China Garden

[willyumcr]

OK, I tried Waiter on Wheels (WOW). We ordered from China Garden, Easy to do on there website. After placing order they called for confirmation. Said it would be up to an hour. It was only 25 minutes. Good service and the food was hot and in good containers. The food however was not so good. Had Szechuan hot and sour soup. It was good but not spicy like Szechuan should be. Had King DO spareribs which were OK but mostly cartlidge, not small bite size like I expected. GF ordered the Singapore noodles which she did not care for to much. I tried them and they were mushy. I ordered the Szechuan Beef. Not at all what we are used to in the States (western Chinese). It was just some beef cut very thin in a sweet sugary sauce. All in all I would not order there again at least for the items we tried. 620 baht with tip. WOW was great service with free delivery and no service charge. I will definitely use them again but probably not China Garden

[Whyowhy]

I've seen the television ad for them numerous times on cable tv, checked out their website for further details (as mentioned in said ad), website said restaurant is 'opening soon' = FAIL! At least I now know their cooking ability matches their marketing ability.

As for WoW, have tried them previously, they do a good service but if you don't have a Thai with you to give your address for your first order, then as Ricky Ricardo says: "you have a lot of splainin' to do"

Edited March 27, 2012 by Whyowhy

[RabC]

OP what is "Western" style? The USA is not the only country to have its own version of Chinese food. There is UK (Hong Kong) style, and I imagine German, French, Scandinavian.................................

[Penkoprod]

Is this China Garden the place on Soi Lengkee that everyone was raving about when it opened last year?

If thats the place then its "English style".....whatever that means

Chinese Restaurant

We will offer Pattaya’s most authentic English style Chinese food in a comfortable air conditioned setting with additional seating on our front patio. We have agreed for a chef from the U.K to work at our premises as our Head Chef, he will also instruct and train our Thai chefs in the art that is Chinese food. The restaurant will have an open plan kitchen with a “large glass window” so dinners will see our expert chefs preparing their meals.

The plan is to have the restaurant operational within 2 months only in the evenings initially from 5pm until 12pm. Once all building work has been completed we will offer a lunch time buffet at a set price and a “take away & delivery service”

Penkoprod

Edited March 27, 2012 by Penkoprod

[Jingthing]

I can comment on those dishes.

I used to go there when they had the Chinese chef, then I heard he left, is he back now, or did they get a new Chinese chef?

I had the so called Sechuan soup. I asked for it spicy. They hotted it up. It was nothing like a typical hot and sour soup. It was more Cantonese style but it was a large portion and featured some fresh bamboo shoots. I liked the soup. But this was back when they had the Chinese chef.

I had the salt and pepper spare ribs. Yes they were big fatty gristly ribs. I know the dish and they put in about 20 times more salt than called for. Terrible. I was stupid not to send it back. Instead, tried to rub off the salt and ate it. Made me sick.

The particular beef dish you are talking about, which I have not had there, is exactly what you would expect for a WESTERN style crispy beef dish. Yes thin strips of beef deep fried with a mostly sweet and also chili sauce. It's a pretty awful dish really, more like candy, but it very popular in the west. No, it's not a real Sechuan dish.

Another dish I had there was egg foo young with roast duck. It was a good dish overall and the duck was very, very good. It was not served as expected with a soy based sauce to put on top. I was offered on request some chili paste stuff to flavor it as without the sauce it was way too bland.

I'd like to know about their chef situation. I might go back if they have a Chinese chef. For awhile they were saying they were going to do a lunch buffet during the high season, something I would have welcomed, but I don't think this was ever actually done there. In fact, that claim still stands on their website.

I welcome the concept of a really GOOD Westernized Chinese place in town, and while this place is the best realization we have had to date, it still doesn't quite deliver all of the goods we might desire.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Jingthing

[FarangBuddha]

If you had searched the Pattaya forum re China Garden before you ordered, you could have saved yourself some money.

[JimmyTheMook]

I used to go there when they had the Chinese chef, then I heard he left, is he back now, or did they get a new Chinese chef?

No , Moon was the Chef when they opened , he is gone as so has the great tasting food he taught them make.

[Jingthing]

I used to go there when they had the Chinese chef, then I heard he left, is he back now, or did they get a new Chinese chef?

No , Moon was the Chef when they opened , he is gone as so has the great tasting food he taught them make.

Sad to hear.

[bob4you]

The kitchen staff is 100% Thai and cook like they still are in Thai restaurant, just give the food a Chinese name. You need Chinese Chefs to cook Chinese food.

[Jingthing]

The kitchen staff is 100% Thai and cook like they still are in Thai restaurant, just give the food a Chinese name. You need Chinese Chefs to cook Chinese food.

Well yes, but Thai chefs could be trained by active supervision of a Chinese chef. It's not the race or nationality, but the skill. How far do we go? American style Chinese food, does it need to be cooked by Chinese American chefs (who generally don't even want to eat the stuff they cook for non-Chinese Americans)? Sure it helps to know what the food is supposed to taste like. Edited March 27, 2012 by Jingthing

[TexasRanger]

The kitchen staff is 100% Thai and cook like they still are in Thai restaurant, just give the food a Chinese name. You need Chinese Chefs to cook Chinese food.

Well yes, but Thai chefs could be trained by active supervision of a Chinese chef. It's not the race or nationality, but the skill. How far do we go? American style Chinese food, does it need to be cooked by Chinese American chefs (who generally don't even want to eat the stuff they cook for non-Chinese Americans)? Sure it helps to know what the food is supposed to taste like.

True, I know westerners that cook in Thai restaurants in the UK, trained by Thai but you can't tell the difference in the food. Have to be Chinese to cook chinese LOL

[Jingthing]

Well, in any case it is rather believable that when the original China Garden chef who I recall was from Hong Kong and clearly had some talent has been gone for a long time, that the Thai chefs remaining are not cooking to the same standard.

BTW, that salt and pepper rib horror show that I mentioned was not cooked by him as I later noticed he was on a break!

Edited March 27, 2012 by Jingthing

[seadoo]

Bring in Gordon Ramsey he'll sort it out

[Jingthing]

Bring in Gordon Ramsey he'll sort it out

I would love to see that show!

[smokie36]

I have to laugh at the idea of a Westernised Chinese restaurant in Pattaya or indeed Thailand.

Most of the ones in the West are crap so you are stretching belief a long way...

[Jingthing]

I have to laugh at the idea of a Westernised Chinese restaurant in Pattaya or indeed Thailand.

Most of the ones in the West are crap so you are stretching belief a long way...

Well, personally I'd prefer more authentic regional Chinese Chinese restaurants in Pattaya but I consider UK Chinese and American Chinese valid variations of Chinese food and there can be good quality examples of them. I really am not a fan of Thai Chinese style food, but like any variation, some places do it better than others. That said I really don't know the difference between UK Chinese and American Chinese. During my limited time in the UK I did go to some Chinese restaurants, but not UK style ones. Edited March 27, 2012 by Jingthing

[willyumcr]

Bottom line is the restaurant was not up to good Chinese standards. By the way Jingthing the Szchuan beef was not fried first as mentioned just thin sliced boiled beef in sweet sauce. I prefer Szchuan or Hunan Chinese style of cooking for the spicy flavor. I am a retired merchant seamen who has eaten Chinese in many different country's including China and to say "Western" Chinese is crap is just not so. I was really looking forward to the food from China Garden as I really enjoy Chinese but sadly I was very disappointed. On the plus side though the potions were quite large.

[Jingthing]

Bottom line is the restaurant was not up to good Chinese standards. By the way Jingthing the Szchuan beef was not fried first as mentioned just thin sliced boiled beef in sweet sauce. I prefer Szchuan or Hunan Chinese style of cooking for the spicy flavor. I am a retired merchant seamen who has eaten Chinese in many different country's including China and to say "Western" Chinese is crap is just not so. I was really looking forward to the food from China Garden as I really enjoy Chinese but sadly I was very disappointed. On the plus side though the potions were quite large.

Thank you for correcting me about the beef dish there. I can certainly understand your disappointment with the meal.

BTW, you should try PAO on Pattaya Klang (opening again in a few day) for some authentic Chinese food. I also love Sechuan and Hunan food. I don't know anyone doing Hunan in Pattaya there are some attempts at Sechuan.

[willyumcr]

Bottom line is the restaurant was not up to good Chinese standards. By the way Jingthing the Szchuan beef was not fried first as mentioned just thin sliced boiled beef in sweet sauce. I prefer Szchuan or Hunan Chinese style of cooking for the spicy flavor. I am a retired merchant seamen who has eaten Chinese in many different country's including China and to say "Western" Chinese is crap is just not so. I was really looking forward to the food from China Garden as I really enjoy Chinese but sadly I was very disappointed. On the plus side though the potions were quite large.

Thank you for correcting me about the beef dish there. I can certainly understand your disappointment with the meal.

BTW, you should try PAO on Pattaya Klang (opening again in a few day) for some authentic Chinese food. I also love Sechuan and Hunan food. I don't know anyone doing Hunan in Pattaya there are some attempts at Sechuan.

Bottom line is the restaurant was not up to good Chinese standards. By the way Jingthing the Szchuan beef was not fried first as mentioned just thin sliced boiled beef in sweet sauce. I prefer Szchuan or Hunan Chinese style of cooking for the spicy flavor. I am a retired merchant seamen who has eaten Chinese in many different country's including China and to say "Western" Chinese is crap is just not so. I was really looking forward to the food from China Garden as I really enjoy Chinese but sadly I was very disappointed. On the plus side though the potions were quite large.

Thank you for correcting me about the beef dish there. I can certainly understand your disappointment with the meal.

BTW, you should try PAO on Pattaya Klang (opening again in a few day) for some authentic Chinese food. I also love Sechuan and Hunan food. I don't know anyone doing Hunan in Pattaya there are some attempts at Sechuan.

Thanks I will for sure try PAO, especially after reading your post before about it. Actually I prefer my main meal at lunch time but will give PAO a try but wish they were open for lunch