I was just there two days ago and tried the beef noodle soup and the pork in garlic sauce. Â Let me just say that the food was not as authentic as it should be. Â The soup was good but the pork dish was too sweet versus spicy, which should be the right blend of spicy and sweet. Â The decor is typical Chinese but the service was pretty good. Â I probably would try another restaurant next time I'm in town.
Review Source:SPRING GARDEN - A BLAST AND SAVIOR FROM MY COLLEGE PAST!
this unassuming restaurant on main street in springfield, oregon (the more working class neighboring sister sister to eugene) was the solace for many singaporean and asian students from the university of oregon. the owner was a rotund, plump and quick witted woman from hongkong (sammy - i think was her name) and it paid to be on her good side! i got my first taste of ma po tofu and instantly became addicted to their version and to this day, spring garden's version has become the standard that all other versions are compared to! it had the right balance and ratio of silken tofu to ground pork, and while spicy - it was aromatically so, relying on not just chilli sauce, but also on szechuan peppercorns and ground white pepper as well - giving the finished spiciness a wonderfully floral note! (DAMN i should be writing food reviews) i miss you spring gardens and sammy's very sharp and totally unapologetic tongue and tone!
I got more than I could eat at lunch for six bucks, including the best egg drop soup (THICK) I have ever had. I gladly adopted the leftovers of my buddy's giant portion of delicious Mu Shu Pork (with sufficient pancakes!). Â The waitress was friendly & knowledgeable. Â Â
The highlight:  entrée with pepper icon on menu was actually spicy, with small pieces of hot pepper in. Wanted to keep eating it forever, but, alas, stomach space not infinite.  When I expressed my delight to the waitress, I learned that the chef is very amenable to "burn me" challenges, a tidbit I filed away for the next visit.
I love and hate it when I go to a restaurant for the first time and order what is probably going to be my favorite thing that I can't stop ordering every time: Â Sliced BBQ Duck with Pickled Cabbage Noodles.
Okay, I love it.
Spring Garden has AUTHENTIC chinese food not Americanized version which I love. The decor is a little out there but who cares if the food is great. I knew this place was going to be good cause when I saw the many tables of Asians it was for sure a good sign. The portions were HUGE even for lunch. Why not 5 stars you ask...their Szechuan needs a little help and I love good spicy Szechuan food.
Review Source:Ordered Mar Far Chicken, General Tsao and crab puffs.
Crab Puffs were ok, not very crispy on the outside, almost soft..
general tsao was I would say average.
The big thing though, our Mar Far chicken had a ANT inside of it, it was cooked in, we saw a black dot and dug it out and turned out to be an ant.
How does an ant get into the middle of your chicken?
Had to drive all the way across town to return the food.
Was dirty when we first walked in, should have known. Who knows what goes on in the back of the kitchen.
I am sure it is much dirtier than the fish tank in the front where you can barely see what is on the other side of the glass.
Owner clearly does not care about cleanliness, was going to report if they had not given our money back.
I knew the previous owner... she has since passed on. I thought I would give this place a try after it had changed management.
Honestly, I don't believe anywhere in the Eugene/Springfield area serves this authentic Chinese food. This is NOT "Chinese American" food, even though you can find some of those on the menu. If you are able to read chinese, ask them for their chinese menu. This is as close to authentic chinese as you can get without having to go to Portland.
Kudos to the owner who dares to serve the minority.
When you are in a city like Eugene and walk into a chinese restaurant where several tables are occupied by Asians then I figure the place has to be good. Â My family loved the food. Â We ordered the house fried rice and chow mein which were both delicious, their BBQ pork was very tender and juicy, the steamed shrimp was perfect. Â The only item we didn't like all too much was the beef ribs, I found it too salty.
Review Source:Let me start this by saying I'm Chinese and I grew up in a predominately Asian area in Southern California. Â Most Chinese food I run into anywhere outside of California sucks. Â After leaving the establishment, I always think, damn I might as well have spent my dough on orange chicken at Panda Express. Â
So to the point: Â this is by far my favorite Chinese place in the area. Â Why? Â It taste good though I haven't tried ordering anything risky like seafood or duck (with the exception of the time I was craving shrimp). Â Anyway, I like it here and it's reasonably priced. Â The lunch specials are cheap, but the chef specials can get in the 13.75-19$ range. Â The food isn't salty and oily. Â The flavors just seem right. Â I find that a lot of Chinese food in Eugene is really salty or oily or just not good at all. Â
The water tanks at the entrance of this place are really cheesy. Â The sea creatures look dead and not tasty at all. Â Anyway, I like this place. Â Too bad they don't have congee. Â Bummer. Â I asked if they did and the server suggested Maple Garden. Â That was pretty funny; I can make my own anyway.
Oh yeah, 3 stars from me because dude, just because it's the best Chinese place in the area doesn't make it delicious.
I had high hopes for Spring Garden, based on fellow Yelpers, but the meal couldn't have been more meh. Â Maybe we ordered the wrong things, but the beef and green onions were recommended by the server. Â The beef was just soft and mushy with no chew to it, and the sauce was just a flavorless mess of cornstarch goop. Â I always order a tofu and vegetable dish, and Spring Garden's had me wishing that I was at Ocean Sky. Â Yes, sad. Â That dish, which we requested be made spicy, had no flavor at all, not even of soy.
The sweet and sour soup was pretty good, and our server was cheerful, even though he couldn't translate any of the Chinese specials for us.
We ordered Curry beef + extra spicy, Mar far chicken, Chicken Chow Mein,BBQ pork and soups for Sunday lunch. Great sticky white rice. The service was prompt and friendly; the environment is dated and a but dingy, but clean.
They played a steady stream of 80s pop music in the background.
They serve generous helpings.
Tiffany commented that the Chow Mein was some of the best she has ever had. The fact that a number of Asian students ( likely from the university) came while we were eating is a good sign. Total meal with tip less than $30 and we ate plenty-family of 6 with 4 kids under 12 and came home with a serving of chow Mein for lunch tomorrow
Being Chinese, I am very picky about Chinese food. Â I know good Chinese food. Â I can't stand "American Chinese".
These guys are one of the FEW Chinese restaurants I would frequent. Â This is the same quality food I would get in HK, San Fran Chinatown and Vancouver.
The service is great. Â Highly recommended.
Finally decent Chinese food near Eugene! The hot and sour soup is the tip off, crunchy wood ear mushrooms and just the right balance of white pepper and vinegar. Our entrees were okay but we made the mistake of ordering off the regular menu - look for the traditional Chinese menu behind the counter (they will translate for you) and be prepared to ask for items you crave, they will accommodate.
Parent's Note: High chairs available and a fun to watch fish tank off to the side but bring crayons or other distractions, if it's busy it may take a while to get your food.
I had high hopes for the new Spring Garden, which promised "Hong Kong Style Seafood." Â Now, I'm not Chinese but have spent some time in China and Hong Kong... generally eating everything in sight.
The first thing as we walked in was the specials board which promoted a few Americanized dishes as well as a dim sum sampler platter and a poached rockfish. Â Promising. Â The menu was laid out in a similar fashion - Americanized up front and house/chef specialities in the back. Â
We got the dim sum, a spicy seafood soup, and a salmon with garlic and broccoli. Â The dim sum buns ($9) were okay but were obviously just pulled out of the food-co box and steamed (still had brand label wrappers on them). Â Soup was pretty large but even with the spicy label it was quite bland. Â Cheap at $6, though. Â The salmon was the best out of the three, a large fillet covered in an ample layer of garlic butter (not for the faint of heart). Â Pretty tasty, but I suspect you could find the same in several other restaurants in town, and it wasn't cheap at $18. Â
The service was pretty good; the only problem being that they were out of a couple of items we tried to order before going with the salmon. Â Decor was sort of what you'd expect from a Chinese place in Springfield.
I really wanted to like Spring Garden but left feeling a little disappointed and it's unlikely that I'll be back soon. Â Guess I'll still have to go to Portland (or San Francisco, or Seattle, or Chicago) when I'm hankering for good Chinese.
These guys know what they are doing-
"Americanized" corn-starched Chinese food done right at a reasonable price. My go-to quick fix a few blocks from my house.
Staff is always courteous, respectful and friendly.
Not going to culinarily blow your mind, but their food is a damn good value for the price up here in Oregon. If you live in Springfield and you aren't ordering your Chinese food from Spring Garden- you are missing out..
As of May 2010, the Spring Garden (now known as the Spring Garden Seafood Restaurant) is open again. I got a couple of take-out items and they were not bad, certainly much better than the slop the old Spring Garden served. I ordered extra-spicy Kung Pao chicken--it had plenty of charred chilies, but it really wasn't spicy at all. Their chow mien was decent. One of these days I'll have to try some of their seafood.
Review Source:The other reviews posted here are a little dated. The restaurant is under new ownership as of April 2008. Â The owners used to own a dry cleaner in Eugene and came out of retirement to open this restaurant because they missed the customer interaction.
Cheap lunch specials. $4.95 and you get mar far chicken, pork chow mein, fried rice, egg flour soup and tea.
The fried rice is to die for. Literally, it tastes so much unlike fried rice, I may die. Avoid it if possible.
I dunked the mar far in sweet and sour. It was delicious. I like the way they prepare it, not too much breading.
The husband is very friendly and refilled my tea a couple times while I waited for my takeout. It was pretty quick, only taking 10 minutes to hand me my meal.
Minus one star for the creepy Christian TedTalks video that was playing on the internet. I heard some born again talking about in vitro fertilization, which I have no interest in being subjected to while waiting for my food.
According to my fortune: Â You have an ambitious nature and will make a name for yourself (neato).
I've been living in Eugene for a little over a month now, and have begun a search for good, authentic Chinese food. Â I've been told Eugene is not the place for this. Â I'm not expecting anything particularly exotic, but if a lily-white town like Eugene can produce Thai, Indian, Japanese, and even soul food as well as it does, hoping to find sauteed eggplant with basil or tofu in black bean sauce doesn't seem out of the question. Â Sadly, Spring Garden isn't the place for it.
The menu is pretty limited, and contained none of the "special" dishes mentioned in Delicia's review. Â The only dish I didn't recognize was "Mar Far Chicken." Â Everything else was typical american-style pseudo-chinese. Â
The fried rice was innocuous, but otherwise unmemorable. Â The "chow mein" consisted of a slimy glob onions and celery cooked to mush in corn starch and dropped on top of a handful of pre-fried noodles (the kind you sometimes see crumbled on salads). Â I wasn't expecting freshly made wheat noodles or anything, but this is american chinese food at its worst. Â "Mar Far chicken" sounded distinctly inauthentic, but curiosity got the best of me and I ordered it anyway. Â Basically its chicken strips, breaded and fried. Â Think sweet and sour chicken, but without the sweet and sour. Â Bland and greasy.
I did a google search to see what I could find out about "mar far chicken." Â It turns out that its on the menu of several other chinese restaurants as well...all of them in Oregon.
The one point of redemption was that the waitress was friendly and attentive (which, sadly, is also not typically a sign of authentic chinese dining), so they get 2 stars instead of 1.
Please note that I am writing my review for this place based on my experience years ago.
I used to come to Spring Garden for Chinese food all the time back when I was still living in Oregon. There weren't that many good Chinese restaurants in the area and I was happy to find this place. They have pretty good traditional/real Chinese dishes such as BBQ duck noodle soup, Beef Stew over rice and Hai Nan Chicken Rice. I always crave for those special dishes they created themselves such as David Tofu, Special Chicken and Garlic Shrimp. I haven't been able to find those 3 dishes at any Chinese restaurant in California which is killing me. And to this date I still believe Spring Garden had the BEST spring rolls I've ever had. It's huge, it's crispy, it's eggy and hella tasty (take that King Eggroll!). This is also the only Chinese restaurant I've ever encountered that not only provides you free hot tea, but free iced tea too! I also miss the pork egg flower soup that comes with the meal. Man.. thinking of this place brings back lots of good memories from my college days.
Yes, the place is old and not hip. Yes, the bathroom reminds you of a gas station restroom. Yes, I've heard people telling me that the place isn't as good as it used to be. But I will always make sure I stop by Spring Garden whenever I visit Oregon.
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