Tong Soon Garden

This is a place my family has frequented since my childhood! Love it for that reason, but objectively speaking, it feels more like a home-y food place (like visiting your favorite aunt's house for a comfort meal), not an elegant, classy, date spot. However, this place has a solid menu selection, food quality, and service. Parking is in the back and has always been easy for me. There's also street parking on El Camino.

I dined at Tong Soon Garden today, a Chinese restaurant that used to be my go to spot since high school. For some reason, I stopped going there over the years I'm not really sure why. Today, I went back for the first time, and it seems the ownership has changed.I ordered Mapo tofu, Mongolian beef, and steamed rice. Unfortunately, the rice wasn't great it seemed like it hadn't been rinsed properly. The Mapo tofu was overly sweet, as if they added too much syrup, and the Mongolian beef was very chewy with an overpowering flavor.On a positive note, the server was friendly. Still, Tong Soon Garden isn't the same as I remember. I guess nothing stays the same.

I came to Tong Soon Garden with my friends after hearing good things about its Jajang Mein and Fried Chicken. I came to a completely empty restaurant and we were seated immediately. The servers welcomed us and the place is very traditional with large wooden tables and open space. We asked for recommendations, which our waiter helped explain each of the dishes. We placed our order and the dishes came out quickly one-by-one.I really liked the Jajang Mein and Kan Pung Gi. The Jajang Mein was so flavorful with the thick black bean sauce and bouncy noodles. The Kan Pung Gi was crispy and the sauce was sweet and tangy. We also got the Eggplant with Garlic Sauce, which was good but very heavy from the sauce. The Jjampong was also good and had a softer soup. The sweet and sour pork was a little off putting by the color, but the taste was actually quite sweet. We had a good time enjoying all the dishes, and our server gave us pear slush drinks and fortune cookies at the end!For all this food, it was decently affordable. Although there were a lot of fried dishes, I still enjoyed it.

We used to come here frequently, a long running Chinese restaurant tucked in the Korean town, then the owner faded away. I don't know how long the new management has been running this place. They clearly tried to appeal to Koreans more than Chinese.The dishes are intense in simple flavors: sweet, sour, spicy. The ingredients are reasonable yet showed an effort to control cost. I will probably come for a hearty bowl of noodles, but not much more.

** Review for takeout **This review is for takeout only. We ordered the string beans, salt &pepper fish, tangsuyuk, kangpungi wings, and jajang myun. The jajang myun, Tangsuyuk, string beans were delicious and a classic menu item. The salt & pepper fish was a bit on the bland side, but the fish itself was very tender. The Kangpungi wings are not clear on delivery apps, so I called to have this picked up. Note- there is also House Wings that are a soy garlic based wings that are not available on delivery apps and have to call the restaurant directly for it. I was told that the menu is too extensive and the restaurant could not put all the available items online. It was good, but in my opinion it was too soggy.

The chow fun was disappointing but the portion for takeout was absolutely massive. Between that and kung pao chicken and a beef dish, it made for over two meals for three people, a good value.

I tried their M5. Seafood Noodle Soup, and it was truly amazing! The soup came loaded with shrimps, clams, scallops, and squids--a seafood lover's dream. The noodles were delightfully chewy, and the portion size was just right.We also had their M3. black bean noodles with minced pork. The flavor was spot-on for me--I loved the sweetness from the onions and the texture of the chewy noodles. However, if you're someone who prefers bolder flavors, consider adding a pinch of salt and a dash of chili pepper powder to enhance the taste.

The serving sizes of the family style dishes were great. I came with a party of three and we were very satisfied with our meal.We ordered the dry string beans, salt and pepper fish, garlic chicken wings, and black bean noodles. The flavors were good and the black bean noodles had a good assortment of seafood inside. We were also given kimchi on the side which was nice.Towards the end of our meal we were given small cups of their pear slush. It was delicious I wish I ordered that in a bigger size.Overall the price per portion was good, the flavors were good, and the service was great.

It's been a while since I had Korean-Chinese food. Found this little gem located in Santa Clara.Highly recommend their Crispy Oil Chicken!! It was lightly breaded and crispy. Chicken was juicy and paired very well with the sauce. I also enjoyed their Jajangmyeon and seafood noodles; very flavorful and soothing. The stir-fried wide noodles with mixed vegetables were very yummy too, but watch out for the wasabi sauce on the side (don't pour too much)

Not very good this time around but we used to come here all the time when I was much younger. The jjajangmyeon was solid but a little too saucy for me. The kkanpunggi was really disappointing, not crispy and not spicy. We had high hopes for this place but it fell a little flat for us