小菜園APPETIZE — Restaurant in Stuttgart

We found this place thanks to Lieferando. It's in the former Bosphorus restaurant space, which I'm still heartbroken over. They cancelled our takeout orders TWICE. No idea why, as we're nearby and ordered pretty standard things. They are also on Uber Eats with only about 3 items available.

We ventured to visit in person, already kinda salty about the delivery disappointments (will forever NOT pre-tip, because getting your tips refunded by Liferabdo is a "known issue")

We ordered: 🥟 Homemade dumplings - delicious & fresh. Disappointed they aren't offered pan fried, I missed the crispiness. We ate one order & took another to go. 🥖 Homemade egg rolls. Also tasty. Definitely not those awful veggie frozen ones that every Chinese restaurant in Stuttgart gives out like fortune cookies. Good balance of meat & veg. 🌶️ MaPo Tofu - I love this dish & use it as a benchmark. I got really excited when some other patrons entered (we entered an empty restaurant) and started talking about how much they love the mapo tofu here....my heart sank when they followed with "it's so good here because it's not spicy like Szechuan food" 😫 This is truly the mapo tofu dish for people who despise mapo tofu. It was so bland. Zero umami or tingle from Szechuan peppercorns. Zero spice, even though we told them not to hold back on spice. For an unknown reason, there are peas in it! I don't think I've ever had a worse version. 🥘 Familienglück (just noticed now we were mis-charged on our bill, oh well) - We asked what the skillet of duck was in the other review photos & we're told it was this. The menu, sadly lacks any description telling you what "Family happiness" is. This was also solid. I found it pretty average, but my husband was really impressed with the fresh veggies. The skillet came served over a heater/grill, which was nice presentation, but also was kinda burning the food.

Wouldn't really eat here again & can't trust delivery. Though, I would still check out the lunch buffet. I have a lot more reason to accept bland food when it's €10 AYCE 🤣 At least would give me easy way to check out more...

We ended up going there unexpectedly, but it was well worth it. The waitress served us was a lovely woman and she made sure we were satisfied with everything. Everything was so authentic and the food was top tier. So many handmade items on the menu, and they have tasty Chinese tea. Portions were also good and it was not pricey at all. In the end they gave us some fortune cookies. The restaurant looks pretty casual from outside but the music they play and interior make you feel like you are in a small local restaurant in China. 😄 Definitely...

A Fantastic hidden Chinese restaurant beside the Marriott Le Meridian Hotel. The food’s depth of flavor and balanced taste created an authentic Chinese restaurant. Out of all the Asian restaurants near this area this is the best. Beats most Chinese food in the United States. Better yet, no MSG and they make their own broth from scratch. The picture is their Braised Pork Soup, juicy and tender with a hint of spice. A must to include their dumpling wonton soup, fried rice, and pork lo mein...