A new option for Chinese food

MARYSVILLE – A Herald reader writes to say her family “discovered the Chinese restaurant (Harvest Garden) quite by accident and are we glad! We’ve been back four times because the food is so good.”

The Harvest Garden, which opened recently, has two large dining rooms and a separate bar. The dining rooms are decorated with red Chinese lanterns and the walls are painted with the traditional yellow from the lanterns.

Everything was neat and orderly when we arrived on a recent Saturday, ready for the lunchtime rush. But there was only one customer ahead of us and a couple arrived as we were finishing. This made for extra-attentive service in the dining room and too-hot-to-eat food from the kitchen.

The menu features all our favorites from the Mandarin, Hunan and Szechwan cuisines, including cashew chicken ($7.95), Hunan garlic prawns and scallops ($10.25) and Szechwan pork ($7.55).

The house specialties include peppery prawns, lemon chicken and fish in a hot bean sauce. These come with chicken salad, barbecued pork slices, crabmeat dumplings, soup and steamed rice ($12.95 per person). They are the most expensive item on the menu.

For those of you who prefer chow mein over crispy noodles, it’s on the menu. The chicken or pork chow mein is $6.25 and prices go up to $6.95 for the house chow mein over crispy noodles.

Lunch specials range from $4.95 to $5.95 and are available daily. My friend and I arrived in time to take advantage of the lunch specials, but the individual combination dinners sounded just right. We both selected combination “A,” at $8.25 each.

When our won ton soup arrived, we both mentioned that it had been a long time since we’d had won ton soup because so many places now serve hot-and-sour soup as the soup du jour. Our soup, made with chicken broth and a soft won ton, was a welcome change of pace.

Our order also included barbecued pork slices over barbecued-pork fried rice, egg roll and sweet and sour pork. All of them were tasty but none was a standout.

But the two chicken dishes got higher marks. My friend gave the almond chicken an “A.” I agreed and rated the chicken lo mein a little above an “A” but not quite an “A+.” Obviously, it was “A”s all around for the food at Harvest Garden.

Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.

Contact Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.