Fortune Garden Asian Cuisine

Reviews 13

CH

Christian Krogsgaard

Was looking for some Chinese food in Santa Cruz. The place is very casual, borderline to a convenience store. But fair enough with that. I ordered Egg rolls as appetizer and Peking Spareribs - which was listed on the white board as todays special - and vegetable fried rice. I asked to have the Peking Spareribs spicy - which was declined. I asked again, and it was declined, but I was offered to have some jalapenos on the side - which I declined since I am of the opinion that jalapenos belong in Hispanic/Latin food, not Asian. Asian food uses simple red chili peppers. Then the waiter - who was polite, but very busy - came back that they were out of Peking Spareribs. I then ordered Shredded Pork in garlic sauce which is listed as spicy. Eggrolls came first - nothing special, one actually have asparagus inside which is wrong. Then the shredded pork arrived together with vegetable fried rice. Fried rice was okay, fairly big portion - but I have had better. I give one star for that. The Pork was absolutely disgusting. It had more gooey cucumber and totally lack of flavor and garlic and general Chinese vegetables. Its a pity because I work in Asia, and I have had many many great experiences with Asian food, wether it being Korean, Mandarin, Thai, or Chinese. When a dish is listed with garlic, which is a very easy onion to prepare for great taste, it such a disappointment to find the dish totally lack the garlic flavor. And it had no spicyness of any kind. In general my disappointment with this place lies in the total lack of respect for preparing Chinese food with such great flavors. Chinese vegetables such as Cabbage, carrot, beansprouts, bamboo shots, garlic.... red Chinese chili peppers was just not there. Total flavorless experience. Very disappointing! The little plate on the table had salt, pepper, soy sauce, which is fine - the soy sauce was actually good (thats my second star) - but then it had Sambal Oelek which belong in Indonesian dishes and not Chinese. Chinese should have some chili pepper flakes in oil. The restaurant is okay clean, a fairly simple selection of beverages which is good enough, nice and cold. Price is fair, and the portion size to price ratio is good. But the food is not worth taking home. Sorry about this negative review - but I know for a fact that Chinese food can be much much much better. Good luck.

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thomas West

this really is a little hole in the wall restaurant but my mom and I make it a habit of trying all the different restaurants out. And let me tell you this place surprised the heck out of me. the food is very tasty and when we first discovered it we came back for four days in a row that just doesnt happen. I lived in the Santa Cruz area since 1964 and I am not kidding when I say youll pull up to the place and youre gonna say oh no lets go somewhere else well dont do it because you will of missed some really good tasty Chinese food. its been taken over by new people so the old cranky nasty guy that used to own it is no longer there so give it a chance I love it.They have fat pot stickers, their chowfun is the kind, their portions are excellent and I cant say enough about the place they have very fresh vegetables and they know to cook them. alright thats enough give them a try youll see what I mean dont let the outside appearance fool you.

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Sean Mikawa

Friendly staff, mostly empty probably due to its tucked away location. They have a few featured dishes on the wall you might not see elsewhere that looked interesting. I found they err on the lighter side, with the fried rice being sort of plain with sparse bits of vegetables. The fish with black bean sauce was good and something Id get again. The Szechuan chicken on the other hand was surprisingly bland. There was a little spicy symbol next to the name, but I couldnt taste even a hint of it nor much of any other flavor. The chicken itself also seemed like it needed some trimming as there were many little inedible bits that halted me in just about every bite. I might try it again sometime as I tend to give the benefit of the doubt, but there are plenty of better options not far away.

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Seabright Ink

I just picked this place at random cause it was close to my house. I ordered the sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, egg rolls, and mushu pork. I am a sweet and sour connassuer, a picky one at that. Their chicken and batter is probably the best Ive ever had!! The sauce was really good!!! They obviously make it from scratch, very sweet with a touch or sour, it could be a touch better, I would just like it to be a little more pink. I know, its stupid, I just like my sweet and sour pork or chicken to have a deep bright pink colored sauce! Makes it taste better, atleast in my own mind! But other than it being the wrong shade of pink, it was One of the best sweet and sour chickens Ive ever had!!!! Every thing else was excellent.

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Linda T

I always order the fish in black bean sauce, the bbq ribs & also a veggie dish with rice!! Everyone I take there, always Thank me for letting them know about this little gem of a restaurant!! Love their Food and Kind serverers!!

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Andrey Jara

Best chinese food in town. Tastes more authentic than other places. Good portions and tasty classics. Always good hot and sour soup and great lunch menu.

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Cami

Love this place. I go often and they always remember I like two tea bags instead of one! VERY Sweet owners and great food!

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Mara Cullen

Beware, the "cheese " wontons have CRAB in them, its not shown on their menu. I learned the hard way.

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Julian Garcia

Food is pretty good but the service was a little lacking.

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Kurt Ringer

My favorite Chinese takeout and has delivery

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Kaipistos Koumatos

Great place. Favorite Chinese food in town.

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Becky Hill

Best Won Ton soup in town!!!!

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Monique Cuevas

Wet one

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