Irvine China Garden

Their roasted ducks is the best in Irvine! I definitely go there for their ducks. Also the almond milk dessert is very good and buy one get one free at night!

when i need a quick dim sum fix, this is the place to go. they have decent dim sum but a little on the pricier side compared to those found in rowland heights area. they have all the basics so i’m not complaining and the service is pretty fast. i was hoping for red bean sesame balls but it was lotus something or other. not bad but not a fave. i stick to the tofu dishes, shrimp dumplings, pork siu mai, sticky rice in turnip leaf, turnip cake, and chinese broccoli. all pretty good for the neighborhood.

Eating dim sum here. Egg tart is good, steam beef tripe is good, tofu skin roll is good. But dun order stuff that requires special skills eg cheung fun or mixed beef stomach. The cheung fun is soggy and the mixed beef tasted bland. The lunch special lobster noodle is good. Smells and tastes good. Overall im happy

Delicious dim sum with lots of variety. The carts come around fairly often so you never have to wait too long to get what you want. I like it better than Capital Seafood’s dim sum (which isn’t bad at all!). The line can be long on the weekends though.

Went here with my boyfriend and his family for dinner since they wanted to stay local.
I haven’t been here in years since I tried dimsum here one time and I knew why when I walked in. This place is the definition of claustrophobia tables are like back to back. Its definitely small in size compared to other chinese restaurant.
The food
Shaken beef: not bad pretty except they didn’t cook the onions all the way through so it was too oniony
Clams in black bean sauce: lacking in flavor didn’t have that strong black bean zing
Lobster: the house special lobster was missing something
Wintermelon soup: was good tastes like regular soup
Sweet and sour fish: nice big pieces of fish in sweet and sour sauce
I feel with the prices here this place just wasn’t that great. The service was lacking too. We sat just waiting for the rice until they noticed us.
If I had a choice I definitely wouldn’t come here.

Pros: Clean, food is delicious, a lot to choose from, & great for big groups. Whenever I’m in Irvine I eat here for dim sum.
Cons: Service can be better. There is one lady who works there with short hair, she is one scary freak of nature. Don’t ask anything from her, she talks to you and looks at you as if you did something horribly wrong & shes gonna kill you. I was so afraid to order from her.
SHORT HAIR LADY: I hope you’re reading this, you’re not a nice person, you were unkind to us on Wednesday when we were there for lunch. Change your attitude or quit and find another place to work at.

China Garden is decent and will satisfy any cravings that you have if you don’t want to drive too far. We got there around 11:45 on a rainy Saturday and it was very busy. We ended up waiting around 25 minutes. Be sure to go to the counter and grab a number!
Everything we had here was decent. The service is alright. Some of the carts circulated very slowly. It took awhile to get all the items we wanted.
Most of the workers don’t really speak english. They charge for tea. $ 1.25 per person.

Honestly the worst service I’ve had in some time. Came in for lunch on my break. Was seated almost immediately in the back corner while there was abundant seating elsewhere. I was told the dumpling cart was gonna be about 10 minutes… ok that’s fine.
Once she made her round she never once came back as I watched them stop at every other table… wasted my entire lunch break on one order of shumai and pots tickers and went back to work hungry. When the check came they dropped it walked away and I waited almost 10 more minutes for that to be picked up… worst dim sum experience I’ve had ever. Food was decent service was atrocious

This was recommended by a friend, but I really don’t know why! The service was nonexistent, the cleanliness of the place was questionable, and the food was horrible! Tried the sweet and sour chicken, and it was very spongy in consistency, almost as if there were was no chicken in it. Also ordered the lemon chicken which was chemical smelling, tough, and not at all flavorful. Each time we needed something, I had to ask the server, as no help was offered for anything. The only time the service was fast was to get the check paid. This one is off the list!

Worst place ever. Since I came from nor-​cal I though this place would be great. However, they sold out everything today. I want to order something. They said just pick up from the dimsum car. But u sold out how can I pick something up.

I haven’t had much luck with decent dim sum in Irvine. Wanted to give Irvine China Garden a try since it looked pretty busy. Sadly, it was another trial and failure.
Avoid the Siu Mai (sour) It was inedible. The tofu shrimp was battered unevenly with some thicker parts, the shrimp was also sour.
Highlights include the seaweed asparagus shrimp wrap (not sour) and tofu ginger sauce: tofu fa
I am really hoping it was just an off day. Two stars because even with the sour shrimp and pork I did not get sick. (Thank goodness)
What you need to know:
— When it’s busy please go inside and request a number
— Servers are friendly
— Place is dated
— Good for all size parties
— You will get your push cart experience

Why dim sum cravings, have you led me astray? :-(I This morning I had a hankering for xiao long bao and honey glazed bbq buns, however I’m still hungry and in need of water. I would rate this place as 2.5 stars, and a little on the salty end (and trust me, I like my sodium as much as the next gal!).
We arrived around 1 (dim sum ends at 3), yet there was a very small selection of food and I had to constantly hunt down carts. As I glared longingly at the carts on the other side, I only managed to get a order of shrimp rolls, 1 xlb (15 min wait time), and shiu mai. I understand there may have been more variety in the earlier hours, but perhaps give a fair warning to customers or a different menu so we’re not starving and waiting for carts that never come? There were about only 1 – 3 carts for the entire restaurant at a given time.
BF and I are still hungry and on the hunt for anther meal, and probably won’t be returning unless it’s the last dim sum spot left in a zombie apocalypse. Their $ 2.50 charge for hot tea for 2 doesn’t sweeten the blow either.

Average dim sum fare in Irvine. Was super busy given the new year’s holiday and not offering lunch specials either. They have all the standard dim sum dishes. The only unique item was a dessert which we tried. It looks like a pot pie from the outside but once you poke the bread crust you’ll find a hot almond flavored soup inside.
Service was average. We were seated in a side room since the main dining area was full so it took a while for the dim sum carts to make their way to us. Not as impressed with the dim sum. Their lunch specials are probably worth trying another time.

Review on Dim Sum only.
Everything is pretty standard and nothing really stands out. We only go here out of convenience. The dimsum at capital (more expensive) or sea food cove #2 (further drive) is WAY BETTER.
Chili oil– they only have the type already mixed with vinegar. We asked for the standard chili oil but they said the vinegar one was all they had.
Service– The dim sum cart women are sooooooo lazy. They always just stand around and gossip in the corner. The many times I’ve been here, we eat so little because it takes so long to get more food. Last week, we were seated and it took 15 minutes (no exaggeration) to get any food coming our way. 15 minutes is a long time to be staring down the dim sum cart women with no response! We had to get up and ask them to cart on over. Oh and of course, they were not happy about it. I don’t expect much service from Chinese restaurants but jeez, get it together!

Would give 0 star if I could. Ripped off by this restaurant. Ordered a 4.5 lb lobster and got one that’s obviously around 3 lbs. we just ordered a 4 lb at Seafood Cove the other night at 4lbs and it was much bigger than this. Hate restaurants that are defrauding customers. Last time eating here.
Will send complaint to Department of Weights and Measures.

I don’t go out for dim sum very often, but when I do, I come to Irvine China Garden… sike! This was my first time here, and I liked it a lot!
Came here on a Tuesday right when they opened, so there was no wait, plenty of parking, and fresh, hot dim sum! I didn’t find the service to be slow or poor and carts rolled around often and everything from the har gow to the shu mai tasted great.
Come early cuz the lunchtime crowd filled up the restaurant rather quickly and there was no parking to be found when we left.

Yikes. Maybe its my high SGV standards, but dim sum was quite sad today. The hargow fell apart as we picked them up, there was a hair on the plate of our shrimp rice rolls and the bamboo rice texture was extra room temp and had a mushy texture.
Id come back if I was in Irvine and desperately in need of some dim sum, but it doesnt seem likely.

I came here for dim sum. It’s hard to find good Chinese food and dim sum in Irvine. Irvine has great Korean and Japanese food, but you normally have to travel further to get good Chinese and Vietnamese food.
I didn’t want to drive far and wanted to give China Garden a shot. I’ve had the dim sum at Sam Woo’s restaurant so wanted to compare. China Garden was not great. I didn’t think any of the dishes were really good in terms of dim sum.
I enjoy dim sum and got the usual things like shui mai, har gow, chicken feet, spare ribs, turnip cake, and some others. None of these were really good. All ok, but not really good. I think some of the dough was too chewy, the chicken feet didn’t have the right taste and color, the spare ribs were also a bit bland.
It took awhile to get har gow that day too, they were out for a long time and I was pretty full by the time it came around. Prices are about what you would pay elsewhere for dim sum but I wasn’t impressed by any of the taste or quality.
I’ve had better in other cities and even Sam Woo’s in Irvine was a little better than here.

Got steamed fresh fish and veggie for dinner. It was decent. Funny when I showed my dad the steamed fish picture, my dad thought I didn’t have enough money so I had to order steamed fish head instead of the whole fish. Well, the red cod did have a big head. The head was almost more than half of the fish. Lol!
The pea sprout with crab sauce was delicious. Beware that you don’t get to order a ‘special’ price dish unless you ordered at least three regular priced dishes.

My go-​to Dimsum spot.
Line gets long, so I recommend coming here early. They stop serving Dimsum at 3PM.
I have no idea what the ladies who push the cart are saying. It’s hard to communicate if you aren’t Chinese. Try to get a menu so you show them the picture or the #, to have a better communication.
Their lobster was bleh. Fried rice was bleh. I say stick to their Dimsum.