My dear Szechuan Garden, how I wanted to love you! Unfortunately it was not a love match. In all seriousness, the woman who waited on us was fabulous. Sweet and attentive and eager to see that we had an enjoyable meal. Â I started by ordering a vegetarian egg roll. Now the lunch specials come with an egg roll, but it has pork in it. I don't eat pork so I asked if a substitution could be made. She informed me that I could, but there would be an additional charge. Hmm, ok not sure of the logic, but I was jonesing for an egg roll. So when it came to the table, I know that some might consider this strange, but I had to return it to the kitchen because it was loaded with oil. Yes, a deep fried item is not health food but it also does not have to drip fryer oil either. In fact, if the fryer oil is the correct temperature it seals the food, in this case the egg roll wrapper, and the inside is cooked inside the protective casing. This egg roll was just a mess. The kitchen tried again, but it was not much better than the first attempt. Our waitress was so lovely I just ate it and thanked her for the effort. My entree was vegetable Lo mein which had few vegetables in ratio to the noodles. Yes, they use msg, a lot of it. So if you are sensitive to it make sure you ask them to leave it out. I wasn't smart enough to do that ahead of time so my entree was a no go. In terms of ambience, there isn't any. The building is old but there are ways to attend to details like cleaning carpets, a bit of fresh paint inside and out, and soap and water that really makes a difference and doesn't cost so much. Â So, the search for some good Chinese food goes on, I'll be sure to let you know when I find it.
Review Source:It's been a few years since I've been, but I used to be a regular. The hot and sour soup always used to soothe a cold for me, so I stopped by to pick some up as I was in the neighborhood. I've heard it's changed hands several times, so I was leery.
The hot and sour soup was not as spicy as I remembered, but it was full of good stuff and a rich broth with a suitable amount of heat. I had no problem finishing the serving which is really probably two bowls. I also had the house egg roll, which was typical - full of a bunch of cabbage and very little else. The mustard that came with the crab rangoons was good hot horseradish mustard. The rangoons were probably better than I've had most places. Tasted homemade with fresh green onions and a tasty amount of crab in the cream cheese.
I'm anxious to try again with entrees now that I've had some soup and apps that were better than average.
Ate here for the first time this past summer, and I'm impressed. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go inside the place. My mom and sister went in to order the food, and they said it looks beautiful inside; wish I could've seen it. Anyway, I ordered shrimp fried rice, a spring roll, and an egg roll. The rice was some of the best shrimp fried I've had yet, and the spring roll was really crispy and not too greasy. The egg roll on the other hand was too greasy, so I don't recommend those. Overall, really great food! But come with some cash, cause it's kinda pricey.
Review Source:The restaurant isn't really a Szechuan restaurant, for starters, they're actually Cantonese- something we were clued into as we walked in and heard Cantonese news streaming from the TV behind the bar. Â A quick scan of the menu confirmed our suspicions, so be warned- those hoping to find the flavors and spicy peppers that Szechuan is famous for should probably start somewhere else.
At any rate, seeing as me and my friend are both Cantonese, our table entrusted both of us to order for the group. We ordered some of the most typical, hard to butcher Cantonese staples - claypot tofu, steamed fish, the sweet and sour pork, a ginger beef stir fry, crispy fried egg noodles with shredded pork, and an eggplant dish, amongst others.
What came in the end were dishes that were close but not quite there. The fish was not very fresh and came as a filet rather than the usual whole fish, the crispy noodles were more just a stir fry and the sweet and sour pork was more typical of American take-out style with a more sweet than sour glaze. Out of all the dishes, the eggplant was probably the most flavorful and the beef stir fry had noticeably fresh ginger and balanced flavors compared to the rest.
Also, we noticed was that  portions run a bit small. We originally ordered 7 dishes for a table of 8 expecting the huge plates typical of most restaurants but we actually had to put in an extra order to fill us up. But even then, our tab still ended up around $12 a person.
All in all, Szechuan Garden is a noble attempt at brining authentic Chinese food to the Cincinnati area, but it ultimately misses the mark. If you're looking for tasty American Chinese food, however, you will probably find respectable renditions here.
Szechuan Garden was one of my favorite restaurants when I was in high school. Maybe my taste buds have changed but my meal there last night was a big disappointment. We started out with an egg roll and crab Rangoon both of which tasted pretty good but were barely heated-over (because they came out so quickly they weren't made to order). Not a good way to start the meal.
I ordered Orange chicken but the menu was so extensive that I could ordered something different every night for six months, which makes me believe that the stuff is all frozen in order to keep that kind of variety. My fears were confirmed when my entrée arrived. The chicken was breaded, fatty, and questionable--think mall food court. The orange chicken sauce was tasty but nothing to write home about.  My boyfriend would tell me later that the disappointment showed on my face as I was eating.
The service was friendly and quick; one of the servers was even so kind to give my boy two extra fortune cookies when he asked. Other restaurant patrons had nothing but accolades to say about their meals. In fact I heard two other tables explain to the waitress that they meals were among the best Chinese dinners that they'd ever had. Everyone has his or her own palate, sure. But couldn't it just be that we've lowered the standard for what constitutes a quality Chinese meal, one made from scratch with real ingredients, not just deep-fried, frozen chicken nuggets with syrup poured on top.
Let it be known I'm a man who likes his Szechuans. Â If said szechuans are so abundant and visually appealing they must be kept in their own garden, so much the better. So you can understand my excitement when I happened across a facility solely devoted to szechuans in garden format.
I will say I did not have incredibly high hopes for this place going in. I think their building could use a bit of a facelift, but it is certainly convenient to my new stomping grounds. The interior looked better than the exterior, with cool paper dragons and this giant metal engraving of a Chinese town. Neato gang.
Szechuan Garden has a lot of your standard Chinese fare, but you pay a dollar or two more than you might elsewhere. It is certainly worth it, however. One of those dollars buys more food. The portions are very generous, and I had a hard time finishing what was put in front of me. The other dollar buys presentation. The food is served on real plates, and not just any old real plates. No sir, these are fancy, squareish plates. Each one was adorned with a flower made out of a water chestnut or something. Honestly I don't know what it was, as it wasn't especially flavorful. It did look completely awesome though.
Szechuan Garden has a bar as well, so you can pick your favorite spirit if you so desire. The fellow working it was in a great mood, and made plenty of jokes the whole time. He would be a fun guy to share a drink with.
I nabbed a take-out menu on the way out, and was excited to see their giant party platters. I liked my meal very much, and to buy them in bulk would be even better. Their suggested serving size was for 8, and the price was around $35. $5 a person for a giant order of pad thai? Yes please.
I was really surprised by Szechuan Garden. Very surprised, actually. They were not incredibly busy even around dinner time, so I don't think many people know about them. It's a shame, because they're one of  the better chinese joints in the area. You should go too, but hands off my szechuans!
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