The last time I ate chicken from a questionable restaurant was at 4:00 a.m. at a dirty KFC somewhere near Notting Hill Gate over spring break. Needless to say, at the time it was the best thing I had ever tasted, although I could barely remember my late-night rendezvous with Colonel Sanders when I fell out of bed the next morning.
I was in a more coherent state when I ate at Spring Chinese, but I can't decide if this was an entirely positive thing. Although the sweet and sour chicken ($6.50) didn't look like the mystery meat one comes to expect from such a nondescript fast food joint, it tasted about as fresh as that crap that's been sitting out all day at the Wok and Roll buffet at the airport. Mmm, delicious.
With its bathroom-tile floors, plastic trays and formica surfaces, Spring Chinese has all the ambience of McDonalds. The backlit pictures of menu items on the walls must hark back to earlier days of burgers and chicken tenders. In fact, if the traditional Chinese fare like shrimp lo mein ($5.95) or Szechuan beef ($7.50) doesn't float your boat, you can make like the hordes of obese middle-schoolers in line behind me and order buffalo wings and fries ($4.00)
In short, this place isn't terrific. What it does have going for it is speedy, helpful service -- our food was ready in less than ten minutes and all the staff were friendly. While not haute cuisine, a meal at Spring Chinese beats yelling down your phone to some poor delivery person.
