New Golden Dawn Diner: F

Food: 2 Presentation: 1 Decor: 1 Service: 2
Total: 6/25: F

The New Golden Dawn is on Route 38 in Maple Shade, NJ. The Newness is relative. It's been there as long as I can remember, at least 25 years. I've been here a few times over that 25 years and never had been impressed. But sometimes you can't go back to the same diners every couple of weeks so you head back hoping for something different. It wasn't.

The place needs some serious updating. It looks like a very run down place. The service didn't help. It was just a bit too slow that night and not enough attention to detail. I felt as if our server had something better to do.

I ordered fried shrimp for dinner. First came a basket of worn out bread. It just didn't look fresh. Maybe it was. I didn't chance it. Next was a very normal salad. Finally came the fried shrimp. Now, I want some large or jumbo shrimp fried up. That's not what I got. I got around 30 very small and anemic shrimp. I mean, many were less than 1 inch long. They were battered en mass and deep fried together. You couldn't even tell which ends were the tails. And many were stuck together creating two headed or tailed shrimp. What a mess. What chef or owner would think this was good?

Fortunately, my wife got a chicken ceasar salad. The chicken was actually spiced and grilled very well. She enjoyed her meal while I barely stomached mine. A very different set of experiences.

Given my order, I'll never go back. I can only imagine what other horrors lurk on the menu.