Lee's Garden
Update 7/25/2014: Lee's Garden is closed. Thanks, Bob!
In a word: A confederacy of mediocrity.
The specs: #0541
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, 77 Square, Ruppert Food Blog; listing at EatDrinkMadison; 
Latest Lee's Garden news and reviews
JM ate the shrimp and pork special.
Nichole ate the orange beef with hot and sour soup.
We got some egg rolls and crab rangoon.
The bill was $31, or $15.50/person, plus tip.
JM and Nichole both gave Lee's Garden a B (see our grading rubric).
When we visited Lee's Garden, formerly Hong Kong Cafe West, there was a whiteboard advertising a special Chinese menu "coming soon." The new menu may already be what's cooking by now; we found a pretty standard Chinese takeout place with no surprises.
Our customary rangoon had a light, whipped cream cheese filling but their wrappers, and that of the egg roll, were unpleasantly gummy. The hot and sour soup was a generous serving with a peppery broth and spicy-hot tofu pieces.
We opened up the orange beef to find a diced green onion garnish that suddenly made dinner feel 125% classier. The fresh, lightly steamed broccoli helped too. The dish itself was quite sweet and we were left wondering what had warranted the "hot!" asterisk that had accompanied its description on the menu.
JM's pork and shrimp BBQ was much better, with a distinct five-spice flavor, tons of pea pods, corn, and carrots.
That's all we've got on Lee. We don't know exactly what justified a name change, but if you've tried the new menu, holler.
We were sort of surprised when they charged us extra for brown rice. I realize it's a specialty item, but ???
Posted by: catwoman5 | May 26, 2010 at 05:57 PM
The name change was prompted by a divorce. Lee got the west side location and her husband kept downtown. From what I've heard the menu/recipes are identical.
Posted by: Laura | May 26, 2010 at 05:59 PM
The name change was also prompted by Hong Kong Café wanting to raise its prices, which Lee didn't want to do.
Posted by: Diana | May 26, 2010 at 08:35 PM
The name change had nothing to do with a divorce, mostly direction of the restaurant and prices. Chinese menu has been going for about a year now. Crispy chicken with garlic is one of my favorites! very traditional chinese menu, but you need to ask for that menu, and its not available on wednesdays
Posted by: William | July 24, 2011 at 01:16 PM
It is with deep regreat that I must inform everyone that lee's garden has CLOSED
Posted by: bob watson | July 25, 2014 at 10:02 PM