Peking Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Champaign

Ok let’s start with the food: I ordered the Peking duck, it was 50 dollars. Alright, it’s a bit more expensive than the 30ish dollars I’d usually spend on Peking duck. I was told it’ll be a full duck but when I saw it, it was not a full duck. Alright, hopefully it still tastes good? Nah. That was the driest, blandest, peking duck I’ve ever had. It is not fresh whatsoever. I’m not sure if they made it in house or if they’d buy it from Chinatown Chicago and drive it back down to Champaign but Jesus Christ that duck was inedible. Usually, the dish is served with like a special type of like thin pancake of sorts but they just used store bought tortillas. The store bought tortillas and green onions was somehow the best part of the dish. All that for 50 bucks. I also got potstickers that were alright. Questioning whether they were made in house or not. Service: it’s pretty good, honestly no complaints here Atmosphere: hahahaha the entire place felt like the backrooms. It’s honestly really funny. It’s legitimately one of the most surreal places I’ve ever stepped foot in. It’s like actually a fever dream. Again really no...

This place was great! It just re-opened after being closed for a year and a half, but this was our first time going. We walked in and were seated right away. We ordered spring rolls, BBQ pork lo mein, and sweet and sour chicken. The spring rolls were amazing! Many times, spring rolls are thin and soggy. These had a crisp outer shell and were thick and delicious. The BBQ pork lo mein was also excellent, with a nice strong flavor. The sweet and sour chicken was what you expect, with fresh crisp veggies and crispy chicken with standard sweet and sour sauce. My wife and I got all of this for under $30, plus we had enough leftovers for both of us to eat them for...

I didn’t get to feel the vibe that makes go “wow” when I walked in. The crab rangoons was golden and crispy with melted cream cheese filling inside. There was little to no crab in that filling. The BBQ pork fired rice was dried and I didn’t taste any BBQ sauce. There was chunks of fried pork in the rice. The vegetable lo mein was good. Noodles coated in seasoned sauce. Well done juicy duck was tasty and meat was soft and not too “tender.” The lettuce in sauce was very mushy for me. Either it was blanched or cooked too long with the sauce. The beef stir fry with mushrooms and bamboo shoots was good. Meat was tender and veggies...