The Menu

Please feel free to offer a suggestion or request of what you'd like me to eat next either via comment or email/twitter. I can't guarantee that I'll always get the requested items first thing, but most likely I will. We'll see how many requests I get. As you can see, it's a unique and large menu so I have a long way to go. For the record, the sushi here is surprisingly good, but I'm leaving that out of this blog just for the time being as it's the only delivery sushi place, and the closest sushi place to my house. Therefore I can't stick with the, buy it once and never again, policy of the rest of this blog. For now, I'll only review the sushi by request and don't guarantee that I'll get right to it.

outside:

inside:

F2. Imperial Twin

Well, this time I decided to jump right into the chef's specials portion of the menu with a regally named, Imperial Twin. I had a pretty good idea of what I had in store despite never having ordered this. Once again, I should really pick up a few chinese menus from various restaurants so I can see if things like Chef's Specials are more or less the same menu across the board. Anyway from the description I figured this would be some sort of stir fry and I was right.

ingredients:

-broccoli

-bamboo shoots

-snow peas

-button mushrooms

-carrots

-baby corn

-water chestnut

-bok choy

-shrimp

-beef

description:

Standard stir fry of all above ingredients. In a slightly sweet, savory beef broth or brown sauce. Served over rice. Shrimp and beef are both non-breaded and most likely pan fried.

opinion/review:

Well, if you refer to my previous post, the ingredients in this dish are almost identical to that of the last, however I enjoy this one much more. While it is pretty standard, the brown sauce is less overwhelming than the sweet, tangy, sticky sauce from the Tai Chan Chicken. Obviously the meats are different and this might lead to why I feel less heavy after eating this one. No breading, which I tend to prefer. Nothing deep fried in this dish. I also really like the addition of bok choy. It's light, watery flavor kind of takes away from the heaviness as well. This is my first beef dish of the journey and I look forward to more. While the beef is your standard typical beef, it's very good for what it is, tender and quite lean. Sometimes this is just luck of the draw and you end up getting the end pieces of the cut that have more gristle but I guess I lucked out on this one. Overall, nothing to write home about on this one, but for what it is, it's pretty good.

note:

As promised, I will post the full menu right after posting this one so I will be accepting requests or suggestions soon.

C23. Tai Chan Chicken

Of course, getting carryout every week is harder than it should be. I just forget for a few days and before I know it, it's been almost two weeks and I've fallen behind. Well, I decided to make it a Chinese Thursday night. I was having trouble picking tonight. So far, for whatever reason, it' been easy to just open up the menu and just pick. Tonight I thought too much and looked at the menu for a solid 10 minutes. then I saw Tai Chan Chicken. It had a pepper next to it, and I had already decided I wanted something spicier. I have never heard of it so I decided, it's time to find out. This is one of the items that really embodies this journey.

ingredients:

- broccoli

- bamboo shoots

- snow peas

- button mushrooms

- carrot

- mini corn

- water chestnut

- breaded chicken

- red chilis

description:

This is the first time I've seen this dish. It contains a fair amount of standard ingredients but puts them together in a different way. The sauce is a sweet, tangy sauce, reminiscent of a sweet and sour sauce. There is a slight bite to it due to the red chilis. The chicken is a breaded, deep fried chicken, basically the same that you would find in a General Tso's Chicken.

opinion/review:

When I was driving this home I was getting a little nervous. For some reason it just smelled weird, I think it was the broccoli mixing with the scent of the sweet, tangy sauce. Regardless, when I opened the bag upon arriving at home I was greeted to a visually appealing container of food. I really had no idea what to expect for this one but it turns out that it contains a lot of my favorite things in it. I've always been a fan of button mushrooms (probably because of their similarity in shape to the super mario bros. mushroom). Bamboo shoots, well, you know how I feel about those. And I love baby corn, if nothing else, for the sheer novelty of it that never seems to wear off. All in all, I have to admit that it's kind of a strange mix, almost like they just were bored one night and decided to throw a bunch of things together, it turned out to not be too bad, so they gave it a name and stuck it on the menu. Regardless, I am not complaining, the chicken is crispy and tastes great soaked in this sauce. It is packed with vegetables (which is always nice) and it has mushrooms, and I always like mushrooms.

So I consider this to be a more successful addition to this blog seeing as this was a brand new dish I had never heard of. I'll have to keep an eye out and see if this exists on other menus. If any of you have had this before please feel free to leave a comment.

S 13. Sizzling Shrimp

S. 13 Sizzlin Shrimp

It's been over a week since my last entry. I guess I've not been eating out enough. Well, I decided that I had to go again tonight and get in the habit of at least about once a week or I'll never get through this menu. So here it is, Sizzlin Shrimp

ingredients:

- Broccoli

- Shrimp

- Yellow Onion

- Green Peppers

- Brown Sauce

description:

Although I don't recall seeing a Sizzlin Shrimp on too many menu's the dish is fairly standard. I can't currently think of what dish this is similar to but I know I've had something like it. Anyway, It's pretty simple, good sized shrimps, large chunks of green pepper, semi-thinly sliced sauteed onions, and good sized broccili florets. The brown sauce is a bit rich, semi sweet with a tiny bit of tang, although not spicy. It's not listed as a spicy dish so this is to be expected.

opinion/review

Not the world's most exciting dish, but for what it is, it's very good. This order makes me very happy that I chose Spring Garden for this venture. while the ingredient list and overall outcome of this dish is simple, it's very delicious. The sauce is rich, not soupy, and not greasy. The shrimp are very good sized. Everything tastes fresh for carry out. The broccoli is good sized, maybe a little bit softer than usual for this place, the green peppers aren't soft though, they have a nice crunch. I tend to really like broccoli dishes because one of my favorite things is eating a good sized piece of broccoli that has retained a lot of the sauce. Something very pleasant about that first bite. I guess I don't have a lot to say about it except that I'm enjoying it