The first thing to strike diners at Broadway's Nuevo Jardin de China is the menu: a multi-page affair brimming with photos of soft-focus dishes, none of which look particularly appetizing. There's something slightly disconcerting about their plastic, Playskool quality on the page and, in person, there's little evidence to the contrary.The salt content in most dishes is enough to rival the Dead Sea and threatens to overrun any actual flavor. The beef is chewy, if marginally tangy, while the veggies are oil-logged and lifeless. The chicken fried rice, a staple, is good but nothing distinguishable from the hordes of cheap Chinese take out joints lining Astoria's streets.
Nuevo Jardin de China boasts flat screen TV's in the dining area which is decorated with an eye towards warm-and-cozy instead of the sports bar crowd. This is not the only incongruous feature of the place as its menu reveals: the cuisine is not actually Latin American-Asian fusion but just a collection of dishes with bilingual descriptions. Rosetta Stone for foodies, really. The service is prompt and makes it clear that the 'China' in the restaurant's name remains the dominant culinary influence. Ultimately, the value is reasonably good and the portions are big enough to take home. You just may not want to.
INFO:
Nuevo Jardin de China
3205 Broadway
(718) 726-0819
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4 comments:
So much promise and so much disappointment. Maybe I'm just not much for trashy chinese places and thats all that this place is, a trashy chinese joint with a face-lift.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by this- "plastic, Playskool quality on the page and, in person, there's little evidence to the contrary." I've never been there- so it's chinese and latin food "fushion"?
I've never dined inside Nueva, but I've ordered delivery on several occasions. You're right, they're certainly more "China" than "Nueva Jardin".
I had their sweet and sour chicken last week and was really disappointed with the sweet and sour goo--ended up tossing it out. However, their ropa viejo and the carne asada are both quite good.
The portions are huge, so I tend to save half for the following day's lunch. Thanks for the review, Marissa!
Its chinese food, but they also have sweet plantains (plantanos maduros, or maduros). As far as I could tell that and the bilingual menu were the only latin influences in the place. I expected fusion... but its not. Its chinese.
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