Ordered the small double dragon. The gravy was so salty I couldn't eat . There was a big grisly piece on my filet mignon. Other than that, it was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Eric F.
My dear friend Maureen has lived in McHenry county for decades, and she swears that Plum Garden serves the BEST Chinese Restaurant style food that Chicago's northwest suburbs has to offer. So when she moved me here, after my total destruction in Los Angeles, following 27 years of living there, the first Chinese eatery that she took me to was this one, because she knew that authentic Chinese cooking meant a lot to me, and that I deeply missed my old home. And, while eating our lunch special - even as she made "yummy" sounds over her food here, I sat dumbfounded, because for me, it wasn't Chinese food at all. I guess that after living for so many years in the heart of America's most authentic Chinese food making community, the "626", I just couldn't Fall for the hideously Americanized dishes that Plum Garden presented as being actual "Chinese" food. So, to review this place fairly, I instead have to look at this stuff as simply "Chinese-inspired food" adapted to succeed in the culinary exile of McHenry county - and in McHenry county ONLY". That being said, let's take a deeper look into the imitation Chinese food that is offered here. First, the POSITIVES. Plum Garden is spacious and clean. Even the bathrooms are pristine (for public bathrooms). The dining area is large, with an odd decor of semi-fake Chinese style artifacts hanging on the walls, and a loose theme of Chinese astrological signs permeating whatever bits of restaurant materials that it can, from placemats, to menu covers, to coasters. This offered at least some reading while one was waiting for their food. I have eaten here three times, because Maureen loves me, and she thinks that this food makes me happy, being 'sort of' Chinese, which she knows makes me feel 'at home'. So I have tried a number of my own lunch dishes here, as well as tasted all of hers. We have never come here for dinner, because dinner here is almost twice as expensive as lunch, and the lunch portions are huge. So, I can only review LUNCH. But lunch here is a good deal. We received SOUP, An APPETIZER (an enormous chicken Eggroll, a meal in itself), a MAIN COURSE, and RICE (plain or fried). The fist time I order Sweet & Sour Shrimp, and Maureen ordered Chicken Egg Foo Young. Both were pretty darned good. For our second lunch here I ordered Mongolian Beef (or so they called it), and Maureen ordered General Tsao's Chicken. These were both tasty but less successful than our first lunch. On our third visit I ordered Garlic Shrimp and Maureen ordered Orange Chicken. Again, these were both less successful than our first lunch. Overall, the food here is tasty, but it's not really Chinese. It's not even As Chinese as Panda Express, but it is better - fresher - more homemade - and the portions are MUCH Larger. The service here is also good, even though there is not an Asian face in sight. To wrap the Good things up - the Lunch is a good deal, everything tastes fine, and I went home with enough leftovers that they took me two days to eat. They even gave me a to-go cup for my tea. One last good thing is, at the end of the meal we got fortune cookies. Old School. The NEGATIVE things: Music played loudly, filling the dining room with an in congruous selection of some pre-selected play-list of 1980's rock, no doubt the result of the owners purchasing a generic contract from Spotify's "commercial 'background music' selection for businesses". And the few others in the dining room were all old, like me, and the music playing loudly had Nothing to Do with Any of us. When I asked the manager to change the music to Chinese, or at least to lower the volume of the 'canned' music she refused. Also, on two out of my three trips the staff got my order wrong. The first time was when they brought me Sweet & Sour chicken breast instead of Sweet & Sour Shrimp. They corrected it quickly, but still, I'm a demanding bitch, and a lot of other people wouldn't h
John Musnicki
Mushroom pot stickers were great
Mike Walsh
So I ordered the Hong Kong chicken for pickup. I get home to find they now put the vegetables in a separate small plastic container. I assumed they messed up since all I asked for was extra oyster sauce. I called and was informed that what I got is now how they make it. I think it’s an excuse to make it even smaller portions than you already get. I have no desire to have to piece my meal together and thinks it’s bad. I’m disappointed. I should have my choice how I want it made. Highly disappointed
Keith Klein
Great food! The house specialty Hong Kong Chicken is amazing! Never had a bad experience here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hong Kong Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Orange Chicken
K Man
The atmosphere was nice. But the food was horrible. We tried many different dishes and ended up throwing all the food away. The meat tasted spoiled and we both felt sick after eating here.
Adam Feltner
Our server was great. Thanks D.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sammie Lynn
Don't recommend. Good isn't that
Food: 1
Sandra Platero Martinez
We were waiting more than 40 minutes for our food and it didn't arrive. We told this to the manager and she didn't agree with us and we had to leave without eating anything.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Jennifer Ingraffia
An egg roll and Hong Kong Chicken is a must! So good!!
HUGE, HUGE disappointment! My husband and I have dined here many times, and when we attend a fest if Plum Garden is there we always eat from their stand. Tonight we went to the restaurant for dinner. I ordered an egg roll and I regret not taking a picture. The server tried telling us that there were no changes made. It was totally different than what we've had in the past. The meat was minced, not chunky, no shrimp, no sprouts, not crunchy, and was very dry. I didn't eat it. The Hong Kong Chicken was good, but the sauce was thinner/watery. It used to be a little thick. It also had a different flavor, and was dark in color. I remember it being more light in color. Unfortunately this is our last time eating their food. My husband and I both agree that the restaurant and the food are far from as ice and good as they used to be.
Anthony Vallone
Been a customer for 20+ years… Place has gone severely down hill… quality and the experience.. they also decided to add a $20 tip on my grandmothers order last week.. it was a $20 pick up order and they added $20 for them selves.. I do not tip on pick up orders for someone handing me food.. I even had a picture of my receipt with signature and they still gave me a hard time getting my money back.. Will be going to Pea Pod from now on
J St
The BEST egg rolls! & possibly the best American Chinese food around. Very well executed dishes; very high quality meat being used! Seasoned to perfection; not too salty or sweet. The batter on the Hong Kong chicken is so light. The oil used for frying is the correct temp; nothing fried is greasy or oily.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hong Kong Chicken, Cashew Chicken
William Bryce
OK, time for my mixed review. Had lunch their a few days ago and I will start by saying, service was top notch. Now, I ordered honey crisp chicken. I never had it before and didn't like it, (my daughter had the leftovers and liked in). My main gripe is my white rice was cold, I mean refridorator cold. my daughter had Mongolian Beef and loved it. And finally the CHICKEN EGG ROLL, the best I have ever had.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Dave S
This place absolutely has the best egg rolls. The lunch deals are very reasonable and well worth a try. I had the beef and broccoli and it literally was a mound on my plate and having leftovers was a guarantee.If you're in the McHenry area and love chinese food, do yourself a favor and give plum garden a try.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef and Broccoli, Egg Foo Young
Ordered the small double dragon. The gravy was so salty I couldn't eat . There was a big grisly piece on my filet mignon. Other than that, it was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
My dear friend Maureen has lived in McHenry county for decades, and she swears that Plum Garden serves the BEST Chinese Restaurant style food that Chicago's northwest suburbs has to offer. So when she moved me here, after my total destruction in Los Angeles, following 27 years of living there, the first Chinese eatery that she took me to was this one, because she knew that authentic Chinese cooking meant a lot to me, and that I deeply missed my old home. And, while eating our lunch special - even as she made "yummy" sounds over her food here, I sat dumbfounded, because for me, it wasn't Chinese food at all. I guess that after living for so many years in the heart of America's most authentic Chinese food making community, the "626", I just couldn't Fall for the hideously Americanized dishes that Plum Garden presented as being actual "Chinese" food. So, to review this place fairly, I instead have to look at this stuff as simply "Chinese-inspired food" adapted to succeed in the culinary exile of McHenry county - and in McHenry county ONLY". That being said, let's take a deeper look into the imitation Chinese food that is offered here. First, the POSITIVES. Plum Garden is spacious and clean. Even the bathrooms are pristine (for public bathrooms). The dining area is large, with an odd decor of semi-fake Chinese style artifacts hanging on the walls, and a loose theme of Chinese astrological signs permeating whatever bits of restaurant materials that it can, from placemats, to menu covers, to coasters. This offered at least some reading while one was waiting for their food. I have eaten here three times, because Maureen loves me, and she thinks that this food makes me happy, being 'sort of' Chinese, which she knows makes me feel 'at home'. So I have tried a number of my own lunch dishes here, as well as tasted all of hers. We have never come here for dinner, because dinner here is almost twice as expensive as lunch, and the lunch portions are huge. So, I can only review LUNCH. But lunch here is a good deal. We received SOUP, An APPETIZER (an enormous chicken Eggroll, a meal in itself), a MAIN COURSE, and RICE (plain or fried). The fist time I order Sweet & Sour Shrimp, and Maureen ordered Chicken Egg Foo Young. Both were pretty darned good. For our second lunch here I ordered Mongolian Beef (or so they called it), and Maureen ordered General Tsao's Chicken. These were both tasty but less successful than our first lunch. On our third visit I ordered Garlic Shrimp and Maureen ordered Orange Chicken. Again, these were both less successful than our first lunch. Overall, the food here is tasty, but it's not really Chinese. It's not even As Chinese as Panda Express, but it is better - fresher - more homemade - and the portions are MUCH Larger. The service here is also good, even though there is not an Asian face in sight. To wrap the Good things up - the Lunch is a good deal, everything tastes fine, and I went home with enough leftovers that they took me two days to eat. They even gave me a to-go cup for my tea. One last good thing is, at the end of the meal we got fortune cookies. Old School. The NEGATIVE things: Music played loudly, filling the dining room with an in congruous selection of some pre-selected play-list of 1980's rock, no doubt the result of the owners purchasing a generic contract from Spotify's "commercial 'background music' selection for businesses". And the few others in the dining room were all old, like me, and the music playing loudly had Nothing to Do with Any of us. When I asked the manager to change the music to Chinese, or at least to lower the volume of the 'canned' music she refused. Also, on two out of my three trips the staff got my order wrong. The first time was when they brought me Sweet & Sour chicken breast instead of Sweet & Sour Shrimp. They corrected it quickly, but still, I'm a demanding bitch, and a lot of other people wouldn't h
Mushroom pot stickers were great
So I ordered the Hong Kong chicken for pickup. I get home to find they now put the vegetables in a separate small plastic container. I assumed they messed up since all I asked for was extra oyster sauce. I called and was informed that what I got is now how they make it. I think it’s an excuse to make it even smaller portions than you already get. I have no desire to have to piece my meal together and thinks it’s bad. I’m disappointed. I should have my choice how I want it made. Highly disappointed
Great food! The house specialty Hong Kong Chicken is amazing! Never had a bad experience here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hong Kong Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Orange Chicken
The atmosphere was nice. But the food was horrible. We tried many different dishes and ended up throwing all the food away. The meat tasted spoiled and we both felt sick after eating here.
Our server was great. Thanks D.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
Don't recommend. Good isn't that
Food: 1
We were waiting more than 40 minutes for our food and it didn't arrive. We told this to the manager and she didn't agree with us and we had to leave without eating anything.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
An egg roll and Hong Kong Chicken is a must! So good!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
HUGE, HUGE disappointment! My husband and I have dined here many times, and when we attend a fest if Plum Garden is there we always eat from their stand. Tonight we went to the restaurant for dinner. I ordered an egg roll and I regret not taking a picture. The server tried telling us that there were no changes made. It was totally different than what we've had in the past. The meat was minced, not chunky, no shrimp, no sprouts, not crunchy, and was very dry. I didn't eat it. The Hong Kong Chicken was good, but the sauce was thinner/watery. It used to be a little thick. It also had a different flavor, and was dark in color. I remember it being more light in color. Unfortunately this is our last time eating their food. My husband and I both agree that the restaurant and the food are far from as ice and good as they used to be.
Been a customer for 20+ years… Place has gone severely down hill… quality and the experience.. they also decided to add a $20 tip on my grandmothers order last week.. it was a $20 pick up order and they added $20 for them selves.. I do not tip on pick up orders for someone handing me food.. I even had a picture of my receipt with signature and they still gave me a hard time getting my money back.. Will be going to Pea Pod from now on
The BEST egg rolls! & possibly the best American Chinese food around. Very well executed dishes; very high quality meat being used! Seasoned to perfection; not too salty or sweet. The batter on the Hong Kong chicken is so light. The oil used for frying is the correct temp; nothing fried is greasy or oily.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hong Kong Chicken, Cashew Chicken
OK, time for my mixed review. Had lunch their a few days ago and I will start by saying, service was top notch. Now, I ordered honey crisp chicken. I never had it before and didn't like it, (my daughter had the leftovers and liked in). My main gripe is my white rice was cold, I mean refridorator cold. my daughter had Mongolian Beef and loved it. And finally the CHICKEN EGG ROLL, the best I have ever had.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
This place absolutely has the best egg rolls. The lunch deals are very reasonable and well worth a try. I had the beef and broccoli and it literally was a mound on my plate and having leftovers was a guarantee.If you're in the McHenry area and love chinese food, do yourself a favor and give plum garden a try.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef and Broccoli, Egg Foo Young