Baoding Chinese at Sharon Corners
(This review applies to lunch; I never ate dinner there more than once or twice because, to me, it was always waaaaaay overpriced )…This SouthPark restaurant, a fixture since 1993, is just not a good place for vegetarians anymore! I suspect new management? Not that they were ever exactly veggie “friendly” – try ordering Kung Pao chicken, for example, “please subsitute tofu for the chicken” … and they would look at you as if you had lost your mind! But they always had a small selection of really nice vegetarian/vegan dishes at lunch … Sesame Tofu, which was as close to amazing as sesame tofu gets. The ubiquitious Sauteed Mixed Vegetables, notable for the sheer variety of crispy fresh veggies – asparagus, yellow squash, zucchini, in addition to broccoli, carrots, celery, those tiny ears of corn, pea pods, and water chestnuts. And Spicy Broccoli … ehhh, broccoli, but it was very spicy.The whole lunch menu appears to have been severely pared down (whether you are interested in veggie or omnivore dishes), and now the only veggie entree choices are… Fried Veggie Rice (with egg). Veggie Lo Mein. And Veggie Steamer. That’s right … probably the ONE Chinese restaurant in Charlotte you can’t get Mixed Chinese Vegetables at lunch!
(I did look online after eating at Baoding and the menu online is the old menu … not the one they are currently using.)
I ordered the Veggie Lo Mein. And it was … bad. Really bad. Forget the variety of vegetables Baoding used to be famous for … this had noodles, broccoli (mostly STALKS), onions, bean sprouts, and ONE pea pod. Yes, exactly ONE pea pod. Let’s count it again. ONE. The noodles were GREASY, and while the sauces USED to be vegetarian, I’d be willing to bet they use oyster or fish sauce now. The taste was just heavy and strange … the way meat tastes to me now, the few times I accidentally eat it. I should have asked about the sauce, but because I’ve eaten lunch here so many times over the last 10 years, I just didn’t think to do so.
Additionally, lunch dishes USED to come with your choice of chicken egg roll OR a vegetarian spring roll … no more.
If you should wind up there, I’d suggest the Veggie Steamer as the safest thing to order. Or better yet, with so many great veg-friendly Asian Fusion restaurants opening up all around Charlotte, do not wind up there at all.
One Location in Charlotte: 4722 Sharon Road, in the Sharon Corners Shopping Center
VegCharlotte 
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