Happy Garden — Restaurant in Washington

Review Date: February 14th, 2013

As I write this blog, I am eating some Cherry Garden!

I was in Washington for a weekend and hungry so I decided to try Cherry Garden again; since I haven’t had it since 2013. My previous visit was on Valentine’s Day and I remember not being too excited with the food back then. I forget what I ordered but it was probably something like chicken fried rice or general tsao’s, since those are my go-to orders.

It was good but nothing great. I’ve talked to other people who live in the area and they love it, so it may just be a personal thing. But hey, things changed after 5 years, right?

This time I ordered some ham fried rice since I got some at Golden Kitchen a few weeks ago and have been craving more since then. Did Cherry Garden scratch my itch? Kind of. The ham fried rice was pretty good but lacking that WOW factor. It’s almost like they cook their food in a more… healthier fashion. With America’s growing obesity issue, that could be a good thing! But I digress.

The inside of Cherry Garden offers plenty of seating. The area where you order food to-go is separated from the seating area by some doors. So if you go to eat-in, you are secluded a bit from the traffic of people coming in and placing orders.

With it attached to a strip mall area, there is plenty of parking, so that’ll never be a concern. There is a website advertised on the menu but be warned when you visit it; my computer alerted me that it was a malicious website. Just think of one of those giant double-sided Chinese menus and that’s exactly what this place offers.

My fortune cookie was spot on though. It said, “Traveling at this time would be a good investment of time & money”. Which is fantastic as I have traveled quite a bit lately and will be going to St. Louis soon to see a Cardinals game with my mom. So let’s see what places I visit while down there!

Eat...

Shrimp fried rice is white and bland. Hot and sour soup tastes like garbage, I added Sriracha to give it a hint of flavor and it was just spicy garbage. Chicken lo mein tastes like if McDonald's served a lo mein that would be it. But the worst are the steamed dumplings. They are pink inside. Because they use ground up ham. Tastes like ham salad or canned cat food inside a Chinese wrap. Woke up the next day to my husband and I fighting over the bathroom because we are spewing out of both ends. Might have to call the health department. This might be a case of food poisoning. He has to call off work today because we are sick. Never have I been so disappointed with a meal because I am not a picky eater at all. I will eat anything. I wasted $54 on my order for my family. I will be calling them when they open. So disgusting. Doesn't even...

I am so sorry to have to write this review but the food is just awful. We have eaten at this restaurant for YEARS, and we were always super pleased with how fresh and hot everything was. The food was always excellent. But in my opinion, the food quality has taken a nosedive since the restaurant changed hands and is under new ownership. We got a Hunan Beef entree tonight and it was the next thing to inedible and had almost no meat. And the meat that was in the dish was unlike anything I've ever had in a Chinese/Asian food dish. It was tough and awful, and I have no idea what it really even was. We will not be back. This place has been a highly successful restaurant for many years, and it's very sad to see it go...