Sai Woo Garden Restaurant

This was a «give it a second chance» endeavour with my family but sadly the final consensus was that none of us liked Sai Woo and most likely won’t be back.
We went for dinner on a Monday night and it was pretty quiet. We ordered a fairly typical traditional Chinese dinner which included deep fried squid, steamed chicken, lobster in cream sauce, steamed fish, soup, Beijing pork chops and beef with Chinese greens. I would say the best thing on the table was the steamed fish and squid. I was really disappointed with the lobster, which was unfortunate as this is one of my favourite dishes when we go out for Chinese dinner. The cream sauce was way to excessive and bland and they didn’t add any extra garnishes or anything to it. The noodles underneath were also kind of spongy and just didn’t taste right.
Décor wise, Sai Woo looks pretty run down and could probably use a revamp. I feel like I read somewhere that it’s been around for awhile and the inside definitely looks that way. Service was also pretty poor considering it wasn’t busy at all. No one really checked on us (minus a hot water refill for our tea) and no one changed our plates mid meal. Considering how slow it was there was no reason for the poor service. Like I already stated, the overall consensus from the table was that dinner was less than mediocre and none of us will be going back there any time soon.

This place came highly recommended by my parents. So we came here with empty stomachs and me with some high expectations. Unfortunately, my first impression was tainted by a couple of things.
First of all, it’s not a good sign when your water clearly has something foreign in it. I was able to identify a piece of what I believe to be fried rice. Our server changed the glass of water right away. I know that stuff happens. BUT… it’s still kind of gross!
Next, I asked for a Coke. I realized my order was forgotten, when the table behind us (who came after us) received Coke before me. I wasn’t overly upset, but this also affected my first impression of this place. Our server seemed very apologetic for forgetting. In the end, my Coke was free of charge. That was kind of our server.
In terms of the meal, my parents and I chose to share a dinner for two. We added an order of deep fried calamari. The food came out fairly quick.
The highlight of the entire meal was the Szechuan beef (hot) which was crispy and actually pretty tasty! The special fried rice was also a great compliment to this.
The dried spare ribs also tasted good but were also quite average. Nothing overly special.
As for the deep fried calamari, I found it kind of hard to eat. It’s was chewy yet kind of hard for me to bite through. Without the sauce, the taste seemed pretty bland on it’s own.
The chicken and veggies seemed fresh, not overly cooked and were generous in serving.
We didn’t touch the spring rolls. My parents took those home as leftovers.
As for my parents’ previously glowing review of this place? They said they came super late one evening. I asked my mom, if maybe they were so hungry that the food seemed like it tasted better than it actually did? She wasn’t too sure but she thought perhaps?
Unfortunately, after this experience, I don’t know if I want to come back here to give this place another chance. It wasn’t entirely horrible but in my opinion, it wasn’t anything too special either.

Went here late night with a Cantonese speaking friend and a larger group. Ordered corn and chicken soup, special fried rice, Shanghai noodle, braised duck and Chinese mushroom and African chicken. Best Chinese I have had in Edmonton by far. Flavorful and not greasy — well spiced, crispy and juicy. Will definitely be back.

Sai woo is getting worse, peking pork chops covered in thick starch, bird nest veg is taste less, squids again too starchy and scallops is raw. The two lobsters is very small and all shells with no flesh. Disappointment. The calamari is also not good like before. The shrimp and peaches covered in starch, not tasty at all. I can tell it is a change of cooks. service was bad as we waited for an hour to be served. The staff were disorganized. We have been coming for years but will not return again. Not worth the money. The place needs lots of upgrades too, dim not too tight.

I went there with my Cantonese friends. We ordered table for 4. The beef with veggies is really impressive and I personally really like the lobster (we added creamy noodles underneath lobster). The dishes are fairly big and we all ended up super full lol
It would be a good place for friends getting together. Nothing too fancy but has pretty authentic Cantonese food.

Frequently hit up Sai Woo with a friend or 2 for the calamari and special fried rice.
Service is quick, food is always fresh and on point and there’s complimentary orange slices /​fortune cookies for dessert.
Décor and bathroom could use a lot of upgrades but I tend to look past it as its an ancient Chinese restaurant.
Only minor complaint I have is at times it can be inconsistent. Couple of visits ago, I noticed the tea was off (stale flavour) along with stale fortune cookies, possibly a bad batch of off day but also could have been trying to use older stock (take it from an Asian, this doesn’t really surprise me)
If you’re looking for great Chinese food, this is the place to go!

My boyfriend and I went for just the westernized dishes: lemon chicken and Szechuan chicken. The server told me that the lemon chicken is battered and fried, and I was fine with that. But we were surprised that the Szechuan chicken, which is not traditionally battered, was also battered and fried. And, both dishes came out with a super goopy (too much corn starch??) orange sauce that was just a little gross. The Szechuan chicken pieces were stringy and tough. And the lemon chicken came out as breaded chicken breasts. I thought it would be little pieces. Anyway, the chicken and the sauce were just bad quality. Maybe we just ordered the wrong things? But the wrong things shouldn’t be this wrong!

Ginger beef was average. Orange chicken below average. Egg rolls below average. Chinese mushroom witty tofu was fantastic. food was really quick. I recommend dodging this one.

The food here was really good for the price. The portions are huge as well. We order the deep fried calamari and it was the best dish we had. The Szechwan beef was too saucy. It was swimming in a red sauce. We actually preferred this dish as a leftover once we rescued it from drowning in the red sauce. In fact all the leftovers were really good. We also got one of the chow mein dishes which was good with lots of veggies, could of had a bit more flavour. They set down the tea as soon as you sit without asking, making you think it’s free. Your charged even if you don’t drink it. I’d ask for no tea as soon as you arrive if you don’t want to drink tea (it’s caffeinated so you might not want it for a later supper) The tea and the saucy beef were a minus but overall it was good. We will be back.

YESSS! The highlight of this place: deep fried calamari.
The portions are very generous. It was crunchy outside and juicy inside. The flavor is so yummy. They don’t overcook it. It was good enough that I didn’t need to dip it in any sauce. We ordered multiple dishes. Everything else we ordered was good too but this was my favorite item on the menu!

Went to Sai Woo for dinner last night, just one of the many times I’ve eaten there. They were packed, of course, it being New Year’s Day, but the restaurant in busy mode was a new sight for me. The restaurant being full meant I was able to make some observations not previously possible, most notably that at least one order of fried squid was being taken to every table. I know what I’m ordering next time!
Reading other Unilocal reviews, it seems I have only seen the westernized menu, which is still excellent despite its inauthenticity. My favourites are the fried wontons and the chicken in black bean sauce, both of which I order nearly every time I come here. The latter dish comes with a lot of veggies. The various forms of fried rice are delicious, too. Each meal is followed up with a plateful of orange slices, a tiny attention to detail that I adore.
My single, perennial complaint about Sai Woo is that I feel like a tub of fat as I roll out the door. In fact, I usually walk here just to have the opportunity to burn off some of the excessive calories I’ve consumed. But now that I know I can order things Chinese-​style, with less sauce – this might be the key to being just perfectly satisfied. Not only am I always full when I leave, I also always have leftovers, so it’s an awesome value for your dollar, too.

I’m in agreement with Rachel F’s review — not bad but nothing spectacular. I’ve been here WAY too many times because my family/​relatives for some reason love this place to smiters. Probably because it’s a) cheap and b) chinese. Oh well, if your looking for good chinese, this is one of the better places.
Went here with a group of 15 and we all managed to squeeze into one big table. We ordered off of the chinese written only menu and ordered the one with 10 dishes (think it was $ 195) and we also ordered three extra dishes. This is what we had:
— Deep fried calamari
— Soup with tofu, peas, meat and carrots
*Steamed fish
— Chinese shrimp with mayo and peaches
* Chinese mushroom with su choy
* Mixed seafood with gai lan
— Lobster with chow mein
— Chinese fried chicken
— Crab with onions and vegetables
— Sweet & sour pork with pineapple (add on dish)
* Tofu
* These were the dishes I enjoyed the most. The lobster and crab were difficult to pry the meat from so I only had a piece or two.
Also included with the meal was pot (s) of rice (with refills) along with unlimited tea and we ended the meal with oranges/​fortune cookies.
Oh, staff was very kind and brought the cake out for us that we had brought for my aunt’s birthday. Tiramisu from the Italian Centre (you know, since we didn’t have enough to eat from the 10+ courses).
Been here too many times to count. Good for family dinners.

This place is my favorite chinese restaurant in Edmonton! If I were to describe this place with 2 descriptions, they would be: non-​greasy (as non greasy as it gets for chinese food) and large portions. I am always amazed by how little oil they have in their rice dishes!
I’d have to say that the deep fried calamari (with the hot sauce) and the pot of oysters are a must here!
If you live in Edmonton, you should take advantage of this place! I’m totally missing it even with all of the great Chinese food in San Francisco.

The food was not bad, but neither was is spectacular. Even the deep fried squid which my fellow Unilocalers have been raving about was fine, though not the delectable treat I had been hoping for (and the portion was certainly too big for two people; it would probably be best when shared between 3 – 4). The other dishes were flavourful, just not exceptional.
I did appreciate the fast and attentive service. We went for dinner at around 8pm on a Wednesday evening after yoga class, so I was famished. It’s good that the food came quickly.
Overall, Sai Woo Garden is a decent restaurant. But my search for the best Chinese food in Edmonton continues.

I’ve always avoided going to Sai Woo, even though a lot of my friends that eat out at Chinese restaurants would tell me that the food there is really good. I think mainly the reason is because I don’t want to pay that extra one or two dollars for the same kind of food I can pay less at another restaurant.
At around 1:00am, me and my friends were borderline hungry and wanted some greasy Chinese food. We searched our minds with the choices of restaurants in the Chinatown area and found that many that were at a lower price and a lower quality weren’t really appealing.
Also there weren’t many places that were open this late.
I couldn’t fight off the thought of paying a few dollars more for possibly a little better tasting food at this restaurant, but I manage to push through and give Sai Woo a try.
On the weekends, Sai Woo is open till 3:00am
So when I got there, I ordered foods that I normally would order at this time of the night. They are also very flexible about making foods that are not on the menu which is nice.
Our waiter took our order and within 5 mins, our first dish arrived.
Within probably less than 10mins, all 4 dishes that we ordered were ready. I didn’t expect to see the dishes ready that fast?!
The food tasted pretty decent and the waiter was on the ball with making sure we always had a full teapot. Tea is good to wash down the greasy that is sitting in between your throat. Yum
The best dish for me is the fresh «deep fried squids». I don’t normally order this, but my friend suggested that I should try it and it was the best decision of the night.
I would say it’s an average of $ 10/​dish, if it’s not seafood. BTW, this is mainly a seafood kind of restaurant.
What I also like about this restaurant is the different size of tables for any group size. You feel like you can come in with as little or with as many people and still fit in.
It’s a great place to have dinner or a late dinner with your friends, family, co-​workers or even new people you’ve just met!

My friends tell me you can tell if it’s a good Chinese restaurant when you find Chinese people and non Chinese people eating there and this is the place. If you want great Chinese food in the downtown area, I would definitely recommend.
There are more larger tables to accommodate 8 – 10 people but they have a row for smaller tables that seat 4 people.
My favourite dishes here are the deep fried squid and the sweet and sour pork. The squid is the the best I have ever had with large pieces and lots of it. The pork is crispy and the sauce isn’t too thick like sweet and sour can be. Also, most pieces don’t contain chunks of fat like other restaurants.
Other delicious dishes include beef and gai lan, peaches and shrimp, and the seafood. The prices are reasonable and you the portion sizes are large so there’s always leftovers!
The only complaint would be that the washroom is small and sometimes lacks soap or tissue.

Love Sai Woo. like previous posters have suggested… you should ask for chinese menu or style.
So many Edmonton restaurants cater to really questionable tastes… the thick sauced noodles etc… Sai Woo does fall prey to that on some western themed dishes as well
BUT
and the difinative BUT
Sai Woo does make 2 of the best dishes in edmonton… in more than Edmonton IMHO
the fried squid is legendary and rightly so… they go through so much that it is fresh, tender, and just plain joy
my fav dish though is the sea cucumber… it is served with sauted baby bok choy, sh*take, onion… and is a world class dish
the server will raise an eyebrow… and ask if you really want sea cucumber… but trust me… you really do… it is under 20 $… 17 $ last time i was there
so very good… tell them a friend told you to ask for the chinese style sea cucumber and you wont be disapointed
as well… it never hurts to say you like chinese style, not american… it means less sauce and more true flavour
the prawns and pods are great
as well the spicey beef & gai lan… we like to ask for extra chili … sublime
the peach prawns are good but make sure the guy does not make them american style. other wise you get shelf mayo and peaches… again authenic style rules
enjoy :)

The best fried squid I have ever had the opportunity to taste.
If you are looking for ambiance you should stay far away from this place.

If I had to pick, this is Edmonton’s best Chinese restaurant, which means Southern Cantonese cuisine. The food is authentic and very well executed. There is good variety on the menu, even the English one. The décor is classic old school Chinatown and the service is attentive, helpful and welcoming. Portions are generous and priced like any other restaurant, so they’re good value. Their clientele is the local Chinese community and it’s busy. There is probably no better endorsement.
As with all North American Chinese restaurants, the best food is often off the English menu and seasonal specials are often only written in Chinese. Ask the staff about what’s good and what the chef found for the specials. Depending on seasonality, there might not be a special every day but it’s worth asking.
The reality is that most western diners order the «Big 3»: fried rice, sweet and sour pork and Ginger Beef, over and over again; something that convinces Chinese restaurant owners that the average western customer is not interested in authentic Chinese food, which is why the English and Chinese menus are not really the same. So, ask.
Their big challenges in attracting a wider customer base are the dearth of parking in Chinatown and that the neighbourhood intimidates some. Western diners also find a room full of Chinese all speaking Chinese loudly a little bit intimidating as well. Although parking is a challenge, both the neighbourhood and the restaurant are really quite welcoming in reality. Come in a group so you can order a wide variety of the dishes and have a raucous good time like everyone else.

Huge portions, excellent service, and bustling, busy restaurant full of all kinds of people is what makes the Sai Woo a wonderful place to dine. Located in Chinatown, the portions are gigantic — be prepared to take some home with you, along with some of the rice you may order to the side. In these meals, the chicken, beef, or whatever other kind of meat comes with a dish is served in an amount equal to, if not more, than the vegetables. This is definitely a place to bring a friend — not only is it a fun place to eat, but you’ll need help finishing the food.