Cathay Garden Restaurant

I love their buffet… much better than the big buffets that include pizza and too many things that all taste the same. The buffet is small so everything is brought out regularly. The customer service is excellent and if anything is not to your liking on the buffet they will bring a fresh dish out for you. I love the chicken with string bean, the beans are always crisp and fresh! and the mini fried shrimp when dunked in hot mustard is great! They also have the best cheese wontons. The owner is always pleasant and the wait staff is very good.

I have been going here since I was a kid, this is by far the best buffet in RI bc although it is limited, it is always hot and fresh. They offer the best American Chinese food here, including General Tsos, wonton soup, hot and sour soup, egg rolls (which are still the best I have ever had), Crab Rangoon, fried rice, chicken fingers, sticky wings, the list goes on and on. So you won’t get those aisles and aisles of buffet food, they just have 2 long areas but it is basically everything you are looking for.
They have a very small bar area but there is lots of seating in the dining room and they are able to accommodate large parties. I have ordered take out from here and the food is always hot and delicious but I think the best bang for your buck has to be the buffet, you need to try this at least once and you will understand.

Typical Chinese restaurant. Food good. Drinks are strong. The staff is very very friendly!

Been coming here for twenty something years. Everything has always been consistently good. The drinks don’t disappoint either. The owners are very nice, and the service is always on point. My go to place for Chinese. Keep up the good work Cathay Garden.

This place has been here forever and it hasn’t changed much at all. The décor is drab, the food is greasy and kinda boring. They have a buffet part of the time. If you’re looking for some typical cheap Chinese food, this is your place!

Clean Decent Chinese
Happen to be driving by, decided we were in the mood for Chinese. Had a wonderful buffet as well as menu. We both decided on buffet, more than enough choices, very hot and very fresh. We liked that the pans were not overflowing with food, not even half full, and they were routinely rotated with fresh items. Meats were tender, two different soups available. Dessert was fresh fruit, gelatin, and chocolate chip cookies. More than enough. We would definitely go back.
Thanks

The waitstaff is great at keeping the buffet well stocked. The scorpion bowls are inconsistent (sometimes all the alcohol is on the bottom; other times, it’s mixed in the entire drink). The food is delicious every time. The restaurant is small in comparison to traditional large sized ones. The bar is small and has approx 5 to 6 chairs. We go back b/​c the food is consistently great! There is parking in the lot to the LEFT of the restaurant on a hill as well as street parking.

The best. I have dined at many chinese restaurants and have left disappointed. Cathay Garden has never let me down. Great staff. Very fresh food. The best eggrolls and moogoo gai pan ive tasted in all of RI! Great prices too!

Let’s start out by stating that Chinese food is regional. not by China region, but by where it is served in America. There is no other food like that served by Chinese restaurants in the Rhode Island area. Since relocating to Florida, we have missed that special touch that comes with local Chinese dishes. Cathay Garden is a shinning example of what Rhode Islanders crave.
Egg rolls to die for, crisp outside with plenty of taste after the first bite. Ribs with succulent meat as well as Teriyaki beef that was fried crisp outside without rendering them tough or stringy. We ordered a family assortment that made everyone happy and none of us left hungry; (not even a hour later)
Sincere thanks to the lovely young lady that waited on us. Trying to set her up with our grandson embarrassed her (and him) but she was full of good humor and extremely pleasant and efficient. She deserves special thanks for a wonderful experience.

If I lived closer I would certainly come to Cathay Garden more frequently. It was a regular stop for me back in the 90’s before I moved west.
If you like Americanized Chinese food — this is a top notch restaurant and you will not be disappointed. The buffet is served nightly and items start rolling out between 4−430pm. Items are replenished frequently and are all delicious.
If you’re looking for more traditional, true Chinese cuisine, then you’ll be better off elsewhere — but in terms of what most New Englanders consider great Chinese food then don’t hesitate, this is a great spot.
The staff is super friendly and helpful and there is usually ample parking either on the street or in the small lot on the side of the establishment.

Fantastic here. way to much to eat. offers great variety, cooked fresh to order. very friendly attentive staff. we came on a Monday night and they normally have a fantadic buffet, but not tonight. we gladly ordered off the menu. atvthe end of dinner, they sent out a wonderful fruit platter with fresh strawberrys cantaloupe pineapple. love it here. highly recommend

So, I went here with high hopes but alas I was disappointed in the end. Mostly because yes this is a very americanized chinese restaurant.
The server and the rest of the staff were very pleasant, but ordering mixed drinks was a bit difficult. We ordered a captain and gingerale (or spiced rum), and ended up with clear rum. The drink was horrible.
The booth which my fiancé was sitting at was wobbly, it needed to desperately be tightened.
The thing that made me give this place 3 stars versus 2, is the proportion size. The proportions were huge. (Pretty tasty too, but I have more to say on that.)
If it wasn’t for the proportion size, and the taste/​freshness of the food the following would have made me give the place a one star. I ordered the «Spicy duck», for 12.95 and I was expecting a few pieces of duck.
The plate was LOADED with «Duck», when I say: «loaded «, I mean it was a 8 inch plate, and it was covered in «Duck» .
While reading this you will probably keep asking yourself: «Why does she keep saying «duck» like that?»
Because, well. Their Peking duck (whole duck), was 27.00, and the amount of meat upon a «peking duck», would not put as much meat as I had on my plate.
Duck is generally expensive, and it has a distinctive taste to it. So, I guess what I am trying to say– and this is the first time I’ve ever doubted the food in front of me, was that the «Spicy Duck» in front of me, was. well not duck.
This meat was grainy, tough and yes it did have a skin on it, and yes it had a little bit of fat, but it just didn’t taste like duck. If anything it could have been a goose, or some sort of freaky goose duck hybrid, but being that I LOVE duck, and I almost always order it when it is available, I know what duck tastes like. The proportion size and the price of the dish made it extremely suspicious.
OVerall all, it did taste good, but I’m 98.9% sure that it wasn’t duck. I’ve been to many chinese food places, and whenever people joked with me about mystery meat, I’d wave them off and tell them to stop being an asshole. So with that being said, I’m not trying to be one of «Those» people, but I have to say it :
I really don’t know what meat I was served and for that they wound up with 3 stars– and the whole being too americanized bit.
I

Just got takeout and once again the food was great! If you’re looking for really good Chinese food to take home look no further!

Always kind and Great service. Great food. The D-​44 is the way to go … And Joe is the nicest guy around. A++

In a nutshell: excellent quality Americanized Chinese food. In my recent travels away from RI I have realized how spoiled I was by the good quality food here.
Recommendations:
(1) wonton soup — amazing. Good roast pork (or chicken upon request) pieces, substantial wontons, nice broth, bok choy, and peapods. The wontons have a medium thick wrapper and are meaty.
(2) hot and sour — always good.
(3) egg foo young — great. One of the only places I’ve had this where it’s not ‘too heavy.’
(4) Moo goo gai pain — basically chicken with vegetables.
(5) Chicken with broccoli — excellent.
(6) General Tso’s — it’s pretty good. Different than most other places but actually better.

I’ve been going here since my daughter was small, she’s now 20 years old. They have the BEST buffet ever. On other buffets, the egg rolls don’t taste right, etc. but here the food on the buffet is as good as ordering off the menu. I agree w/​other reviewer, if they closed, I don’t know what I’d do!

My absolute favorite chinese restaurant! I always order my food to go and although it’s a 30 minute drive away, the food is still piping hot when I arrive home. I always get the same thing for my family of 4… chicken fried rice, boneless spareribs, beef lo mein, chicken fingers, and chicken teriyaki. Yum! Can’t go wrong here.

Anyone who gives this place less than 4 stars is mentally insane. Seriously!
I have been coming here for 18 years. If this place ever closes I think a part of me will die!
I have happy memories from childhood, of them giving me lots of umbrellas, and memories of coming here with family members who have since passed.
The staff has been here for years and the food is consistent. I have never been disappointed.
I compare any Chinese food I get to them and i don’t think any other place has ever matched up.
Thanks for the great food and my cute new calendar!
The only possible thing the could do to improve would be delivery, but since I moved two towns away, that would really benefit me.

My work orders from here often and its always great. We’ve dined there a few times, the server wasnt very friendly but i wouldnt call it rude. The soups are unlike anything ive ever had before; strong broth, different noodles and lots of bones.
The hot vegetable noodles have a wonderful consistency. I like them extra spicy.

Best Chinese food i have ever had!
I live right around the corner from this place so ill treat myself to chinese food like once every few weeks and i always look forward to cathay gardens food! The manager of the restaurant always remembers me and what i order even though I don’t go their often. I have never really been an egg roll or fried rice fan but i love theirs. You get a ton of food with their combo plates, i always have enough food for three meals. I have also brought friends and family here and they were pretty impressed also. The combo plates are a few dollars more than where i come from but the taste and amount of food is soo worth it! And its expected being on main street in east greenwich everything is going to be a little bit more pricey (well most places are a whole lot more pricey)