Jade Garden — Restaurant in Lawrence

Quality has declined over the past 5 years. Food is edible and some dishes are still fairly tasty. Portion size varies from barely standard to poor. Dishes and appetizers are often pale imitations of standard dishes you may have had elsewhere. They seem to be a hibachi bar of ingredients in back with a variety of sauces and cooks follow a basic kindergarden level list of what pre-prep items to put into each dish and what to squirt into it. Lame. Some dishes are not even half-hearted attempts. Examples from my order tonight: First the Mongolian beef is just their basic beef pieces in a normal stir fry (and not even much beef) with extra onions and a few bits of scallions, other stir fry veggies, and drenched in soy sauce and some hoisin sauce. No spicy note as advertised. This was nothing even remotely like the dish you would get in an actual good Chinese cuisine restaurant such as PF Chang, for example. The portion size barely filled the bottom of the container halfway and maybe 10% was beef. For my fourteen dollars I got craptastic soggy salty veggie stir fry with some soggy pathetic beef bits. And this was a large order! Next up, a large order of teriyaki chicken ($11) gave us three tiny steamed broccoli florets next to maybe two tbsp of warmed-up frozen diced carrots and peas in the corner of the container and a shallow lake of faintly teriyaki flavored brown liquid with a half cup of tiny chicken pieces scattered, swimming in the brown sauce-lake. With delivery (who did not follow directions) costs and some seemingly reheated pre-made bland cream cheese rangoons (billed as "crab" rangoons) and bowl of equally bland egg drop soup I spent nearly fifty dollars on food I would have scoffed at for fifteen...

We had not been here for several years. The restaurant appears clean and kept up well. The portion sizes are larger than before, as well as the prices. The crab rangoon was crispy, and the creamy filling was just that - creamy, but no hint of crab [imitation or real]. The egg rolls were okay but not as flavorful as before. Meal enjoyment was about 50/50. We should have ordered the pad thai spicier as it was rather bland, and although the vegetable one was ordered, veggies were in short supply, so it was not worth the price for mainly noodles. The kung pao chicken was good and almost too spicy. The other noodle dishes were okay, but again, it was not worth the price for mostly noodles. While I appreciate empty plates being removed, they should not be stacked at the table, nor should the server lean totally across a patron to reach and remove dirty plates. We used to come here because everything was flavorful and didn't hurt the budget so much. I doubt we'll return.

UPDATE 3/2025 We enjoyed our flavorful chicken Yu Hsiang and Singapore noodles. Service was pleasant and helpful. Changing to 4☆. It was nice to be in a Lawrence restaurant which was not overly crowded...

Disgusting waste of money!! I was asking questions about their food before I bought it and the lady at the counter had attitude. So I got my Sesame chicken thinking can't mess up a simple dish right?! I tried to take a bite of the first piece. Couldn't even bite into it. When I finally found a piece I could bite into it was disgusting like they just threw in soy sauce and sesame seeds and said perfecto!! I told the lady at the counter. She Came back with the chef, mind you, the place is crowded with students. The cook then points at the students and tells me they have the same thing you have! Do you see them complaining? He repeated him self 3 times I looked and felt like a complete fool. I guess respect for people who spend their money is not on their priority list!! Then I get my refund , the lady behind the counter shouts here's your refund and sets it on the counter and walks away. Sits down and gets back on her phone. Everyone is staring at this point!! Maybe they should read their fortune 🍪 "courtesy goes a...