Gourmet Garden — Restaurant in Swampscott

I've been ordering from Gourmet garden since I moved the to area, and the food is great. Delivery drivers have been great.The majority of my orders are through takeout, and I order via their online "beyond menu" website. Normally, everything works out just fine.

After a few bumps in the past with getting the wrong food, and receiving a wrong order again this time, I decided to call this time around to get it exchanged since I really wasn't a fan of the dish I got. I thought it would be simple. I ordered A online, and received B (mind you, these were totally separate ways to prepare food, only the main ingredient was the same).

Well, unfortunately, this interaction over the phone convinced me to not order here in the future. After explaining "hey, I ordered Agemono, and received Teriyaki, and I ordered it online" she tells me that i got what I ordered, and that the mistake is mine. A few times. I explained that on my receipt it says something entirely different than what I received, and then i'm put on hold.

She returns, then tells me that I again made a mistake, because the item I ordered was Agemono and that isn't offered as an entree. Since I literally ordered it under the Agemono entree section of their website, I told her as much and said that the mistake isn't mine because they offered it! And, side note, this is what I get every time, and have never had an issue with it not being on the menu before. She tried again to tell me that if i wanted agemono i should have told them I wanted Katsu (which is not offered or stated on their online site), and therefore it is my failure to communicate what it was that I've ordered. But really, how do I know to put "I want Katsu" in the notes section of an agemono order...whats the point? As far as i'm aware, katsu and agemono are very similar ways to prepare food, so theoretically i should have gotten the same dish despite the names being different. But alas, I got teriyaki, and for $16, i'd like to at least eat a food I like.

I was pretty shocked, considering the situation was black and white. There's no room for miscommunication when I can't actually order something they don't offer.

What seemed like 8 minutes later on the phone in a repetitive back and forth, I'm finally asked, rudely, if I want the order to be exchanged. It was my intention from the beginning so I say yes, and after one final "the mistake was yours and mine" (how is this my fault again?) I'm told that the delivery driver will be around in 40 minutes to exchange the order.

Tipped the delivery driver again, because he was the unfortunate messenger in this situation, and gave him the teriyaki. He was kind, though, and I don't think expected anything.

Replacement food was great, but technically cost me an extra hour of my time and $3 more dollars than I should have spent for re delivery.

Sorry guys. Your food is great, but your customer service was horrendous. I don't know who I spoke to, but it was way uncalled for, and i'll be looking for another restaurant to order from in the future.

EDIT - FOOD POISONING!!!

About 3 hours after I ate that replacement food, I spent the next 10 in complete and utter misery on my bathroom floor intermittently throughout the night. It was the only meal I ate that day (aside from a donut and green tea), and i'm 100% positive it was this food that caused it.

Oh yeah, and my small dog who I gave a few bites to, had an upset stomach this morning.

Don't eat here. Or, pray that they don't make a mistake with your food, because your health could be on the line if you just want what...

My wife and i went to Gourmet Garden for a quick Friday night dinner. We arrived at 6:10 and was led to the room with the Bisuteki tables and shown a small table in the corner. Not wanting to be in a noisy room with the "cook in front of you" excited people, we said how about the regular dinning room. He said the only table available for us was the one in the cubby where the servers enter and exit. It was tiny, dark and i could not believe they fit a table there. The servers had to walk in and out sideways to avoid the table and 2 chairs. We said no thank you and saw ALL the tables available in the center of the room. Yes, ALL the tables were empty. When we inquired if we could sit there.... (are you ready for this???) we were told that they were for only 3 or 4 people and not for us since we were only 2. I look surprised and said that we are not here for the night and would eat and leave, and it was only 6:15 and the table would turn over 3-4 times during the evening. He repeated that the only tables available for us was the one in the corner cubby or the one in the noisy room. I told him we would go eat somewhere else and he said "fine". Now I don't get offended too often but this was one of the times. Let me say again that ALL the tables were empty and available. We have been here before and liked the food in general, but we will NEVER come here again. Nor will we spend our money on take-out either. The management would have to pay us to ever come here again.. and i plan on telling everyone i know this story and find every review site and complain. By the way, we went to UNO's down the street. Was greeted professionally, given a comfortable booth, have a great meal, left a generous tip and went home very happy and full. There are many other chinese restaurants in the area. Too bad the management think that people only come for the food, they come for comfort and...

Tried this restaurant for the first time, my brother-in-law wanted us to try with him. The service was fabulous, very quiet when we went in to the restaurant and it picked up why we were eating. My brother-in-law got a gorgeous looking steak, I didn't quite catch the name. Sorry. My mother-in-law tried the chicken chop suey. I've never seen so much chicken in a dinner before and she got to order of cranberry going to go with it. My husband got a pool platter for one and a side of lo mein to share with the table and my brother-in-law got a side of pork rice for the table. I got a scallop and shrimp combination that came with peapods. I apologize I forgot the name of it, so many peapods, I love peopods. They didn't allow you to order any daily combinations on a Sunday during lunch time. So it was almost like a à la carte ordering. It's not the cheapest place but it was very fresh and the food was good and again the service was excellent. So you don't mind paying when you enjoy it this much. I would call this fresh Chinese food versus like a takeout place where it's all just fried. So if you're in the area and you happen to be maybe shopping in one of the little strip malls nearby, I would say come here and...