Lai Lai Garden

Finally had the chance to try the Szechuan menu, which, I must say, is much better than the standard menu.
Some highlights:
1. Black fungus with ginger vinaigrette — Light and refreshing with a great, slight tangy dressing
2. Sliced fish fillet sauteed in a white wine sauce — Amazingly tender fillets in a savory and flavorful white wine sauce with a sprinkle of black fungus
3. Seafood Gor Bar — Solid and served sizzling with 1 lobster piece, jumbo shrimp, scallops, fish filets, and veggies
4. Black pepper steak — Solid version of a classic and served sizzling
5. Peking pork chops — Very crispy and served in a sweet and sour sauce. A nice twist on the ubiquitous sweet and sour pork.
6. Sauteed wild mushrooms in garlic — Very meh. The abalone mushrooms were too tough to chew.
7. Scallion pancakes — Solid with a thin, crispy texture.
Key lesson learned: order from the Szechuan menu.

stopped by with my daughter… Was in the area… The décor is dark and outdated. Smells musty… the wait staff was lacking in basic skills. Sat us down with only 1 menu?. The early bird special menus were on the table. Perhaps they were pushing that… we didn’t want any drinks from the bar. We ordered from the early bird special. My hot and sour soup was lacking in mushrooms and flavor… Her soup was egg drop. Funny bright yellow in color and tasted like chicken fat… Never received tea. waiter didn’t come back to check on us. The spring rolls weren’t too bad. However the grease tasted old. the fish was probably frozen because it was mushy… However the sauce on it was good. Her general t’s chicken was hard, flavorless and the rice tasted like it was reheated from the day before… Not hot and fresh… and the waiters push these ridiculous carts around to serve the food. There were only 8 other people in the restaurant and the waiter brings our food (2 plates) on this cart only to stop first at another table to pour them their tea… BTW. We never received our tea. Another waiter came to pick up our half eaten dinner plates. and asked us if we wanted our ice cream. We declined and he brought us fresh fruit which was the best part of the meal. When we checked out. The manager? Never asked about our meal… won’t ever go back.

I ordered General T’s Chicken, steamed dumplings and steamed rice. It was fair in total. A few years ago it use to be much better. Slacking on veggies and chicken quality. Times must be though for Lai Lai.
Not worth the price.

I give them high marks for décor and a menu that makes for tempting reading, but the actual food – meh. I had a scallion pancake appetizer– nice, large, tasty fried dough, but if there were scallions inside, I didn’t taste them. My husband had spring roll appetizer– shrimp, veggies, very ordinary. His pan-​seared duck looked great, tasted – OK. My Chinese mushrooms with bamboo shoots was so undercooked that the mushrooms were rubbery and the bamboo shoots were sliced into thick and uneven chunks and were also woefully undercooked. I got my day’s worth of exercise just from chewing my dinner. Our advice: go somewhere else.

Even though the place gives out an authentic Chinese feel, the staff here is horrendous. The staff is not courteous at all. Didn’t even ask us for what we want to drink and was rushing us to place an order without even giving us time to look at the menus.

Asian food at its best. Not too often can you find an Asian restaurant with a good mix of different style cuisine. Lai Lai doesn’t disappoint. The atmosphere is very nice too.

Didn’t enjoy. I won’t return.
Sesame Chicken is not breaded, it’s kind of strange and bland. Most everything was pretty bland. I think it’s very expensive for the meh taste. The portions are big. We were really hoping this would be better.

Elegant or casual if you like, personalized dining. Food is excellent. Their sushi presentation is beautiful and delicious. Has always been fresh. They have things on the menu that I can’t find that other Asian restaurants. And if you ask for certain things that are not on the menu (as long as they have the ingredients) they can make it. My favorite Dan Dan noodles are among those. Service is prompt and they are all super friendly. Very clean. Not expensive to host large parties there either. Ask what they do for one year old birthdays it’s really cute. The prices are fair. Honey walnut shrimp is the best that I’ve had. always get a few appetizers every single one is delicious. If you have a special dietary requirements their always more than happy to oblige. Love The atmosphere. There are private rooms for parties greater than four that’s really nice… you might want to call ahead for one of those if it’s at a busy time. And whenever I end up in the Bluebell area I always make a point to stop and have a meal there. Delicious. Have celebrated a lot of occasions here.

Had the best chinese food I ever had here last night. Everything was delicious. Was here for my aunts bday celebration. White flounder shrimp with walnuts some beef dish. I dish better than the next. Most highly recommend.

The extra star is because the food is great. Their Szechuan dishes are my favorite and I’ve been going there for years.
The one star was because my mother and I found a centipede crawling near our food on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to us?

I am not sure where all these great review come from. The food was average, and I ordered a stir-​fry chicken entrée that was coated (it’s not traditional Chinese to coat chicken for stir fry) and the veggies were a soggy mess. Another dish I got, the sauce was way too red and I suspect they added food coloring. The taste was average. Plus their food was way overpriced. There are other great Chinese restaurants around that cost less and taste much better. Go check out Wing Lee in Horsham, Asian Legend in Lansdale, and Chong Dumplings in Lansdale and you’ll find much better Chinese food.
I do have to say the waiters and people there are very friendly. That’s the best part of the experience.

We went there for dinner with the whole family. Food was great and the service was good on a Friday evening. Will definately go back again soon.

I am a Chinese, and I have to say their Chinese cuisines taste same as what I eat in China. However, waiters are not really good, they need to improve their service.

The best Chinese restaurant in the US so far. Even better than some Sichuan restaurant in China. We tried almost every dishes. Almost perfect. A must-​try Chinese menu! The waiters are really friendly. As we went there almost twice a week they always recognize us easily. And they gave some personal suggestions. (Like the blood in Mao xue wang is not soft at all so don’t try it. Hope their boss won’t read this.) We have relocated to Atlanta but still miss this place and want to give a five+ stars to it. BTW ask for less Sichuan pepper if u are sichuanese. They gives too much on every cold plates.

Recently had a large party here,
the food came out in courses, which was a lot of fun, because we were able to try like 10 – 12 different items, and they were delish~
The hall is also very nice, with a dance floor in the middle, and the service was also pleasant~
Great place to have a gathering~

Lai Lai Garden is the best spicy Chinese restaurant in US. No other one can compete with. Environment is wonderful. Food is great. Very typical Chinese food.

Lai Lai has a really delicious take on Chinese food. For those who like sweet flavors, a big winner on the menu is the honey walnut shrimp. The building has a beautiful exterior and the interior is nice and spacious, allowing everyone plenty of elbow room, and allowing you to have a reasonably secluded table if you want one.
Cons: The prices at Lai Lai are bit higher than Id like. The service is inconsistent (but not awful, and I’ve found the people there to be nice)

Came here with my parents & bf and now we’ll be coming here as our default because it was so good! There are apparently different menus — one is more Chinese, one is more American — luckily we got both. We loved all of the dishes we ordered:
— beef soup (xi hu niu rou geng)
— lamb kebab appetizer (yang rou chuan) — a little spicy, but tastes quite similar to the ones you get on the streets of Beijing
— si gua
— peking duck — very impressed with this dish
— honey walnut shrimp — if you like sweet and shrimp, get this!
— veggie tempura
— unagi roll
service was also good and the décor was very nice; clean and polished.

My wife and I recently stopped in at Lai Lai with our extended family, including my in-​laws and grandmother — who are in their later eighties. Between the three of them there’s well over 200 years of Chinese food dining. My twenty-​something stepdaughter and cousin both came along too — so we had opinions from the young and old.
The staff was courteous and service fast. My mother-​in-​law was raised in a family that owned a Chinese restaurant in Newark for years, so she knows her stuff — both traditional and «American Chinese.» She’s pretty critical of Asian fusion cuisine in general, but loves the food at Lai Lai. They even made her a Hong Kong-​style sea bass that wasn’t on the menu. The rest of us were thrilled with our picks and the portions were huge. The kids were also happy with what they ordered (I got a black bean squid special). I usually go with Chinese at Lai Lai Garden, but have been very happy with their sushi when I’ve ordered it too.
I’ll admit I’m a bit biased. My wife and I had our wedding reception here with about 120 people in their large ballroom, way back in 2006. All our guests were stunned by the quality and quantity of food (and I was pleased with the price). The food just kept coming. I still laugh when I recall how people told me that dinner was great after we arrived fashionably late from church. They said, «You missed dinner» when they’d only had the pre-​meal apps. Seven main courses later they looked dizzy. I still get raves years later, and I hear it is still a great place to have an event…

1. If you are sensitive to MSG, do not bother step foot inside.
2. Sushi will take you to funkytown (and not in a Parenthood type way). Probably best to stick with the Chinese selection.
3. Your wallet will be much lighter upon existing.
4. Forget Friday night romantic date spot — lots of families with tweens or younger. If you’re into it, then cool for you.
5. Drink tons of water — salt/​MSG intake will hit you hard!