Dragon Garden

Sadly, it closed. Haven’t found another nearby place for General Gao Shrimp. Miss you.

This was my go to place for certain dishes: Hot & Sour, Spicy Eggplant, Chow Foon, etc. Unfortunately, they seem to have gone out of business. The windows are papered over and the phone disconnected.
Alas.

**This is the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had. Hands down. **
This review is for the food at Dragon Garden.
My mother and I wanted a quick bite to eat for dinner, because she’s visiting and we’ve been busy shopping and sight seeing. I decided to search Chinese take out on Unilocal near Davis Square, and this one had decent reviews, so I chose it.
I ordered Eggo Foo Young and vegetable egg rolls. Into my second bite of the Egg Foo Young I found an old clothing label in my mouth. That is a terrible experience, finding non food cooked by a mystery third party, especially if it’s clothing/​hair.
The egg rolls had mystery bright red meat in them, when they were advertised as vegetarian. I took about three bites and threw it all away. Very disappointing.

This place has amazing Chinese food. Love the pu pu platers, fried rice and vegetables. I eat here 2 – 3 times a week. Plus because I’m Asian I feel really comfortable here.

For those who don’t write for Unilocal,2 stars isn’t BAD necessarily, it just means «I’ve experienced better.» And I have!
Dragon Garden is your stereotypical your-body-will-revolt-against-you-once-you’re-done-eating Chinese restaurant. The food itself is perfectly fine, but it struggles between being «tasty» and hitting those «guilty pleasure» levels, leaving it in the unfortunate void of «it’s fine.»
If I were starving to death on an island and had just this food, I would eat it. If I had a desperate craving for Chinese food and these guys were the only food open, I would eat it. That said, the food is just okay. Won’t get you excited but will hit the spot if you happen to find yourself needing it.

This is my preferred Chinese takeout place in davis sq. Food is what you would expect and it’s always been fast for quick takeout.

Waited about 10 mins at the counter before someone came out of the kitchen to take my order.
For $ 21 I got:
soggy ‘fried dumplings’
General Gau’s Chicken with soggy deep fried coating (I am used to the kind that is drenched in sauce with some crisp to it)
and okay crab rangoon
The quality of my order is worth $ 11.
I will NOT go here again nor recommend this restaurant.
They have a $ 15 minimum for credit cards, by the way.

This place was a regular of mine for many many years. Most of my experiences here have been quite good. Very reliable chinese food. Not THE freshest, not THE most veggie friendly — but definitely not the grease of a lot of places I’ve been to.
I used to get delivery from Dragon Garden just about every weekend. Cold peanut noodles, general gau’s chicken, potstickers, crab rangoon, lo mein, egg foo young. All the classics — all good.
Siper nice people. 3.5 stars for the food. The place itself is okay — not good, not bad. But I miss the comfort and the delivery… damn you Portland for having no delivery!

I don’t usually write reviews, but after seeing some of the racist, privileged mockery about the name Dragon Garden and the lack of art in the restaurant which is relevant, I felt I had to provide some balance.
I’m a vegetarian and this restaurant is my favorite in the Davis Square area. I’m not saying it’s the best Chinese restaurant in the world but it’s at least one of the best in this area.
I usually order tofu with mixed vegetables and specifically ask to make it spicy. I also sometimes order sesame tofu when I have a craving. You can always ask to make any dish more spicy.
Remember that there’s a minimum order amount of about $ 20 if you want to use a debit or credit card. Otherwise, cash is accepted for any size order.

I’m eating it right now.
It’s good! It’s exactly the kind of chinese food you want to eat when you order Chinese food take out from a take out Chinese restaurant.
Flavorful and there’s tons of it. Combination plate does not come with an egg roll which in my mind loses two stars.
I’ll go back and so should you.

I had a craving for a Pork Fried rice, so I stopped by Dragon Garden for a small order. I asked if they could make it with white steamed rice instead of the yellow rice and they agreed. The dish was very well prepared, not oily, not salty. It had a nice spicy bite to it… I devoured the whole box in a few minutes.
Very happy with my rice !!!

When it come to chinese food, i am very picky. I cook most of the time, but this is where i would eat if i need quick lunch. Its tasty.
Here what I think is good. Everything ive ordered was good.
i tried the beef with eggplan, singapore noodle, shrimp fried rice medium spicy, string bean stirfry with oyster sauce. all the stir fry should serve with steam rice not fried rice. Crab ragoon must have duck sauce. So far anything that i eat from there was very good. i would recomment this place. reasonable price and tasty food. Not fancy place. Good for togo or eat quick.

Stepped in for a quick bite before a movie. As middle-​of-​the-​road Chinese style cuisine goes, this was exactly what I’d expect. Nothing especially delicious or innovative, but nothing so terrible that I wouldn’t go back.
The spicy food was bland, but that’s not surprising in a majority-​white college area. This is your basic revised for the American palate type of place.

Easily the worst Chinese lunch buffet I’ve ever had.
Few options, all of which were terribly bland and soggy. What an absolute waste of time and money.

I’ve never seen a dragon in a garden. Most dragons I know hang out in caves, mountain top lairs or the occassional deserted castle. I will say that upon entering this establishment, I nearly turned right around because it is decidedly un-​garden, and there wasnt a dragon in sight. Like, not even contrived Chinese dragon wall art.
It is exactly what you think it would be– greasy Chinese takeout, and it isnt half bad. You’ll feel it (bloated, stomach achish) but it wont kill you. I do wish they would employ the «build your combo» style of special where you pick an entrée, choose from a choice of apps and noodles and rice, etc.
You wont be disappointed — but you may not be wowed. A solid option for the inevitable Chinese urge.

This is absolutely, by far and away, my favorite American-​style Chinese restaurant in Massachusetts (with Bernard’s at the Chesnut Hill mall being a close second.) Granted, the atmosphere has a certain kind of down-​market charm that might not appeal to everyone, but I actually find the slightly dumpy décor a refreshing break from the self-​conscious overly-​branded styling of most place in central Boston. Honestly: we love this place so much that we actually get up nearly every Saturday and take the T all the way from Beacon Hill out to Davis just so we can have lunch here.
The family that runs the place is sweet and very friendly to regulars, and it’s generally amusing to listen to their curious Gatling-​gun dialect of Chinese, which always sounds like they’re yelling at each other angrily (an early suspicion of mine contracted when, on several occasions, I heard them burst out into genial laughter in the midst of what sounded like a shouting match.)
At any rate, for some reason, Massachusetts has a strange idiom of Americanized Chinese food that I don’t particularly like: the kind of stuff served at places like Kowloon on Route 1, which to me always seems slimy, bland, and haphazardly prepared. Dragon Garden, instead, has food much more like the kind of food I’m used to from other places in the US: crispy fried items, sweet and rich garlicky brown sauces, liberal use of vegetables, etc. Literally everything I’ve had here is better than any example of the same dish I’ve had anywhere else in Massachusetts, including (or perhaps especially) in Chinatown.
Here are some particular favorites:
–Kung pao chicken (ask them to add broccoli)
–Tofu w/​cashew nut
–Egg rolls (!)
–Yu Tsiang broccoli
–Chicken fingers (these are freshly battered and fried, not frozen)
–General Gao’s
–Boneless spareribs
–Wonton soup
Incidentally, it’s also exceedingly inexpensive. Grab the lunch special w/​rice and appetizer if you’re there on weekdays or Saturday before 3pm.

I rarely give 1 star reviews but I really hate this place. I’ve ordered about 3 times from here, each time thinking it will be better than my last experience but since Kee Kar Lau burned down and Wang’s was closed yesterday, I ordered once again.
I got 3 items — beef and broccoli, pan friend noodles and sesame chicken. All items arrived in boxes that were drowning in oil (about ¼ inches from the top of the box). My order for beef and broccoli had no beef. Seriously, none. It was just broccoli and water chestnuts. By the time it arrived, the restaurant closed so although I tried calling, no one picked up and we were stuck with one dish less.
Other times I had similar experience where the food was so oily, I wondered if it was all just marinated in it. I always get tummy aches from places like these and frankly, I’m very disappointed. Also, they are not very friendly. And they make you feel guilty for using a credit card.
Never again –_–

This place continues to surprise me. I ordered chicken with vegetables in a brown sauce. Vegetables were super fresh and crisp. Sliced chicken breast lightly coated in sauce. A perfect meal, with enough for lunch the next day for under $ 10.

I’m quasi-​new to the neighborhood and took a stroll to Dragon Garden tonight, eager to pick up the Chinese food I’ve been craving but denying myself for at least three weeks.
The cashier at the counter barked, «Cash! You have cash?» at me, then looked visibly disgruntled and made me feel bad about the fact I was using a debit card. So… that happened. And then I got back to my apartment and didn’t like the food.
I know it’s a fast food American-​Chinese place, but that’s no excuse, the food was tasteless and poor. Bad Chinese food can be so good for you, like vitamins! But Dragon Garden got it wrong. Wah, wah, wah…

I have a theory about Americanized Chinese food restaurants. If it has the words «Jade,» «Dragon,» «Palace» or «Garden» in its name, it’s going to be good, and if it doesn’t, beware. (Before you start sending me exceptions, I know it isn’t a rule that always works, but in my experience it’s pretty accurate). So a place named Dragon Garden immediately caught my eye. It had to be the best I’ve ever had, right? And here’s the thing: It totally was.
This is not healthy or sophisticated or authentic Chinese. It is what most of the U.S. thinks of when you are ordering Chinese food. It is fried and greasy and slathered with delicious, syrupy sauce. The crab rangoons are more flavorful than most places I’ve been in the city, the general gau’s chicken (as every other review on here will tell you) is amazing, and everything comes in giant portions that will last through multiple meals. Even with multiple Chinese places near my house, more than once I have made an hour long trek to Davis Square to get Dragon Garden instead.
I do have a couple of small gripes about Dragon Garden. Several times in a row I have ordered the vegetarian dumplings, only to get the meat-​stuffed ones instead. The first time I thought it was my mistake. I have since learned that I cannot assume they got it right, and I have to check before I leave. Also, sometimes it can be completely devoid of customers and all the workers disappear to the kitchen. As a result, you may walk in and wonder if the place is even open. It is, as you will learn when a small child walks out of the kitchen and sits behind the counter. As much as you will want to give your order to this child, they don’t actually take orders. You just have to wait a second longer until the adult who is in the kitchen finally comes out to take it.
I love everything I’ve ever eaten at Dragon Garden. The orange chicken, the General, the pepper steak, the various types of lo mein and fried rice, everything. It’s horribly unhealthy, and do you actually care? Because I don’t.