Yue Kee is a popular Chinese food truck in University City. The menu is super long, and the line of people made me want to chose quickly. General Tso’s Chicken? No. How about Grandfather’s chicken.
Posted at 1:40 pm, April 28th, 2011 under Chinese, food truck, University City.
Last week, I had a really disturbing Chinatown dining experience. Though several commenters called me out on being a wuss, I was semi-traumatized, I have issues with hair… They say that when you fall off the horse, you should get right back on. So with that in mind, I marched myself back to Chinatown to have another meal.
Chinatown Restaurant, on the corner of 10th and Arch, is one that I would never ever have gone into, it looks completely generic. But a trusted friend advised me that there were some dishes of interest, so I figured I had nothing to lose. As long as nothing was hairy.
Two menus are available at Chinatown restaurant, one with American-Chinese staples and the other with more authentic fare. Ask for both.
A while back some ladies were selling sticky rice and congee outside of Ming River Side Walk House, they were delicious but I wanted to check out the actual restaurant. Inside, Ming River has a small menu with an emphasis on soups.
My meal went from good, to edible, to scary. Ladies and gentleman this story is not for the faint of heart. I have eaten at my share of dives and places of questionable practices, but I have never really dealt with grossly unappetizing food like this. I’ll start you off easy, but be warned there will be a twist of M. Night Shyamalan proportions.
Luncher Aubre needed some soup, off to Sang Kee…
During this brutal winter of bitter cold and high winds, I became a lunchtime fiend for the big noodle soup bowls at Sang Kee. A bunch of the Profiled Lunchers on this site have mentioned Sang Kee’s lunch combo deal and Nick enjoyed the Shanghai Noodles—but no one has yet mentioned their big noodle soup bowls. No one has trekked across the icy tundra of Market street at least once a week to warm their soul with a ten gallon bowl of soup, no one, except for me… and the hundred other people who are always eating there and making wait for a table.
Posted at 10:30 am, March 3rd, 2011 under Chinese, soup, University City.
Harmony Bakery is my #1 obsession of the moment for the fresh strawberry smoothie with yogurt bubbles in them. Since trying them in November I have been make countless times to get my bubble fix. Along with my regular order, I recently tried some more of the food on the menu and I was pleasantly surprised.
Today, we are getting a report from profiled luncher Stephanie about a colorful dumpling platter and secret spot for coffee in Chinatown.
Tucked away at the edge of Chinatown on 9th Street is a little eatery called Ray’s Cafe and Tea House. Unassuming and charming, Ray’s Cafe has been a neighborhood establishment since 1989, serving up delicious Taiwanese food, carefully curated teas, and a selection of truly remarkable coffee.
Scanning the menu for options, including standard lunch specials and a few enticing Taiwanese staples, I noticed that Ray’s Cafe leaned more towards home-cooked dishes you would find at an aunt’s house rather than restaurant fare. In fact, proudly printed on the menu was a health-conscious blurb that read: “No MSG and 0G Trans Fat!” — a practice more Taiwanese restaurants should implement.
When I noticed a section devoted to dumplings, my taste buds began to salivate. The simple dumpling often gets overlooked at restaurants, disguised as an appetizer or accompanying side. However, in Taiwanese cuisine, dumplings are much regarded as a meal in itself – and an especially auspicious food choice during Chinese New Year! I ordered the dumpling sampler, an assortment of ten handmade dumplings, featuring five different flavors, for $8.50.
Right next to one of my Chinatown favorites, Empress Garden, is a completely missable spot that truly exemplifies a “hole in the wall”. I don’t know what possessed me to walk in to Chinese Restaurant after walking by it so many times but I am glad that I did. The tiny menu consists of soups and a few snacky things for you to take out. Or you can do what I did and sit on a stool at the counter or at one of the 3 small tables available. The small space and steady stream of customers makes it easy to point and ask for “whatever he is having.”
