Garden Cafe — Restaurant in Alhambra

TLDR: Would not recommend for people who aren’t Chinese or don’t speak Cantonese or mandarin due to poor service.

Our main waitress was very rude and I’m not quite sure why? Sat us down at a table and started speaking in a Chinese language, my friend and I apologized and asked for English (different type of Asian) and the waitress’s demeanor changed. I thought it was more of a cafe and was quite full so just ordered a drink while my friend got a drink and a meal course. While we were waiting another, friendlier waiter moved us to another larger table but I think clashed with another waiter who was trying to seat a family there? Not sure what happened, but we were seated there. Food was okay per friend, but later on I felt bad because I thought the waitress might’ve been rude because I didn’t order any food so tried to order a cheesecake, was denied rudely, then asked for any dessert options they had, when she just brusquely said they didn’t have any. My friend and I were surprised because we had seen the table next to us get a cheesecake ~15min prior but maybe the kitchen was closed because it was 9:30 at this time but was offered no explanation so this is just conjecture on my part. Also, I had brought a small packaged snack to give my friend (a Christmas present) and the waitress, after saying there wasn’t any dessert, just gestures to the snack and said we had that so we didn’t need dessert. Not sure if the waitress just had a bad day, and I understand not being social or wanting to smile or being tired, but she refused to really service us (and constantly had a very sour face and rude/curt tone) and another waiter had to come and refill waters. All in all, a bizarre experience and would not recommend for people who do not speak Cantonese/mandarin as they apparently do...

UH-MAZING FOOD. Came back after the last time I went in middle school, and the food quality is still just as good. The prices have remained incredibly affordable, staying true to the spirit of local Hong Kong–style breakfast restaurants. The food portion is great for the price- YOU WILL NOT FIND ANY OTHER PLACE WHERE THEY SELL A 12$ HEARTY BREAKFAST COMBO. The lamb chops with the mushroom sauce is delectable (this menu item was either removed or moved to the off-catalog secret menu BUT ORDER IT nonetheless). The congees- yea don’t even get me started. I COULD SCARF DOWN THREE PLAIN CONGEES because that’s how PERFECTLY seasoned they are, but of course you gotta get the classic egg century congee. I’m telling you one big congee serves 6 servings and me and my brother annihilated that ourselves. The regular portion serves 2 people. Oh yea, get the red bean shaved ice beverage ITS UH-MAZING just as I remembered. Service EXTREMELY efficient your American brunches could never. I was incredibly amazed by not just the consistency in food quality but service after a decade. In fact, the vibe, the restroom, and the whole setup were exactly as I remembered. Even the women’s restroom still had that same breezy, cold temperature I noticed back in middle school. This is a place I would usually gatekeep but I was so astonishingly surprised and satisfied I cannot stop raving about this place. Their curries with spaghetti noodles ARE FIYAH as well. LONG LIVE HONG KONG!!! They know what they’re doing cause all the customers were old aunties and gpas that’s how you know it’s good food and good prices:) oh yea and there’s free...

I am so bummed about our experience at the Garden Cafe recently because I used to love going there a few years back. First, they took about 15 minutes or so just to acknowledge us at the table and take our drink order. When the food was finally brought to our table, the order was wrong. The employee told us as he brought the dish that the cook had gotten confused and asked if it was okay for us to keep it. We felt bad and didn't want to waste food, so we kept it. The chow mein (wrong order) was actually not bad, but the shrimp fried rice and the curry were so disappointing! The shrimp fried rice had almost no flavor at all; it tasted as if we had ordered white rice with minimal shrimps sprinkled around. I was so bummed out because I remember the shrimp fried rice was my favorite from there. The chicken curry was not very good either, it had so much skin hanging around. I've never had curry with that much skin in it. We tried to order a banana split at the end because you can't mess up a banana split, but a worker angrily said no. The waitress then told us they did not have any bananas. Overall, the quality of this restaurant has diminished greatly and we will definitely not be going back. My husband wanted to give it one star, but for old time's sake, I'll...