Ginger Garden — Restaurant in Gilbert

While my prior visits have been nothing short of spectacular, last night's order ended very peculiarly.

We ordered crab puffs (X2), honey chicken, curry chicken, shrimp with lobster sauce, and fried rice.

No issues with the puffs, honey chicken, or curry chicken. However, I identified two issues where one we are still encountering as a family.

At one point while eating the fried rice, one of my bites I felt a very crunchy portion. So crunchy, I thought I broke a tooth. Thankfully, I was able to account for my teeth. But I could not find what it was that caused the situation to begin with. Sadly, I was then too paranoid to eat more of the rice.

Shrimp with lobster sauce was a newer item we had picked. Three of us are now dealing with various types of stomach aches. For the three that are dealing with the aches, they were the only three that ate the shrimp dish (my wife, my oldest son, and myself). It has been a rather miserable day, unfortunately.

I had to adjust the rating from a 5 to a 4. Like I said, we've been to Ginger Garden in the past, and no complaints. The rice matter may be a serious outlier, but I can't ignore it given I was legit worried about a broken tooth (maybe it was a super fried rice kernel). But the stomach aches are another item that we can't overlook either. It may be the shrimp or sauce was spoiled, and the restaurant wasn't aware. However, it had a significant impact on our visit.

When I return, I'll make any adjustments to the overall rating. I hope it goes back to the five star rating we've had...

UPDATE MARCH 2024. Our party of four stopped in for dinner. Exceptional, again. Outstanding service, fresh, fresh, fresh food, excellent value. My wife and I had the family dinner at $17.95 each which included choice of soup and three appetizers each. For the main, my wife had the sesame chicken and I had the spicy orange chicken. The chicken was very clearly freshly prepared, batter dipped and crispy & crunchy. Our friends had vegan entrees - spicy fried tofu cubes and a cashew vegetable dish. We had beer and wine. The beer was imported Sapporo. The house wines were a merlot and a chardonnay. Interestingly, the wines were served in nicely chilled wine glasses. Rare, and appreciated. New pics attached including one page of the HUGE menu.

Our vegan friends treated us to lunch here. Our first time. What really stands out is the super friendly service and the crazy-low prices. I mean, $6.95 for entree, soup, egg roll and fried rice? And although we didn't order any alcohol, they have a full bar with equally crazy-low prices. $2.75 for a beer. $5.95 sake. $4.95 wines. $6.95 cocktails. I had the veggie & fried tofu entree. My soup was wonton. The wonton broth was light, not salty, not oily. My entree was also not salty. Food was served piping hot. My wife had a dish called "three white delight" which included chicken, scallop and shrimp. Ginger Garden is a hidden gem in an otherwise "just another strip mall" setting. Check it out. It's...

7/24/21. An April 2024 update is below. Food was prepared well and with care. The ingredients fresh and well portioned. The flavor was bland however. I moved to AZ from east coast 16 years ago; both east & west coasts are very familiar with true chinese flavors and AZ restaurants just dont have it. Clearly has been watered down to appeal to native Arizonians' fear of "strange" food. Hopefully those days are over and asian restaurants can prepare their tasty recipes. Please.

4/16/24 update 3 years later and no improvement. Apparently the cook never learned how to cook shrimp--dense is not how to cook them for fried rice FYI-in fact it's a sin. Rice should be cooked through and not dry and rough. Vegetables should be cooked; I didn't order a salad. And no difference than 3 years ago at first review, bland bland bland. Awful--just meat and vegetables thrown together. I thought I ordered Chinese not watered down version--so the sensitive AZ palette isn't offended. I think the cook must be from AZ where all food is cooked as bland as possible. There are many people living here from somewhere else who know what good Chinese food is. Please elevate your recipes to the correct fare--you will be happy that you did. Learn from a true...