Joy Luck Garden

4251 Truxel Road #C1

Sacramento, CA 95834

Rating:  

Apparently this restaurant had a grand opening on 4/11/12. Joy Luck Garden replaced Full Moon restaurant in Natomas. Because C.F. Chengs is probably packed today, I decided to try out this new restaurant. Since it was Saturday, I expected a busy restaurant upon entrance, but no one else was there. With that being said, Joy Luck Garden does offer both Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. Today, I decided to give their Vietnamese cuisine a shot (look for a Chinese cuisine review later on).

I ordered my usual Pho Tai with no onions. The meal arrived in a timely manner, all while the NBA playoffs were on air on the nearby TV. The broth is fairly light, but did not have too much depth of flavor like in Pho Tau Bay or Pho Saigon. The Pho noodles and the meat were of standard quality, with the noodles slightly too soft and the meat cooked through with no red upon arrival. If I had a choice, I would go elsewhere for Pho. However, if you are in Natomas and need Pho nearby, then I would suggest Joy Luck Garden.

I also ordered a strawberry smoothie. The smoothie tasted very watery, but was bright red. I assume that the may use some real strawberries in there…somewhere. I would not order that again. I prefer the fake pink strawberry smoothies of Saigon or Hoa Viet.

Overall, Joy Luck Garden does seem to have provided Natomas with some decent Pho, but by no means does it compare to the restaurants of Stockton Boulevard. Without tasting the Chinese cuisine, I cannot fully rate this restaurant. But, like other Chinese/Vietnamese restaurants, I don’t usually expect too much from the Chinese food, but we shall see…