So, we've heard of Chin's, but never been. Now there's that one right on Convoy street that's opened. We haven't been to that one yet. So one Sunday we decided that was the day.
The Food Pimp was driving... because he's the man (contrary to some discounted rumors) and he was asking me which exit it was. I had no idea. I remember once or twice we had driven by and said, that's where Chin's is! But I still have trouble remembering what street our vet is on... I think it's Oregon. Anyway, the FP really knew where it was, he just wanted confirmation.
So, for anyone who might not know, Chin's is in a Holiday Inn. So when we walked in, there were the remnants of what appeared to be an italian restaurant, the buffet line, decor. But Chin's is Chinese. But you would never guess to look at the dining room. Because it just looks like a hotel restaurant. So, whatever time they open, we were there right at opening. Of course, no one else was there. So, at first there was a miscommunication, and we got the regular menu. But then they gave us the breakfast menu. I was glad there wasn't any secret code to get the good menu, like there can be in ethnic restaurants.
So, the menu wasn't too big, so it was pretty easy to choose 4 things. We were hungry, and we'd never been there, so big splurge. Plus, there was no prices.
So, I'm going to go with worst first. Dumplings soup. I think it was pork dumplings. They did look irregular, like they were handmade. But they were just dumplings in bland broth. And some of the filling in the dumplings tasted... questionable. That was disappointing - and I think I'm the one who picked it because I wanted soup and I wanted dumplings!
Rice cake with ground pork. Okay, I really liked this. The texture of the rice cake slices were tender. They were not sticky and glutinous and heavy like I've had before. I think it's funny the way sometimes in dishes you see the ground meat "worms". They are cooked without really being broken up, so they retain that original form from when it comes out of the grinder. Oh, I wish I had a meat grinder... for work or at home. I love making sausage, forcemeat, tube meat, pate, sausage... oh, I already said that.
Anyhoo, me rikey lice cakey. No, that was not a racial slur.... as an asian, I have a pass to make fun of all asian cultures, don't I? Actually, pacific islander... so I can make fun of samoans too... And besides, maybe I was just making fun of myself. When I was a child, it took a while for me to be able to say red, instead of wed. This was difficult, because my sisters and I used to play with this other Philippine family with four kids. I was the youngest of 7. They were hard on me. Whenever we played twister and I was calling - they made fun of me for saying wed and wouldn't move to the next spin because they were trying to teach me "red." I should thank them now. Listen ... Red rover red rover send Roger right over. Thankfully I eventually could say red so that I didn't embarrass myself during PE class. And just as a footnote, my family pretty much lost touch with the other family. Mainly because the parents told my hippie sister to stop hanging out with their son - because she was being his friend, and he possibly had a crush on her. No, not when they were kids, when they were well in their 20s. Unfortunately, the parents weren't sure how to raise their first 2 kids, and they completely sheltered them. The last 2, they were slightly more lenient with. This is me telling you as a sheltered kid that they were sheltered.... Don't you love delving into my past?
Dan dan noodles. Yummsters! These noodles were very...sesame pastey, and they had ground peanuts on them too. I love nutty things (insert dirty or psychiatric joke here)! So, I wish I could compare these to the noodles at Ba Ren, but that was so long ago that we had them at Ba Ren. Anyway, these were good noodle.
Smoked Fish. This was the first thing on the menu that the Food Pimp chose. It looked very scary. Specially so early in the morning. But the taste was not scary at all. It was delicious. It was... very balanced. Yes, it was black, but it didn't taste black.
So that's what we ate. It wasn't cheap, but they were big portions, and we had leftovers. We got home, and we realized we left the leftovers in the car. It was a hot day. We were glad we remembered to bring them into the house. We just didn't remember to put it in the fridge. The FP realized this when he got home from work. He tried to put the noodles in the microwave to kill the bacteria and try to eat it, but he decided against it. Like I said, it was a warm day. If my mom were here, she would have eaten all of it and not thought anything of it. And she wouldn't have gotten sick. She has an iron stomach. Not like the FP's american gastrointestinal tract....
The Food Pimp was driving... because he's the man (contrary to some discounted rumors) and he was asking me which exit it was. I had no idea. I remember once or twice we had driven by and said, that's where Chin's is! But I still have trouble remembering what street our vet is on... I think it's Oregon. Anyway, the FP really knew where it was, he just wanted confirmation.
So, for anyone who might not know, Chin's is in a Holiday Inn. So when we walked in, there were the remnants of what appeared to be an italian restaurant, the buffet line, decor. But Chin's is Chinese. But you would never guess to look at the dining room. Because it just looks like a hotel restaurant. So, whatever time they open, we were there right at opening. Of course, no one else was there. So, at first there was a miscommunication, and we got the regular menu. But then they gave us the breakfast menu. I was glad there wasn't any secret code to get the good menu, like there can be in ethnic restaurants.
So, the menu wasn't too big, so it was pretty easy to choose 4 things. We were hungry, and we'd never been there, so big splurge. Plus, there was no prices.
So, I'm going to go with worst first. Dumplings soup. I think it was pork dumplings. They did look irregular, like they were handmade. But they were just dumplings in bland broth. And some of the filling in the dumplings tasted... questionable. That was disappointing - and I think I'm the one who picked it because I wanted soup and I wanted dumplings!
Rice cake with ground pork. Okay, I really liked this. The texture of the rice cake slices were tender. They were not sticky and glutinous and heavy like I've had before. I think it's funny the way sometimes in dishes you see the ground meat "worms". They are cooked without really being broken up, so they retain that original form from when it comes out of the grinder. Oh, I wish I had a meat grinder... for work or at home. I love making sausage, forcemeat, tube meat, pate, sausage... oh, I already said that.
Anyhoo, me rikey lice cakey. No, that was not a racial slur.... as an asian, I have a pass to make fun of all asian cultures, don't I? Actually, pacific islander... so I can make fun of samoans too... And besides, maybe I was just making fun of myself. When I was a child, it took a while for me to be able to say red, instead of wed. This was difficult, because my sisters and I used to play with this other Philippine family with four kids. I was the youngest of 7. They were hard on me. Whenever we played twister and I was calling - they made fun of me for saying wed and wouldn't move to the next spin because they were trying to teach me "red." I should thank them now. Listen ... Red rover red rover send Roger right over. Thankfully I eventually could say red so that I didn't embarrass myself during PE class. And just as a footnote, my family pretty much lost touch with the other family. Mainly because the parents told my hippie sister to stop hanging out with their son - because she was being his friend, and he possibly had a crush on her. No, not when they were kids, when they were well in their 20s. Unfortunately, the parents weren't sure how to raise their first 2 kids, and they completely sheltered them. The last 2, they were slightly more lenient with. This is me telling you as a sheltered kid that they were sheltered.... Don't you love delving into my past?
Dan dan noodles. Yummsters! These noodles were very...sesame pastey, and they had ground peanuts on them too. I love nutty things (insert dirty or psychiatric joke here)! So, I wish I could compare these to the noodles at Ba Ren, but that was so long ago that we had them at Ba Ren. Anyway, these were good noodle.
Smoked Fish. This was the first thing on the menu that the Food Pimp chose. It looked very scary. Specially so early in the morning. But the taste was not scary at all. It was delicious. It was... very balanced. Yes, it was black, but it didn't taste black.
So that's what we ate. It wasn't cheap, but they were big portions, and we had leftovers. We got home, and we realized we left the leftovers in the car. It was a hot day. We were glad we remembered to bring them into the house. We just didn't remember to put it in the fridge. The FP realized this when he got home from work. He tried to put the noodles in the microwave to kill the bacteria and try to eat it, but he decided against it. Like I said, it was a warm day. If my mom were here, she would have eaten all of it and not thought anything of it. And she wouldn't have gotten sick. She has an iron stomach. Not like the FP's american gastrointestinal tract....
Comments
ha - i like it when you "delve into your past"!!!!!!
i've been to the chins near miramesa (went w/kirk, capt. jack and michael of foodopolis). kirk ordered everything cuz you know they know him there and he knows all the menu items.
yeah if you're in the know they won't give you the crappy American menu. stay away!!! me no like! me love you long time! ha ha! do i have a pass to make fun of accents too? ha ha.
watch, someone sensitive will read this and complain. oh yeah, well, m|m (that is a lame way of trying to make letters do the 'flipping off' sign). FAIL.
email me sometime. let's get together for lunch or dinner (lunch only on weekends for me). let's try some new shit, yeah!
Putanginamo!!!!!