China Garden Buffet

FOOD

Beef with mushrooms gives the West Kemper Road China Garden a substantial Chinese-American entree to begin with. The dish combines beef with plentiful mushroom caps and slices in a dark sauce. The mushrooms’ earthy character is a natural partner for the meat, and the sauce makes rice a useful accompaniment. It is one of the more particular dishes within a changing hot-food selection that includes both sauced entrees and fried foods.

Spicy shrimp and chicken brings a mixed seafood-and-poultry dish into the Chinese selection. It is the choice to consider when you like some heat with the hot entrees. Shrimp makes the preparation a little more varied than another pan of chicken alone, while the rice and noodle accompaniments let it become a substantial part of lunch. The beef-and-mushroom dish offers another direction for an appetite drawn to darker, savory sauces.

Fried chicken wings are part of the savory selection, with a substantial coating around the bone-in pieces. Crab Rangoon supplies the familiar filled, fried wonton among the appetizers. In the usual Chinese-American preparation, Rangoon pairs a rich filling with a fried wrapper; the pleasure is in that small, self-contained bite. The wings are a more substantial fried choice, while a few wontons fit comfortably into a meal built around the sauced entrees.

Egg-drop soup offers a gentler accompaniment to those fried foods. Ribbons of egg run through the yellow broth, the familiar result of stirring beaten egg into hot soup. A bowl makes a reasonable beginning before the richer meat dishes, or something to enjoy alongside rice. It is included in the buffet, alongside the appetizers and larger hot dishes.

Rice and thin noodles are both substantial parts of the hot selection. Small vegetable pieces appear through the rice, while the noodles form long, tangled strands. They suit the sauced beef and mixed shrimp-and-chicken dish, but can also take up more of the meal when noodles are what you came for. A little beef with mushrooms over rice is a familiar combination, with the sauce carrying through the grains; the noodles provide another accompaniment to the mixed hot dishes.

Broccoli and carrot are among the hot vegetables, with generous green florets and orange pieces adding to the selection. These are worthwhile foods to consider alongside the meat dishes, especially if you enjoy a meal that gives vegetables a substantial place. The broccoli belongs naturally with the darker sauces, and the mixed vegetables broaden that part of the meal beyond the mushrooms already served with the beef.

Cookies and marbled cake are among the sweets. The cake shows contrasting light and dark sections through its crumb, with smaller cookies alongside it. These are familiar baked desserts after the Chinese hot dishes, offering a closing course for an appetite that still has room for something sweet.