Chef Peng Chinese Restaurant

I love myself some Chinese food, so after a couple guys from work recommended this place, I thought «Why not». I went there on a Thursday for lunch with my mom. Parking outside kinda sucked, but that’s what you get with downtown Garrett. The inside felt a little weird and quit, but there’s enough seats for a few people (seats, probably 15 – 20 people). Everyone was very nice. Ordering was easy. We ordered the lunch specials. I got General Tao’s chicken and my mom got broccoli beef. Each of our lunches came with the Egg Drop Soup, which was very good. I expected our food to be 20 mins or so. It had came out in about 10 mins from ordering (we were the only ones in there but there has been 2 carry outs too). My Generals Tao’s chicken was different from what I’m used to. The chicken had some kind of shell to it (like it had been deep fried). It wasn’t too bad. And the sauce was tasty too. The lunch meal also came with Crab Rangoon, Broccoli, and Shrimp Fried Rice, all which was very good. My mom also said her meal was just as expected. Overall the meal was delicious and filled us up for a good lunch price of $ 5.95 (Generals) $ 5.50 (Broccoli Beef). I will be going back sometime in the future and try something else. I’ll also provide pics of my meal and the menu.

I had such high hopes. It’s Garrett, I’m not looking for authentic and fantastic, I’m looking for decent and edible. We ordered takeaway and had planned out choices carefully. The Szechuan Chicken came with extra mushrooms as requested, and a couple other standard veggies, but for dish that is suppose to have a hint of spice, it was sweet. The egg roll was small and reminded me of the ones my mom bought for me as a teenager from the frozen section in the grocery store, super black peppery and mediocre. I wouldn’t order it again. Egg drop was fine. I really wanted hot and sour, but it only comes in a large size. The Kung Pao chicken was missing the pow. I was even asked how spicy, and told them very hot! It came very sweet! It tastes like someone had dumped a ladle of simple syrup over it. Neither entrée sauce had any flavor difference between the other, both were completely watery, my soup was thicker than the entrée sauce. And alas, the classic American favorite at a Chinese restaurant, the fortune cookie… so stale the dog wouldn’t eat it.
After reading reviews I was excited to have someplace so close! Sadly, we barely ate any, and threw the rest out. I hate wasting food. I could eat Asian food everyday, but never from here again. :/

Chef Peng’s is a good Chinese restaurant to visit in the area. I had dinner with friends here recently, and the service was okay. The waitress seemed rushed. The food was above the normal American Chinese. I tried the egg roll appetizer, which was better than most egg rolls. I also ordered the orange chicken, and my friends had the cashew chicken and chicken lo mein. The orange chicken was different but good. It had a crunch rather than the normal greasy layer of breading. The fried rice was a bit dry. My friends enjoyed their dishes. Fair warning to soda drinkers: they serve pop out of the can. Overall, good food, okay service, and okay atmosphere.

Food is very good. My biggest critique would be the chicken is to tough. They need to raise their prices a bit. Food is 100 times better than McDonald’s and less expensive. Love the food so would like it to stick around, afraid they are pricing themselves into closure. Definitely the best Chinese food in the auburn Garrett area.

Wonderful Chinese food prepared by Chef Peng. So glad he returned after others tried and didn’t succeed in this location. The Hot and Sour Soup is as close as it comes to what I loved at the old Mongolian House from days gone by in Auburn. Now available at lunch time every day instead of just on Friday, BONUS!
Love that the food is ordered from the menu and can be made as spicy or mild as you desire. Very reasonable lunch prices. I had Almond Chicken today. Lunch is served with fried or steamed rice, choice of soup or salad and crab rangoon, plenty of food. Another good choice is Triple Delight Special. Have never had a meal I didn’t like!
NOTE: updated phone number is 260−553−4068.
Try them, you won’t regret it!

Finally, we found some good Chinese food in our neck of the woods. Based upon the advice of the friendly ladies at Auburn Pediatric Dentistry, we opted to drive a little bit to try Chef Peng Chinese Restaurant in Garrett.
It takes approximately 13 minutues to get there from hospital area of Auburn. They have plenty of seating inside. I believe I saw a fish tank in there, too, to keep younger ones interested while they dine.
We called ahead, as I had picked up their take out menu a few days earlier. The woman who took my order sounded more like an Auburn native, so while a little disappointing when you call a Chinese place, it did make the order-​taking process pretty simple. I was told it would be ready in 25 minutes. When I got there in about 15 minutes, it was waiting for me.
Now for the important part: the food. We ordered the Orange Chicken (Chef’s Special Dinner — served with steamed rice) and then the Sesame Chicken (Combo Platter – served with egg roll and fried rice). When we ordered we were asked if we wanted mild, medium, or hot for our spicy entrees. We both got medium.
The spicyness doesn’t hit you right away, so you begin to think, «Maybe I should have gotten hot.» Then a minute goes by and you start to wonder, «Should I have gotten the mild?» Each of us was very happy with our entrees. I liked both the orange chicken and sesame chicken (however, they do taste fairly similar, save the sesame seed taste!). My steamed white rice was better than average, I thought. I was told the egg roll was «standard.»
It was definitely hot enough to clean out the sinuses, something that the places in Auburn had somewhere between «an impossible and a hard» time doing. The total cost was around $ 16.50 and we each have food for tomorrow. Some day I’ll have to try the lychee (Chinese fruit) for dessert.
We definitely will be going back if we have a craving for Chinese! So while, over all, I’d say «Yay! I’m a fan» 4 stars, it’s definitely a 5 star «Wohoo! As good as it gets» (for Auburn!) Chinese place worthy of many return visits.
Notes:
Just know they do take Visa, Master Card, and Discover, but no personal checks. They also make their food sans MSG.