China Rose

I just had some takeout from there, 3 dinners and two appetizers (no fortune cookies ) and the bill came to $64, which I would be cool with if the food was off the hook good, but sad to say, it was okay.

Also, he told me it would be ready in 20 minutes, I arrived at about the 19 minute mark then waited over 20 minutes to finally get the food... Didn't offer me even a drink of water while I waited...

Advice to the manager and/or owner:

1. Work on the quality of the food a little, I expect better for what we paid.

2.  Try to get the staff and/or kitchen to give better time estimates on the orders.  (There were others waiting around me, don't know for how long or whether they called it in or ordered it there.)

3. At least give a customer a glass of water or something to compensate for the aggravation of having to wait 2X as long as they were told...

4. Fortune Cookies!

The previous decade, I dined at China Rose more regularly. On my first visit in many years, I was not impressed. It feels like there's cracks in the armor... or to put it another way, chips in the plates (like the chip as large as my thumbnail in one of our dinner plates).

In nice weather, you should consider dining outside for the view of the river and of the passing trains. But we opted to sit inside, at a booth in the back room, and then we promptly moved because the booths are uncomfortable. I also recalled that in visits in past years, you would be greeted with a bowl of fried noodles and ramekins of mustard and duck sauce. These seem to be gone... a cost-cutting measure perhaps?

Two things they still do right, which I always order, are their sake margaritas and their hot and sour soup - their hot and sour soup is probably my favorite anywhere. I only wish I had had some of those fried noodles to drop in the soup. My sister's appetizer, an egg roll, was also good. But she asked about its content in advance and was told there would be shrimp in it. There was exactly 1.

I ordered another of my favorite entrees for dinner, their moo shu pork. It continues to be tasty and served in a portion larger than you can fit in the 4 pancakes. But I also noticed there was a lot less pork and a lot more cabbage than there used to be. My sister's entree, tangerine chicken, was less appealing. The chicken was fatty, the coating was greasy, and a few of the pieces were singed. The tangerine flavor was minimal. The broccoli accompanying it, while prepared very well, was past its prime and served with browned florets.

Today, one of the rest rooms was closed for maintenance and in the other, the faucet would not shut off completely. Hopefully these are temporary issues.

The staff here are quite friendly and helpful and were sincere about the dinner issue (which was comped). They know the menu well and work hard here. Obviously none of the this had anything to do with them, and overall we enjoyed their service and chatting with them.

China Rose still does some things well. I'd certainly come here for drinks and light dining, especially in nice weather. The location, decor, drinks and some foods are still worth considering, but it seems like overall the rose is starting to wilt.

If service is important to you, do not go here.

The food was very good, but the service was terrible. All the waiters seemed to have an attitude like they didn't care about doing a good job. Our waiter was very slow and a bit unprofessional. Our waiter also didn't know very much about the menu and had to keep asking his manager about things. At the end of the meal we received a very sloppy handwritten check that was almost illegible. We asked to have our bill split for each person based on what we each ordered and were told, "I can't do that, I don't remember who had what. Also, that seems really excessive." No one at our table had ever heard of such a thing. A waiter who can't split a check? That's ridiculous. We asked to speak to the manager about it. The manager acted like we're crazy to expect such a thing, even though literally every other restaurant has no problem doing it. He half-heartedly apologised for us not being happy with the service, with the distinct attitude that he thought we were being unfair.
I told the manager that I would like to be able to recommend the place because the food was good, but I couldn't because the service was so bad. He replied that they had been in business for 20 years and so he didn't think that it mattered if I recommended them to others or not.

Whenever an establishment offers up a specialty of the house, I feel as though I should give it a try. China Rose happens to be the Home of the Sake Margarita. Did you hear that? This is where the Sake Margarita LIVES. I had to try it.

Now, I hate to disparage someone in there own house, but I feel as though I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you; I thought it was fairly gross. You can take that with a grain of salt though, because I'm not a huge frozen drink fan to begin with. Perhaps the fantastic (although occasionally blinding) view of the sun setting over the Hudson clouded my judgment in ordering.

Luckily, our party of seven enjoyed everything else immensely. We ate all sorts of deliciousness, the highlights including excellent spareribs, deliciously crispy Orange Beef, Shrimp with Garlic Sauce that was the first to disappear, and a nice pork and eggplant combination. The dumplings are a bit doughy, and I'm not sure why you can only order soup for two...but we all thoroughly enjoyed our food.

The service was also quite good; our server had a keen sense of humor, and more importantly, kept me in Pete's Wicked Ale after I decided I couldn't work with the sake thing. Overall, I'd call China Rose an excellent establishment for quality Americanized Chinese with a damn fine view.

I'm writing this review after having two drinks and waiting for an irritatingly later and later Amtrak train; clearly I am a little buzzed and a lot frustrated. China Rose came to the rescue with a hearty plate of pork fried rice and their margaritas. The fried rice was a bit bland and the pork just looked like pieces of ham cut up into it. Also at a price of $14 it was a bit steep. The drinks made up for the disappointing food. I tried the Sriracha margarita and their sake margarita. I'm a fan of a spicy margarita and really enjoyed the Sriracha one; it had great flavor with not too much spice. The sake margarita was good too and the customers sitting around me raved about it. Both are very strong and worth the $10 price. Despite being busy the service was good and friendly. The location is perfect for Amtrak travelers and the covered porch with river views is great for nice days.

For greasy, corn syrup laced chunks of protein with undercooked broccoli florets on the side, this is your place. Sit on the porch with the best river view for miles and drink from a plastic cup. The untended and weed filled landscaping is the perfect setting for your outdoor meal.

China Rose is unlike your typical Chinese restaurant/takeout joint. Located along the waterfront in Rhinecliff, close to the Amtrak station, this is my favorite place to come have a cocktail and watch the sunset. They are famous for their sake margaritas, delicious but deadly.....in a good way, of course. I guess you would consider the menu upscale Chinese or maybe New American-Chinese? A couple of my favorite dishes include the Salt-and-Pepper Shrimp and the Chow Fun. The Fried Zucchini and Garlic Sauce appetizer is also a splendid choice.  It is a somewhat small space on the inside, there is a bar and a few tables and chairs in the main room and another quieter dining room in the back. They also have a patio offering alfresco dining in the warmer weather months.....did I mention the views of the sunset? It is family owned and operated and the service is always very friendly and welcoming. They offer live music every Friday and Saturday nights, you can check their Facebook page for up-to-date details.

Food is fantastic and beware of the saki margaritas!  It's another Hudson Valley gem... and very conveniently located next to the Rhinecliff Amtrak Station.  Every dish has been great!

Well, despite saying I wouldn't be back, we gave it another try.  Big mistake. The food came with lots of red peppers, which we can't eat.  The menu description didn't mention red peppers.  We should have asked, I guess, but never thought that shrimp and basil would contain peppers.  The string beans and pork was also filled with red peppers.  We apologized for not asking, and explained that we've ordered the dishes many times and they never came with peppers.   We asked if they could make it without peppers.  The manager came to the table and said, "now we have to throw this in the toilet!".  He was angry, unpleasant and certainly unprofessional.  The food arrived without peppers, but we would have been better without it.  Greasy and lacking flavor.  I mean it this time, never again.  Where is good Chinese food in Hudson Valley Yelpers??

*************!!!!!!!!!BEWARE OF THIS RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!*************

I SHOULD HAVE stuck to my own rules of reading Yelp reviews prior to eating at any restaurant.  Thank you China Rose for re-teaching me that lesson.    Several comments below have indicated poor service at this restaurant.  BOYYYYYYY there was nothing fabricated about that!!!  Not sure if my standards are too high since I'm from the city, but when bugs fly into my drink, I would hope there would be a level of service to accommodate my lack of knowledge of country life and wanting to sit outside to enjoy my experience.  THANK YOU for taking away that joy.   And I hope that 10 dollar drink was worth the negative review and the negative encounter I had experienced.   The sad part is server/bartender says 1)told me the owner said to charge me for the replacement drink and DID NOT indicate in any way (even thought he claims he did) I was being charged 2) claimed this is a family business and that he is part of the family.  Well your family business is ran poorly.   And you are a sad ambassador for your family.  Lack luster service.  I REPEAT....LACK LUSTER SERVICE.  I have never been so infuriated to feel so compelled to right a scathing review.  But hey, it doesn't seem like this business would care either way!  So kudos to you for being open so long.