I am seriously bloated. Boy and I have just come home from a meal at the Lucky Star, a local Chinese restaurant that offers buffet meals - all you can eat, for not a lot of money. As I was sipping on my 4th cup of Chinese tea, Northern Monkey's Other Half's quest to find a decent Chinese meal flashed through my mind. So I thought I would do a restaurant review of our meal.
I have had squid in England and in Turkey. I've had it stir fried, battered in rings and now tonight, done with onion and chillies. I've been told that squid when it's fresh and flash cooked is a joy to behold. Tonight, I came to the conclusion that it's all bollocks really. I will now stop giving it the benefit of the doubt. Squid is a bit like chicken cartilage, chewy and tasteless.
Crispy seaweed. Tell me again ~ why? Its like deep fried cabbage. With a slight sweet tang. Nothing to write home about.
I'm really nosey about what people chose to eat and in what order. Think about it, you've got 3 different buffets ~ starters, mains and deserts. If you can help yourself to anything, you could be really inventive about the order of your meal. Start off with fruit, a bit of icecream and then beef in black bean sauce, prawn toast and crackers. Why not? Why do we always do the 'right' thing?
I also love watching people fill up their plates. It's like watching an artist preparing an installation, the care with which each type of meal is arranged into a huge food mountain the EU would be jealous of. I get to the point where I'm betting on the mini-vegetable spring roll that will exceed the critical mass and send the food spilling everywhere. Sweet and sour chicken balls being chased across the floor by the breaded crab claws.
Seriously, for parents wanting to eat out with their little darlings, I'd definitely recommend eating at Chinese restaurants. Culturally, they love kids, they expect them to run around and get in the way and be noisy. They don't give you pointed looks, get you extra napkins for the finger food and they'll sneak the kids treats when they think you aren't looking. I'm sure Boy has half a hundredweight of mints in his coat pocket.
We had a good time tonight. OMG am I full!
Bank Holiday Sunday
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Oh that sounds great and has got my mouth watering...after a big pig out at the weekend I'm back on the low cholesterol diet so had a somewhat boring dinner tonight in comparison.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with you on seaweed - I love it - but do on squid - it's often badly cooked, chewy and elastic band-ish - I've only ever had it and it was fantastic dish once (Wong Kei's in chinatown in London)
Funny - I've never thought about the buffet thing before but it's true when faced with endless choice and options, I still always have a few prawn crackers, some soup, then some starters, etc etc in that order...I have to stop as I'm getting hungry for chinesse food now...
NM ~ the thing to bear in mind with Chinese food, is that you have to have the tea to go with it. Aids digestion, breaks down the cholesterol and is yummy to boot. See you just need to drink more Chinese tea.
ReplyDeletePerhaps that seaweed wasn't the best example...see I'm such an optimist.
Sounds very yummy Roses. I love your views on the artistic plate, i will watch others more closely in future, lol.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about Wong Kei's in London's Chinatown NM, my friend loves to go there.
not to be too foodie, but all the seaweeds dish is is deep fried cabbage with sugar.
ReplyDeletebut thats why i love it.
my best reminisance of chinese buffet was in canada, when i friend had the chicken dish and it had scales, also they ruined salad. but that was probably because they were canadians.
they way people do the same dishes from country to country is fascinating.
Dianne ~ I feel a trip to London coming on...morning at an art gallery, evening at Wong Kei's...does that sound like a baby-plan?
ReplyDeleteBritswitch - I thought I could detect a slight cabbage after taste (and effect).