Don't go there, girlfriend! - or - Fried Rice Express

Odds are against any of you wanting to head out to the fringe of the city for Chinese food. Should you find yourself around Harlem & Higgins, I am obligated by the sacred LTH oath to warn you off of some really, really bad food.

All I hope for from a local Chinese take-out place is decent food. Nothing truly authentic, necessarily, maybe a couple of the specials on the menu could be not aimed toward the euro-ethnic locals. [And good egg fu young. It's a childhood favorite of mine... right up there with tuna noodle casserole.] I do NOT hope for tired, half dead vegetables, overly processed and tenderized meats, and sauces with no flavor and too much cornstarch.

Which brings me to Fried Rice Express. Close to my house & they deliver. It was one of those evenings when I was facing a 2:15 am wake-up to go to work, and I called to have food delivered early. [The food there was good when it opened, but has gone steadily down-hill. Thought I'd give them one more chance.] First try in over a year.

They had 2 stir-fried vegetable dishes on the menu: vegetable delight and vegetable chop suey. Pretty much knew what "chop suey" would look like, and after establishing what was in the "delight", I asked if I could have a mixture of the two [they're the same price]. After 5 minutes of wrangling, it was agreed that I could have a mixture if I paid extra . When it arrived, it was broccoli, onion, poorly cut bok choi, and bean sprouts so limp, tasteless & unhappy that they could have come straight from a LaChoy can. The chicken with satay sauce was even worse. Described as "Chicken stir fried with pineapple in a garlic sauce", it was chicken in a sauce that tasted like soy sauce, nothing more. There were some unhappy bits of diced garlic that showed up in the bottom of the container, but contributed no flavor. A few bits of canned pineapple and some onion completed the dish. It was billed as spicy, but wasn't. And is it just me, or at least in these parts doesn't "sate sauce" imply peanuts??

I actually ended up throwing everything but the fried rice [competent, no more] out. UNHEARD OF in my house.

And while I'm on the subject, avoid Mandarin Village at Touhy & Niles Center like the plague, too. Won't go in to detail... it's even worse in some ways .

I know that you can block incoming numbers TO your phone, is it possible that you can block yourself from CALLING a certain number. I don't ever, ever want to make this mistake again.

Giovanna

Gloriana,
When I was working in Skokie, Mandarin Village had better than average lunch specials. Fresh, flavorful and tasty. Though there were several closer Chinese places, MV was a place we'd go back to. Now it's been almost two years, so your mileage may vary.

I'm with Giovanna. Manderin Village was dissapopinting all three times I went/got caqrry out. They made it feel like they were doing you a favor to serve your food.

Giovanna wrote:And is it just me, or at least in these parts doesn't "sate sauce" imply peanuts??

Could you be confusing Chinese sate (also photo here) with Thai/Indonesian satay?

Giovanna wrote:And while I'm on the subject, avoid Mandarin Village at Touhy & Niles Center like the plague, too. Won't go in to detail... it's even worse in some ways.

Perhaps it depends on what you order. I eat regularly at Mandarin Village and I've always enjoyed the food there. It's an old-fashioned Chinese-American neighborhood place, but the food is freshly prepared, the vegetables are crisp and the sauces are flavorful.

I particularly recommend the egg rolls and the Peking duck, served in two courses, and available without advance notice. The gratis pickled cabbage is nice, too.

Mandarin Village Restaurant
847/933-1188
Village Crossing,
7150 Carpenter Road
Skokie, IL 60077

Giovanna,
Have you ever been to Hoa My ? It's not to far from you, and I think it's really good Chinese - American , all the basics. I always get the combo fried rice with a side of lobster sauce to put on top and beef and broccoli no delivery, dine in or carry out and closed on Sundays , but it's BYOB and great prices. Also a few doors down is Villa Napola Pizza , great thin crust !


Hoa My
8528 W. Lawrence Ave
Norridge
708-453-3950


Villa Napola Pizza
8546 W Lawrence Ave
Norridge
708-456-5022

Just off Cumberland

LAZ: Could you be confusing Chinese sate (also photo here) with Thai/Indonesian satay?

Well, I certainly could be, but it is spelled "satay" on the menu. There could be transliteration issues on their end, of course. From the link to the beef 'sate', that may be very possible.

And as to Mandarin Kitchen: I admit I only ate there once, but it was a dreadful experience. I ordered a kung pao chicken which had [1.] no flavor [B.] no heat, even tho I ordered it extra spicy and [iii] spongy chicken and vegetables that were cut in random shapes and sizes, guaranteeing that practically none of them were cooked properly. There were many people in the restaurant, happily chowing down. Their lunches didn't look any better than mine. It was such a negative experience [did I mention the surly & neglectful service?] that it does not deserve another chance, imho.

What, exactly, do restaurants do to over-tenerize their meats so badly? I realize that it's an attempt to make cheap cuts more palatable... but, honest to God. Horrible. Plus, why would a slice of chicken breast NEED to be tenderized?

[And, thank you, Kim, I have had pretty good experiences with both Hoa My and Villa Napoli. Hoa My just once... have to see if they deliver for those VERY lazy days....]

Giovanna