Golden Garden {Snapshot}

This is a {Snapshot} based on my recent experiences at the restaurant. The original full post of this restaurant can be found here.I wrote about Golden Garden several years ago when I first discovered this unassuming little restaurant on the border of Belmont and Cambridge. Even then I was thrilled at the discovery. It’s not everyday you find a Chinese restaurant that serves dishes that are from a region not typically well represented in America.I get excited when I discover dishes or flavor combinations I’ve never experienced before. This is how I felt about Golden Garden when I first discovered it.

Since then, it has become one of our regular haunts. Parking is usually a cinch to find, and there’s never a wait for a table. The food is very good and since it’s from the dongbei region of China (northeast), it’s just a bit different from the stuff you’d typically find in Chinatown. We also get takeout from them quite a bit, since they do deliver to our neck of the woods and they offer online ordering, which is really, really convenient.Here’s some of our favorite dishes.

This unusual dish called Sauteed Pork with Tossed Mung Noodle in Brown Sauce is something I’ve never had anywhere else, and I’m really not exactly sure what regional cuisine is represented here. Essentially, you have these thick, chewy translucent noodles (possibly handmade? They are so chewy I would hazard to guess they might be) tossed together with raw cucumbers, raw onions, thinly sliced sautéed pork, and this strong, mustard (almost wasabi-like) sauce. It’s a cold dish that’s very refreshing during hot weather. Bryan loves the strong wasabi kick, and I love the chewy glass noodles.

Another one of our favorites, which is not much to look at, is Sour Cabbage with Steamed Bacon. The cabbage seems to be pickled in some way, sort of like a Chinese version of kimchee soup, yet full of rich umami from the smoky bacon that’s part of the dish. This dish is warm, soupy, and also includes thin glass vermicelli noodles as part of the dish.

They also have the classic Sichuan dish Fish Filets Chinese Cabbage with Spicy Chili Sauce (literally translated as “water cooked fish” in Chinese – such a misnomer!). Pieces of white fish and cabbage are cooked in a flavorful, spicy, and numbing “mala” broth. It’s quite good here, and it’s one of the dishes we order on a regular basis.

I always like to get simple garlic-stir fried vegetables whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant. My favorite is the stir fried young pea shoots; Bryan loves the hollow-heart vegetable, sometimes called Chinese watercress. If we can’t get either of those we’ll often opt for the Baby Bok Choy, which is something I cook at home all the time. 

Oh, I forgot to mention the best part. Their homemade dumplings are quite good and you can buy them frozen in packs of fifty dumplings. I find it to be superior to the ones sold in Chinese supermarkets. Sure they cost a bit more ($15 for a pack of 50), but it’s still a bargain compared to ordering takeout. I like to pan fry these dumplings at home (yum).All in all, this is one of our stand-bys and we probably eat here at least once a month.