Garden Fresh Chinese Vegan Cuisine
| Address: | 460 Ramona St, Palo Alto, CA 94301, USA |
| Phone: | +1 650-462-9298 |
| Site: | gardenfresh.us |
| Rating: | 4.6 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–2:30PM Closed 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM |
Location
Photos 1
Reviews 17
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Sam Finlayson
I absolutely love this restaurant. I go to visit relatives in the area 4-5 times per year, and we go to dinner at Garden Fresh every single time, usually the evening I arrive. The food satisfies even the most dedicated carnivore. (Note: Im a Michael Pollan omnivore: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants") The chef draws on centuries of Chinese tradition of faking meat with vegetable products for Buddhist vegetarians. Subtle touches are masterful, like adding a bit of seaweed to fake fish dishes giving just enough hint of seafood to fool the mind. Truly an art. Cant recommend a specific dish because its all great. The host is from Taiwan, and is wonderfully friendly. Even though its 2-3 months between visits, she always remembers me (granted, not all her American customers speak Chinese with her), and asks about family members who shes met during previous visits. She recommends dishes (I usually ask), and all have been great. The restaurant is small, so arrive earlier if you can, or call for a reservation. It appears most guests are walk-ins. Not infrequently there are a few folks waiting for a table on weekends. The orientation of the dining area parallels the street, so theres lots of window exposure and natural light, which is nice.
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Corin Anderson
I caught site of her famous purple Fortwo driving along Ramona and knew shed be along soon. I waited and sure enough, I saw Melinda herself walk up the street. I followed her in to Garden Fresh and we were lucky enough to get a table just as someone else was leaving. Hurray! The restaurant is small but the menu is large enough. We enjoyed scallion pancakes, crispy fried tofu, and green beans with "pork". The fake pork and green beans were okay, but the highlights really were the pancakes and tofu. Meat would not have made this meal better, and coming from me thats really saying something. We had a bonus surprise when we turned around to see our friend Ping sitting in the table right behind us. Small town, this Palo Alto. Wed go back, and wed bring our vegan-adventurous friends with us.
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A Private User
My girlfriend and I went here very recently and liked it a lot. The owner or server (might have been both) was very helpful, got our food out quickly, did our check correctly, removed plates at appropriate times, etc. We had veggie wontons (delicious), got some free soup for being first-timers - some kind of soy soup with broth (tasty) - as well as the tofu delight (okay, not overly flavorful) and kung pao eggplant (awesome!). We also got a couple glasses of chardonnay, small but reasonably priced for the portion at 3.50. Dont know too much about wine, but it good. Overall, very nice place. Also liked the small, family atmosphere. Definitely worth a shot.
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Bernd Korz
Die erste Bedienung war SEHR unfreundlich und ich war eigentlich geneigt, wieder zu gehen. Dann kam aber ein Kollege und hat mich bedient (und es ungleich besser gemacht :) ). Das Essen war wirklich gut und frisch. Preis/Leistung waren ok.
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A Private User
The food here is awesome! Seriously incredible food for a reasonable price.I havent gotten this excited about a meal in forever. Nice little atmosphere and incredibly yummy food. Having spent part of my childhood in Taiwan, I often find myself craving authentic Chinese food. This is the real deal!It filled the Chinese food craving and then some! Everything was exquisitely seasoned and perfectly cooked. Basil tempeh dish=A++ If you havent eaten here, you are missing out!
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David Liang
Food: 2 Decor: 3 Service: 2 Came here for lunch to catch up with a previous manager. Street parking, although there is a lot right across. 1. Curry tofu chicken, 8 ~Mediocre. Curry was boring and only consisted of tofu chicken, potatoes, and some carrots. Didnt really like the taste of the tofu chicken. The spicy eggplant dish looked decent though. Service was disappointing. We had to flag our server down to get our menus, and once again to get our check.
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Alice Peng
Ive been there a handful of times and while in previous trips many months ago, the food was great. This past trip was beyond disappointing. Their veggie potstickers were some of the worst Ive had in many years. The Basil Eggplant was under seasoned. It was really unfortunate that the place was so disappointing because I enjoyed it in previous trips so I specifically invited a friend to meet me there this time as his first experience.
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Joanna H
We love this restaurant so much, it is our favorite and we go as often as we can --- always amazing!! Everyone in the family has several favorite dishes to choose from - thats so tough to find when you have kids. The service is excellent. The owner is so kind and so welcoming, she makes us feel so welcome. We come here at the end of a long tough week of work and school and we leave feeling revived. Its that amazing.
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G K
4.6 was so misleading. We ordered scallion pancakes and that was amazing. Hands down, best scallion pancakes that we have ever had. Theyre even better than my grandpas (dont tell him that). The other dishes, however, was luckluster. The potstickers were too doughy for my taste but they were fine for my SO, so that depends ones preference. Our entrees, ribs and lemon chicken, was mediocre... :(
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Nikunj Syngal
Really good Chinese food place where everything is vegan! They have fake meat that they use in different dishes - "beef", "pork" and "chicken". Its a small place but the food is delicious! Go easy on the spices, though. I ordered level 2 spices on a scale of 5, and it was very spicy! The staff is really nice and helpful too! And the restaurant is located right in downtown Palo Alto!
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Carin Mary Lee
The food here is astonishing, go and go often. I never wouldve imagined such variety in vegan food, and all of it is tasty. Ive been here many times, and tasted almost everything on the menu, so I can say with confidence that there are no bad choices here. The owner is a lovely person who always treats us well, and as I write, Im planning my next visit.
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A Private User
Garden Fresh is hands down my favorite restaurant in Palo Alto, including non-veggie restaurants! The owners know us by name and are the sweetest people. Local artist artwork up on the walls. Have to get the scallion pancake appetizers. The entres are all amazing in my extensive experience, but walnut prawns are my favorite.
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Nicolas Schank
Pretty good (though you really need to like tofu to get much out of this place!). Excellent for vegans and vegetarians, of course. But be warned - their faux-meat can look pretty different from the real thing! We had to make sure we had received the right dish! Highly recommend the basil tempura.
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Jacqueline Officials
I never go back to this restaurant again, I had worst experience in this restaurant, waitress is mean to us, and she treats very different to American and Asian. This is the worst restaurant that l ever had! I would not recommend to go this restaurant!
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Mike Dvorkin
Weve loved this restaurant for almost two decades. Used to go to the mountain view location.. We were so happy when Palo Alto location opened. All these years later, still one of our favourite restaurants, despite us no longer being vegetarian.
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Rob LaPointe
My favorite veggie Chinese food place ever. The orange beef is the best and the veggie pot stickers are super good as well. Everything here is great in my opinion and most people wont know they are eating wheat gluten and not meat. Enjoy!
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A Private User
Fantastic healthy food! The basil tempura is a must. We had 4 dishes and shared--our least favorite was still delicious! Many dishes really taste like meat (for ex the orange beef) The owners are delightful, and we cant wait to return.
