Rose Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Castro Valley

Came in at around noon after a long walk. I already had looked online and knew exactly what I was going to order. I ordered #13 off the Luncheon Menu: The crispy bone-in chicken. I've had what I believed to be the same dish at several restaurants, mostly Sichuan speciality places and they are almost universally excellent. After placing my order, the woman behind the counter confirmed number 13, and I said yes, number 13.

After a very brief wait, they served me the soup of the day, some sort of wonton soup. It was okay. One wonton was slightly cool in the center, but it was a very large wonton, and the filling was clearly pre-cooked so it wasn't any concern.

A very brief period after that, the first of three orders was presented to me. The woman behind the counter was doing double duty as the server, and sort of proudly declared lemon chicken. Confused, I told her that it was not what I ordered and she insisted it was. I insisted it was not and she asked what I did order. I told her again, that I had ordered the crispy bone in chicken, and she nodded, and stepped away with the chicken.

After a slightly longer wait she set down a plate of sesame chicken and began walking away. This was absolutely not what I had ordered, but I did not want to cause any more trouble so began eating.

To the credit of the restaurant, this was a pretty good sesame chicken. The coating was extraordinarily crisp, and the portions were very generous. The sauce was very simple, and quite sweet, but it was altogether very good.

A bit into eating, a man (I assume to be the cook) came up to me and said sesame chicken, right? And I said that I was eating sesame chicken, though it was not what I ordered, but it was fine and that I did not mind. He asked what I did order and explained again, and he he checked the menu with me and began to take the food away. I protested mildly, but since he seemed set on replacing my meal, I relented. As he walked away , he told me to simply say the name of what I wanted rather than the number. Frustrated by the ordeal, I said nothing.

After a decent wait, the food arrived. It was not what I expected, but the spicy sauce was intriguing enough that I tried it. The dish was bad. The chicken has a very metallic aftertaste, and is drier then I expected. The skin is very crisp but difficult to keep on the chicken, and carries it's own strange aftertaste. The sauce is okay, rich, sweet, and has just a tinge of spice.

All in all, I will never return to Rose Garden, but if you properly communicate exactly what you want, in excruciatingly certain terms, you could probably fill yourself up with relatively cheap, and somewhat tasty americanized Chinese food.

Do not order #13. It is perhaps the only Chinese food I've ever had that I would call terrible...

To start off I have been coming to the location for years with absolutely no issues at all, great food and service. However, this past weekend I decided to take family for dinner here. Food was great and service was okay, a little pushy but okay. Once we were packing our to go boxes I placed the cash amount for bill (I had just enough in hand) so I placed on top of receipt. Right away woman who worked there rudely starred me down and asked “no tip for me” I let out a small laugh because I didn’t know if she was joking. I literally had my hand in my wallet as she went off about customer always needing to leave a tip. At that point I was shocked cause I had never had someone demand a tip from me. She didn’t know I was reaching for the tip I was going to leave on the table but after that encounter she got nothing from me. I didn’t run out on the bill I paid in full. Never demand a tip. She has no idea if someone is on their last monies to feed themselves or...

I didn't think I could find a Chinese restaurant that had it all! Typically if the food is great, the service is terrible, but this place is an exception.

I always call in my order and get around $40 worth of food. They Lways answer the phone with positive energy and don't mind answering any questions I have about the menu. Once I come into the restaurant, I'm greeted with nothing but smiles and great smells!

Now the food. The one thing Rose Garden does better than any other restaurant is their fried food. As an example, I ordered the Sesame Chicken once and couldn't finish it all. The next day, I warmed up the leftovers in my microwave and noticed that the chicken was STILL CRISPY! I was absolutely mind blown that the sauces didn't make the chicken soggy overnight.

This place is bar none. If you're in the San Leandro area and want some Chinese food, Rose Garden...