China Garden Restaurant

The following is by far my favorite paper ever from my days as a TA, from a class on East Asia. The assignment was to write a restaurant review, focusing on such things as the food, service, and ambiance. The results (in this particular case) were hilarious. As it has been over a year since this essay was turned in and anything that could possibly identify the author, I figure it's safe to post now. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The China Garden Restaurant in South Provo is one of exquisite taste, foreign scents and a peculiar ambiance. In relation to the traditional American food service experiences. China Garden delivered a dinning experience quite diverse to the norm in a variety of neighborhoods.

The food was unlike my customary American dinning habits. Although it was simply a lunch meal, every meal was proceeded by traditional soup which was unlike any I've tasted before in both consistency and flavor. Unlike a typical water base with chunky meat or vegetables, this sweet and spicy soup had the texture, and I assume base, of egg yolk and was entirely strong in distinctive spicy, but not overly hot, flavors. Although packed with extras such as Tofu and Bamboo shoots, is required no chewing providing for an excellent start to a meal, stimulating the palate yet leaving its consumer prepared for a blend of new tastes. The main dishes consisted of nothing peculiar to any traditionally American dinner table but were prepared in exceptionally diverse manner. My dishes of consumption were the Szechwan pork and the General Tzu Chicken. Both were meat obviously mean based items accompanied by a rice side. Although familiar recipe items, pork, chicken, rice, the preparation was far from familiar and exceptionally more flavorful. I now feel that they way American serve rice as a side dish is truly abysmal, when the Chinese do not leave such a side dish without flavor that adds adequately to both to savory meats which were exceedingly tender and assumed the flavor of the spicy. yet sweet sauces throughout the entirety of both dishes.

The service at China Garden was adequate and seemingly authentic, as the woman who assisted in this experience was, what appeared to be, the owner of the restaurant. Overall, the service was sufficient for the customers need and not overly friendly and imposing as is the norm amongst a waiter or waitress in more traditional American dinning experiences. Truthfully is was quite refreshing to have someone who did not slack in the required duties such as refilling a glass but was not continually making meal suggestions and prodding for a tip. I was exceptionally impressed with the timing of the meal, the soup carne quickly and the main dishes carne at the perfect time as to not take over the time one was enjoying their appetizer yet no one was left waiting for their meal. This mix of adequate attention to customers and timely preparation of orders resulted in a comfortable yet professional impression of the hosting ability of the China Garden.

The ambiance of the China Garden was what struck me as the most unlike traditional American professionalism in a public business. It felt far more personal especially in the decor of the location. The furniture was much more like that of what you might see in ones personal dinning room than at a restaurant and similarly the wall decoration held a similar home-like thought. The walls were adorned with photos and pieces of art that seemed better suited for ones personal living room and although it initially felt scattered and overpowering the overall family owned feel that it bestowed upon the dinning area gave a more authentic feel given that most of the decorations were of Chinese origin with Chinese writing and an extreme overuse of the color red. The outer walls of the building, at first made me quite skeptical to enter yet found that if one would push past their preliminary distaste for the outside and even quite possibly the inner decor they could experience an assortment of strong flavors and a diverse approach to the preparation of a positively excellent meal.