I've driven past this "hole-in-the-wall" for many years and never stopped...if I even noticed, my thoughts were something along the lines of: "...one of those cheap Chinese places catering to people who don't know any better with far less discriminating tastes than my world traveled taste buds and sensibilities..." Boy was I wrong, (and not just a bit annoyingly judgmental). Worse thing about all this is that I have missed this great little joint for all those years, complaining that there wasn't any decent basic Cantonese-type joints in my area. That'll show me.
This place is no frills, but what it lacks in atmosphere, it more than makes up for in decent basic Chinese/Cantonese dishes, prepared with attention and proficiency to basic Chinese cooking techniques, with decent ingredients, and very good size portions. Just as examples:
1. Salt Fried Tofu, which is lightly battered cubes of tofu deep fried, must have proper battering, and proper heat of the oil--hot--to achieve a crispy, non-greasy, and flavorful result. They hit it perfectly, (maybe just a little lighter on the batter)...the real test is in munching the left overs a few hours after they cool. Are they still crunchy, or soggy---theirs were crunchy hours later, (a tip...pop them in the toaster oven for a few minutes...so good)...passing the test with true sastisfaction--I could eat a whole bowl of these while watching a movie on the couch...forget about popcorn.
2. Same for the Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings, perfectly crispy, with staying power, and very nice seasoning of the wings, not overly spicy or salty. Yeah! Yum! Gimme more!
3. String Bean Chicken, with string beans cooked just perfect, slightly al dente, fresh and tasty. A light sauce holds the beans and the nicely sauteed chicken together. Again, the test is hours later when you pull the left overs, cold from the fridge. Most often this dish will be greasy and slippery/too much corn starch, from most places...but at Chen's this dish passed the late night impulse munchies with crunchy sweet string beans, subtly flavored chicken AND....sauce still fluid and savory with no clotting, congealing, or clumping. This is good! Like a tasty cold chicken salad in the second round.
4. Hong Kong Style crispy Chow Mein, my wife's favorite everywhere dish, but it is hard to find it cooked properly...usually crunchy on the outside, soggy or greasy inside, with too much gravy and oil. This dish needs a hot wok, and attention to timing. Chen's does a very respectable version of HK pan-fried, crispy noodles...again without the greasy, soggy residuals at the bottom of the dish. Very satisfying if you have that fried noodle jones going.
I too have found the proprietors friendly and responsive. Sevice attentive, polite, and quick. Prices GREAT!, Food very acceptable, (without all the chi-chi, frou-frou gourmand distractions of higher priced and lesser quality culturally diluted, pretenders panderers, and production kitchens). I would venture a guess that the cook/chef at Chen's has very good training, practice, technique, skill, and ethic about cooking, as it shows in the basics that he/she is applying to what would otherwise be another hole-in-the-wall fast food Chinese dive.
If you want the exaggerated ambiance, triple the costs of fluffed up pseudo-Chinese dining then join the suburban lemmings rushing to the cliff at PJ Chiangs, or the bourgeois dilusionists at Hank Sing in the City. But for decent , no-frills, clean, plentiful and dependable Cantonese food, fast and cheap--Chen's Garden is a life "savor" ;-)
I plan to work my way through the menu, and will most likely find some dishes that may not fare as well, but for the price, quality, and volume this place is worth it....Big Time! read more
