Very pleasant China Garden offers variety of Asian styles
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A large selection of dishes and a pleasant atmosphere combine to make China Garden on Jefferson Highway a good choice for dining out with family or friends. Guests can choose from a variety of China’s regional dishes, including Cantonese, Szechuan, Peking and Hunan styles, as well as Japanese.
The restaurant features a large, attractive buffet for both lunch and dinner. But we were pleased to find you can order specific dishes from the printed menu as well, since stir-fried foods taste best when served immediately.
The buffet costs ($6.45) at lunch and $8.25 at dinner. It features everything from egg-drop soup in a flavorful chicken broth to the omelet-like vegetable egg foo young.
Overall, the buffet has an adequate selection, with one exception. While there were a number of dishes that include veggies — like pepper steak — there weren’t a lot of stand-alone vegetables from which to choose. The two greens we sampled, the snow peas and green beans, illustrated another common problem with buffets.
The snow peas were crisp. The green beans looked like they’d been out under the heat lamps too long. Just from visual inspection, that seemed to be the case with a number of the entrees on our lunch visit, which limited our choices. Half of our party of four went the buffet route, while the others ordered from the menu, which turned out to be the better choice. The food ordered off the menu was clearly fresher, and was served in such a quantity that even a big eater couldn’t help but be satisfied.
Still, the buffet had its moments. The coconut shrimp were plump, firm and covered in a coconut sauce that was sweet without being overpoweringly so. In addition to sesame chicken, there was a dish called General Joe’s chicken that had a brown sauce not quite as sweet as the sesame. The teriyaki chicken offered strips of skinless chicken cooked on wooden skewers accented with a hint of sauce. The pepper steak was extremely tender and flavorful. Especially good was the honey chicken that was fried in a simple batter, deep-fried and smothered in a delicious honey sauce. Egg rolls, filled with finely chopped Chinese cabbage, carrots, onions and finely chopped pork, were crisp but appeared to have been sitting a bit too long on the buffet table. The spring rolls were appropriately crisp inside and out.
On the other hand, the stuffed mushrooms were a disappointment. The stuffing seemed to be nothing more than breading that added no discernable flavor to the mushrooms themselves.
A pleasant surprise was the grill section (available with the buffet) where customers can select their own ingredients and have them grilled immediately. One member of our group created his own combination of tender beef, pork and chicken slices grilled with onions, and celery. Hot off the grill, the food was light and especially good. But be forewarned; go light on the Szechuan sauce unless you enjoy fiery hot spices.
An order of steamed dumplings ($3.95) was especially delicious as an appetizer. Larger and more tender than those on the buffet, the dumplings were filled with a finely chopped mixture of pork and chicken lightened season with garlic and onion. They were served with a light sweet sauce enhanced with a sprinkling of green onions.
Names given Chinese dishes are often colorful and sometimes even mystifying. However, Happy Family ($9.95) is aptly name. The hearty dish could easily satisfy two or even three people. It includes thin slices of beef, chicken and pork, jumbo shrimp and slivers of lobster sautéed in a light brown sauce along with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, celery, corn and crisp water chestnuts. The blend of meats and vegetable flavors does indeed make for happy dining. The dish was served with a large bowl of fried rice, enhanced with small bits of pork, sweet peas, carrots and fried egg – all tossed with a small amount of soy sauce.
The Four Seasons ($8.75), which is packed with vegetables, makes it a good choice for someone watching his or her weight. It features shrimp, chicken, beef and pork, topped with a light brown gravy, lots of very fresh vegetables and served with your choice of white or fried rice. The vegetables were firm and crunchy, and included broccoli, cauliflower, thinly sliced carrots, mushrooms, sliced onions and crisp pea pods. Delicious. It’s a generous portion, so there was plenty to take home for later.
China Garden is bright and cheerful, with pale pink walls and red accents, which according to tradition brings good fortune. The wait staff is friendly and accommodating. Don’t forget to get your fortune cookies and share your “fortune” with fellow diners.
