We have long been fond of Dynasty as our favorite source of Chinese food in Port Angeles. When Tendy's Garden opened we were reluctant to try them. We tend to order Chinese food when we are just too tired or lazy to cook, and just want a good, reliable meal. Why try a new place when we can go with old reliable.

Well, we finally tried Tendy's Garden and we were impressed. It was the crispy duck that did it. We used to live near the Great Wall in Bedford, and we'd often order Peking duck as a pick me up. We had a horrible craving for Peking duck, and it looked like Tendy's crispy duck was the closest thing available.

When we cracked open the plastic containers, we were quite impressed. The crispy duck was delicious, deep fried with a true crispy crust. The mix of vegetables, green beans, carrots, water chestnuts, and the like, were great. The General Tso's chicken had a bit of star anise in it so it was even better than the Dynasty version. The bean curd spring rolls had a nice chewy texture, and the Singapore curried noodles were full of curry and fixings.

Except for the crispy duck and perhaps a few other items, the menu is almost identical to Dynasty's, and the quality is comparable. We weren't sure if Tendy's Garden was a Dynasty spin off or not, but the story we have is that it was founded by a New Yorker who ran a restaurant in Chinatown, but closed up shop after September 11th wiped out the phone service in the area.

So, which is our favorite now, Tendy's Garden or Dynasty? That's hard to say. They are both much better than you'd expect out here in the country. We can only hope that the competition means we'll have two good Chinese restaurants out here on the North Olympic Peninsula. It may be a while before we can get take out Peking duck, or thinly sliced beef tendon, but things are moving in the right direction.