If you are on Northside of campus and you need a place to get a quick lunch between classes, T C garden is a viable option. Chances are, you'll probably notice a lot of chinese speaking people around which may or may not be indicative of this place's quality? Who knows, perhaps? It does help to know how to speak chinese, because it makes communication more practical and easy. But do not let that be a deterrent! The menu is a bit hard to read, but there are plenty or photos plastered to help guide customers. You can simply say "this one or that one!" I got the Hainan Garlic chicken, which was honestly meh quality (feel free to take a look at the photos) BUT MAN... as a college student the end all be all metric should be portion sizes, and my goodness they are generous. Forget complaining about quality, ambience, language barrier, ordering. They will give you a hefty homie scoop. If I could give this place a 3.5 stars I would, but I round up :) do give this place a try

Very good. Good price good food and great atmosphere. Very authentic Chinese food!!!!!

Were very helpful in helping navigate the menu. They're happy to help!! Very accommodating, although they cleared space for me to eat inside, I chose to eat outside where they delivered my food to me! The meal came with a delicious bowl of hot soup. The fried pork chops were so crispy and savory in the first bite, as they were freshly made. The sauce dowsed the rice which made the dish all the better. The side of vegetables provided a nice change in texture. I'm used to finishing my food, but i literally couldn't eat it all in one sitting. They give you so much!!! And I was bewildered when I read the receipt. I haven't had a whole meal + drink cost so little in ages, definitely not in Berkeley.

** The following review reflects my delivery experience DURING the COVID-19 pandemic. ** School daze, school daze. Even though we had our food delivered during the pandemic, I remember vividly the little food court on Hearst near Euclid from which our food came. That's because I came here all the time as a freshly scrubbed Cal undergrad. Why? It was a lot of bang for the buck, and my cafe of choice was Aki and their donburi bowls and tempura plates. Aki is apparently still there and so is this Chinese spot. What's more, they offer steamed chicken for a bargain price, wonder of wonders. I ordered the $8.95 Ginger and Green Onion which came with a lot of white rice and a deep-fried egg roll (photo: https://bit.ly/2L0DA2F). It was really hearty and frankly delicious, and I managed to show enough willpower to avoid most of the rice. The egg roll not so much. Jamie went for the $8.95 Kung Pao Chicken which was similarly abundant in portion with the same extras (photo: https://bit.ly/2WNoJeO). He deemed it filling and just spicy enough with plenty of stir-fried poultry. We received a bonus item, a Soy Sauce Hard Boiled Egg which was a nice touch even though I always feel weird eating eggs with chicken (photo: https://bit.ly/3rvJrhl). The meal took me back to my campus days. FOOD - 4 stars...hearty portions for cheap, and it's good AMBIANCE - n/a...it was a delivery but I recall that food court very well SERVICE - 4 stars...it came quick TOTAL - 4 stars...makes me feel young...Go Bears! RELATED - Exploring Berkeley? Here's a collection of places I've tried and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2CbVh8u

I got the eggplant and fish rice dish. Honestly, this place is cheap compared to other stores in Berkeley. The rice was a nice big heaping - my favorite. But... I gotta say that it was sour, maybe because it was made with vinegar. It was good enough to satisfy my Chinese food cravings though. SUSTAINABILITY CORNER: I was really sad when my dish came out in a plastic plate. Initially, I saw a customer with a reusable bowl so I thought I would get one....but no. Luckily I brought my own chopsticks. They also had free self-serve soup on the side, which the owner kindly pointed out. However, the only thing to put it in was a plastic cup. I ended up putting the chopsticks back. Next time I come back, I'll try to bring my own Tupperware and see if I can get my meal in it instead.

A few years after my first review, TC Garden has definitely grown on me, much like the prices of food around campus have also grown. Where it might cost you $10+ after tax for a full meal with decent sized portions elsewhere around campus (I'm talking a full meal, not "cup of soup and a salad"), at TC Garden you can get a decently sized entree with a bowl of soup and a heaping pile of rice for around $8.50, and that's after tax! The quality and quantity of the food hasn't really changed since my last review- it's still not that amazing, but it's hot, cheap, quick, and you get a lot of it. But now it's an even better deal than it used to be. An oasis of cheap food in a desert of $12 sandwiches.

I was a regular here for about 3 years. I worked on Northside and had a lot of classes on Northside as well so I always stopped by for some good, cheap Chinese food. If you're craving Chinese food, this is the place to go on Northside. Better than Quickly's and the other Asian places in this plaza. Prices went up by a 25 cents or so every so often, so be prepared to see some differences in charges after a period of time. I frequented the BBQ Pork Chow Mein. Very oily but very yummy. I find TC Garden's BBQ Pork Chow Mein a lot better than King Dong's on Shattuck, and it is cheaper too. It is a huge portion. If you dine in you get the soup of the day with your order. All the soups are pretty yummy. I like all of them except for the sweet & sour soup, but it is more of a personal distaste rather than TC Garden's fault. They usually have egg flower soup which is perfect on a cold day. The food is very cheap, and they accept credit card as well. Food comes out really quick. You can sit inside or outside. During lunch hours it gets very crammed inside but you can sit at the picnic tables outside in the plaza. You get a number after you order and a waitress will bring your food to you, wherever you are sitting! You can also phone in a to-go order.