Garden View Restaurant

I didn’t mind this restaurant, it was hard not to let the one star reviews cloud my judgement. I always wanted to eat here though, based on the signage outside and the «garden» it looks so nice! The inside of the restaurant is really nice looking too. The garden patio wasn’t open, Obvs. It’s dang near winter. I ate in and my service was really great. The food was meh. I mean, it’s typical Canadian Chinese food. So it’s not anything wrong with the restaurant, it just the way it is. Deep fry the crap out of stuff and drown it in sugar red sauce. I hear tons of hype for the spring rolls, I had the Cantonese style rolls and I can’t say they were anything to write home about.

We did a large pick up order from the garden view Chinese restaurant. I had the chicken balls rice and egg roll combo. With my classic extra egg roll. The egg roll was good. Seemed a little greasy. The rice was good. I think it needed a little salt which is shocking. We ordered 2 combo plates and it came out to 27 $. Seems a little pricy. The entire order was around 120 $ with tip for 6 people. Seems alright. The food in my opinion was OK. I don’t see any reason to call this place ”the gag and spew” as I’ve heard in the past. Its a decent spot and you will get your monies worth

Called to place an order yesterday told 25 minutes my daughter was there on time — was ignored till she asked about the order paid waited another 20 minutes asked again what was taking so long and was then told «we have no idea when your food will be ready, but we can refund your money». Hard to believe with so much competition that you have no idea about customer service.

Growing up, this use to be my absolute favourite place to eat; they had the BEST spring rolls and the plum sauce was amazing. The ambiance of the place was also very nice and cozy.
However, I’ve read some recent reviews and I have to agree with some. Lately I find the food not as good as before… I use to love their rice and now it’s just alright.
Even growing up though, I noticed that the service was lacking. Either the servers would talk amongst themselves or they’d serve customers they thought would give them a big tip.
I give this place 3 stars just because I’m in love with the springrolls but if you’re not someone that eats this, perhaps this isn’t the best place for you…

After striking out at Fan’s a while back, I decided to go back to the Chinese food restaurant of my childhood — Garden View (or as we called it the Gag & Spew).
Well, you don’t get a name like the Gag & Spew for nothing. While there was nothing spew-​inducing about my meal there were very few things that were edible about it either. I’m not a deep fryer expert, but I do know from being a girl about town that restaurants do need to clean out/​replace the oil every so often. Based on the way my egg rolls and Almond Chicken Soo Gai tasted, I’m pretty sure the oil was never changed ever. It was like the oil had a million other flavours, all resulting in a rancid after taste. Seriously, I wanted to go out to the yard to eat dirt to get the taste out of my mouth. It lingered. I’m not being melodramatic. I hate writing that something tasted *this* terrible.
The didn’t send the fried rice I ordered, instead I got the Garden View fried rice that came with pork, shrimp, and chicken. I wasn’t too crazy about that either.
So once again, $ 50 short of a great meal. Disappointed. My quest for delicious Chinese food in Dartmouth continuous.

After running errands in Dartmouth, my mother thoughtfully offered to treat me to dinner out. We decided on The Garden View restaurant, as she had enjoyed several meals there last year with friends.
In a nutshell, it was a bomb from start to finish. The appetizers we ordered were overly fried (who knew it was possible to do this?!). The pot stickers were as hard as rocks (more like pot SCRUBBERS of the steel wool variety than pot stickers!) and the spring roll was dripping of oil.
The mains we ordered arrived luke warm. The fried vegetables with tofu would have been great, were it not for the incredibly salty sauce it was served in. (To be fair, we likely should have ordered it without MSG). The egg foo young was light on the egg, heavy on the bean sprouts, and made with what looked like run-​of-​the mill, bagged frozen vegetables. Usually this is one of my favourite dishes, but frankly I was more astonished and confused than disappointed (disappointment and irritation came later). The ginger beef was sticky and had no heat — in terms of spice or temperature — at all.
Our server was a nice young lady who was doing her best to cover all the tables on her own (so service was slow). We asked her if there was a new cook on staff. After hesitating, she replied that there «was a new person working the fryer». No kidding! The poor quality of food was not her fault, and she was run off her feet, so we did not make an issue of things other than to tell her that we noticed a huge difference in the food, and not for the better.
On a positive note, the restaurant is very nicely decorated and clean. The landscaping around the restaurant is lovely. We also ended the evening laughing hysterically outside in the car, hoping to God neither of us would experience a case of «intestinal distress» on the bridge driving back to Halifax as a result of our meal. (I am pleased to report that the drive home was uneventful!)
I am not sure what happened in the kitchen tonight, but I do know we will not be back.

I have only been here a few times over the years but enough to know that it is not the best Chinese food in Dartmouth by far.
I had actually held my friend’s bridal party dinner here due to the space and accommodation. They were very nice and let us set up early and decorate. There were no issues when we may have been a bit loud or that we had a few adult themed decorations on our table. We were out of view from other diners as we had the entire upper level to ourselves. Everyone ordered individually and at the time we all enjoyed our meals. I ordered the rice, chicken so gai, beef and broccoli and egg roll — which was yummy. Based on this experience, I decided to go back almost a year later with my boyfriend. We ordered combo plates and I ordered a won ton soup as well. The portions were not what I remembered at all, it was not much at all for the price, which was also higher than I remembered. The taste was pretty bland and nothing to brag about. My boyfriend hated his sweet and sour chicken balls as the sauce was not your typical sweet and sour sauce. Although our server was nice, we felt ignored after food was delivered, and we were 1 of 3 tables in the restaurant that day (4pm). We left unsatisfied and paid somewhere around $ 40 for our meals, wonton soup, and a tea — we could have got double the Chinese food for that price somewhere else.
We have not gone back and I plan on sticking to my favorite Chinese restaurant in Dartmouth — Tans’ Family Restaurant.

First of all, I think Halifax and surrounding area is severely lacking in good Chinese food. It all seems to be greasy buffets, North Americanized, or just completely flavourless. Would I love for you to prove me wrong? Definitely. Holler with your recommendations — preferably any that offer the General Tao’s Tofu that I fell in love with in Ottawa.
Right. So the Garden View. I stopped in on my way home to pick up take-​out and was made to wait at the counter while three servers (in theory) gossiped about a repeat customer — something about shady phone calls. They didn’t even acknowledge I was standing there as they made like eighth graders standing around a group of lockers discussing what happened last night at the semi-​formal.
(Okay. If I’m going to write an unpleasant review, I’m at least going to try to make it fun.)
Once one of the servers finally decided I might want something, I drowned in ‘hons’ and ‘sweeties’ which at the time added insult to injury. Had I thought I could arrive home without the agreed-​upon meal, I would have left right then and there. In the time it took for her to ring me in and get my food, she and the others dug right back into their story, including a two-​minute rant while she held my food just out of her reach. And that, my friends, is just downright cruel.

I have eaten here a few times, mostly take out. The food was always hot and tasty. The restaurant is always packed, I guess after being around for so long it has a steady clientele.
The interior of this place is quite nice, traditional décor. The combo plates are always a hit, but we do not get them often, they never have our schewan noodles we love so much.
It is a nice place to go for a meal.

Garden view has been around for over 60 years in Dartmouth, located at 174 Main Street. Walking in to this location they have a great décor housing the Chinese heritage as well specializing in authentic Chinese Cuisine.
The menu has a wide variety of specials as well as combo plates so that you can try few different options. Normally when I go I get the Combination #3 Eggroll, SS chicken and chicken fired rice and under $ 15. As well the appetizers are fabulous especially the Skewered Teriyaki beef.
Nice place to take the family on a cold Sunday for supper.