In the spirit of the Olympics...

Yep, another Chinese restaurant. We visited the midtown branch of China Garden, which appears to be a local chain for lunch on Monday. This is of the ornately-decorated, gold-and-red, big-gold-lion-dogs-by-the-door school of Chinese restaurant. They have a pretty ecumenical panAsian menu with a good variety to choose from. I had Bul Go Kee beef and Mr Eating Alaska had Sesame Chicken, which is one of his benchmarks. My beef was a bit gristly, but had a good flavor. It came with a side of tempura carrots and celery, which had a slightly odd texture, but tasted good. However, like many other batter fried things, you need to eat it pretty quick, lest it become soggy and oily. When I started the veggies, they were pretty good, but they got icky by the end of the meal. The Sesame Chicken had a good sweet and sour sauce which was not as thick and sticky as it normally is. Overall, it is a passable restaurant.