Our family has been taking our Christmas Eve playbook from The Christmas Story for probably twenty years, eating dinner at Chinese restaurants in between the family service and the “midnight” mass. For most of that time, Chinese restaurants have been quiet places on Christmas Eve night.
And then they weren’t. Somebody spilled the beans.
Rainbow Garden in Urbana was our favorite, with its old-school decor and huge menu, though we’d struggled to get reservations for Christmas Eve some years if we waited too long. So it was with sadness that we saw them depart their corner of the shopping center at University and Cunningham.
Happily, Aroma Garden has made wonderful use of that lavish décor and is a worthy successor to Rainbow Garden, although very different. This is not Americanized-Chinese food. The chef cooked in China for decades, and it showed. While there were some familiar items, such as General Tso’s and spring rolls, the vast majority of the menu was designed for those who have more than a passing knowledge of authentic Chinese cuisine.
Three of us stopped in recently to sample some items from the all-new menu. We were sentimentally happy to see that not much has changed inside. Everything looked very clean and bright, and they kept the spectacular dragon-shaped chandelier over the bar, which has delighted children for many years.
Our server was very attentive — and very concerned about us ordering something we would not like. I’m afraid we look like people who don’t know their way around Chinese food, in spite of plenty of evidence that we in fact really love all food. I had to assure her a few times we were there to enjoy dishes out of our comfort zone and would not be upset if we chose something we didn’t enjoy. And ask for chopsticks if you want them — they had whisked them away and replaced them with silverware when we sat down.
She was very knowledgeable about the menu, so don’t be afraid to ask questions about something or need to see if a spice level can be adjusted. And for those nervous to order of new things, their website has photos of almost every item.
We ordered several appetizers to get us started: spring rolls, pork potstickers, and lamb skewers.
The spring rolls (two, $4.95) were exactly what you’d expect from an egg roll. The wrapper was thicker than on the Shanghai spring rolls, our server explained, and they were filled with diced cabbage, carrot, and ground pork. These were served steaming hot and very crisp, the filling giving a hint of ginger after you swallow. These are mild enough for kids and the picky eaters in your life, and served with the obligatory duck sauce.
Potstickers are a family favorite, and we order them any time we find them. The pork potstickers ($9.95) were eight hefty dumplings, looking more like a meatball in a pasta wrapper that the crescents you see other places. They were crisped on one side and served with a thin, soy-based sauce with a hint of rice vinegar. The texture was excellent, with a flavor profile reminiscent of the wontons in soup. There are absolutely no vegetables in these, so if you have a plant-hater, here you go.
The lamb skewers (four, $7.95) were my favorite of the three appetizers. Small bites of lamb, marinated in spicy dry seasoning heavy on the cumin, were threaded onto wooden skewers and grilled. The tender morsels absolutely exploded with flavor in my mouth. These did have some heat, but it was not overwhelming.
The youngest guest at our table, who was twelve, ordered the hibachi salmon ($22.95), which was served with a choice of salad or clear soup and either noodles, steamed rice, or fried rice, and a heap of stir-fried vegetables. He chose the clear soup and fried rice. This is a favorite order of his from hibachi restaurants, and he said the salmon had the nice crisp edges and sweet teriyaki drizzle he expected from hibachi salmon.
The clear soup was surprisingly dark but really delicious, with little slivers of mushroom and fried onion bobbing on the surface. The flavor was rich but very balanced, and it didn’t try to be anything out of the box, which was appreciated. The zucchini, carrot, broccoli, onion, and bok choy were tender-crisp and sauced well.
I chose the lion’s head meatballs with egg ($18.95.) These meatballs were the size of a fist, stuffed with a soy-marinated boiled egg. I was shocked when she brought out a bowl with four of these mammoth-sized beauties bathed in a rich brown sauce and frame with whole baby bok choy. The glossy, umami-packed sauce was not the slightest bit spicy, just flavorful. The meat itself was tender and easy to pull apart with chopsticks. The eggs take on the alliums and seasoning, too.
My third guest chose the Xinjiang big plate chicken ($19.95). As much as I loved my meatballs, this was the standout item of the entire meal. They were not kidding when they named it “big plate.” It was a literal serving platter, filled to the brim with homemade noodles and big chunks of potato, tomato, chopped whole chicken pieces, and jalapeños in a delicious sauce that reminded me a little of Japanese curry. It was indeed spicy as described, but nothing outrageous. (I avoided the fresh sliced jalapeños.)
The noodles, which the server told me the chef makes from scratch, were an ideal foil for the stew. The texture of the rice pasta was very pleasing, somehow both pillowy and chewy, with a pretty ruffled edge. The chicken chunks, which do include bone, were fried before stewing in the sauce, and their crispy edges and tender meat had us smacking our lips and humming in delight.
Both the meatballs and the Xinjiang chicken were far more than any one person could eat, and I suspect many of the dishes are made to share. The larger tables in the restaurant have lazy-susans in the middle to assist with that, seating at least eight. We were pleasantly surprised at the end of the meal when one of the staff brought out a chilled plate with the most beautiful, icy-cold sliced oranges. They were a perfect little treat to clear the palate and end a sweet meal on a sweet note.
We will definitely be back to enjoy more of Aroma Garden’s wonderful meals, and I really think they’re offering something different to the Urbana community than what we’ve had previously. And that is a very good thing.
Check out their website here.
Aroma Garden
202 E University Ave
Urbana
M-Th 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
F+Sa 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Su noon to 9 p.m.