China Garden, Irvine

As much as I love cooking, I don't do it on a daily basis. When I don't cook, there are a few restaurants that I always frequent in Orange County, and one of them is certainly China Garden. Serving authentic Cantonese cuisine (you have to know what to order though), China Garden has never failed my high expectations. If you would like to try out real Chinese food, here are some dishes that I strongly recommend. I am partial to soy foods and I love all kinds of tofu. One of my favorite dishes at China Garden is the above "Special Braised Bean Curd" dish. Deep-fried to perfection, these silky and soft tofu cubes are steeped in aromatic five-spice and star anise-flavored soy sauce. The taste is simply delightful. If you go to China Garden, don't miss out their fresh seafood, especially the fish. Like any typical Cantonese-style Chinese restaurants, China Garden offers a variety of live seafood such as Dungeness Crab, Alaska King Crab, live shrimp, and a few kinds of live fish. I love their live red cod. This fish is divine when it's cooked two ways--steamed and stir-fried. First, the fish head (trust me, it's delicious!) is chopped into small pieces, coated with flour, and fried. Then, they are tossed with ginger and scallions. I love this dish as it has enough wok hei--the breath of wok-- the essence of it comes through in this creation. Next, the body of the fish is steamed with soy sauce, ginger, and scallions. I am not sure about you, but I could just eat my steamed rice with that soy sauce alone! For vegetable dishes, I recommend their "Pan-fried String Beans with Minced Meat." This is a very popular Chinese vegetable dish; the crunchy string beans are lightly fried in oil and then tossed with minced pork. Seasoned only with salt, this is a simple but flavorful dish. All in all though, China Garden is a very good Chinese restaurant. Other dishes I recommend are: Salt and pepper crab or ginger and scallions crab Fried chicken Souffle with almond flavor (baked almond tea topped with a pastry crust) - A must-try! China Garden 14825 Jeffrey Rd Irvine, CA 92618 (949) 653-9988 Other review: China Garden Dim Sum - Monster Munching