Ling & Louie's Asian Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Garden City

On 9/7/24, after a long day at Art in the Park, I treated Mechelle Wilson to dinner at Ling and Louie’s in Garden City, to celebrate her recent birthday. This location was originally a Chart House restaurant, followed by Joe’s Crab Shack. 

I was impressed with the outcome of the $6 million remodel, which includes a stunning bridge over the Settler’s Canal to connect Ling & Louie’s to the parking lot of The Riverside Hotel.

Mechelle and I ordered two entrées, and a dessert. We ate family style. Here’s what we tried:

Ling’s Meatloaf - Szechuan-style vegetables and wasabi mashed potatoes, topped with red wine-mushroom gravy ($21)

Shanghai Shrimp + Scallops - with asparagus, red onions, red bell pepper and mushrooms, served sizzling in garlic-soy ($26)

Mechelle liked both entrées equally. I preferred the Shanghai Shrimp + Scallops, which I would go so far as to say is one of the best scallop dishes I’ve ever had. I would definitely order it again.

For dessert, we shared the Banana Caramel Spring Roll - serve with vanilla be ice cream, mascarpone cream, fresh berries, caramel, and raspberry sauce ($12)

We both loved the dessert, and would order it again. P.F. Chang’s has a similar dessert on their menu. I’ve had it. Ling & Louie’s version is superior. 

In addition to a beautiful environment, and great food, the service was outstanding!

I have dined at the Meridian location twice. Both were 5-star experiences. The Boise Riverside location exceeded those in terms of building design, food, and service. Whichever location you choose, you are going to have a great experience!

Highly...

Three stars for the food but bumping up to four for the service and the river view! We ordered the spicy chicken bao, pad thai with fried tofu, the evil jungle princess with beef, and a bento box with popcorn chicken/broccoli/fried rice. Highlights: the flavor of the chicken on the bao, the cook on the tofu, and the tender beef in the curry. The value for the kids bento box is high with a good quantity of food. The edamame was delicious. I enjoyed the unique flavor of both the pad Thai sauce and the peanut curry. And you seriously cannot beat that view of the river from the patio!!! Things we didn’t enjoy: the bao bun was very crumbly but I think it’s hard to do bao right. The popcorn chicken in the bento box had HUGE pieces and very hard fried exterior that was difficult for my 4 year old. The rice was probably the worst fried rice I’ve ever had and it was an upcharge. Should have just stuck with plain jasmine rice. Overall we will come back to try more appetizers and choose different options for the bento box. A solid addition to the...

I typically do not write reviews, however, this wasn't the greatest food experience. We visited on a weekday and stopped for a quick appetizer and some sushi instead of sitting in 5:00 traffic on the way home. This visit was during the Chinese New Year and there were vegetable eggrolls on the appetizer menu which sounded great. Unfortunately they arrived sitting in a puddle of oil. I should have sent them back, but didn't. My fault. My husband and I each ordered a sushi roll. He had the spicy tuna which he said was "just ok". I ordered the sunrise roll and it looked like it was someone's first time making sushi. The presentation was terrible and looked super sloppy. It would have been fine if the food was amazing but it wasn't. Just a disappointing experience overall. I will say the $65 we spent was a complete waste, but again, I take responsibility for not saying something when the food arrived and I should have sent it back. There are much better asian fusion places in town and definitely way better sushi. Save your money and go...