| Location |
| 1750 E. 8th Street |
| In Davis Manor Center |
| Hours |
| 7 days/week, 11 AM - 9:30 PM |
| Phone |
| (530) 759-9392 |
| Website |
| http://goldensundavis.com/home-page/ |
| Established |
| June 2012 |
| Owner |
| Mel Ying Luo |
| Payment methods |
| Cash, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express |
| Menu - click any page to enlarge |
  Appetizers, Soup  Beef, Poultry  Lamb, Seafood  Pork, etc.  Vegetarian  Noodles, rice  Lunch specials |
Golden Sun is a new Chinese restaurant, located where Red Orchid used to be. They have a very large menu with lots of vegetarian options. Feel free to ask for a different level of spiciness or other modifications to your order.
In addition to the usual dine in/take out, they offer delivery and catering.
2012-06-08 20:09:31 The new name of the restaurant is Golden Sun. It is under new ownership. I stopped in and got takeout tonight and am so, so happy. They have a meal special that's an entree, plus rice, plus two spring rolls, plus a small cup of soup. (7.95 for veggie, 8.85 for chicken or pork or beef, 9.95 for seafood.) I suspect the small spring rolls were frozen, but they were still tasty. My entree was delicious. The woman who runs the front of the house is a total dear.
They lose a lot of their business over the summer when the DaVinci High kids go on break. Here's hoping others in town discover the good food and good bargains. I'm a neighbor, so I can walk over there any time. I'm hoping other folks will be willing to make the drive across town, because it's worth it.
(I have one of their new menus, but won't be able to scan post it for another couple of weeks due to work stuff. It has, as the manager said, "too many choices!") —AJThompson
* Edited to add: After I called in my order, the front-of-house woman — who's not yet familiar with the huge menu — called me back to ask me if I wanted fresh or fried tofu. She called twice, and she left a voicemail. This place has excellent service. —AJThompson
2012-06-10 09:30:46 I have high hopes for this restaurant. Our initial foray gave us large, tasty portions with fresh ingredients. Flavors were a little different than those we are used to, but were nice. —CovertProfessor
2012-06-12 12:23:01 The food is really delicious, and is in many ways better than the equivalent in Red Orchid. Of course, there is a much larger selection of entrees to choose from, but what makes this restaurant different from Red Orchid is the quality of the food. One of my friends ordered the kung pao vegetables and was extremely happy that they actually "had a kick" as opposed to the vegetarian options Red Orchid provided that did not seem to have much spice, even when asked to be extra spicy. I had a similar experience with the meat dishes. I ordered mango chicken because I was not sure what to really expect and was blown away by the blend of the mango with a thick, flavorful broth and the chicken. It was tangy, sweet, spicy all wrapped up in one, and worked well. I'm really happy about the change, especially since it seems like the same workers who worked at Red Orchid work at Golden Sun now.
Edit (2013-06-12): It's alright for what it is. My initial reaction was more to how large the menu was, rather than the food or the service. I am impressed that they now have a service that allows you to order online. That's pretty nifty. The only entree I would suggest for their lunch special is mango chicken. Everything else doesn't have much flavor regardless of how much spicyness you ask for. It's unfortunate also because they increased the prices and their lunch specials only come with steamed rice. I like steamed rice, but there are better restaurants in Davis that offer a)more quantity in their lunch specials, b) more variety in their lunch specials and c) are cheaper or the same price. What made Red Orchid stand out was that they had a 4.99 lunch special and a 3.99 student special during certain hours. It made it crawling with high school children, but as long as you purchased your food to go, it was cheap, efficient and you cannot complain for the price.
2012-06-21 15:04:35 They were not open Monday evening. We enjoyed Kalamarakia at the Symposium instead, but will try again. —SueHjerpe
2012-06-30 21:33:34 Got take out the other night: Chow Mein and Honey Walnut Shrimp was good. It is a million times better than the previous Red Orchid restaurant. —Magster
2012-07-09 15:02:56 Tried delivery the other night. I can attest that it's definitely better food than Red Orchid. Their hours seem incorrect, though. I tried calling and eventually went over to find that they were completely closed. Their menu states they're open seven days a week. Seeing as someone else reported they found them closed previously, maybe they're just not open Mondays? —Adalwolf
2012-07-17 20:41:33 Kung pao tofu is TO DIE FOR. —AJThompson
2012-08-04 15:22:01 This place is really good. In my opinion, the best American style Chinese food in town. They serve your typical options, but they do them better than most. The sauces are rich and flavorful. If you ask for extra spicy, they deliver. The vegetables are fresh and cooked perfectly. Plus their lunch combo is an extremely good value, where nothing is more than $5.75! —aroach12
2012-10-01 14:16:01 Went there three weeks ago as I was doing laundry next door. I really liked their food and the waitress was really nice. Their chow mein was distinctive, not oily and with lots of flavor. Reminded my of home town chinese food when I was a kid. —LokiAbbi
2012-12-21 20:28:36 In my opinion, they serve the best Chinese food in town. Whereas the previous restaurant, Red Orchid, was completely forgettable, Golden Sun is quite memorable. This restaurant, which appears to be run by only two or three people, is somehow fresher, tastier, and cheaper than the other places in town. Huge menu, great execution, and very high value keep my wife and I coming back. Oh, and they deliver, wow! On a personal level, I honestly hope the owners are successful—based on merit I believe they will be—and that the flavors do not suffer because of popular demand. Dim Sum options are on a separate menu which must be specially requested, for some reason. —bartbart
2012-12-28 13:34:24 I just ordered delivery and am incredibly impressed! Prompt service, really friendly, and the food was delicious. We ordered Pork Buns, veggie pot stickers, and the lunch specials for beef and broccoli (with fried rice) and king pao chicken (with chow mein). All for $25, not including tip! I will definitely be ordering from here again. —KaleenaRochelle
2013-01-06 01:26:16 After reading all the positive comments about this place i have to say I was expecting good things. Unfortunately, my experience was terrible. I had placed and order for delivery at 6:40 and had been told that the order would arrive in 40-60 mins. After 2 hours, I called back and was told it was on its way. Sure enough, 5 minutes before they close at 9, my order arrived. The fried rice was very cold and the rest of the food moderately warm. Normally, Chinese delivery provides soy sauce, but none was this time. After eating some of my chicken chow mien, I found raw chicken in the container. I always enjoyed Red Orchid and had been looking forward to the new and improved Golden Sun. Never again. —JHayes
2013-03-21 21:57:29 I AM GENUINELY HORRIFIED BY THE SERVICE HERE. DON'T ORDER FOOD FROM HERE. Don't use the online delivery system.
I just ordered food from Golden Sun. I was excited because they had an online ordering system and it was easy to use. I ordered Mongolian Beef and Chicken Chow Mein as well as Egg Custard Buns. The online system is apparently flawed because if you choose Chow Mein they don't let you continue unless you choose a vegetable option. I figured it must be the vegetable option for the noodles since it wouldn't add chow mein to the order any other way but when we got our order there was no chow mein at all.
The vegetable option replaces the chow mein—their online system is not working correctly. (I went back after I ordered to double check this and it does the same thing everytime).
Also, we got egg custard tarts instead of egg custard buns. We paid $2 extra for the buns and got 4 little tarts instead.
Now this is all kind of annoying...but the worst part is when I called to inquire about the order.
The first time I called, a thick-accent man answered who did not hear me/talk loud enough/was surrounded by tons of background noise (loud voices and loud phones) answered and we could not communicate whatsoever. I tried calling back but either he couldn't understand/hear me or I couldn't understand/hear him.
I ate my portion of the food (I got mongolian beef, my housemate got the noodles). It was a fairly small portion. Not worth $10 for the size, but it tasted good. At this point, I figured that the chow mein part was probably the website's error, it still sucked but maybe there was still something they could do about it (paying $8 for a pile of steamed vegetables is not a good surprise for a hungry college student)
The $2 for the incorrect buns/tarts , however was honestly not fair on top of everything else (we are poor college students so every dollar counts—plus we left a $3 tip!) so I called back 15 minutes later and a different man answered the phone. He spoke very clear and loudly so I was relieved that I could explain the situation to him.
I said that our order was incorrect and tried to explain what had happened with their website. He blamed the whole thing on me, saying that I selected the vegetables (all in an unfriendly manner interrupting me frequently). I was frustrated but tried to tell him that they should look into the website for future customers and he rudely told me "yeah whatever that's our problem" and very rudely dismissed me.
Then he brought up the buns and said he owed us $2, which lifted my spirits. But then he said he would just have to credit them for next time we called. First of all, my thoughts were that we would not call back because our order was messed up. (we also never ever order food in the house—only extremely rarely) Also, I don't really see how they could keep track of a $2 credit. So I said, "Well I don't think we will be calling back again, so I don't think that's necessarily fair..."
He literally interrupted me by SCREAMING "WELL THEN I DONT CARE!" and hung up. I was so confused and shocked. I didn't believe what just happened. I was trying to have a civil conversation.
I thought I might have imagined how cruel he was so I called back and said that I was confused about what just happened and if I could speak to the manager. He literally YELLED (shockingly loud) "I AM THE MANAGER" and then proceeded to angrily yell "I DONT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME." I really wanted my ($2 bun money and my $3 tip...also chow mein) but before I could say anything he hung up on me. AGAIN.
I am really shocked by how they handle their business. I work in customer service and I would never treat a customer so rudely. It is literally the worst I've ever experienced. I'm hoping he was just having a reaaally bad day....
The whole thing sounds really dramatic over a $2 overcharge and incorrect order, but I am just as surprised at how bad it was. —JessicaLee
2014-03-29 14:57:09 I just tried calling an order in 4 times in a row. They picked up the phone once, said hello, and hung up on me. After seeing the previous comments that the service is horrible, i dont think i will ever try this place. I use davis food delivery a lot as well, so it sucks for them. —AdamPeterson
2014-04-04 20:41:31 DO NOT ORDER FROM HERE. We ordered almost 2 hours ago and have not received our food. Additionally, they will not answer the phone for the life of them. This is the second time this has happened to us. We assumed the first time that it was just a mistake, but NO. THEY JUST HAVE TERRIBLE SERVICE. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY WAITING ON FOOD FROM HERE. —SydneyWalcoff
2014-06-23 18:44:56 Question: it doesn't seem like there are any "faux meat" vegetarian options on the lunch specials. Can the lunch specials be substituted with vegetarian faux-meat versions? —ArianeMetz
2014-06-25 20:01:46 We just ordered a vegan dinner here, but though the food that did arrive, tasted good, they forgot our two portions of Steamed White Rice. And we are sure it is their mistake, because they e-mailed us our order details. We were very disappointed: not so much about the dollars we paid to get imaginary rice, but because of the totally unbalanced food; without the rice, the vegetables with tempeh and tofu do not come into their own. We noticed it too late: the delivery guy was already gone. —ConstantiaOomen
2014-07-24 21:13:30 While the food is amazing, the service is as bad as it gets. They regularly mess up my order and I am now hanging on the phone for 10 minutes for an english speaking employee - and they just left me hanging. Great food if you can get it but absolutely the worst customer service you will experience unless you know Chinese. Guess I will be ordering a pizza or food from another delivery establishment... —JakeDuCharme
2016-02-05 23:14:47 I ordered several things for delivery. Delivery took about an hour and was missing a couple items. I called the restaurant when I realized that the items were missing, and they apologized and delivered the items within 20 minutes. Delicious food and very good service! —DashaSemyonova
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