Szechwan Garden

The dim sum are good. The best I’ve had in the area. The Sichuan cuisine is good as well, but I’ve had better in Bloomington, Indiana.

My husband and I love coming here. Some of our favorites are the fish in clay pot – with its great Szechuan spices that hit at different times with such depth of flavor and interesting spice, we’ve never been disappointed with any of the soups and the hefty portions. The scallion pancakes are a guilty pleasure. The barbecue pork buns are yum. We are also able to come with vegan friends who really enjoy a variety of their vegetable dishes and fried tofu. The staff are wonderfully friendly and patient if it’s your first visit too.

We had a wonderful experience at this gem located on the west side.
We went early in the morning around 10:00/10:30 and were the only people there. By 11:30 they were packed and coming around with the carts of Dim Sum goodness.
Everything was perfect and delicious. It was very authentic and flavorful.
The prices were very good and we had food to take home because there was so much. Around 15 dollars a person.
There is plenty of space for a large party.
I would go back tomorrow and try even more dishes.

This place has the best dim sum in Indiana. The food comes out super fast, too. Very nice wait staff.

I’ve been coming to Szechwan Garden for years, and I can’t believe I hadn’t already done a review. I’ve always loved it, so it pains me to give only a 3 star review, but that’s how our choices were last night. Our table shared dumplings which on their own, I would actually give 5 stars because they were just the right texture and came in a flavorful sesame sauce. We had the garlic sliced pork, which had a nice flavor; but I believe the pork might have been pork belly or something that provided us with some fatty pieces turning off a couple of people in our group. We ordered Szechuan Beef Brisket Casserole which was strips of tender beef in a brown broth with white rice on the side. It looked fantastic but basically just tasted very salty. Our friend ordered shrimp and seafood noodle soup and was very disappointed in it. It had very little to no flavor. Our other friend ordered the Singapore Chow Mein Fun which he gets regularly, but didn’t think it was up to par either. I hope on a future visit, I am able to update and upgrade to a higher rating.

Exactly what I was looking for. Traditional Chinese in Indy. Seriously, just try it. :)

First time, and definitely not the last! We were excited to get some rec’s but our server was on day 4 and clearly still becoming comfortable in his role. So we followed our gut, Unilocaler reviews and admittedly played it safe on this trip. A hot teapot and egg drop soup to start, potstickers, spicy chicken and pan fried green beans. Everything was incredible, playing it safe in no way meant we sacrificed!

I went to Szechwan Garden for lunch with some friends, and we were pleasantly surprised by the spacious and welcoming décor. We ordered some Chinese classics along with food we have never heard of before. Everything was tasty, and the portions were rather large. The waiter was not overly friendly, but not rude either. All in all, we agreed that we would like to come back again at a later date.
A week later, I took my wife and daughter. On the way, I raved about how good the food was, and I assured them that we would have a good time. We arrived around 7:00 pm, and after a minute or two somebody noticed us and we were seated. Then, we waited, waited, and waited for somebody to take our order. We had actually decided to walk out and go down the street to Ginza, but finally I caught the managers attention by vigorously waving my hand. My wife said my wave was more like a Nazi salute gone awry because my arm was so stiff from anger. We ordered some food including pot stickers, green beans, spicy chicken, and Indonesian fried rice (which I had ordered for lunch the week before). The pot stickers arrived first, and they were the best I had ever tasted. However, all the other dishes arrived separately in five minute intervals, and they were extremely oily. My daughter’s Indonesian fried rice didn’t taste anything like the Indonesian fried rice I had ordered for lunch just a week previous. It tasted like overly sweet and oily, and the shrimp was tasteless. To make matters worse, there were two kids chasing each other around the restaurant, screaming and yelling. They appeared to be the children of one of the workers at the restaurant. At one point, they rushed up to our table and proceeded to tell us that there was a goat in the back. I can’t confirm that there was indeed a goat tied up out back, but the little four year old seemed to be telling the truth. I told them I was going to eat the goat. For some reason they both disappeared, and we didn’t see them again the rest of the night.
So, other than the pot stickers and almost making two kids cry when I told them I was going to eat their pet goat, the whole visit was a waste of time! Will I be back? Hmmm, maybe for lunch.

Every time I come back here, I’m less and less impressed by the food. Still the best Chinese restaurant within a drivable distance, but the quality of the food is falling. The service sucks, but that’s not new and to be honest, I’ve never been to a dim sum restaurants with great service, and I grew up eating dim sum. It’s kind of part of the experience, if it makes anyone feel better. Overall, the food is now bland and the meat is getting chewier and chewier… huh. It makes me wonder if the restaurant is buying lower quality ingredients. Time for a new dim sum restaurant to pop up because I need my fix!

First of all, thank you Brittany S. For the suggestion, you have saved Chinese food in Indy for me. From the outside this place doesn’t look like much but step inside and be amazed. This place is huge! Very clean and beautiful. The staff was amazing. My daughter (being in her terrible twos) was acting crazy and they all quickly helped calm down the situation, bringing her a snack and a sucker. I was pleasantly surprised. I think the only problem I had was the menu; its huge! It was a bit overwhelming and hard to decide what to order. The food was great and huge portions. One dinner plate is more then enough for two people. We didn’t realize this and ended up ordering way to much food. The crab Rangoon is one of the best I have had and those pan fried green beans are to die for.

Ate here yesterday on a Friday for lunch. I’m out of town and visiting a friend in Indiana and was craving dim sum. When we arrived, it was dead. There were only two people dining here in this huge restaurant. I stood there for awhile not sure if this was a seat yourself kinda place or not. I decided to just go ask if we seat ourselves here because I was starving. Our waitress quickly apologized and sat me and my friend right away and we ordered some dim sum. While we were sitting we saw a fly trapped behind the curtain, struggling to get out. That’s exactly how I felt after our meal here.
Food arrived quickly. The char siu buns are definitely frozen premade buns I used to get back in college when I ate solely frozen food and it is definitely the same buns. 100% sure. I was disappointed but ate it anyways. The shrimp dumplings were the only good thing we ate out of the six items we ordered. The rest were subpar.
One item in particular, the «beef brisket and rice noodle» (#26 on dim sum menu) was really gross. I couldn’t eat it anymore after I tried a piece. It was just a gelatinous pool of gravy with tendons and one piece of actual brisket. I asked our waitress if I could swap it out for another item on the dim sum menu because I felt like I would be a bad person to force my friend to eat any more of this mess. I’m not sure what happened between our exchange when she agreed it was okay to the time she talked to the management but she rudely told me, «Next time don’t order this. Only Chinese people order it. Did you eat it?» Of course I tried a piece! It was all meat jello. She then told me I only had to pay half price for it because I ordered it, essentially blaming me for two things: ordering it, and not being Chinese. I didn’t want to start an argument and ruin my lunch with my friend so I nodded and said that’s fine and ordered more shrimp dumplings.
Around this time I noticed all of the staff were sitting down to eat lunch, including our waitress who had to be flagged down the entire time when there was only two tables in the whole restaurant. My friend finishes eating the rest of our meal and I’m sitting there wondering where our dumplings are. This was an unusually long time for dumplings. I started to lose my appetite thinking about how I was just treated and asked my friend to just get our check for us and the dumplings to-​go so we can leave. He looks over at the staff eating and the waitress yells over the restaurant, «I know! I know! I will get it!» She goes into the kitchen and comes out with the dumplings. She could’ve done this awhile ago instead of ignoring us and eating herself.
When we got our check she decided to mention again that I should not order this dish next time because I’m not Chinese and that «everybody» wants this dish. I said okay. I don’t see the point in trying to shame me again for not wanting to eat a pool of meat jello in gravy. We already paid so what’s the point of pointing out again that I have to be Chinese to order and enjoy a dish?
Before we even had time to sign the check and tip, the busser decided to pull a cart full of dirty dishes and utensils next to us while we’re still seated to try to clear our table. We were about to leave! He could have waited a few seconds longer, but decided instead to rush us out. A truly awful and demeaning experience.

This is my hands-​down favorite spot for authentic Chinese food in Indianapolis! I won’t repeat everything I’ve said before in previous reviews, because it all still applies! Everything I’ve ever ordered has been excellent! On my visit tonight, I had the hot and sour soup; a small serves 2 – 5; gee… leftovers to enjoy for the next couple of days… what a shame… this is the best hot and sour soup in town!
I went with one of my favorites tonight — the shredded pork in garlic sauce. The flavors are just excellent in this dish! The portions are very large, so more leftovers to enjoy!
Dry pot tofu, dumplings, all of the dim sum, Cantonese duck, eggplant, and green beans are all so good!
Service is excellent here. Our server tonight even wrote our initials and what was in each box on the lid of each container. Wow! What a nice touch! Everyone is always so friendly here; it is a consistently great spot for delicious food and great service and atmosphere!

A wonderful place for the weekend dim sum. I was pleasantly surprised a restaruant with «Szechwan» in the name which are doing wonderful job with Cantanese food. Not only the food, the staff were a group of happy people who seemeed like working there.
We ordered a bunch of usual dimsum dishes which all tasted pretty good. My favarite was the ribs and stuffed eggplants. Also tried the spicy noodle soup and the stir fired rice noodles. Spicy noodle soup was exellent. The stir fried rice noodle was too wet which was not exactly what I expected. The green leafy veggie with garlic was fresh and delicious.
The wait stuff took care of us. They do it as the typical Cataones dim sum place: pushing the cart with dim sum dishes then you just pick whichever looks good to try. They came pretty often and gave us some nice suggestions. They kept our tea going and checked with us very often. I would say I really liked the services here.
Looked they have the live seafood in the tank and a huge banquet place in the back. Would be a nice place for events.
Will definitely come back when in the area.

I’m from LA and I LOVE DIM SUM. It is one of my favorite weekend items. I know I can’t compare the food here to LA but I was surprised because it was actually really really good. Not to mention, the service was WAYYYY better than LA.
The restaurant is big and clean. The host and servers are attentive and nice! They push around carts for you to choose the food. They have an «ok» variety. It isn’t overwhelming but they do have the essential items you will find at dim sum.
The carts being pushed did have an issue with keeping the food hot. Everything was just luke warm.
We got the buns and those were on a tray and those were at room temperature. BBQ Pork buns and 奶黃包 yellow custard bun weren’t too hot.
But since this is one of the only places, I was overall impressed by them. Definitely recommend to check them out!

Had dinner here with a former coworker recently and we were both very impressed.
Ordering was an adventure for this vegetarian — the English descriptions on the menu are very brief and not every item has an accompanying photo, but they do a good job of indicating spice level. I settled on an eggplant dish with potatoes and peppers, and shared an order of green beans with my friends.
My dish was perfectly cooked, full of flavor that deliciously balanced sweet and savory, and I had enough leftovers for another filling meal. The green beans were very flavorful and packed a punch without being overpowered by the red pepper.
I will definitely be back!

SPOILER ALERT: Dim sum is only served during lunch hours, which is a complete travesty in my opinion. I went here on a date with someone craving dim sum, and to much disappointment, we couldn’t get it. Oh well, maybe one day I’ll be able to make it during lunch hours.
We ordered the pot sticker appetizers and sifted through their massive menu. I ended up selecting the sesame chicken, broccoli, and white rice. The portion was huge and I didn’t even get close to finishing the whole plate. Good leftovers! My date ordered a noodle dish, though I don’t remember exactly what one. She seemed happy enough, though.
In retrospect, we both decided that we should have just ordered a bunch of appetizers and made our own dim sum. Hindsight is ²⁰⁄₂₀.

Wow! This was the best Chinese food I’ve ever had at a restaurant. The food was all prepared very fresh and the dishes are simply awesome.
If you love authentic Chinese food, this is where you have to eat in Indy at least once. The prices are a little higher than normal asian places. But are no higher than an average place. Check it out!
We ordered the dumplings for the appetizer and they had the best sauce. Then our party of 4 split 3 dishes and there was more than enough food.

I ordered hot boil fish, greens in oyster sauce and pot stickers and the pot stickers is amazingly delicious, greens in oyster sauce is really fresh and boil fish is so so, but still recommend, and they provide dim sum before 4 pm^^

I was about to tell you how much more I love this place with every visit until I realized I’ve said that before… well, it’s true and nothing has changed. A group of friends and I chose Szechwan Garden as our dinner spot on New Year’s Eve. Family-​style authentic Chinese eats while all dolled up? Don’t mind if I do. I’ll even wear a stretchy dress to make things easier…
The spicy greens are still one of my favorite dishes here but I would now like to add the tofu dry pot to the list. The beautiful presentation of this dish at our neighbor’s table left us asking for a version of our own. There are quite a few spices in the silver tin bowl along with peanuts, lemongrass, big chunks of tofu and broth that poured perfectly over rice.

Since my family came to visit, I decided to bring them here so that I could finally try the dim sum. First comment was ‘There’s dim sum in Indiana?!?’ Yes parents, even though you guys coming here probably increased the Asian population of Indy by 1%, there are some restaurants with dim sum.
First comment when they actually saw the place was ‘A szechuan restaurant has dim sum???‘
We came on a Tuesday and there were a decent amount of people. However, it still took them a few minutes for anyone to even acknowledge us and almost another 5 minutes before we got our menus.
Because they didn’t have the dim sum carts, everything was ordered from the menu and came out nice & piping hot.
The cheurng fun (or crepes as the menu calls it) was decent. My mom commented that they used regular soy sauce instead of the sweet cheurng fun soy sauce.
Highlights/​/​
Lo mai gai (lotus leaf wrap) — had a strong lotus leaf smell when you opened it. I thought the rice to filling ratio was perfect. My dad was a fan, which is saying a lot.
Custard Roll — was soft and fluffy. We ordered them twice, two days apart. The second day was disappointing because they weren’t as smooth.
Egg Tarts — highly recommend. The crust was nice and flakey and the filling was very smooth. My dad used to help these make them for his dad’s street cart and even he said that these were good.
Coconut Pudding — my mom and I thought it was too sweet. But other than that, it had a good coconut flavor and a nice, smooth texture.
Definitely don’t recommend the beef chow fun. It was bland and wayyyyyy too oily even though we asked for less oil. The chef also didn’t cook it well because the noodles were broken into really small pieces.
Everything else we got was decent but nothing really noteworthy. My dad commented that the food tastes like what he was eating as a kid in the 70’s. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
We came again for Thanksgiving lunch and got acknowledged much more quickly. Service when we actually sat down was still very lacking.
Final verdict: food was pretty good but the service was not that attentive again.