China Gardens Restaurant (Delray Beach)
***** China Gardens Restaurant, 14400 Military Trail, Delray Beach, Florida 33484 (561) 498-5226.
A recent e-mail received by Jeff Eats…
Hey Jeff,
You beat me and my husband down to Florida from Brooklyn by 27 years. We just moved into the Saint Andrews Country Club in Boca Raton. We are looking for a really good Chinese joint in the area that serves up delicious (as you call it) Brooklyn Jewish American Chinese Food. How about a name or two? By the way I’m a graduate of Midwood HS class of 67 and my husband graduated from Lincoln High School in 1964.
Thanks,
Laura Solomon
———
Laura Solomon,
Welcome to sunny south Florida.
Checkout:
China Gardens
(561) 498-5226
delraybeachchinagardens.com
Thanks for reading…
Jeff Eats
Posted on March 17th, 2009
***** China Gardens Restaurant, 14400 Military Trail, Delray Beach, Florida 33484 (561) 498-5226.
A number of you guys e-mailed about a “mom & pop Chinese” joint…China Gardens Restaurant, telling me about how good the food was, blah, blah blah. Anyway… last night I gave this joint a shot and “right-you-were”…the food is absolutely delicious.
China Gardens Restaurant is as you would expect, a “hole in the wall” located in a non-descript small South Florida shopping center. Guaranteed (unless you are a recent arrival from Mars) you know exactly what the decor is…what the menu is…and what the price-points and “specials” are.
Now let’s talk food…like I said before, DELICIOUS. Now for the official-results of my “taste test”….wonton soup (A), egg drop soup (A), hot & sour soup (A), egg roll (B+), pan fried dumplings (B+), sweet & sour pork (A+), chicken egg foo young (A), sizzling steak (A), shrimp with vegetables (A), shrimp with lobster sauce (A), roast pork fried rice (B+)…
Now I may-be going out on a limb here, but…my money says that China Gardens Restaurant is probably better than your favorite neighborhood-Chinese joint. Let me go one step further, China Gardens could “make it” in New York City’s Chinatown.
Based on my first outing, I will definitely be back for a second round.
China Gardens Restaurant is open Monday-Saturday 11am-10pm and Sunday 2pm-10pm.
Based on your writeup we tried this evening and had food delivered. The food was very good but the white rice and mu shu pork pancakes were missing from the order.
Ive eaten at China gardens 3x and have had takeout delivered twice. Their food is very good. Their problem is that in my case both times the delivered orders were missing ordered items. First time, no white rice. Second time, no pancakes for the moo shu pork. Both times the husband owner gave me an argument on the phone that i was wrong and the food had been delivered. Last night was the pancake episode. Last time doing business with this restaurant. Delicious food but another stupid owner who doesn’t know how to deal with his customers costs him business.
Chiana Gardens is my favorite Chinese joint in Florida.
Ive been a customer having eaten there or taking out for over 21 years.
I learned years ago that when I takeout or have a delivery to check the order before I pay. In the very beginning before I started checking my orders, i found every so often that items were left out.
Long story short, terrific food. Just check your to go orders before you leave the joint or let the delivery man leave.
My wife and I took out from China Gardens. Wonton soup, ribs,, egg rolls, roast pork fried rice, General Tso’s chicken and we found the food to be average at best. We won’t be returning for another order.
Excellent food.
Husband and wife own the restaurant.
The wife is an absolute doll, the husband is a flaming asshole who thinks that every person who has a complaint is trying to rip him off and get something for free.
As I first mentioned, excellent food.
They make terrific food.
One of the best Chinese restaurants in s Florida.
They have delicious bbq ribs.
Try them.
They are bad news.
Jeff,
On your say so my wife and i and a couple of friends tried China Gardens on Sunday night. The joint was jammed at 7pm which was a good sign. After waiting 20 minutes we got a table. The wonton soup was good. The egg rolls were just ok, same for the bbq ribs. The General Tso’s chicken was lousy as was the pepper steak, roast pork fried rice and mu shu pork we had. All in all, nothing special or even close to being a restaurant that we will be running back to in the near future.
They make outrageously delicious ribs.
Based on your recommendation we ordered delivery.
Good wonton soup.
Good egg rolls.
Horrendous General Tso’s Chicken.
Horrendous roast pork fried rice.
I’ve been going there for over 20 years, I’m not into chinese food that much but they make the best lobster in ginger and scallion sauce anywhere that I know off. also, great wide noodles that are good for dipping in their duck sauce. the moo shu I ask them to cut it up as they leave the meat and vegetables to large to enjoy the full flavor of this dish. I never take out Chinese food it loses its freshness quickly.
At your suggestion my wife and I tried China Gardens last night.
The food and service were terrific.
The joint was the typical Chinese joint circa the 1960s that we grew up on in Queens.
Delicious wonton soup, egg rolls, bbq ribs, sweet & sour pork and shrimp in lobster sauce with a drop of black bean sauce thrown in for good measure. Loved the pistachio and chocolate ice cream.
Great recommendation.
Their Lobster Cantonese is amazing.
Great recommendation.
Ate there last night and the ribs were the best I’ve had in 40 years while living in Florida.
Best Brooklyn Chinese food in Florida
They make amazing bbq ribs.
Ate there last night. Delicious wonton soup, bbq ribs and lobster Cantonese. They also serve a delicious pistachio ice cream.
They make the best bbq ribs in South Florida.
Jeff,
Based on your word, my wife and i took out from china gardens for the first time last night.
the results.
Wonton soup very good.
Ribs good, but a bit undercooked.
Sweet & Sour Pork Not good, very hard pieces with very little flavor.
Pepper Steak good.
Roast pork fried rice good.
We had our first time order delivered last night.
Egg Rolls garbage.
Wonton soup good.
Roast Pork fried Rice good.
Pepper steak ok but nothing special..
Ribs good.
Egg Foo Young good.
Jeff,
Ive been eating and taking out from China Gardens for 20 years. I really enjoy its food. I must tell you that since the virus hit, it has been sending out takeout orders which have way less food than pre virus. I know that business must be off, but the prices it charges haven’t been reduced although portion size has.
Tried CG for the first time last night and was very disappointed.Because of the virus it was a takeout order and the bbq ribs, egg rolls, sweet & sour chicken and pork fried rice were lousy. The wonton soup was good.
Not exactly sure what China Gardens is doing but their food over the last few months during the pandemic has gone from very good to pretty lousy. Portion size has shrunk and they now charge a $1 fee when you use a credit card.
Their food is good but the owners try to short change you on the takeout orders. They have “free” items when you spend certain amounts. They try not to tell you that you are entitled to items when you place your order.
Real nickel dime folks.
I have been a steady customer for 13 years. The food was always excellent prior to the Covid-19. Since March, 2020 the food which was takeout only has steadily gone downhill. In addition, the owners have cut the portion sizes but not the prices. Last night I took out pepper steak, bbq ribs, egg rolls and roast pork fried rice and every item was fair at best. For right now, I’m done with this joint. I’ll give it another shot after the pandemic ends, but for now the food is no better than just average.
Same owners.
Food since covid has changed.
From delicious to disgusting.
Can’t figure out what happened.
Jeff,
Some of the worst Chinese food I’ve had in 39 years living in Florida.
Stringy ribs, soft sesame chicken, soggy egg rolls, salty wonton soup.
Jeff,
On your recommendation gave this joint a try.
Terrible food.
Some of the worst Chinese food I’ve had in Florida.
Jeff,
How this Chinese restaurant went from one of south Florida’s best to one of its worst is absolutely beyond me.
My husband and i have loved this joint for years. Since Covid started, it has been on a slteady collapse.
Same owners and staff, yet the food is literally vile. My husband and I in the past 6 weeks have eaten there and taken out a total of 4 times and the food has been declining.
Last night was the straw that broke our collective back. The food was inedible. How the owners managed it but the food had absolutely no taste.
We’re done with China Garden.
Stay away!
For years this was my family’s favorite Chinese restaurant.
We have taken out from here twice in the past 2 weeks. Literally food with no taste. Every dish, bbq ribs, general Tso’s chicken, shrimp in lobster sauce, fried rice absolutely terrible.
Don’t know what happened here, but the food is now terrible.
My family prior to Covid loved its food. Don’t know what happened, but in the past 18 months 3x takeout was lousy. That’s it for us with this joint.
Food used to be terrific.
Ate there last night and the food was pure garbage. Ribs, sweet & sour pork, pepper steak were all crap.
Jeff,
Ate there many for years years. Always delicious.
COVID had us not eating there for many months.
Ate there last night and the food was lousy.
Have to agree with many here, the food use to be terrific.
Took out last night and I’m not lying threw out almost every item. Some of the worst Chinese food my husband and I have eaten in Florida.
Can’t explain it, but this restaurant went from great to horrendous.
Jeff,
For years this joint was our got to Chinese restaurant. Delicious food and great service.
During Covid we took out quite a bit from area restaurants. We noticed after 3 or 4 times that the food wasn’t good. Hadn’t ordered in the last year.
Went back last night and ate in and the food wasn’t very good.
No idea what happened here, but we are now looking for a new Chinese joint in the area.
Food stinks.
Use to be really good, since COVID food hasn’t been too good.
Last time I was there which was in September Unless I’m crazy, they boiled their bbq ribs and then threw sauce on them. These ribs were disgusting.
My new go to joint is Hunan Garden in Delray.
Ate there for years.
Food was terrific.
During Covid food went downhill.
Last night 6 of us ate there.
Food was lousy.
Definitely finished with this one.
China Gardens was our go to Chinese joint for many years
During COVID we had its food delivered to our home.
Can’t explain it, but the food went so far downhill that we literally canceled China Gardens off our list.
The other evening we decided to give it another shot. Same owners. The food was absolute garbage.
We are done with this joint.
WTF
The food use to be great.
First time eating there since Covid, and the food was horrendous. They use to have delicious ribs. The ones we had last night were definitely BOILED and then brushed with sauce. The rest of our food was just as bad. Tasteless, sweet & sour chicken, egg rolls, shrimp with lobster sauce.