Peking Garden

There are two kinds of Asian restaurants in strip malls. One kind where you look at the store front and make some semi calloused assumption about the food only to be pleasantly surprised by the quality of eats. The other kind is where you make that same semi calloused assumption only to have your assertions affirmed. Unfortunately this eatery is of the later circumstance. Standard mediocre Chinese food. However, I will add that the staff was extremely welcoming and friendly.

I don’t get to eat here as often as I would like but their food is awesome. I usually get the beef and broccoli.

Best around, I stay away from Chinese food mostly but if I ever get the craving this is the best! Very friendly service and delivery too! Great prices. The szechaun chicken is delicious.

This is my go-​to Chinese cuisine! The staff is friendly and efficient and I absolutely love their food. It’s not just the typical Chinese food. You can tell it’s made thoughtfully and is consistently great. My favorite is the lo mein noodles or the Kung pao chicken.

Best chinese food in Cincinnati. Can not believe people would give it a low rating. It’s not a fancy ambiance, but not should you expect it to be. It’s a good solid delicious unpretentious chinese restaurant with reasonable prices. Delivery is good too. Hunan beef is my favorite.

The food wasn’t awful, but it definitely doesn’t deserve some of the 4 stars people are giving it.
Here were my issues:
The woman I ordered from on the food was not friendly and I felt like I was bothering her by placing an order.
I think for the quality of food it’s over priced.
The flavor just wasn’t what I was expecting after reading some of the reviews. The lo mein was a little bland and the crab rangoon seemed to have too much seasoning to cover up for the fact that there wasn’t enough crab and cheese to actually taste good. The egg rolls seemed to have twice as much wrapper and VERY LITTLE vegetables on the inside.
The food was ok… but not something I would recommend as great or a go-​to!
On the plus side delivery was quick.

This is really just your typical Chinese joint but what endears them to me is the fact that they are always so happy to see you when you come in and their entrepreneurial spirit. What I mean by the last part is they host a variety of home and food goods in the entryway for sale and also 50¢ for cans of pop. You can’t find that any where these days.

Apparently, I am on a local Chinese food review kick, as this is the third of four Chinese restaurants I have reviewed, in the last month, all within a two mile radius of my house. I have lived nearby for eight years now, and knew of its existence, but I had never eaten there until recently. Tucked into a strip mall just a couple of doors down from the Dillonvale IGA grocery, and next to the ACE hardware store, it could easily be missed if you don’t know where to look. The front windows are an odd mix of ads for its extensive Slushie line, unusual for a Chinese restaurant, and the standard set of Chinese food photos. I would guess someone has made a mint selling those same «Happy Family», «General Tso’s Chicken» and «Sweet and Sour Pork» Pics to every Chinese fast food restaurant in the US.
Walking in, one is a little confused as to the set-​up. To your left is a large counter, a cash register and a row of «Frozen Slushie» machines. They serve about 15 different kinds of Slushies, all for $ 1.00 (& up). A pretty good deal, I guess. Lining the aisle in front of you on the left is a row of about a dozen chairs to sit and wait for your order. They are an eclectic mix of three styles, with four of each type. Oddly orderly and neat at the same time. On the right are stacks of supplies — sodas, dry goods, a trash can, a cooler, a freight cart, and more. Straight ahead of you, you finally spy the counter through the tunnel of goods. At that point, I thought it odd that there was no place to sit and dine, as this type of establishment usually does. Well, as I approached the counter, I noticed a small dining area, very neat, very clean, and almost all of the items inside this area were matching. The four tables seat a dozen and a half or so, and looks like a nice place to sit. A little Oasis in the middle of the clutter.
Ordering was easy and straightforward. They have the typical selection: Soup, Appetizers, Noodles, Pork, Shrimp, Beef, Chicken, etc. They serve their lunch special every day, Monday through Sunday, opening until 3:00 p.m. I ordered two specials to go: Garlic Shrimp with steamed rice, and Sesame Chicken with fried rice. The special comes with an egg roll. And as always, I ordered a large Hot & Sour Soup. I was told it would take 10 minutes, so I ran to the IGA to get a couple of things while my meal was being prepared. 10 minutes later, I returned. The food was packaged and ready as promised. I paid, grabbed a couple of hot mustards from the bins on the left, and darted home.
The Hot & Sour Soup was only fair. While there was plenty of «goodies» in the soup, Tofu, onions, green onions, etc., the mushrooms were practically raw. They were still spongy, and had had been barely cooked down. Points for being made fresh, loss of points for being done poorly. The broth was just OK, too. Flavorful enough, but not very spicy — maybe toned down for the local Midwestern palate. Edible but not super enjoyable.
The Garlic Shrimp was nice, well cooked, but a little lacking in garlic for my taste. This is one I would definitely ask for some extra garlic next time. The vegetables (carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts and bell peppers) were cooked very well. Not overcooked to the point of being limp, they still had a bite. The shrimp were not large, but there was a sufficient amount. A few red pepper flakes joined the saucy party, but not enough to really have much of an effect. There was less entrée, and more rice on this dish than on the Sesame Chicken. Lots of steamed rice underneath. The steamed rice was good though, it was ummmmmm… steamed rice.
As for the Sesame chicken — It presented beautifully, with a good sized portion of large battered and deep fried chicken chunks covered in a nice, thick, sesame sauce. There were even a couple of well-​prepared broccolis added to the presentation for some color. The chicken coating was a little too thick for my taste (as it is on Sweet and Sour or General Tso’s Chicken dishes), but the sauce was good. A nice sweet sesame coating, dusted with sesame seeds. Unlike the Garlic Shrimp, Chicken filled about 60% of the container. The fried rice was good, not dry — a few flecks of egg and some green onion hanging out with the grains.
I did enjoy the egg rolls very much. They were flaky, tasty, and not very greasy or oily. Either one of these lunch specials would fill up even the hungriest of souls (or stomachs), I would say. There were plenty of leftovers, enough to make a couple of reasonable sized meals.
I would go back here, and I would put it in the recommend column, especially for the lunch special. I wouldn’t drive very far or go out of my way, but if in the area and ready for some reasonable Chinese food, this place would fit the bill. Oh, and I think I have to go back and try a Slushie sometime — I mean for a buck? Watermelon Slushie Here I Come!

This is currently my «go to» Chinese place. I eat at a lot of different Chinese places but this is my standby. I live in Blue Ash and when I moved to the area I was set on finding a good Chinese place I could regular. I tried a couple directly in the heart of Blue Ash but wasn’t impressed. The first time I tried this place I loved it and knew I’d be back. (I just didn’t know how frequently at the time)
The first thing I ever tried was the Mongolian beef. I was immediately impressed b/​c their version involves strips of breaded and stir-​fried beef, rather than just the latter and TONS of onions. I’ve also tried the sesame chicken and General Tso’s both of which are very good, and pretty similar actually. I’ve also had the Stir-​fried beef and Chinese vegetables and Chow Mei Fun. I mean I could name a ton of stuff I’ve had on the menu and it’s all been really good. Right now my current love is for the Hunan beef, just b/​c I’m kind of burnt out on the fried things like General Tso’s.
Outside of the food, I love this place for a few other random reasons. One, its run by this close knit family with 2 daughters. The daughters are adorable and help their parents run the restaurant. Usually when I come to pick up my food they are either taking my credit card or doing their homework. Secondly, I love this place b/​c they have super cheap drinks. I’m talking huge bottles of coke for $ 1 or Monster energy drinks for $ 2, I think it’s cheaper than buying them at the gas station. Third reason, they are always selling a bunch of random things out of their restaurant, like microwaves, faucets and patio furniture. I don’t buy them but it makes me smile to see them selling whatever they can get their hands on. Finally, and this could be my favorite reason of all. My girlfriend went here to buy me a gift certificate for my birthday and she asks the owner if he has gift certificates, he ponders it for a second and motions that he’ll be right back. When he comes back he writes a personal check to himself and hands it to her and takes the money. I love this! Now that’s the great American entrepreneurial spirit!

I really love the beef lo mein. It’s got a ton of flavor (and probably a ton of sodium), and this makes me happy. It’s the first place I ever tried lo mein, and I thought I’d discovered my «new» Chinese dish. And then I went to First Wok (my favorite crab rangoon location), and it was NOT. GOOD. Peking Garden’s crab rangoon is nothing to write home about, though. Too bad, as I sometimes want both dishes.
But back to Peking Garden! They’ve got vegetable egg rolls that I think are pretty darn tasty.
And then there’s two awesome things about Peking Garden: They’ve got bubble/​boba tea. And it’s pretty good. Taro, Green Tea, and Honeydew are my favorite flavors. I love getting my lo mein/​boba combo on, no matter how much it seems like they shouldn’t go together.
And the second thing: they sell some odd stuff there. I mean, you really NEVER know what they’ll be selling. I’ve seen patio furniture, handmade kids’ pillows, kids clothing, coat hangers, and a variety of other odd things. You never know WHAT it will be, but you know there will be something… extra. I like a little randomness with my Chinese food and my boba tea.
The staff is also very friendly, chatting happily with me when I visit. And one of the main dudes who is almost always there bows to me when I leave, which I know is a sign of respect and therefore know is a sign of good customer service. Sadly, I always forget that he tends to bow, and so I’m usually taken aback and just nod my head forward or something. And the truth is that I enjoy the food and customer service so much, I end up wishing I had bowed lower to show more respect. Because they do good stuff there. And they keep me surprised with the merchandise.
Great. Now I want some lo mein, and they aren’t open at 2:43 AM, which is when I’m writing this…

Good delivery Chinese food with a slightly healthy edge of using only 100 percent vegetable oil. Chicken and veggies seemed fresher than most delivery Chinese, but be prepared to wait, as the delivery took about an hour.

Sadly, I’m going to have to downgrade. Last evening’s order of orange beef – upgraded with fried rice – cost $ 12. It had a much smaller serving of meat than it used to, and it was undercooked, tasted like raw flour, and was soggy. The sauce had almost no orange in it and was watery. There were no add-​ins to the fried rice except oil and some small shreds of Chinese cabbage.
I used to be willing to pay premium prices for shopping center storefront Chinese because Peking Garden’s quality was a cut above. No longer.

My current favorite strip mall Chinese restaurant. Portions were large and the drink shop inside sets this restaurant a part.
Had an excellent General Tso’s Chicken and a Carmel Coffee Shake and couldn’t finish the whole meal. When to owner boxed up the meal for me to take it home he gave me a whole new box of rice. Now that’s my kind of carry out.

Great little Chinese restaurant located in Dillonvale near Kenwood. Portions are always generous, the food is hot, and service is fast and friendly. They even have delivery available if you don’t feel like leaving your house. It’s fairly small but they do have a few tables if you would like to dine in. Definitely check it out if you’re in the area and craving good Chinese food. I recommend the General Tso’s chicken!