT does not have a liquor license, though they have a beer sign in the window, so Kansas law must allow beer to be sold where wine and liquor isn't.
Anyway, I would have given up on this place, but when they brought out my wonton soup, it had fresh veggies in it. My eyes perked up--fresh veggies in the wonton soup is a good sign. The wonton itself was only okay--the skin was too thick and overpowered the meat inside.
I ordered chicken with cashew--my benchmark dish at Chinese restaurants. I chose the stir-fried option over the deep fried, hoping to keep the meal on the healthy side. I was please when it arrived that again, it contained fresh veggies, inclduing fresh-cut bamboo, button mushrooms (not from a can), and lovely dark cashews. My boyfriend ordered the General Tso chicken, and we were both impressed with the delicious taste of fried chicken it might have even garnered the restaurant another star in my book.
Bottom line: CT's makes good food, but the outdated decor, dirty seats/tables/windowsills, and the lack of liquor keep the place from upping its ante. I'd order from CT's again--but I'd order in. -
Review from Anthony P.
Olathe, KS
2/1/2011
A group of 5 of us hit up this place on Saturday. We were planning on going to the new Wheat State Pizza right next door, but they weren't serving a lunch buffet on Saturday so we opted for chinese right next door. I love chinese food. In fact, all of us in the group consider ourselves chinese food lovers. And after trying China Tom's buffet, the general consensus was that this was the worst chinese food we had ever had. I will say that none of us had too much experience with really authentic chinese meals and that appeared to be most of what the buffet was. But being unable to identify what I am eating is usually a turn off for me. None of the dishes were marked telling what they were. The smell from much of the food was stomach churning. We found a couple staples that are at all chinese places that we could identify, but none of them were all that great. I will say there were many asians in the restaurant so maybe they are meeting a need there. But none of us will be back. Especially not to pay $11 for a crappy buffet.
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Review from Craig E.
Kansas City, MO
3/12/2009
When I lived in Baton Rouge there was this little Chinese restaurant I would frequent. It was as mediocre a place you could ever imagine, yet I would lunch there weekly. Twisted, huh? Well, I have found its sister restaurant right here in KC and it has brought a whole new meaning to the word mediocre. I didn't want it to be this way. I wanted it to be a great little find. My little Chinese cubbyhole where I could sip hot tea, slurp wonderful hot & sour soup and graze on a fabulously prepared assortment of foods offered on the buffet. Didn't happen. The hot & sour soup was neither. Everything, and I mean everything on the buffet was quite over cooked. No snap to the vegetables, no fluff to the rice, and no steamy al dente lo mien. Just clumps of 'stuff.' So why 2 stars? I loves me some Kimchi - fermented pickled cabbage. And there it was, tucked away in the back corner of the buffet table all by its lonesome. While this was not even close to the best I've ever had, it was a pleasant distraction from the rest of the meal. So, now I have a little mediocre Chinese restaurant I can call my own. And like touching a stove after being told it is hot, I will probably slide in there again. Can't help it.
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Review from e f.
Overland Park, KS
5/31/2009
the food was good and definitely authentic. the restaurant, however, was dirty. im not the one to complain about dirty restaurants b/c im a strong advocate of hole in the wall places that dont provide any decors or ambiance yet offers the best foods you will ever find . but one corner of china toms smelled like PISS!!! and no, it was not the smell of salted fish or stinky tofu. i know what authentic chinese food smells like and china tom definitely smelled of piss... for that reason i dont think i will ever return and will stick to fortune star for authentic chinese buffet on weekends
