Gourmet Garden

Food was good, price was decent. Portions were too small. No water after the first glass or at least it seemed like it. Waiter was new and didnt come by often to offer anything. Room was way too hot. No windows or doors opened or AC running.

We had, hot and sour soup– very good, spring rolls –okay, Fried rice-​very good to excellent, Stir fried mushrooms with baby bok choy, Stir fried beef with jalapeño, and Boneless chicken in garlic sauce (spiced up by request), all three was EXCELLENT! Peanuts have been boiled in an awesome liquid, best in town! Seen some other dishes go by that looked good too! Will definitely be back. Want to try Spicy Whole Crawfish for sure! BTW, service was excellent also!

Alright everyone, Bloomington doesn’t offer many great options for Chinese food but Gourmet Garden has really fixed that problem! We stopped in here last week and were very pleasantly surprised. First of all, it was packed on a Thursday night so we knew it was probably pretty good. We sat down and got a menu, which has sooo many options! You can get vegetarian options all the way to cow tongue and livers, if that’s what you are into. we ended up getting spring rolls, which were delicious and came with a very sweet and pleasant sauce. Then for our entrees we shared stir fried broccoli which was really fresh and not overly cooked! Then we had Sesame chicken as our other meal. The sesame chicken was delicious! It wasn’t an overly «traditional» choice but we wanted to make sure we would like it. The entrees come with sweet and sour soup which was quite tasty and great for the cold winter day! The service was so friendly and quick! Plus, this place is affordable! Each dish was about $ 7 and the serving sizes were very large! Ultimately, great first experience!

Lamb testicles? Ox tongue? Duck intestines? Pork intestines, anyone? Going once, going twice, sold!
Gourmet Garden certainly specializes in Szechuan/​northern style comfort and street foods. The menu is extensive ranging from rice entrees, noodles, and even hot pot. Since we were here for lunch, we ordered a few lamb skewers (only $ 1.50/each), wonton in spicy and sour broth, and a spicy wonton (dry version in garlic chili oil). Complementary boiled peanuts seasoned with 5 spiced salt and bay leaves had the perfect snap. They were quite addictive.
The spicy cumin lamb skewers were phenomenal, still sizzling hot right off the grill just like ones I had at the street cart vendor in New York a few years back. Seriously, I could just order 10 of those and make a meal out of it. The wonton was a little different than what I’m used to (not in a bad way at all). It had a thicker wrapper stuffed with a generous amount of pork. The spicy broth was vinegar based topped with chili oil, which satisfied my sour craving. The dry style wonton had a wonderful garlic-​ky aroma, not recommended for smooching afterwards. If you’re looking to ward off vampires or just a bad date, then there you go.
Before we got our check, we had to order a «Chinese hamburger (rou jia mo)» to go, just because we saw it on some Youtube travel vlog. It’s like an English style muffin in size, cut open like a pita pocket, made with a mixture of wheat flour and water giving it a chewy texture filled with marinated chopped pork (kind of like pulled pork in BBQ sauce) fried in a pan. Yeah, it’s a little greasy… but aren’t our American butter burgers just the same? Indulge. Don’t pass it up!
My fiancé said this place beats out some of the more well known, busy, ritzy Szechuan restaurants we’ve been to in Chicago. If it’s served in those typical cheap plastic plates and bowls, then you know it’s got to be authentic. Oh, and if you’re looking for orange chicken, that would be labeled under «American Chinese» food section. Those of you are not forgotten.
Bloomington is VERY lucky to have such a gem because they have unique menu items that can’t even be found in Indy. Additional plus is it’s quite affordable and portion-​wise pretty large. Next time we make a trip down south again, we’ll stop by to try something new!

I have been on my continuous drive to try every Chinese place in town. They rotate so fast and seem like they are popping up at every corner. This is a trend I have craved.
I can’t believe this little shop just popped up without me realizing it. I went once, got hooked, and had to go back again that week. And… it truly does not break the bank to do that! I got a lunch special both times (served generously until 5pm). Comes with rice and soup for… *drum roll*… $ 5.86!
They have a great selection of options on their lunch specials too. I would say 40 types of options and more than 1 is vegetarian (a problem we run into with «specials»).
Both times, I ordered and got my food within 10 minutes. Only odd thing, first time hot tea was free and second time it was $ 2. I don’t know which is right but don’t mind paying for it.

We loved it! We had never had hot pot before, but the food was great and the service was awesome. Definitely a good place to try! Best Chinese in Bloomington.

Most things I’ve gotten here have been super good. The only thing that could improve is more variety in each dish (include some veggies with the meat, not just a dish of meat) and less bone shards in some of the meat dishes.
Boneless sweet and sour fish tastes like a fish donut in the best way. It is a lot of food though, so the taste can wear you out.
Fish filet in chili oil with garlic is lovely, but it’s also a huge, shareable dish. Great flavor and meaty fish.
Service is pretty friendly, and will take time to explain dishes to you if you’re unsure, which is great!

I really love this place’s Sunday evening deal for $ 5 American Chinese dishes served with rice. What a deal for a meal! As advertised on Hooked, the meal served with rice was prepared very quickly and remained hot even after pick-​up to take home. When I arrived, the younger employee magically recognized that I was picking up this particular dish so I was quickly escorted to pay. There was a confusion that rice did not come with the meal, but it does and they were so kind to offer at least three apologies. Nice family run business!
The Kung Pao Chicken had so much chicken! The whole peanuts were crunchy and the sauce was smooth and tangy that soaked nicely into the velvety white rice. I did find some boney parts in there so once the vegetables and rice were eaten, I left the leftover chicken.

Authentic Chinese restaurant. These only place offering squirrel fish (songshu yu) in Bloomington.

I was thinking about giving 4-​star or 5 to this place and I finally decided to give five.
Pros:
1. Service. Compared to other Chinese restaurants in town, the service here is better organized. I sat near to the counter so I can really see how they work. They work like restaurants in China: each table has a number (A1, B3, etc.) and people know well where each number means; a lady is in charge of all distributions of dishes: when the dish is out from the kitchen, she can immediately announce where the dish should go and the waiter or waitress will deliver the dish. This is really simple but I have to say that many Chinese restaurants do not know how to work this out…
They seem more professional too. They dress the same shirt (as the uniform of the restaurant) and move quickly. When it is not busy, they will come over and ask how the dishes are.
2. The flavor is good, among the best in town. And the hot and spicy dishes are very good.
Cons:
1. The service is good but can be improved as a restaurant in the US. Of course, as a typical Chinese restaurant, I think their service is good enough. But, just like when you are in China, you have to ask for napkins, ask for more water, and when it is noisy you have to shout and get their attention.
2. Some dishes can be improved. I ordered «Shui Zhu Niu Rou», but the beef in it is not in slices. And «Yu Xiang Qie Zi» (eggplant with garlic sauce) is not very authentic, more like «Hong Shao Qie Zi».

Really great food, the lamb with scallions is amazing. Staff is friendly and helpful. Food is served family style (everyone shares) and everything came out ever fast. Apparently they deliver too!

Cheap, decent tasting food food. For all the compliments Midwesterners give the Chinese restaurants around Bloomington, Gourmet Garden is the first one that I’d feel comfortable bringing my friends and family to. Its food that’s closer to what you’d find at home in the kitchen the other places around here.
The portions are huge here and its relatively inexpensive, and has one of the better menus around. Some items are more hit-​or-​miss than others, but the Winter Melon Soup and the frog dishes here are above average and modestly priced.
Gourmet Garden is a great place to go for homesick Chinese students. From the food to the décor and the service, its reminiscent of some very good, humble restaurants.

My absolute favorite Chinese restaurant in Bloomington. Food is delicious, make sure and try the whole fish in sweet-​and-​sour sauce… melts in your mouth. Food is fresh, plentiful and flavorful, staff is friendly and delightful. It is a must go to restaurant.

This was my first visit and I will go back and try other dishes. So accept this as my initial impression, unvarnished by greater familiarity. I believe this is probably very authentic Chinese food. That does not mean Americans will like it, but there were many Chinese in the restaurant when I visited which also tells us much.
Some of my reservation is that I need to become familiar with this menu to understand what comes with rice and what without and what will have some vegetables with it. I am very pleased that this is not one more taste alike Chinese-​American take away. So I will give them another try or two to understand and see if I can love it.
I ordered crispy chicken to try a major dish, forgetting that for «real» Chinese cuisine it would be prepared whole and then diced with a cleaver bones and all. Flavor was okay, but not worth ordering again soon.
I also had a beef dish and was surprised at how little meat there actually was on the generous portion of rice. It was perfectly nice but pedestrian and unexciting in flavor. I desperately wanted kim chi to help it out. Or something.
I had steamed bread, a small loaf, thinking it would be like a large dumpling with bean paste inside. It was just a steamed loaf, perfectly nice, perfectly plain and uninspiring. Next time I will not bother.
The limited English language of the pleasant staff made getting explanations and advice difficult (impossible). The cooking seemed to take a very long time though I had a book to pass the time and was not impatient.
If you were familiar with the quirky carnival cosyness of Rachel’s you will be amazed, even dismayed, at the sterile and Spartan interior. I fear it will feel frigid in winter but they are only 6 weeks open and may liven the place some.

I’ve been here twice and have been very impressed both times. Authentic Szechuan food (not Americanized, although there’s a separate page on the menu for «American Chinese» dishes), and well-​prepared. Friendly staff, and huge portions – you’ll have some left over to take home. For authentic Chinese food in Bloomington, this is definitely 5 stars.

This was the worst version of Chinese food I have ever had. Spicy crispy chicken fried parts were unidentifiable, dry with no sauce of any kind, and salty beyond words. The cumin beef dish had a sauce, if you consider a plate full of oil sauce. All of this with hot tea and a whopping $ 28 bill for lunch. Never again.

Best Chinese I’ve had in Bloomington since I arrived here! A lot of dishes beyond the run-​of-​the-​mill Chinese-​American… Wish I had a place like this in my hometown. Cheers!

Great food, but the portions are gigantic. My meal could feed a family of 4. Not even joking. They can make it as spicy as you want. You could do a lot worse in Bloomington than coming here.

The best Chinese resturant in town. The Sweet & sour fish is excellent. Chinese style BBQ and hotpot is really worth to try. I recommend all of you guys come here, severs are very nice.

They have greatest food and best service in bloomington. A lot of Chinese people go there. It feels like a home rather than a restaurant. It is the REAL «Taste of China».