Hong Kong Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Calgary

Wow, huge disappointment! I ordered online for pick-up at 5:35 pm. I got an email telling me to it will be ready at 6:10 pm, and that's exactly the time I arrived. Right away I could see they were completely out of control, and my instinct told me this was not going to go well at all. There were food delivery people waiting, seated customers trying to get someone's attention unsuccessfully, and this is a small place with what appeared to be ample staff running around in circles getting absolutely nothing done! Anyways, I was told my order was just being packed up and will be right out so take a seat...tick tock, tick tick, tick tock, since it was clear that they just completely forgot about me, at 6:30 (an hour after I placed the order)I told them I was not prepared to continue waiting as I had to be somewhere else. Then magically they brought my order out, I paid and left. The food was beyond inedible, the beef in the chop suey was dry and tough, sitting on a bed of gross watery bean sprouts, zero flavor, I also ordered a veggie dish, same thing, watery and tasteless, and lemon chicken, which was "ok". I was furious that they had the audacity to charge $53 dollars, and the only thing remotely edible was the lemon chicken, so I drove back to the restaurant. Being nice about it, I only returned the beef chop suey, when I could have and should have returned everything! I explained that it was inedible and I asked why the menu description mentions that it is made with dry noodles, yet none were in the dish. She wasn't friendly or apologetic and gave me $17.00, then snapped, "yeah yeah ill let them know". Then I snapped, "ok, and I'll let the whole world know...online" Flushed $40 of my hard earned money right down the...

Just when you think you know all the great little places to eat in Calgary…

It was one of those impulse moments, a “hey we’re on to the next appointment, but I’m feeling like Chinese” is literally what my daughter said to me, that sparked the quick google search.

And honestly it was a confluence of favorable factors that led us to this gem. We were in the neighbourhood, and hungry. It was close. Perfect conditions met.

It’s a small, unassuming place, located between other businesses in a strip mall. Walked in without expectations, but immediately the service, provided by Justin, informed me that we could be in for a surprise.

It’s authentic. Family owned and operated. You can sense the pride and care in the way they serve their customers their meals. That’s my metric for 5 stars for “atmosphere.”

The simple short menu is refreshing, in a time when most restaurants have multiple pages and way too many options. The have the standards, the classics, and the lunch specials. Prices seemed par for the course, until the food arrived, and our final surprise dawned on us.

The serving sizes were huge, for the dollar amount. Fantastic value. And more importantly, the ingredients were fresh, and oh so delicious! Made with love. The usual warning signs were not present: the fried things weren’t greasy, the fried rice wasn’t dry or hard, and the veggies were not soggy. Home run!!

Next time you’re in the neighbourhood, stop in for a bite. Or, make the drive, and see for yourself what I mean. You’ll have a pleasant time, and your tummy will be full, and you probably will leave with a smile, the same way...

I never post reviews of less than stellar performance, BUT my first and LAST order with HKGarden was on Christmas Eve. Not sure how to score LESS than ONE STAR? Ordered online at 10:00 am for a 6:15pm pickup. Had to leave MY e-mail and Cell #...... assuming for updates if anything went wrong. When I arrived at 6:15pm, there were about 6 other groups sitting in the restaurant waiting area, ALL being told that their orders would be at about an hour "late". My ~$250 order was for my extended family, including two 90+ year olds.... and I had a 20 minute drive further south. NO IDEA why the audacity of this restaurant and employees could NOT have simply updated all the customers at some point during the day that they were TOO GREEDY to stop taking orders when they had more than they could handle. I left to drop family off at my brothers' house, then waited 45 minutes, before phoning, and being told that my order was still about 45 minutes away for pickup. I waited that amount of time, plus a grace 15 mins before arriving at the restaurant. Told "politely" that it was still another 10 mins. When asked to pay, there was NO HINT of an APOLOGY, seemingly no remorse that they could justify pissing me, and I assume another bunch of people, off...... This was terrible service; terrible ordering process; no means to e-mail my dissatisfaction directly. Food tasted decent. I hope so, for $250+ The wasted 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back again, and my grandparents waiting 2 hours late to eat, was never considered. VERY Disappointed. will NEVER recommend, nor order here...