Jade Gardens

Jade Garden USED to be the best Chinese food in Elkhart. In the past several years the quality of the food has diminished incredibly. I'm not sure why this place continues to gain rave reviews when it is apparent to me that Jade Garden has given up on the presentation and quality of their meals. Tonight I ordered Sweet and Sour Pork. The meal comes with white rice and that was edible, but the pork was terrible. The portions of pork are about as big as a pinky nail, or a two pronged lego peice but the fried dough it is lodged in makes the portion look the size of a ping pong ball. The only vegetables served with the fried dough balls are green pepper and onion. Those are cold. There is no pineapple, carrot or sauce. I actually googled an image of sweet and sour pork and none of those images looked like what I was served this evening. The red sauce is served on the side and to make the meal more interesting, some of the breaded meat chunks were chicken. After attempting to eat four bites I started peeling the breading away and was left with less than a mouthful of meat morsels and an entire plate of fried greasy breading. Terrible.

I'm a fan of hole-in-the-wall places and this is just another on my list. In my opinion it's the best Chinese in the Elkhart/Goshen area.

I always order General Tso's and Fried Rice. Both always come out hot (hot enough that its still hot after the 11-13 minute drive home). The General Tso's is not over breaded (thank God) and has a lot of chicken along with the onions and peppers. The fried rice as well, great full flavor. The last time I went, it was a little on the oily side, but that was the first time I've had that problem. So, I'm not that worried about it.

I'm always impressed with how quickly they cook and get the food out to you.

Only other thing I'd say is that I don't find it much of a dining atmosphere with a tiny dinning room, patio style plastic tables and  chairs. However, I always get mine to go. So, I don't worry about it too much.

I love the food and the staff there. I usually get the Triple Delight or Combo Lo Mein. The staff is really friendly and even know what I order each time. Although sometimes I do change it on them.