Cherry Garden

149 Emerald St #37
Keene, NH 03431

(603) 357-0543‎

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So Cherry Garden may not have been on my published short list of venues to review, but it ended up being the first restaurant I managed to go out to. I’m adamant about reviewing a venue’s complete dine-in experience, even if I’ve had takeout or delivery numerous times, and in this case it turned out to be an important factor in my impression of the restaurant.

The dining area was completely empty when we arrived, apart from a middle-aged couple sitting at one of the booths. Normally this would be a very bad sign at 5:45 PM, just before the evening “rush.” However, Chinese restaurants in college towns are a special case, and tend to have a lot of their business in the form of delivery and takeout.

We were seated immediately, and our waiter arrived within a minute or two to take our orders. He was quite sharp, but incredibly hard to understand because his voice was barely audible. In spite of that setback, we made our orders without any confusion, and then prepared ourselves for the long wait. The last time I ordered takeout from Cherry Garden, I ended up waiting 40 minutes, nearly twice as long as was estimated over the phone.

The wait gave us time to take in the atmosphere. The restaurant was quite clean (even the restrooms, while quite old, were clean). The booth we were in was comfortable, but I just couldn’t get over the padded plastic tablecloth. It felt like we were going to be eating off of a diaper. There was quiet traditional Chinese music playing (the kind you’d expect to hear from one of those push-button demo boxes you might find in supermarkets or gas stations). As unnerving as being almost completely alone in a restaurant during the dinner rush can be, I found that I rather appreciated the peaceful environment.

Our tea and water came relatively quickly. The tea was a bit cooler than I’d like (hot tea shouldn’t be chuggable when it is first served to you). The only appetizer left for us was an incredibly sad plate of cabbage. I can appreciate that cabbage is probably excellent for clearing your palate, and perhaps some would even enjoy that plate of pale and floppy vegetable matter, but I’ll take fried noodles as over that plate of rabbit food any day. Aren’t appetizers supposed to be appetizing? Perhaps it was intended to make the main courses seem that much better in contrast.

Much to our surprise, our food arrived a mere ten minutes after ordering. I was greatly relieved that my previous experience was not repeated. We had ordered two dishes in the spirit of stereotypical Chinese takeout: General Tso’s Chicken, and Chicken with Snow Peas. The General Tso’s, quite possibly the most recognizable Chinese-American dish, was the deepest, most complex incarnation of the dish I’ve ever had.

The success of General Tso’s Chicken rides heavily on texture. If you deep fry chicken and then leave it in sauce for too long, you lose the juxtaposition of sauce, crunch, and flesh that is so vital for the General Tso’s experience. Thankfully, this chicken was fried and sauced directly before being served. The chicken was quite hot, and the pieces were large and plentiful. The sauce was well seasoned, and instead of a few dashes of hot sauce, it included split chilies, providing a good body of flavor along with the heat. However, it was a little mild for my tastes, and I’m not at all a masochist when it comes to spicy food. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that I could have asked and gotten it a little bit spicier than usual. Overall, this dish was delightful. Cherry Garden has set a new standard for reasonably priced General Tso’s Chicken.

Sadly, our second dish, Chicken with Snow Peas, was not so inspiring. The peas and carrots were cooked properly, and were decent (not quite farm fresh, though), but the chicken was downright depressing. It was lukewarm and soggy, presumably from the juices of the vegetables, and as pale as a marshmallow. The entire dish shared a single flavor: bland. It was certainly quite edible, and not necessarily unpleasant, but it might as well have been ground into paste and consumed from a jar. Somehow, this brought me back to the uncanny feeling that I was eating off of a large diaper. The thing that irked me most about this dish was that it would have taken so little to make it more interesting. Just a touch of seasoning or a sauce to bind it all together would have made a huge difference. That being said, it certainly wasn’t a complete failure. I’ve surely had worse Chinese food, and this likely just seemed lacking when stacked up against the highly successful General Tso’s Chicken.

My only other major complaint is that the rice had clearly been stored in the serving bowls, and had developed a bit of a crust over the top. Last I checked, it really isn’t that challenging to make a big batch of rice right before the dinner rush and to scoop it as you need it. The entire dining experience seemed to be hit or miss. One aspect is delightful, and another disappointing.

The check came promptly and we paid on our way out. This may be a minor detail for some, but I greatly appreciate being able to watch someone swipe my credit card and hand it back to me. Restaurant wait staff are among the most likely to commit credit card fraud, as they regularly have access to the credit cards of patrons while behind closed doors. Also, being a particularly impatient human being, I like being able to stand up and pay at my leisure (in my case, leisure may be somewhat of a misnomer).

Overall, the outing was a success. The upsides greatly outweighed the downsides, and even as we speak, I am salivating at the thought of their General Tso’s Chicken. Just writing this review has me thinking about calling for takeout tonight.

 

As a side note, this is my first review on the site. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, and if you think I’ve overlooked something or you don’t agree with me, I encourage you to put your thoughts in a comment so that others reading this review can benefit from your insight.