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I’ve only ever heard two positive things about Lee Tang Chinese Restaurant in Troy, NY. The first is that they have good General Tso’s chicken. The second is that they’re cheap.

Until today, I liked them because they are cheap and close by. You get what you pay for. I ordered small fried dumplings and a small General Tso’s over the phone for pickup.

“Fifteen minutes.”

Since it’s a phone order, there’s that element of a time estimate for the pick-up. In addition, since it’s a phone order, there’s no reason to tell me fifteen minutes when it’s going to take at least a half hour. When I got their fifteen minutes later they hadn’t even started cooking my order. Which could be understandable, I suppose, if it hadn’t happened exactly this way twice prior to this in the last few weeks.

Today, though, was the last straw, because they also screwed up the order entirely and gave me something other than General Tso’s. It appeared to be Kung Po chicken and vegetables, or more appropriately said, vegetables with what appeared to be a tiny bit of Kung Po chicken. The same is true if a combination platter is ordered (which affords the buyer an equally sad amount of fried rice with the occasional strip of pork found within).

The vegetables are all frozen and tasteless. The rice is equally bland. The General Tso’s chicken, literally, is the only thing I have ever had that was even remotely acceptable.

Delivery from Lee Tang is equally poor in quality. Hanging up prominently next to the cash register is a map of Rensselaer’s campus. The map is numbered. One day when giving them directions to deliver my order on campus, I remembered this, and gave them the number of the location I was at on the map. She read back the name of my building off the map. I confirmed the address. She still was unable to find the building, however, despite the fact the map was drawn with a 3D perspective and includes illustrations of the building and other landmarks. So she called me and said she was “here”, which she wasn’t, and then asked for directions, which was completely pointless since she could barely speak English. She told me she was at the other housing area near mine, a block or two away, then had the audacity to ask me to walk and find her. She walked away without even waiting for a tip, which made me pretty damn happy since I would have only given it grudgingly anyway.

The proprietors of Lee Tang have never been anything but rude to me, for the four years that I’ve been in Troy. To some degree I deal with it when people are bitter, but they are perpetually bitter and deserve a taste of their own.

Avoid Lee Tang at all costs.

Lee Tang Chinese Restaurant
564 Hoosick St
Troy, NY 12180
(518) 273 7708