By Maeve Fitzgerald

A tucked away, quiet gem in the heart of Boston’s Chinatown, Jade Garden invites a range of customers from corporate crews to 2 am drunk 20-something friend groups. With a novel for a menu, there is something for everyone, even those with allergies.  

I can attest.  

We arrived at Jade Garden in a manner which can only be described as a second-grade field trip. Hungry, confused of the plan and distracted by the wafting smell of soy sauce. We trickled through the entrance and spilled ourselves into two large, round tables with a glass roundabout tray in the center. Family style.  

I’ve always loved the crunch of crab rangoon, the soft sweetness of mango orange chicken, the savory of a noodle drenched in just enough soy sauce that your cholesterol levels don’t kill you. This took a turn when I found out I was allergic to nuts and shellfish.  

It’s the age-old, “I’ll pass, I’m allergic”. But this time imagine you’ve just been offered seven dishes from nine of your unfamiliar classmates and must turn them down all because you ordered family style, and you didn’t want to alter their dining experience. So, you select beef lo mein. It has bean sprouts, something you are also allergic to, but you can pick them out with your hair-tie chopstick creation (Thanks, May).  

Regardless of the constant, but appreciated, interrogation from classmates asking if I want to try another dish that I am allergic to, the atmosphere of Jade Garden was cozy and comforting. If I had to be stabbed with an epi pen at dinner, I feel like it’d be a chill experience. No drama, just a quick matter-of-fact stab and maybe some tea to chase it.  

The beef lo mein was impeccable, though. I can speak at an expert level about this dish, seeing as I deleted an entire plate. Family style? Nah, this dish was bodied Maeve style. The noodles were cooked to complete perfection, carefully crafted and marinated in sauce, with just the right amount of beef that melted on your tongue and crept through your taste buds like streetlights filtrating the streets at dusk. 

Braeden, to my right, opted for the frog. The presentation of the dish was elegant and honest. It’s frog. You are going to eat frog. Let’s not try to pretend you’re not. That’s what Jade Garden offers. An authentic, unapologetic sea of Chinese delicacies and an opportunity for you to sit with it, chat over it and share it. To bask in the culture and refine your palate. To be adventurous or safe, whatever the case may be.  

In the end, you will venture with a circle of your peers, whether it be after work or after the bars. Jade Garden is truly a garden, a calm place to observe the intricacies, beauty and differences of the food you’re picking and those you’re experiencing with.