When I started working in Hoboken some years ago, Green Garden was the go-to Chinese restaurant for…read morea majority of my co-workers when it came to ordering food to be delivered. It was cheap, and it was delivered quickly. I tried it once, maybe twice, and thoroughly disliked it, thinking the food itself was exceedingly mediocre. Getting bad Chinese is like getting bad pizza. It's rare, but it happens (unless you're ordering pizza from a place like Domino's, in which case getting bad pizza is the norm). Sorta became an in-joke down through the years (albeit a not particularly funny one) that whenever the office would order Chinese as a group, or "team," (I've always hated the Orwellian corporate psychology-101 technique of calling everyone laboring in the office a part of a "team," but I guess it beats calling everyone in the office "family"...when that happens, I usually can't resist mumbling, "Yeah...family...Manson family." Anyway...) someone would inevitably crack, "Don't ask Ed. He's too highfalutin for Green Garden." And I might reply, "No, but I value good food."
In recent years, I've gotten away from eating Chinese food entirely. In part, that's for health reasons (unless you eat something like steamed vegetables, Chinese food doesn't seem very healthy to me), In part, I've just kinda lost my taste for it.
The other day, though, a co-worker/friend was ordering from Green Garden. At this point, no one asks me. But I thought, "At home, my cupboard is bare, I'm hungry, I haven't had Chinese in a good long while, and it's cheap." I piped up that I was willing to partake. After a moment of stunned, unbelieving silence from my co-workers had passed, I undertook to peruse the on-line menu, and ordered a combination platter of wonton soup, pork fried rice, and sesame chicken.
I decided to look on it as a sort of gastronomic lark, a culinary "adventure." How bad could it be? As bad as my memory of it? I suddenly remembered my delicate digestive system and thought with not a little trepidation that I might have just made a big mistake. But at that point, I was already committed in terms of payment and the on-line order.
Delivery was pretty swift, and the price was still very moderate. Plastic forks and spoons were provided (not all places do that anymore without being specifically asked), as well as soy and duck sauce (no hot mustard, which I usually use in wonton soup, but I was willing to overlook that).
I dug in. How bad was it? In actuality, it was pretty good. There was more than enough food provided (although another piece of broccoli added to the sesame chicken and another wonton added to the soup wouldn't have been a bad idea). My digestive system came through it unscathed, and I didn't get a headache. And I think I actually enjoyed what I ate.
I don't know if they have new management, or ownership, or they've merely stepped up their game, or my tastes have deteriorated markedly with my advancing decrepitude, but fairness dictates at least a 4-star review. It was cheap, it arrived quickly, it was plentiful and tasty, plastic forks and spoons were provided.
I can't say I've undergone a transformation of religious intensity and suddenly "love" Green Garden, but I can say...at least I can after my most recent experience...I liked what I had. What's not to like?
I wouldn't be averse to ordering from Green Garden again when hungry or when nostalgia for Chinese food moves me.
Recommended.