zen garden

10 out of 10 for authenticity - everything that you would expect from a chinese restaurant - low ambiance, poor service, low cost per person topped off by food that's "good enough" :)

we had a number of courses:
- hot 'n sour soup (good, but could've been spicier)
- jelly fish and cucumber cold starter (really good, if you're adventurous, give it a go)
- roast pork belly cold starter (a chinese classic, really good, not too fatty with agoodcrispy crackling)
- deep fried won ton (meh, i think they were frozen)
- garlic vegetables (nice and tender)
- crispy calamari (tasty, but quite a small portion)
- salt 'n pepper prawns (fat, tasty prawns, and a decent sized portion!)
- roast duck (tender and juicy, but not as tasty as fong mei's duck)
- rice (lots of it!)
- steamed and deep-friend buns with condensed milk (i don't have a sweet tooth, but these were really tasty)
- jasmine tea
- oranges (on the house!)

as always, service is really not great, but that's expected right? highlight of the night was a zulu waitress who appeared to know the chinese names of the dishes we ordered, that's a winner!

i'm sure i'll be back!

wonderful dishes , and quick service ,. to make your experience good. agoodplace to recommend , and will not fail your appetite.

i've been craving a delicious yum cha session for ages, and since my cantonese grandfather is in town he suggested we visit zen garden on sunday. the restaurant is typically chinese, from the kitsch forest wallpaper to the moody orange lighting, and a standard fish tank housing some strange looking creature in the front. the ladies helping barely speak english so it was nice having some relatives there to order the tasty dishes.

you order from a lady by a stand housing ornate little steamers filled with delicacies ranging from char siu bao to chicken feet. we picked a few dishes from there and also ordered two bowls of chook (my childhood favourite, thick rice soup which is perfect comfort food). the chook could have done with a bit more flavour and i'm not a fan of the cooked lettuce, but it was still good. the lady also mentioned one of my other favourite childhood dishes, cheong fan, which is flat rice flour pancakes filled with prawn or pork in a sweetish sauce, so we ordered two portions of those. they were delicious. the pork ribs were full of flavour, and there isn't much meat on them so every bit counts. the chicken feet, bao and beef noodle dishes were all verygoodas well.

i don't know if it was all the nostalgia of having authentic chinese food again, but i thoroughly enjoyed the experience and i would go back for the yum cha anytime.

* we came again for sunday yum cha last week, and i got to try my favourite dish: the beef flank hot pot. delicious flavour but the meat was a bit too chewy.

i've only had take always at this chinese restaurant. their sweet and sour beef is tasty - however the sauce is clearly out of a bottle, but i don't mind that sometimes.
the owners and staff are friendly, thegoodis average.

really delicious authentic chinese food at its best!! it's been around for years and it never disappoints. i love a place i can always rely on for agoodmea

this place serves authentic chinese food which is really good. the dim sum (i think they only have this over weekends) is also verygoodand well priced. the tv that is tuned to cctv 4 can sometimes be set to a very loud volume which can be annoying if you are trying to enjoy your meal without distractions. management normally hides behind the counter and don't seem to be very involved much but the rest of the staff are much friendlier