bed of roses

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat

The Rose Garden offers an extensive menu, including an eclectic buffet featuring the Mongolian grill ($7.95), and a do-it-yourself stir fry. They provide a selection of raw vegetables and meat from which the customer can choose, and three different sauces. The whole deal is then handed over to the cook who grills the meal and brings it to your table. This is a great vegetarian option: the vegetables are lightly grilled, remaining fresh and crunchy, with a spicy, delicious and filling result. Meat-avoiders should be warned, however, that all the food is cooked on the same grill, so your neighbor's beef might find its way into your broccoli.

Among the entrees are numerous chicken, pork, beef and duck possibilities, as well as tantalizing vegetarian options like eggplant with garlic sauce ($5.25) and more seafood than you can shake a stick at. My dining companion enjoyed the chicken Cantonese ($6.75). The meat was light and flavorful, and the vegetables, which included watercress and snow peas, were shockingly fresh. A few notes on the buffet: the veggie lo mein is delightfully chewy, and more interesting than the usual meatless dish.

Then there's the egg roll. The Rose Garden's vegetable egg roll is, quite simply, the most wonderful egg roll in the whole world. I think I tasted cinnamon in the sweet, crunchy outside. It is the pinnacle of egg rolls.

It's a short drive from campus to the Rose Garden's peaceful ambiance and generous menu, and this is a trip worth making.