China Garden - Livermore

I ordered the salt and pepper chicken wings and let me tell you they never seem to me how good the crunch is and taste is. Soooo tasty, but I also ordered Wintons think it would be cream cheese, but it was?t, so they definitely need to make it on the menu so that it does not confuse people. The other one was crab and not what I wanted. So I'll give them four because they have to be a little more accurate on the description.

Our favorite restaurant in town! We always get the Walnut Prawns and Chowmein. I recommend the salt and pepper porkchops!

The food was actually pretty good. We were inspired by a prior review and ordered spicy fried tofu, mapo tofu, chicken corn soup, mixed chow fun, and mixed egg foo young. The mapo tofu was flavorful, spicy and excellent. The fried tofu was piping hot and very good. The corn soup was fresh and the chou fun had excellent wok hei. The portion sizes were good for all dishes. Now the not so good, for which I had to deduct 2 stars. The egg foo young was pretty bad, without salt, full of bland corn starch and nothing like the crispy, egg-laced patties you get in other parts of the country. The lady talking the order duplicated my chou fun and charged me for it, which I didn't realize till later. But most importantly, I found an inch long piece of metal fastener in my food (photo attached). This can happen, but is incredibly dangerous, and I hope the restaurant owners read this review and take corrective action. I would go back though and support this family run place.

For the past year, China Garden has become my go to Chinese restaurant in the Tri Valley. Pre pandemic, I use to go onsite for their lunch specials the lunches are a strong value at around $10 and included an entrée, fried rice, chow mein, soup, salad, and spring rolls. The food is good, comes out fast, and the restaurant is clean. The wait staff is really nice too; for example, the times I've taken my Kindergarten aged son for lunch, the primary waitress who's on the floor has been very playful towards him. These lunch specials are pretty standard fare for most Chinese restaurants that cater to American audiences. During the pandemic, I've been taking advantage of their delivery services for dinner. This worked out pretty well given it's given me a reason to try some of the other items on their menu that I probably wouldn't have considered because I of my penchant for lunch specials. My new standard items include Spicy Crispy Tofu, Mapo Tofu, Chicken and Corn soup, and the Combination Chow Mein. I'm especially pleased with their Mapo Tofu, which reminds me of my mom's cooking and hits just the right spice levels. Regarding deliveries, they're inexpensive at $2 within a certain radius (I think it's a little bit more if it's further out). The delivers are always the same two people they are consistent with speedy deliveries, wearing masks, waiting 6+ feet away after ringing the doorbell to ensure that the food is collected, and generally just being pleasant.

Lets talk about China Garden. The lunch specials are amazing and delicious. This big bowl of soup will feed 2 maybe 3. The service was on point and super friendly! So if you are hungry in Livermore say no more and stop at the China Garden. Cintron Approved!