Bamboo Garden Vegetarian Cuisine

I am so in love with Bamboo Garden. Their portions are generous, their staff is incredibly sweet and courteous, and their food is exactly what I crave when it comes to vegan Asian fare. I will continue to come here as long as I live in Seattle. I mean, I love it so much I drive from Cap Hill almost weekly to get my fix.
Take my advice and eat here! And definitely order the almond fried chicken.

Classic wonton soup is one of the few foods I miss since giving up meat so I can’t say how happy I was to find this place! I’m glad I found my winter comfort food! I tried fried rice and Mongolian beef which were both great too. The menu is huge though, definitely want to try a lot more. Also they have parking which makes life wonderful.

We liked Bamboo Garden last year when we stayed at The Maxwell. Today, we shared hidden treasure, vegetarian chicken and mushrooms in a light sauce, and Chinese greens. Both were tasty. We remembered how come we like this place.

We had one of the worst dining experiences in Seattle at this establishment. We went there on New Year’s Day on a relatively busy evening. We were seated righted away next to a very busy and loud party of about 8 – 10, so we asked if we can sit at different table a little farther away but the waitress said the table was reserved and would be used for a large party. We told the waitress we understood and waited and then waited for about 10 minutes before we had to ask them for a menu… they apologized.
We finally ordered and the two of us went with the basic Chinese-​American fair of spring rolls, Kung-​Pao Chicken, Mongolian Beef, and a Hot Pot of Schezwan Egg Plant. When our food arrived it was bland and none of it tasted fresh and it was evident that the ingredients and sauces were part or fully processed, canned and came out of a bag. Our waitress seemed to have forgotten about us and disappeared. We finally spotted her seating a couple at the table that was supposed to be reserved for the large party. When she noticed us she came by to tell us the reservation for the large table was cancelled and that’s why she seated the couple at the table we asked to move to. Again, she apologized.
When we got our bill, we noticed right away it was off by $ 10. When I examined it, I noticed that she charged us $ 19.95 for the Egg Plant Hot Pot which was listed at $ 9.95…in fact they have nothing on the menu for $ 19.95. When we summoned them over, the waitress blamed it on her son… but she was the one who took our order… again more apologizes. Event their fortune cookies weren’t right… one of the cookies didn’t come with a fortune. The best part of the evening was leaving.
Summary:
Service — Very Bad
Décor/​Interior– Dirty, Dark and gloomy
Food — Average (Not Fresh –Tasted like Fast Food)
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= Not Going Back!

I still love this place and go here whenever I can. It is definitely one my favorite veg restaurants in Seattle. I’ve brought almost all of my veg curious friends here. My non veg boyfriend enjoys eating here as well. I always have the hardest time deciding what to eat since it all sounds so delicious and spend most of my meal eyeing what other people order. It can be a little chaotic inside. I was amazed to find they were open for Christmas and super packed. I am thinking about making this a new tradition, since it is definitely preferable to family get togethers.
My boyfriend and I both love the corn chowder and the sweet and sour chicken. We also like that this is the ideal place to go for dinner before or after an event at the Seattle Center. Parking in this area is ridiculous and this place has a lot, if you dine here they let you pay 5 $ to park for the rest of the night. Depending on the event and time of the day this can be a real steal. They do have alcohol available if you need to prefunk before your event as well, although this is definitely not a bar type environment. I wish I was more adventure and could make myself try some of the shark fin soup, or fish dishes, but I like to stick to chicken and beef meat analogs.
My only complaint is the non vegan fortune cookies. For a place that caters to vegetarians and is 99% vegan minus the fortune cookies I would think they would make an effort to find some that do not contain egg, but for whatever reason they do not. I can only imagine how many vegans enjoy a fantastic meal and then leave upset since they did not read the tiny print on the menu explaining that the fortune cookies are not vegan.

I read really good reviews and tried this place. Worst food ever and not very pleasant servers either.
We ordered cashew chicken, it was ton of celery, bamboo and carrots boiled in hot water, no flavor what so ever. I have eaten vegetarian meat before at other places and it tastes pretty good, but this place the food is awful. Its not expensive and portions are pretty big.
We also ordered noodles which were okay, but I would not eat again or recommend this place to anyone. I am surprised it has 4 stars.
Now the service piece, the servers just bang the plates in front of you like they are doing you a favor for serving, I am not sure that is called service. Also their communication is not pleasant.

Nice place with good service. Food was delicious. Reasonable prices. Generous quantities.

We ordered delivery using Postmates (which worked really well). But the food was awful. We got General Tso Chicken which was fried dough balls stuffed with minimal chicken and gross sauce. We also got combo B, which was Broccoli Beef (Bologna type meat pounded into a circle and cut into strips), almond chicken (dough balls with cold creamy mayonnaise sauce) and chow mein (greasy but not bad).
Horrible food. Horrible.

Really tasty, healthy, vegetarian Chinese food conveniently located near the Space Needle. Can get busy and you may get the wrong order brought to you (multiple times), but it’s all part of the charm of the place. Try the sweet and sour «chicken» (I call them Amaze-​balls– order them and you’ll see why. If you’re a fungi fan like me, don’t miss the buddha crispy noodles– I’m drooling just thinking about them.

Ordered a few of the combos yesterday through postmates, and at least the delivery aspect was good. However, my guy and I really didn’t care for the food. All of the chicken (general tsao’s and almond chicken) we got was heavily breaded and obviously over processed (the generals was in perfect circles). The chow mein was decent but nothing special. The taro root patty was interesting, I’ve never had one before so it was nice to try that dipped in sweet and sour. Overall we won’t be going back.

Stopped in here for lunch last week for the first time. I have always loved Chinese food, but when I stopped eating meat, I thought I had to give it up because nearly all Chinese dishes contain some kind of animal. That’s why I was thrilled after tasting the food here — their faux meats are spot on with texture and flavor. I got one of the lunch specials with sweet & sour «chicken» and «chicken» fried rice. Both were phenomenal! I highly recommend this place for vegans and omnivores alike!
Pros:
Private parking lot
Delicious vegetarian (vegan) Chinese food
Large portion sizes
Cons:
Hovering wait staff

Being a vegetarian who was in town to run the Seattle Marathon, I was very excited to learn of a vegetarian restaurant only a block from my hotel. I came in, solo, at about 6 pm on Sunday evening. Only 3 or 4 other tables were taken, including a fairly large party, and I was seated right away and brought water.
The menu is extensive and assures the reader that all «beef, chicken, and seafood items are made of vegetable protein» — a welcome reassurance! Some descriptions were good and some items left me completely guessing. The menu writer might bear in mind that vegetarians (20 years for me!) are typically relegated to a small section of Asian restaurant menus and might not be familiar with the meat equivalents of the meals offered.
I ordered steamed dumplings $ 5 for 6, and Mandarin Chicken ($ 13), and a $ 2 Diet Coke (they brought glass of ice and can of pop). The presentation exceeded my expectations — great job! The food was very good — not «Great» — I’ll have to try more items on future visits to best assess the food quality. The service was attentive but not smothering and I never felt awkward dining alone.
The atmosphere was comfortable in a very mom’n’pop restaurant kind of way. You can hear voices and cooking sounds from the kitchen which is kind of fun.
I plan to return to the same hotel for next year’s marathon and I will definitely call on Bamboo Garden again to try more of their options.

The food was very good. We green beans and broccoli, asparagus Szechuan, fried rice and a noodle dish. Topping it off with sorbet. The place itself is a little run down and the décor a little odd with plastic plants and flowers. But the service very good and friendly. The sorbet was okay. I would choose a different flavor
Over all impression good food and a place I’d take vegetarians and vegans. But if you are neither the food is still very tasty. I would recommend coming here.

Great Phở, very fresh and always ready to go within a few minutes when I call ahead. I’m here once a week and will continue to do so.
I always think I want more noodles but can barely finish what I have!

Love this place! Best Corn Chowder :) When I am in the area I get 3 to go and I can always count on it tasting fantastic. Highly recommend this place!

The almond fried chicken is so dank, also they cut the carrots into cute shapes for the soups and chow mein dishes I’ve gotten and it’s super adorable. The portions are HUGE which is awesome. I recommend any dish with the white fungus it’s like a crazy alien mushroom and im obsessed with it
I’m not vegetarian or vegan myself but a lot of my friends are and living walking distance from here makes getting food w them a breeze~

We have been going to Bamboo Garden for years and yes it is that good, the mandarin chicken is by far our favorite dish and is a must. The staff was always friendly and made the already perfect meal that much more of a positive experience. If you go there as it should be, for the food it’s a good experience, but honestly except the mandarin chicken it’s average quality, but worth a try.
5 stars for service
4 stars for the food
4 stars for atmosphere

We went here yesterday with some friends, one of which is a vegetarian. The place is a bit run down but clean, and the bathrooms where cramped, but also clean. I’m ok with this. We sat down and had a quick minute to check out a huge menu. Our waitress was quick and matter of fact. We ordered…
1. Spring rolls and taro root appetizers. Spring roll was crunchy and ok. Taro root was delicious, crunchy on the outside soft in the middle.
2. Sweet and sour chicken balls. Deep fried chicken with sweet and sour. Nothing to write home about, but still good.
3. Bean curd with sauce. This was tasty, cream cheese like consistency deep fried with broccoli and sauce. I liked this one a lot.
4. Happy family. This came in a fried ramen bowl and despite me ordering the mild was spicy as hell. I powered through and this was my favorite dish.
⁴⁄₅. I’m grouping these together because it’s the same thing with different sauces. Almond chicken and peanut satay. Both deep fried cigars of chicken with nut sauces. Good but I’d skip them next time.
5. Fried rice. Delicious and full of veggies. Weird that it had corn in it, but good none the less.
All of the chicken mentioned above was vegetarian, and deep fried for the gods. It was a quick dinner, we where in and out in about 40 minutes. I would defiantly recommend this place if your veggie but don’t care about cholesterol.

So Bamboo Garden is our Favorite ALL Vegan place! They have a 9 page Vegan Kosher menu of which we’ve barely scratched the surface. We’ve never had a bad dish here, but we adore the Mandarine Chicken and the Mongolian Beef. Definitely check it out if your looking for some great Chinese comfort food.
However, all that being said, the atmosphere is sadly changing a bit. It used to be like Starbucks was back in the 90’s for us… Very zen, a totally relaxed welcoming atmosphere, but just as with our beloved Bucks, Bamboo has more of a hurry up, slightly aloof vibe happening. Not sure if readers will get my meaning but I felt I needed to vent.
So in closing, sadly I give 4 stars rather than 5+
Please oh please go back to simpler times when we didn’t feel rushed to order and felt welcome to stay as long as we’d like.

I really wanted to love this place. I am a pescetarian and I love vegetarian-​faux meat, especially if I can order it in a restaurant. I tried the «Dinner Combo B» to go.
First I was told that the soup couldn’t be taken to go, which I was ok with. Then not 2 minutes later a lady walked in and said «I’m here to pick up my soup to go order», which they gave her. So that was odd.
Then I got home and tried my food. The chicken chow mien was bland. The Sauteed beef and broccoli was flavorless and had a very watery sauce. The faux beef was an odd texture and super bland. The spring roll tasted like a food court roll that had been sitting for hours. The pot sticker also was flavorless. The almond fried chicken was actually tasty, but very heavily breaded for frying.
If you are looking for good vegetarian-​meat asian style restaurant I would recommend In the Bowl on Capital Hill or the Moonlight Café in the Central District.