DATE: Sunday, October 26, 1997              TAG: 9710240235

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 05   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: ON THE TOWN IN PORTSMOUTH 

TYPE: RESTAURANT REVIEW 

SOURCE: Sam Martinette 
                                            LENGTH:   83 lines

IMPROVEMENTS LIVEN UP JOY GARDEN

It appears that joy has returned to the Joy Garden Restaurant in the Churchland Shopping Center. At least the surroundings were 100-percent improved when we visited last weekend.

Gone are the tired orange walls and haggard looking booths that gave the 24 year-old restaurant a faded look. Newly-painted white walls accent the wall hangings and give Joy Garden a much brighter and cheerier appearance, even during the Nor'easter that raged outside while we dined on the 40-item luncheon buffet.

Owner Tony Yuen, 43, did the renovations himself, with the help of a friend and two nephews. He had to, he said. ``The contractor said we would have to close down for 10 days,'' he explained. ``And we could not do that. We came in and did it ourselves, all in one day.''

The Canton-born Yuen, who left Mainland China for Hong Kong with his family at age three, then immigrated to the U.S. as a 13-year-old, has lived in Portsmouth for the past 15 years. He bought the Joy Garden from his sister two years ago, he said, and operates it with the help of his wife Fung, and his three daughters, who work on weekends.

Joy Garden (5774 Churchland Blvd., 483-1736) opens at 11 a.m., Monday through Saturday, and serves until 10 p.m. through Thursday, until 10:30 on Friday and Saturday, and is open from 12-noon until 9 p.m. on Sunday. The restaurant delivers free (with a $10 minimum) to an area within a five-mile or so radius.

I mentioned the lunch buffet, which is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, and costs $4.50 ($3.99 with a beverage purchase). The 40-items include salads, soups, desserts - such as melon, cookies, jello and pudding - and the traditional orange slices. The day we visited, the hot food line included hot and sour, wonton, and egg drop soups, egg rolls, chicken terriyaki, roasted chicken drumsticks, egg foo young, sesame chicken, fried rice, moo goo

gai pan, chicken lo mein, roast pork pancit, chunks of fried fish, chicken chow mein, green pepper steak, Hunan beef, General Tsao chicken, sweet and sour pork (and chicken), chicken with broccoli, greenbeans and chicken, and so on.

The dinner buffet, served from 6 to 8 p.m., Monday through Wednesday, from 6 to 9 on Friday and Saturday, and from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, costs $7.75, and according to Yuen, ``we add more seafood, like shrimp, snow crab legs, mussels, a fish dish, and scallops with shrimp.''

There are also daily lunch specials (11 to 3, Mon.-Sat.) served with egg drop soup, including Hunan beef or chicken ($4.25); chicken with cashew nuts ($4.25); Szechuan beef ($4.25); garlic chicken ($3.95); sweet and sour pork ($3.65); chicken or pork egg foo young ($3.75); chicken or pork lo mein ($4.55); and others.

Combination dinners, with an egg roll, steamed rice, and sweet and sour pork, include Hunan vegetables ($5.95); pepper steak ($5.65); spicy Kung Pao shrimp ($6.95); chicken with almonds ($5.95); shrimp or beef fried rice ($5.95); and Mongolian beef ($6.95).

``Complete Chinese Dinner'' selections include egg drop soup, tea and cookie, and offers chicken chop suey ($5.75): subgum chicken chow mein ($6.25): pepper steak with onions ($6.25); and more.

A family dinner special for two or more is $7.95 per person, with egg drop soup, egg rolls, fried rice and fortune cookies, and for two people dinner includes moo goo gai pan and Mandarin Triple Crown, a blend of shrimp, chicken and beef sauteed with Chinese vegetables. With a third person a choice of Hunan beef or chicken is offered; add a fourth and you'll get sweet and sour shrimp. With a fifth person the meal includes orange flavored chicken, and so on. The regular menu offers entrees such as Kung Pao chicken ($6.25) or Szechuan chicken ($6.25); beef with snow peas ($7.85) or beef with broccoli ($6.95); Pork with garlic sauce ($6.15) or spicy Hunan pork ($6.75); vegetable lo mein ($5.95) or pork or chicken lo mein ($6.15); and shrimp or beef egg foo young ($5.25). All are served with steamed rice. Fried rice dishes include pork, chicken, or sausage fried rice ($4.45); or shrimp or beef fried rice ($5.25).

Chef's specials and seafood dishes include beef and scallops in an oyster sauce ($7.45); Szechuan shrimp, shrimp and sliced vegetables in a spicy sauce ($8.95); shrimp with cashew nuts ($7.25); shrimp with lobster sauce ($7.25); and many others.

Churchland's Joy Garden appears rejuvenated. If you haven't been in for a while it's worth a return visit. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE

Tony Yuen, right, and his family, l to r, daughter, Jennifer; wife,

Fung Yuen; and son, Tony

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