Szechuwan Garden

Szechuwan Garden
8851 Central Ave Ste A
Montclair, CA 91763
909-625-1878

David Allen reviewed, Szechuwan Garden, and told readers about the history of this space in a strip mall that is still stuck in the 1980's!  The first restaurant to occupy this space was Royal China in 1987.  Then Golden Buddha. Golden China opened in 1998 and closed in 2014.  This is David's review of Golden China, the last restaurant that occupied this space. 

The strip mall is interesting in that there are four restaurants total, and a Jenny Craig diet center.  The older exterior, though well maintained, could use a renovation.

The restaurant has a small waiting area, then a huge size room in the middle and another good sized room in the back.  It wasn't that busy during my visit.  Maybe six tables of people, including a big group of maybe 8-10 people, during my visit.

Vegetable fried rice, $7.95 with bean sprouts, green onions, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, and broccoli.  This was very flavorful and well cooked.  Portion size was great and well worth the price.

Shrimp with mix vegetables $13.95-broccoli, mushrooms, water crest, snow peas, and bok choy.  While the veggies were mostly broccoli, they were all well cooked and the sauce was outstanding.  The shrimp was medium to large sized shrimp was also well cooked.

Vegan chicken and broccoli, $12.29.  Surprised to see vegan items at a non vegan Chinese restaurant.  The broccoli was well cooked, but the lack of sauce made this a dry dish.  Now, the vegan chicken was just some soy protein sliced.  It lacked flavor and seasoning.  Not worth the price and I wouldn't order this again.

Service was good.  There were two people working the front of the house, maybe the owner and his wife?  Anyways, they were friendly and helpful.  But, there was nobody at the front waiting area and I just stood there for a few minutes before the man noticed me.  Maybe somebody called in sick and they were short handed?  Not that big of a deal, but being greeted by somebody as you walk into their restaurant sets a good tone for the meal!

The food, expect for the vegan chicken, was good but I found this place to be on the pricey side.  Portion size was good, quality of cooking was good. But, this is Montclair, not Beverly Hills.  I would go back, but won't rush.