Chinese food

So for about a month now I have been craving Chinese food! All I wanted was a kick-ass plate of Kung Pao Chicken...so last night hubs and I went on the hunt for some good 'ole chop-stickn' food! We first went to this place in the yuppie suburb that is only about 2 miles from us...we walked in looked at their menu, I gagged and walked out. Besides the fact that these entrees cost three times as much as mall Chinese the dishes they were serving were odd...jelly fish. Who in sane heck eats jelly fish? Just imagining the texture of what a jelly fish would taste like turns my stomach! I just imagine this gooey, spongy mess. How does one cook jelly fish? Poached? Broiled? Sauteed with hollindase? I was in no mood to find out.

So into the car we hopped and turned on our GPS unit which conveniently finds restaurants. Typed in Chinese and picked one in the other near by yuppie suburb. Off we went. Once we got there we were immediately pleased with the picture menu posted outside the door. In all reality one really only needs a picture menu to order..I like to know what my food will look like! It doesn't surprise me that the other place had no pictures, really, who is gonna photograph a jelly fish!

So in we go. Once inside we were greeted by a friendly hostess and an overwhelming sent of spearmint. Yup, mint. Like the Trident Factory was located in the back or something. That strong. I nonchalantly looked around to try and determine where this sent was coming from...not from the two large yet kind of foggy fish tanks located in the middle of the place, not from the fully stocked bar (seriously a lot of liquor and happy hour prices..who knew that the local Chinese restaurant did a happy hour?). Once we were seated (btw there are only 2 other people eating in this place) we opened up our menu.

Ignoring the mint sent that has taken over my olfactory glands, I begin to imagine what each dish would taste like (did not need to create a visual as this was a fully illustrated menu!). Hubs settled on the Orange Chicken and I went with my craving for Kung Pao Chicken.

As we wait for our food I mentioned the mint sent to my hubs and he too could not determine the origin. Now I am hungry and oddly craving to brush my teeth...weird. Anywho, our food comes and both dishes look just like the pictures! Yay! And then I took a bite...

Now you see I am someone who enjoys eating out at places for dishes that I do not create at home. Indian food, Chinese, steakhouse food, and seafood are choices in which I indulge in others creating for me. However, this particular dinner could easily have been recreated at home. All I would need is some soy sauce and a sponge. Yup a sponge. That is the best way I can describe my Kung Pao chicken, spongy. No kung or pao to it what so ever...its like sponge bob was sauteed in soy sauce and finished off with a couple hot peppers. ugg.

Hubs dish however was fantastic and thankfully huge. His chicken was fried so it had a great crispness to it. So we split his and I was at least full for the night and my craving was satiated.

So the moral of this story: don't judge a dish by its coordinating picture on the Chinese food menu. I might as well have tried the jelly fish....