I like Chinese food but it usually takes a back seat if I’m given my choice between it or far more exciting Asian cuisines such as Thai or Vietnamese. That said, I’ve reignited my love for it after revisiting a restaurant I’ve neglected for far too long, Garden Wok in Reseda. Part of the reason I’d been away for so long is that Garden Wok is located just a couple miles away from my favorite restaurant in the entire universe, Vinh Loi Tofu… so whenever I’m in the neighborhood Vinh Loi usually wins me over. Not this time however, and I’m glad I strayed for once as the food at Garden Wok is superb.

My last visit to Garden Wok was way back in 2007, and I really enjoyed it then too. Their menu is extensive, offering Cantonese-American style cooking, 99% of which is vegan, while a few of their faux meats do contain whey (and everything is clearly marked on the menu so there’s no confusion). If you don’t like meat analogs this isn’t really the place for you… while they do have noodle dishes, soups and the like, their specialties revolve around the amazing things they do with fake chicken, beef, pork and fish. This stuff is delicious, homemade, and nothing like the same old stuff that all the Thai places are serving (which all tastes the same and may or may not be vegan). You don’t have to worry about mystery non-vegan ingredients imported from Taiwan finding their way into your food here, Garden Wok makes it all from scratch using stuff like taro root, yam, wheat gluten, mushrooms and seaweed. What they do with those ingredients is something extraordinary.

But first a non-meaty appetizer. Have a gander at the vegan Cream Cheese Wontons: “Non-dairy cream cheese blended with spinach, water chestnuts and white pepper wrapped in crispy wonton skins. Served with sweat plum sauce”. These were incredible! You might remember I got to try similar cream cheese wontons before at Vegan House… those were great and I raved about them accordingly, but these wontons at Garden Wok pretty much blow those off the map. There was a lot more going on inside than just cream cheese, you could really taste the spinach and crispy water chestnuts. The taste was delicious, the texture just shy of totally melted and creamy- a truly perfect fried starter, these were devoured in no time at all.

This here is the Orange Veggie Chicken: “Zesty orange slices, soy and chili paste wok’d with red chili peppers, served with steamed spinach”. So good, it had a full citrus flavor that was both spicy from the chili and sweet from the tasty batter and awesome sauce. The “meat” itself is really good, I can’t say that it tastes exactly like real chicken, but who cares, real chicken is gross and this stuff isn’t. The texture has a nice meaty bite and if I didn’t already know this place was vegetarian I would have probably asked to make sure I wasn’t served real meat, it’s that realistic, only better. Even the steamed spinach was excellent, a nice balance to the sweet & spicy chicken which helped me pretend that because I was getting some green vegetables in, that eating all this fried food wasn’t quite so naughty. Please don’t ruin the fantasy by telling me otherwise.

This next dish really rocked my world. These are the Crispy Fried Chinese Mushrooms and I want to marry them. They didn’t skimp by using boring white mushrooms, I’m pretty sure these were shitake mushrooms as the taste was full-bodied, deep, woodsy and earthy. They were coated in some kind of delectable sauce and covered in sesame seeds then fried to perfection. You’ll notice that I use variations of the words “fried” and “perfection” in unison quite often- sometimes such repetition is necessary, and this is one of those occasions. These were nothing less than fantastic- if you’re a mushroom lover you absolutely must try them. If you’re not a fan of the humble shroom, I’d actually suggest skipping this dish as the mushroom flavor is quite strong… but in the best possible way. I love that the taste of the shitake doesn’t get lost in the cooking process, even though they are indeed fried (hey oil, I love you), it’s done with a light touch and they aren’t at all greasy. The texture is something so unique you just have to experience it for yourself.

Garden Wok doesn’t have a website that I was able to find (hey GW, hire me, I’ll build you a site that kicks ass!) but what you can expect when you go there is an awe inspiring selection of Chinese dishes you’ve come to know and love, as well as many unique items you may have never heard of before. It’s located in a mini-mall with plenty of parking in the heart of Reseda, not far from the 101 freeway. Their address actually says they’re located in Tarzana, and while that might be the official city listed for this location which makes it sound a little nicer, anyone familiar with the area knows it’s about as Reseda as Reseda gets. If Reseda* means nothing to you, I suggest listening to some Tom Petty and watching the Karate Kid just to get yourself properly prepared for this next leg of your journey. Bon Appetit!

Garden Wok
6117 Reseda Blvd
Tarzana, CA 91335
(818) 881-8886

* Little known fact: The epicenter of the 1994 Northridge earthquake wasn’t actually in Northridge at all, it was in neighboring Reseda (and directly under my house).

Garden Wok, along with it’s sister restaurant Vegetable Delight, are two vegan Chinese places in the area I’d heard and read much about but not yet had the chance to try. My chance finally arrived to visit Garden Wok in Reseda (Vegetable Delight is in Granda Hills), and my only regret is not having tried this place sooner.

As an appetizer I had the Lettuce Wraps: “Fresh lettuce heads filled with minced fresh mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, soy chicken and dried tofu stir-fried in delicious hosin sauce”. These were so tasty, the lettuce was perfectly crisp, the filling excellently flavored… the sauce was both bold and subtle at the same time, not too salty. This tasted and felt very “meaty” with delightful crunch from the bamboo and water chestnuts. Non-vegetarians would be hard pressed to miss the meat in this one.

For the main course I had the Garden Three Ingredients: “Combination of veggie-chicken, veggie-beef and veggie-shrimp stir-fried to perfection in a delicious ginger-soy sauce with broccoli, carrots, zucchini and mushrooms”.

Again, this was awesome. I loved the flavor (I love anything ginger flavored actually) and all the faux meats where delicious and convincing. I believe the soy shrimp they use here is not entirely vegan (it contains whey), and this is stated clearly on the menu so you can make your choices carefully.

What I liked best about these dishes as that they were very light and healthy, not overly heavy and greasy like a lot of Chinese food tends to be. Good stuff, I can’t wait to go back and try more.