Chuong Garden

Hands-down over all the American Chinese restaurants I've visited in the USA, the best one is located in Iowa Falls.

PHYSICAL: The restaurant is warm and friendly.   The lighting is muted and not too harsh.   There's some steps so handicapped accessibility might be an issue.   The bathrooms are not stellar but they are clean and functional.   The booths and tables are roomy and comfortable.

MENU:  The menu is extensive and varied, and the prices are exceptionally reasonable, in the $7-$9 range for most entrees and $3-$6 range for most appetizers.     They are happy to do a "family meal" for any combination of people, even if the menu says groups of 2/4; this includes your soup, egg roll, paper-wrapped chicken, and your entree for something like $10.95/person.  

The food is flavorful and highly consistent -- if I order the same thing 10 times, I get the exact same thing 10 times.   It's awesome when you find something you like.   Recommended dishes include Mongolian beef, orange chicken, lemon chicken, and moo shu pork.  

I cannot speak to the spicy aspect as Jon T has complained about, as my tastes are very Midwestern and I don't generally like to heat my food up, but several of the dishes marked spicy aren't deadly, they're just warmer.

STAFF:  The staff is warm, friendly, and we've come to be friends with several of them.   They are quick to render service and happy to do anything they can to assist.   I have no complaints about their response time or attentiveness.

CONCLUSION:  Hands-down the best Chinese experience I've ever had and we recommend it to anyone and everyone.   Try them today!

I had picked up carryout here on one occasion and was pretty amazed at how bland the food was.  I ordered one of the spicy dishes and it was missing spice, salt and pretty much any other flavors.  On this most recent occasion I chose to try again, since I had had a similar experience at Las Flores and decide I would rather have mediocre Chinese than mediocre Mexican.

Since this was lunch, you get soup (egg drop or wonton), fried wonton or eggroll, fried rice and your entrée.  I ordered one of the spicy chicken dishes and selected egg drop soup and an eggroll.  I asked for the chicken to be extra spicy.

I understand that egg drop soup is usually pretty bland and was not disappointed in this regard.  I ate a little and added some soy sauce which helped. I squeezed in my lemon from the tea, which helped.  I added a little sweet and sour sauce, which did not help all that much.  By that time my meal came and I asked for a bowl of chile sauce.  I was hoping for something like sambal oelek, but all they had was chile in oil.  A dollop of chile made the soup edible.  I ate about half of it and poured the balance over my fried rice.

The "spicy" chicken had no noticeable heat, so I added the entire bowl of chile sauce that they brought and a little soy sauce and to be honest, it was not bad.  It was still not very hot and needed the tartness that sambal oelek would have added, but it was edible and I ate it all.  The eggroll was small, but was fine, nice and crisp, but needed soy and sweet and sour.  They offered no hot mustard and I did not bother to ask for one small egg roll.

I guess the food here is adjusted to central Iowa tastes.  It is bland in the extreme.  It would be classified as Cantonese in this regard, I guess, although some of the dishes would not be typical of that.  Don't expect rich and spicy Hunan or Szechuan food.  Also, be prepared, if stuck in Iowa Falls and crave Chinese food, to be creative in seasoning your own plate.