Savory Garden Restaurant

Great service, they gave us extra turnip cake because the first ones were ugly. I love taiwanese food and their «rice burritos» are always out by 11 so you know it’s good.

i was so excited that i discoverd this [new] taiwanese restaurant because sd is very lacking in that department. they have a huge menu but everything is just ‘ok.’ ive been back a few times to give them a few chances but so far nothing has stood out.
i do believe that people are being too critical however with their 1 or 2 stars.
the food isnt horrible, and there is so much on the menu. it’s worth at least a try.
plus the price is decent and the staff is friendly.

What an insult to Taiwanese food. and food in general! I should have seen the signs, it was a Friday night and this place was DESERTED in a heavily trafficked area. The second bad sign was when one waitress didn’t know what was in their Dan Dan Noodles and had to send over someone else to help us.
We ordered the Taiwanese Style Fried Chicken, Niu Rou Mien and the Noodles with Special Meat Sauce. The Taiwanese Style Fried Chicken largely consisted of gelatinous corn starch pieces attached to tiny pieces of dark meat chicken. The flavor was good but, the quality of the ingredients ruined it. The Noodles with Special Meat Sauce*…was decent in the sense that I would eat it if I were forced to come here again.
AND, the Niu Rou Mien. Everything rides on perfecting this dish if you’re going to call yourself a Taiwanese restaurant and Savory Garden EPICALLY FAILED at this attempt. Wait. you’re actually going to call this Niu Rou Mien? It tasted like you opened a can of beef broth and combined it with some noodles and tough pieces of beef. There was no depth, no five star spices, no incredibly tender meat stewed for hours, no hearty broth. Savory Garden called this Niu Rou Mien. I call it a disaster.
This place was disappointing as expected and I don’t ever hope to have to come back again.
*Also, the words «special» and «meat sauce» should never be combined. Just HOW SPECIAL? o. O

Potential competitor to Liang’s? Not even close.
Our hero was eager to try this place to see if it could deliver the real deal in Taiwanese cuisine in San Diego. Sadly, the niu rou mien (beef noodle soup) broth was like dish water and the taste was way too bland for a dish that requires a more complex blend of ingredients in the broth. The only ingredients in the dish seemed to be cubed beef, noodles, greens, water, and soy sauce. Honestly, Savory Garden probably has the worst Taiwanese beef noodle soup our hero has ever had, and that alone is deserving of a one star rating. The Taiwanese fried chicken is all dark meat and of poor quality. The noodles with special sauce were questionable, but somewhat edible. Service here was also a bit English-​challenged and had to get someone else with a better knowledge of both English and the menu item to answer questions when asked about them.
PROS:
— You can conveniently hit up the 99 Ranch just steps away to cook a better meal yourself afterwards.
CONS:
— Their ingredients are very low quality and their dishes are pretty half assed.
— This is a poor imitation of real Taiwanese food that tries to cover too much ground and doesn’t do any of it well at all.

tip: great location doesn’t help the food
beef noodle broth was not a beef broth but simply a soy sauce broth, implies that no time and effort was taken to make the broth. xiao long bao tastes just like the frozen ones across the hall in ranch 99 (those may even be better). scallion pancake was very flourly and not enough scallions. price was average, no value though. Overall, a subpar tw joint with good service and location.

In SD, we lack some good quality Chinese food. If you read Cherie T’s reviews, she’ll also tell you that.
Savory Garden was a place that Cherie found, hoping that they would have good XLB, Dumplings, etc; we tried it out.
The food is very much so a 2-​star situation. The dumplings we got are about the same quality as the store bought dumplings, and I would almost say that they are store bought. The skin is thick, the meat was just okay with regards to flavor. We ordered both XLB and pan fried dumplings. As we left, we were still hungry and didn’t want to fill up here just because it didn’t really seem GOOD. It was just okay.
Service was 2.5 stars. The back of the house had maybe 3 or 4 chefs. The front? 1 guy scrambling to serve everyone in the restaurant. Since we went early, there were only 2 tables as we started. When we left, there were 6 and it took a while to get our check. Not because he was negligent, but because he was busy. The dude worked hard and I felt bad for him. This place needs more help in the front end. I should also note, he speaks very little English.
Overall, I’d probably not go back again. I’ll go up to LA and bring back some frozen ones from P.P. Pop or Mama’s Lu. Albeit, this place still has the best dumplings I’ve had in SD.
TL:DR — Decent food and service needs improvement. Go if you NEED XLB.

I first gave it a 3-​star for sub-​par services; then changed to 4-​star for improved services. Now I’m down-​grading to 2-​star after my dinner last night.
The food has gotten worse. Xiao Long Bao (steam pork dumplings) is now no better than frozen pack that one could DIY at home. My diced pork noodle was warm, not hot. The BBQ dishes (chicken, pork and string bean) are average at best.
I really want to like this place because it’s close to work. I’ll go there again and hope that it’ll improve.

the food is pretty good here. prices are kind of high but its a good place to try dumplings. i’d go again

168 (it’s original name) used to be the back up option if Sam Woo (at the other end of ranch 99) is too crowded. So today, same thing, Sam Woo was super crowded at lunch so went to this one. It changed its name since we last visited. So did the food. All they have on the lunch menu are not even Taiwanese. We decided to ordered some Taiwanese dishes, the pork chop lunchbox and the chicken tight lunchbox. Even only 3 tables were occupied at lunch time, our orders did not come after 20 mins.
Finally it came, the quantity is so tiny. And both dishes are 200% deep fried. The pork chop tasted like beef jerky and the chicken tasted like preserved meat. After finished, stomach got sick since it is so hard!!!
While we were eating, heard another customer was complaining to the boss lady that her beef noodle soup tasted like salt water, with no other spices, just salt (soy sauce precisely). The boss lady went back to the kitchen and we overheard her talking to the chef that their beef noodle soup was supposed to be eaten (or drinking) with the noodles so if do that, it won’t be too salty… what an excuse!!. I have never heard that you cannot just drink the soup itself.
For other services, it sucks too. When the deep fried pork chop dish came, they came with a spoon… how am I supposed to eat a whole deep fried pork chop with a SPOON? so I asked for knife and fork. Then the waitress came back with a KNIFE only? I am sorry, I don’t know how to use a KNIFE to cut with a spoon! so I had to ask for the fork. Well, can’t give them any credit for the services like that.
Next time, if Sam Woo is too crowded, better go back and have instant noodles to safe the $$ and the stomach. Will never visit again. Missed 168!

Decided to check them out one night after grocery shopping at 99 Ranch. The place was empty, so I thought I’d give them some business. Ordered the beef wrap which was surprisingly good. The flour pancake itself was perfectly crisp and flaky, the beef slices were more than sufficient, the sauce was perfect, and I found a lot of cilantro in the wrap which I had no problem with, as I love the punchy cilantro flavor that resulted from it.
Service was a bit lackadaisical. I wasn’t even asked if I wanted a beverage, nor was I offered some water. Guess I just had to speak up.

This review should really be a 2.5 star, but the flaws here are apparent enough for me to not want to grant the extra star to upgrade this review up to 3.
I had such high hopes for this place after hearing that they’d had a change in management, because the style of food that they serve here tugs on my heart strings and reminds me of home so much, which may have added to my sense of bitterness at being so thoroughly let down by this place.
The place is clean enough, but the waitstaff is inexperienced or perhaps just apathetic and mediocre at best, forgetting our order and not checking up on us. I feel if the service was more attentive and friendly, it might have made up for the mediocre food, but that didn’t happen.
My group and I ordered the Szechuan Wontons, which were overly vinegary and nothing like any of the other renditions of this dish I’ve ever tried before at other establishments. The wontons themselves were flavorless and somewhat dry. I got the Noodles in Special Meat Sauce for myself which lacked any real flavor, was drenched in oil, and the noodles were also overcooked, served sopping wet in a good inch of leftover cooking water.
The whole experience was just plain unappealing in general. I wish I could say I wanted to give this place another chance, but the more I think about it, the less inclined I feel to pay for another disappointingly mediocre meal here.

Yi Ping Yuen, or Savory Garden Restaurant, replaces what used to be 168 right next to San Diego’s 99 Ranch, and is billed as a supposed authentic juàncun (military dependent village) style cuisine eating place, likely boiling down to a harmle$$ competitor to Liang’s Kitchen.
I’ve already come to terms with the fact that if you want solid kickass regional Chinese in this part of town, you would have to schlep up to Rowland Heights/​Hacienda Heights… you know the «other» part of the SGV.
But… other than Little Sheep and maybe the overrated not so good Liang’s Kitchen, Savory Garden is quite the oasis (considering Sam Woo on the other end really does not look appealing at all to me).
Small storefront and as others have said, friendly but not terribly experienced waitstaff. There is a very pretty looking menu with a wide range of selections, but ultimately you have to make your selections on the checksheet, which has much fewer options. So if you see something on the regular menu, but is not on the checksheet, ask. They didn’t have boiled dumplings, as turnover on them seemed low.
Would have immediately ordered beef noodle soup, but alas we stuffed ourselves with vegan phở during lunch.
Fried chicken leg rice plate — took a pick after the drumstick was being consumed, but this was one helluva delicious Taiwanese style fried chicken thigh and leg execution. What’s even wackier is that their prep was deliciously juicy and moist on the inside, and the outside had crispy skin (without any batter), and reminded me of an excellently done Cantonese fried chicken called Dza Dzi Gai. Large a$$ scoop of rice with rou zao (minced puffy/​airy pork braised in soy sauce), leafy green veg, pickled mustard greens, a stir fried egg omlette with veg. A real generous portion at a hefty bargain.
Chive box (jiu tsai her zi) — very mildly greasy (or was it condensation). Had a much better one at… Panda Dumpling in San Carlos (don’t fret at the name) as well as Sun Tung in San Mateo NorCal. Not bad
Pork and cabbage pan fried dumplings — checked box this, and thought I was getting boiled dumplings but did not read carefully. These were done pseudo pot sticker style, but were shaped like boiled dumplings, but pan fried… maybe jian jiao are more appropriate to call them than guo tieh. Surprisingly decent.
Ca$h only… and the noodle soups from other tables (mostly customers from the Mainland) looked really good… even the Suan La Mian (hot and sour noodle soup) and the beef noodles looked decent enough.
Other than that, I don’t really see how this joint exhibits juàncun, other than sporting a somewhat similar menu to Liang’s. Yes they have noodles, dumplings, cold appetizer dishes, and that signature beef onion pancake roll (maybe the only dish that Liang’s does that I like). But other than that, treat this place more like a mish mash regional Chinese comfort food fare that appeals to both Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese expats lonely for that fix of something to remind them a little of home, and you’ll be fine.
Sam Woo on the opposite end of the building in the back, reminds me of some typical San Francisco Chinatown or Sunset run down greaseville kind of restaurant. Maybe better than nothing Cantonese for SD, but I’ll take my chances again at this pseudo juàncun joint called Yi Ping Yuen.
Closer to a 3.5 in reality.

I enjoyed my pork chop lunch «box.» Although the pork chop’s coloring didn’t look all that rad, it was still pretty tasty and came out hot!
Petty complaint: The egg roll was barely warm. I could have used some sweet and sour sauce on the side.

A pretty forgettable place. As I try to remember what I eat, the unforgettableness is weighing heavily. I do remember having a beef noodle soup that was watery and lacking a unified flavor. The dumplings were a little better but not by much. Not coming back.

Good food, clean place, friendly service.
The prices were higher than I expected for a restaurant tucked in the lobby of a Chinese supermarket, but had it been a stand-​alone building, I wouldn’t even notice the prices.
The only other thing that was distracting was their menu ‘checklist’. You’re supposed to mark what you want (as you would at a sushi place) on this double-​sided ordering checklist, but not everything in their extensive menu is listed here. Maybe they could work on completing the checklist.
Meanwhile, the food doesn’t need improvement. We tried the following:
1. dumplings in spicy ‘soup’
2. stir fried vegetables
3. scallion ‘boxes’
4. potstickers
5. beef noodle soup
6. cold sesame noodles
We checked out the dishes on our neighbors’ tables, and they looked good as well. I’m going back to sample other items on the menu. I hope you will give it a try too!

Just opened for a month or so, and their food I would say is just average. Prices are on the higher side, but they do have a few good things on the menu. They are much better than 168 which was previously there.
Good beef wrap, they have the right proportions of beef, sauce, and green onion.
Shrimp fried rice was good, but on the saltier side.
Soup was very good, clean broth without being bland.
Roasted Pig Feet is delicious! Highly recommend it. It is nice and savory without being too salty.
Service is fast and friendly.

I was here with roommates to try because it was new or technically, it replaces a chinese restaurant that was there before. We ordered the house special beef noodle soup and pork chop lunchbox, but we are quite disappointed with what we have. There is nothing special at all about the soup. In fact, I can maybe make it on my own at home. It was bland, no kick at all on the beef, and the noodle is of mediocre quality. The soup looks and tastes mediocre. I asked my room mate about her pork chop, and she said it was not that good too. On the way home, we’re basically complaining how we spend $ 8 for «that» kinda food, and wish to go somewhere more decent to satisfy our appetite. Will never come back again because it’s quite pricy with nothing to justify its cost!

Second time here, chow ma mien was not good at all. I miss 168’s Chow Ma Mien. Very disappointed. foods are just bland in this place. Don’t think I will be going back for the 3^rd time :(

168 had been the closest thing in SD to an authentic Chinese dive. It also happened to have pretty good staples like noodles and fried rice.
It’s too early for me to say whether Savory Garden can successfully inherit the 168 mantle of divey-​ness. I can’t say the situation looks promising; it’s cleaner and well-​lit. Tsk-​tsk.
I ordered the kung pao chicken mostly because the pictures here on Unilocal made it look ¾-​ways-​decent. And it was, though it was lacking in the PAO department. I should know by know never to trust Taiwanese handling of Sichuanese dishes. I think the spice shipments must get lost when they cross the straits or something. As an appetizer, I ordered the Onion and Egg «hezi» (I have no idea how to translate that). Likewise decent and likewise missing a stronger flavor.
My date ordered the fried pork lunchbox. When it arrived it looked totally unappetizing to me. Everything looked really drained of color. At least the pork tasted ok if unspectacular though my date said she really liked it.
Consider this a 2.5 star rating. I ended up giving it a 3 because I have faith that the 168 ghost must still linger somewhere. Hopefully, it’s a benign one.
Summary: It’s a «A Chinese Ghost Story» but instead with food that makes you long for better days.

We went to go to enjoy our old favorite 168 restaurant. To our surprise someone had cleaned the place up and put new tables in. I asked the girl on the way in what happened and she said it was under new management. We found out the new name is Savory Garden. I was three bites in to our meal and not missing the old 168 at all.
We started off with the Szechwan wonton (10 pcs). Our table of four had them finished so fast we had to order another because we couldn’t believe they were so delicious.
Next dish to the table was a scallion beef. Our mouths watered as our teeth dove in to the delicate sea of moist tender beef. The gravy was slightly sweet with onion and spicy yet not over powering. The vegetables were not over cooked and firm with a nice slight crunch.
Next on the menu for us was the Kung Pao chicken. Now you have to understand the setting, we just came off the high of those first two spectacular starters so I think that may be why the chicken left us wanting something more. The dish was good but not quite as good as the first two.
Then, to save the flow of the meal, came the mouthwatering pork eggplant. The pieces were cooked to perfection and the sauce was tantalizing as you bit in to the freshness of the eggplant. The dish was definitely one of the highlights.
At this point our second order of wontons came and it finally occurred to us we hadn’t gotten any rice. Everything was so much better when we topped our rice with it. But it was kind of strange that we had to actually ask for it. I’ve never been to a restaurant like this that you had to ask for rice. Not sure if she forgot or if they just don’t give it to you unless you ask.
Whatever the case was, the waitress was super friendly and the service was excellent. As the lunch hour wore on the place got packed and the dishes we ordered to go took a very long time to get. It serves us right for not ordering earlier before the rush came. Overall we all had great things to say about the food and everyone in our party of four enjoyed it. I think we will definitely be going back soon. Also, we spoke with the owner and asked if they would deliver to our office. They said they could do that for us so that’s an awesome incentive to not wait as long before we have their food again.