All my life, I thought I could not get enough Chinese Food but since we moved the office near Buford Highway, I am beginning to reconsider. We have tried numerous Chinese restaurants as lunch spots with a mixed result. I am not sure if this is because I have over-indulged in Asian cuisine or if previous positive reviews are not up to my standards. I am going to give a brief recap of a number of restaurants but note I have only eaten at most only once so this is not a final review.
Chef Liu's - I had never eaten at the old location in Pine Plaza (now a taco stand) but stopped by this week during their grand opening and was suitably impressed. We stuck with the dim sum side of the menu and sampled soup dumplings (good not great), pan fried pork buns (outstanding), leek cake (an acquired taste despite the raves), the chiang mei (spelling?) noodles (wonderful and comforting) and wonton soup (delicate broth flavored with cilantro and light dumplings). We had sooo much food leftover and were suitably impressed. A definite return to keep exploring the menu. I want to try more of their noodle dishes.
BoBoGarden - Unfortunately we got the round eye menu for lunch. We had heard about casseroles and other delicacies but didn't realize we got the standard lunch menu until too late. The dishes were good - chicken with snow peas and mongolian beef - but next time we will ask for the authentic menu. The restaurant was quite stylish with great service.
Dim Sum Heaven - Also in Pine Plaza, a small, clean space with attentive service but little English skills. Fortunately they have a picture menu and with lot's of pointing we had a lot of success. I am not sure what anything was called because it was written in Chinese characters but the potstickers were wonderful as well as a variety of steamed buns and dumplings. We also had wonton soup to share and it was quite tasty. We will return again.
Cafe 101 - This is definitely the "upscale" one of the bunch. Very authentic menu. I had spicy eggplant which was meltingly delicious and seasoned quite right (I like more spicy rather than less). My dining companion had some sort of bitter melon soup which was wonderful. Because it was a celebration we topped it off with the multi-bean dessert. I am not sure I would have it again but it was definitely celebratory and interesting. A big pile of shaved flavored ice (coconut milk?) was topped by a variety of different beans that were slightly sweet. Definitely enough for four to five. We will return to try other interesting things.
China Delight - Definitely not delightful. This had been recommended as a possible dim sum lunch place but when we arrived there were few cars in the parking lot and even fewer patrons in the restaurant. While the menu had dim sum we were told they did not serve it for lunch any more. So we tried a couple of the standard lunch menu items. I had some sort of pork and vegetable stir fry. The pork (if it was truly pork) was breaded and tasteless tossed with some limp vegetables and covered in a thick tasteless sauce. I had two bites and quit. A record for me who is known to eat even bad Chinese food. We will definitely not be back.
There's a few more places we have tried but I will report back on another day.
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