For someone who loves being around family, being taken out for a girls night with my mom and aunt is always fun. On Monday, Oct.30. my mom and aunt took me to China Chef in Westmont off of Cass Avenue. Overall, I would give China Chef three out of five stars.

When I opened the menu to look at and see what they had, they smelled musty. The paper inside was only held in place by a string so the paper slid around, making it harder for me to read and flip pages.

For an appetizer, we ordered the egg rolls and all three of us enjoyed them. They came out about five minutes after we ordered them, and they were still incredibly hot. Cutting into the egg roll, I could see the steam leave it.

The egg rolls had a very distinct taste. They were sweet with a crunchy outer shell and soft inside, giving them the perfect texture.

For the main course, I ordered the sweet and sour chicken with a side of chicken fried rice. The sweet and sour chicken came with pineapple, red sauce, green pepper, tomato, and the chicken.

The chicken fried rice was phenomenal. It was brought out hot and had oil and seasoning that went together well. Once I tried the fried rice, it was all I wanted to eat.

My aunt does not like fried rice, but she really liked the fried rice at China Chef.

The sweet and sour chicken was neither sweet or sour. They brought out the chicken with half the chicken having sauce on it and the other not. Looking at the chicken in the middle drenched in the unusual looking sauce, I was hesitant to try it.

After looking at it for a minute, I tried it and found out the chicken was also very cold and so was the sauce on top. The dish had tasted like it was sitting in the fridge for a couple hours and they forgot to heat it up.

The chicken was very tough and the sauce was bland. I ate one piece of chicken and did not eat another. I moved onto trying the pineapple. The pineapple was room temperature, so it was okay to eat.

Having the pineapple with sauce on it was also doable because the pineapple was sweet, so they didn’t clash.

My aunt and mom ordered Kung Pao chicken, which they both enjoyed. Their food had a bit of a kick to it along with it being served hot.

Eating my cold food in silence for a while, couldn’t seem to become more awkward. They had a television on but with no sound or music.

Eventually, they put on soft lyrical music that was relaxing. The music was not too overpowering to where I could not hear my own thoughts, but not quite enough to where I could not hear the music.

The pink walls we sat by had a tint of brown and it looked like drinks were spilled on them. Having to sit next to dirty walls, I felt uncomfortable by them and sitting in the booth.

The waitress was on top of checking in on us and refilling our water cups. When we needed something she was there and brought it to us right away.

With the bill, she gave us three fortune cookies, my favorite type of cookie. The bill was $66 for three big meals, an appetizer, a plate of fried rice and two adult beverages.

The price did fit with the serving sizes, but one meal could feed two people.