Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Bamboo Garden

4002 Prince George Dr
Prince George, VA 23875
                The other day Amanda and I wanted something quick and easy for dinner; so we decided to just run across the street and order Chinese from Bamboo Garden.  In my opinion, most Chinese restaurants are identical. They usually have the same atmosphere and décor, offer the same food, and sell it for close to the same price. Bamboo Garden followed this same structure. While it can get a little boring with all Chinese restaurants being the exact same, it is nice knowing what you’re getting no matter what Chinese place you’re at especially when the workers speak broken English at best. 
                Inside Bamboo Garden there was only one other patron waiting on his order.  On one wall was a large Chinese style painting and on the other hung a huge mirror. Black tables lined the walls leaving a large space in the middle of the restaurant.  In one corner, there was a television blaring a rerun of “River Monsters” in the others were long neglected plants thirsting for water and attention.  Behind the counter sat a young Asian woman taking orders and pudgy little boy pretending to do homework but actually playing on a Gameboy and hidden in the kitchen were three Asian chefs who apparently spoke very little English but know their way around an eggroll.  The counter was covered in menus, chop sticks and a variety of sauces and above it on the wall were brightly lit pictures of menu items completely void of any words explaining what they were.
                Amanda and I do not stray too far when ordering Chinese. As usual we ordered General Tso’s Chicken with fried rice, an order of white rice, and 2 egg rolls. Amanda had called the order in so I only had to wait about five minutes to pick up our food. I then strolled back across the street to our house. All of the food looked, smelled, and tasted good and just like it does at just about every other Chinese restaurant. The portions were the same as you would find at Tops China, Dragon Place, No. 1 Chinese ect. and it cost the same too.  Everything was cooked to order and cooked well.  Bamboo Garden was and is in every way exactly like every other Chinese takeout restaurant. It was not anything special like Red House or Chen’s but it was not bad; it was good, typical Chinese food.
                Bamboo Garden does not break any new food barriers; I didn’t expect it to.  It offers good, reliable Chinese food not any better or any worse that any of the hundreds of other Chinese restaurants. I will definitely go back because it is extremely close and it would be dumb to drive anywhere else and get the same stuff for the same price when I can just walk across the road. My advice in terms of Chinese restaurants is simple, go to the one closest to where you live.

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