Mystery Diner in Joliet: China Experience serves up good food by friendly staff

About 15 years ago, a couple of friends started patronizing a Chinese carryout venue in the food court at Louis Joliet Mall in Joliet.

They had to do quite a bit of persuading to entice me there. But once they did, I discovered the food was really good and the service was super friendly: very accommodating with lots of smiles.

That great service has continued for a long time, even though the name, and perhaps ownership, have changed through the years.

The venue now is called China Experience. And I recently ordered food from there with a friend for the very first time.

China Experience doesn’t have a website or online menu that I saw. However, I did find menus and prices on three food-delivery platforms: DoorDash, Postmates and KwickMENU.

We ordered our food at Louis Joliet Mall, which updates the hours of operation for China Experience each week on the mall website.

For meats, we ordered orange chicken, bourbon chicken and chicken broccoli. This last was a substitute for beef broccoli due to the high cost of beef, the person waiting on us said.

I ordered the lo mein noodles. And my friend picked the fried rice, which came with carrots, peas, green onions and eggs. My friend prefers rice over noodles.

The orange chicken is not overly sweet at China Experience, which can be the case for this type of entree. We also like the crunchy bits of batter that wind up mixed into the noodles or rice.

The chicken itself was tender, glazed, crispy and sweet. It had more meat than breading, another plus.

The bourbon chicken is tender, and covered with lots of sauce. The chicken pieces have a nice smokey flavor, and tasted great when mixed together with the rice.

But you also can mix the bourbon chicken sauce into the lo mein noodles, which provides a well-rounded flavor.

However, you don’t need to mix anything into the low mein noodles. They have their own terrific flavor that’s hard to describe. China Experience uses far less celery and salt than similar venues, I felt.

My friend said the fried rice has good flavor and a nice balance of vegetables to egg. It also reheats really well.

My companion preferred chicken over beef in the classic broccoli recipe, thinking it made a light dish. I actually missed the beef, but, overall, this alternate preparation isn’t as heavy. It’s also tossed in a light, really savory and garlicky sauce.

My friend liked the ratio of vegetable to chicken, while I can never get enough broccoli.

When it came to all the servings, the portions are large enough for two meals: dinner one night and lunch the next day for a second treat.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff when ordering or picking up the food. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: China Experience

WHERE: Louis Joliet Mall, 3340 Mall Loop Drive, Joliet

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

INFORMATION: shoppinglouisjolietmall.com/stores/china-experience