Backyard Garden Restaurant

So good! Friendly staff and delicious food. Will definitely go back. Had the crispy spicy chicken and the hot dumplings. They serve beer here too. Great atmosphere with plenty of tables. Would recommend this place if you are from out of town and want some good Chinese food. Next time I'm trying the crispy beef. Looked so good in the menu picture.

There are a few really good dishes. The spicy chicken is quite flavourful and hot. One of my favorites. Lunch specials are ok but don't come with rice. Portions are ok. Not terribly expensive, but not super cheap. Overall it's quite good IMO. Service is so so.

I ordered a chicken with Chili Sauce and this was served to me. A single dish had over 100 peices of full length dry chillies. I asked the female server why there is so much raw chillies in there and literally no chicken at all and she pretended to not understand my question. I am sure no one in this world would consume this many chillies in a day. I also ordered chicken fried rice and it was all mushy rice with few peices of green beans and peaces in their. I have ordered one more dish and it was dry like cooked yesterday. For my taste nothing I could have eat. So I asked for the bill as I approached the counter. Total bill was $44.75. Since me and my friend both had not touched the food I had no desire to pay any gratuity. I gave her a $50 bill and she offered no change back. They don't even accept charge card but cash only. Bottom line is that others may like the food but it was not to my teste and bad service could be due to language barriers. Thanks.

Came for lunch. I ordered the sweet and sour chicken lunch combo. ($7.99) The hot and sour soup that came with it was very good, chicken was tasty, not syrupy or over breaded. Service was much better than most Chinese places in the area. Will come back for dinner one night.

Backyard Garden is not 'Westerner' friendly. I was born in Canada but was raised in a traditional-Chinese food setting. True Szechuan Chinese food is hard for other cultures to understand - full of chilis, bad cuts, and grease. But make no mistake - if you're looking for a truly authentic Szechuan affair, Backyard Garden is probably the best restaurant I have found in Toronto that stays true to their cultural roots. Think of this like fine-cheese - for those who like strong flavours, it's the best thing out there. For most however, they would rather have a nice mild cheddar.