It was late afternoon after 8 when we arrived, and the place seemed to be bustling. We must have been waiting for at least 10 minutes at the door standing as various servers passed us, without even blinking. Someone eventually came and sat us, but we didn't get a smile, or "hello," we were basically trotted off to what was the worst seat in the house, next to the door to the toilet. I don't ask a lot of servers but please at least acknowledge customers presence with the nod of a head, something, before you seat people. Perhaps that is asking too much? I was willing to forgive them on that note, I told myself I was being a little too critical.

But our seat was horrendous! At first, this to I was able to overlook. After a while though it became quite the annoyance. Eventually someone would go to the bathroom, as people came in and out from the room, the smell of disinfectants and toilet cleaner would immediately hit us on the face. My friend was so disgusted he almost lost his appetite. After a while he began to cover his face whenever someone came in and out.

But still my spirit was not broken, I again, just wrote it off as a fluke: due to a busy night, and still tried to enjoy myself. We ordered and we found it odd that our waitress had the hardest time understanding our order. Thereafter we promptly got our appetizer. An order of fried "shrimp," dumplings. They were good but nothing special. Something was finally working out, and it seemed I was right o have held out hope.

My friend got his dish, a "chicken" broth soup. I sat patiently waiting for my sweet and sour chicken. I waited, and I waited, it was a good 30 minutes before I received my dish. By this time obviously my friend was done, and I had lost all hope. During the wait I had began to lose patience and I continuously kept trying to wave at a server to ask where my dish was.

My meal finally did come, but again it was nothing special. The pieces had a nice crispyness but were overly sugary. Yes this is SWEET and sour chicken, but I didn't expect it to taste like candy.

Overall this was one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had. I was willing to overlook the decor, the service and our seat facing the bathroom, but when the very dish i ordered came a half hour too late, that is where I draw the line. Add the fact that the food was unexceptional. It is located in Chinatown in downtown Oakland and there are plenty of better options. With far better good and much better service.

I will not be going back and I will tell all my friends so stay far away from Golden Lotus.