Maggie X.
Yelp
Disappointingly the worst experience I've ever had at a Cantonese restaurant, in the states or (more disappointingly) in Hong Kong. After this meal, I looked up this location of Jade Garden and saw that while other locations seem to have high ratings, this one is understandably low. I suppose this location is a fluke, but gosh the management here needs to do something about the quality of service and dismal food.
Service was absolutely awful, food was mediocre at best with sky-high prices, and apparently it's common practice to be dismissive and downright rude to customers multiple times. Ambiance was lacking with dirty chairs and carpets, not to mention cramped spacing. Every question was met with either dismissal or impatience from the staff, and the one smile we witnessed the entire meal was from the waitress who cleared our plates.
Duck breast with osmanthus:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=JtzqYPU40-vu_LnYvXDHlg&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
Osmanthus is my favorite flower, not least due to its fragrant quality in dishes. I was excited to try this since I thought that the osmanthus would pair really well with duck, but there was zero osmanthus flavor. The breast itself was smoked and tasted more like ham, which I could have lived with, but the soggy skin and almost-gelatin fat underneath hinted that the duck had just been sitting in a refrigerator somewhere for a while. I was also confused as to why there were steak fries on the bottom.. they added absolutely nothing to the dish and absorbed the duck's sogginess to become unappetizingly watery potatoes.
1/4 Crispy pork:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=DmdJLedZSxsIb2fA3J-06Q&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
I've had some of the best crispy pork, duck, chicken, and geese in Southern China, but this was by far the worst. For the asking price, I was expecting some seriously exceptional crispy pork or at least a bigger portion because I mean.. one or the other, right? The meat underneath the crispy skin was paper-thin and lent no flavor, and the skin on top had obviously been removed and reheated.
Poached sea whelk with bean sprouts:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=_7ch23ETBE8uXv_DwjPzcw&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
This was probably my favorite dish of the night, but that's not saying much honestly. It was the most visually-appetizing dish at least. The sea whelk was poached nicely, and I liked the pairing with bean sprouts and bell peppers and green onion on top. But coming from a girl who likes salad with no dressing and prefers pretty much unsalted everything, this dish was underseasoned. The whelk was poached and thus had no flavor, the bean sprouts were poached and thus had no flavor, and the overall dish lacked any distinct.. you guessed it, flavor. Maybe the chef just forgot to add the salt?
Lobster with kimchi:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=0NlRjSk_zAxMReC1eIEe5A&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
This lobster was not fresh. That's enough to spoil any lobster dish, but the glass noodles were also overcooked and the kimchi flavor was strangely sweet. I think it's dangerous to cook lobster in a clay pot because it's a protein that is easily overcooked, but because the clay pot retains its heat much longer after it's taken off a flame, it's difficult to control when it stops cooking the food within. The lobster went from okay to rubbery within minutes while the glass noodles went from soft to mush.
I lost hope with this meal after this fourth disappointing dish and gave up taking photos, but we also ordered stir-fried pea sprouts with garlic, braised pomelo skin, and pork trotters in clay pot. The stir-fried pea sprouts were so overcooked that I had trouble picking them up with chopsticks. The braised pomelo skin was again underseasoned and presentation was lacking as it was cooked in a brown sauce and there were no garnishes or any additional elements to contrast the murky color. The pork trotters were a frustrating tidbit, as I asked our waiter twice when we were ordering if he had written the dish down and he had confirmed yes. When we waited over thirty minutes after our last dish had arrived (and after asking two different waiters to check on the trotters), we finally saw the waiter who took our order and asked him. He printed out our receipt and handed it to me, saying that we hadn't ordered it initially because the receipt didn't reflect it. With that kind of logic, it's no wonder the state of this restaurant.
It took over half an hour for us to receive our check, which seems laughable because I mean.. we're trying to give them money. After we sent it back, it took another half hour to receive a receipt and only after we'd aggressively flagged down another server to ask about it (she also tried to wave us off by telling us we hadn't paid yet which is why the receipt wasn't there).
Travelers and locals alike, please avoid this location.