Chinese joe on 13 Dec 2008 04:02 pm
Chen Garden Chinese Restaurant
Where: Chen Garden Chinese Restaurant, 1750 Monroe Ave, Rochester, NY 14616 (near Twelve Corners Area)
When: Saturday, December 13, around 12:30
Cuisine: Chinese
What: Went with three friends for lunch, based on the recommendation of several posters over at eGullet. Generally don’t eat a lot of Chinese in Rochester - having lived in Seattle for a long period, I haven’t found anywhere local that matches up to the food found in the International District there. From a food perspective, Chen Garden didn’t disappoint. Tucked into a strip mall, the interior is plush - round leather booths lining the walls, tables in the center, and a long bar area you walk through to access the dining room. Lighting was a little low, and Chinese music played softly in the background. We ordered four dishes - my companions ordered beef with scallions, kung pao chicken, and happy family. I decided on noodles with spicy brown meat sauce (zhajiang mian). The thick noodles were cooked perfectly, with a slightly chewy texture. The sauce was balanced, with the right salty/sour notes and spicy without being overpowering. My companion declared the kung pao chicken “the best [he’s] ever had”. The egg rolls that we also ordered were acceptable, but decidedly average.
The food alone will bring me back — which is good, because along with the meal came perhaps the worst service I’ve experienced in quite a long time. Our server took around 10 minutes to get to our table after we were seated to take a drink order, told one of our companions “move your menu” as he was looking through it so she could leave our tea, and bumped his arm out of the way when she put his food down. Our food came out in two stages — the noodles and the Happy Family first, while two of us were sitting for about 5 minutes, waiting for their food to arrive as well. Once the food was dropped — the server never came back to our table, despite empty water glasses around.
As this was our first time at this restaurant, the service was disconcerting and holds back the recommendation of this restaurant. I will be giving it another shot, as the food was definitely worth it and previous reviews of this restaurant show no service problems such as I experienced.
Rating:
Ambiance: 3 out of 5 stars.
Food: 4 out of 5 stars.
Service: 0 out of 5 stars.
Overall: 2.5 out of 5 stars
on 20 Jan 2009 at 6:18 pm 1.sam said …
I’m sorry for the service, I should check the comment more offen, than I can find out the poor service early.Thank you for let me know the problem, wish can see you again, ask for my brother, Scott or me, Sam we will do our best to serve you,
Happy New Year!
sam
on 24 Jan 2009 at 9:16 pm 2.joe said …
Sam –
Thanks for the response. I actually went back not long ago for lunch with some coworkers. The service was much better — top notch and friendly. I am going to update the review and post an update in order to let people know.
I will say, on the second trip, that the food was once again absolutely excellent.
Happy New Year!
Joe