Bamboo Garden

I’ve went here multiple times and have had a very good experience. They didn’t get my order right one time and gave me a free beer! Unexpectedly good sushi for the Mountain Home area. Definitely recommend!

Best sushi and buffet in the twin lakes area. This family owned business has been here for 33 years. Great food and service. Highly recommended.

Alright now, I’m actually from Mountain Hole but, currently live else where. While in town, we wanted to visit one of the old haunts for dinner and after, felt compelled to write a review.
The only thing that has changed about this place is the fact that they now serve, «sushi». As we walked in the door, the old familiar smell of Crab Rangoon came wafting through the air and we immediately thought we’d be in for an old school experience, boy were we wrong!
This place hasn’t changed a bit in twenty years, in fact I swear the grease on the bathroom walls was in fact, from way back when.
The place was hopping busy, lots of laughter to be heard that should be a good sign, right?! As I walked past the buffet line checking out the offerings, the only thing I noticed to be different was the price on the crab legs, it’s gone up.
So, we decided on sushi. Nice assortment of American style Sushi. Once it all arrived, we were surprised that instead of the crab noted on the menu, it was in fact that fake «crab» meat and heavily mixed with mayonnaise. Every roll has it in it and pretty much makes up the entirety of the roll. We even ordered a scallop roll, thinking it would come with scallops. Nope… a few small diced pieces of scallop and the rest was the fake crab/​mayo mixture. I asked if it was possible to get a real scallop roll and was told that, it would take a few minutes because the scallops would need to thaw. I declined that offer.
After receiving fantastic service from our server, we asked about how the tipping sitch was there, since the sushi chef had a tip jar on the sushi bar counter. We were informed that recently management changed the tipping arrangement from the server making a servers wage, around 2 $ bucks that, they were expected to tip out the sushi chef half, as in 50% of their tips! I had to ask again, thinking that maybe I misheard our server. Unfortunately, I was told that the sushi chef (s) one who is the owner, well they are paid a salary which is in fact well over the 2 $ bucks the servers make yet, the servers lose half to them.
I’m not sure, but that seemed criminal to us. We tipped him cash and left a 2 $ tip on the credit card. Mind you the owners of this establishment, well they own several business all throughout Arkansas, yet steal half of their servers tips.
We will not be back for sub-​par «sushi» laden with fake crab and mayo, let alone support a business with hard working servers who lose half of their hard earned tips.
Shame of you Bam Booo Garden!

We made the mistake of ordering Chinese off the menu. Food was the most bland Chinese I have eaten anywhere on the planet. Got off to a bad start with spicy sour soup which was not spicy or sour nor did it have the dark brown color we are used to, but more a pale tan. It tasted watered down to us… very watered down. Our entrée’s were also bland including the fried rice, thank god for the soy sauce to give these meals a semblance of flavor. Previous reviews mention good sushi here, I’d advise staying with that, but I wouldn’t go near the menu with a ten foot pole.

Not bad. They treated me well for my birthday dinner and I’ve tried several different rolls and a few other dishes during my 2 month stay here. Friendly staff, with just a bit under par sushi compared to big city. When it gets busy (Friday & Saturday) the wait staff kind of drops the ball. Sushi does come out quick however. They only get fresh fish delivered on Wednesday so I would never go except Weekend. No happy hours at all, which is a let down in my opinion. I’ll still go, best sushi in town.

Bamboo Garden has been in Mountain Home for many years as a Chinese buffet with steamed crab legs on Friday and Saturday nights, but what many locals and visitors may not know is that in recent years they have renovated one side of the restaurant as a Sushi bar. While the Chinese food, even ordered off the menu, is average, the sushi is wonderful!
This is the BEST local sushi we’ve found in north central Arkansas. Whether you are a seasoned adventurous sushi eater, or a novice to the sport, they have something for you. The menu is detailed and easy to understand what you’re getting when you order. The wait staff is friendly and helpful. They have a full menu, including sashimi, nigiri, and hand rolls, as well as some traditional appetizers such as edamame, miso soup, tempura, etc.
The sushi is fresh, expertly-​prepared, reasonably priced and delicious. Full beer, wine and sake’ list is offered. If someone in your party doesn’t enjoy sushi, they can order from the Chinese menu as well.
The sushi dining area is small, but you can order sushi while seated in the main dining room.
Closed on Sundays.

This is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the Ozarks. Whenever I visit Mtn. Home, I eat here. If their soup was better, I’d give it 4.5 stars. If they used about half the usual amount of oil in the stir-​fried dishes, I’d give it 5 stars.
Aside from the soup and heavy (for me) use of oil, Bamboo Garden has a lot going for it. They use fresh shiitake mushrooms in several of the buffet dishes. The eggrolls are homemade, not frozen. There is always fried catfish, and it’s good. That’s a high compliment coming from a person who dislikes catfish.
This is one of the only Chinese restaurants I’ve found in this region where you can actually find vegetable dishes on the buffet that do not have meat in them. Not really such a novel idea, but almost no one else around here does it.
The sushi is superb. Hot tea comes with the meal (a sadly vanishing tradition). The fact that they don’t use MSG is a big draw for me. The egg foo yung is excellent. And I’ve yet to see any of the buffet pans sit empty at all.

Still giving it three stars for quality, but on a recent lunch visit many of the trays sat empty on the buffet for an unreasonable period of time. When you run out of egg rolls and several other things, and can’t get them replinished in 10 or 15 minutes, then you’ve got a problem in the kitchen that needs to be looked into and corrected by management. That’s unacceptable.
Hope they get it straightened out, cause there’s just too much competition in town to risk loosing loyal, regular customers because of kitchen problems.

I was nervous about getting sushi in Mountain Home, so we decided to try the Chinese. Buffets make me nervous, so we ordered off the menu. I watched her take the soup from the buffet. The meal was standard Americanized goopy, sweet Chinese food. It was palatable, not great, but not bad either. The service was outstanding! She couldn’t have been any more attentive and nice. She made the hum drum food into a very pleasant dining experience.

I wouldn’t claim to be all knowing on good sushi. I pretty much like what I like. The idea of getting sushi in Mt. Home, Ar was not mine (recommendation from my client here in town). Have to say I was surprised. In my limited world of «what I like», it was very good. The California rolls were alright and the soft shell crab rolls were excellent. I also enjoyed the miso soup — sometimes I’ve found the soup to be just so-​so but their version was more than passable. Overall, pretty good. I’d go back.