26 Hours in Portland: Wong's King

 After we checked out of the hotel the following morning, it was time to once again feed my constant dim sum craving.  After good but still somewhat lacking experiences in Seattle earlier this year and at a different place in Portland last year, I finally returned to my first love.  The actual name of the joint is Wong's King Seafood Restaurant, but the only seafood I've ever eaten there was served in dumpling form.  They have two locations (the second is in Estacada), but the Portland branch is the only one I care about because that's the one that serves dim sum from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. seven days a week.  I could go on and on about this place but, as this post is already so lengthy, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.  Mostly.

Treats and Tragedies on the Road: Valentine's Weekend in Seattle, Day 2 (Harbor City, Tako Kyuuban, Ellenos, Fado, Starbucks Reserve, Beko)

My alarm went off at 7:00.  Normally I don't bother setting an alarm while on vacation, especially since I have this odd habit of waking up with the sunrise (albeit only on vacation), but I'll make an exception on certain occasions.  This was such an occasion.  A little later on, at a more sensible time, the roommate would be taking her youngest to do the usual touristy stuff she had done with the tween on our previous trip.  Since said tween had already done that stuff, today she would be coming with me.

Once I had gotten her upright and we had both made ourselves presentable, we hopped on the Light Rail again (I could SO get used to having access to something like that) and headed to MY kind of touristy spot: the International District.  The agenda?  Dim sum.  For breakfast!

On the flip side...

On the whole, this working in Nampa thing has been a positive experience food-wise.  I've found unique sandwiches and sushi, addictive Hawaiian, surprisingly good Thai, even a combination Mexican and gyro joint.  But it hasn't been all moonshine and corn dogs.  There is no Indian food.  I have yet to find a truly good burger place.  And despite several attempts, I'm pretty ready to declare that there simply is NO good Chinese food in Nampa.

Let's make something clear here: despite my fondness for authentic cuisine and my constant bemoaning of the lack of it in the Treasure Valley (especially Chinese), I LIKE Americanized Chinese food.  For good or bad, it's pure nostalgia for me.  I grew up on it, and used to beg to go to those buffet joints the way most kids begged for fast food burgers and chicken nuggets.  So, finding a fix in 2C was important, and so far it's been a largely unsuccessful endeavor.  Let's check out a few together.

Memorial Day Weekend 2014: Day 2 - Portland and Newport (HK Café, Ocean Bleu at Gino's, Nana's Irish Pub)

Sunday morning was kind of a blur.  We got up, got ourselves together, went to look around the awesome Safeway Sis and I had spotted the day before (yes, I get geeky about nice grocery stores), get some coffee, then we checked out of the hotel and headed off to break my three year dim sum fast (I'm not counting the handful of selections available here or the occasional Asian market freezer purchases).

On my first trip to Portland as an adult back in 2010, I did a lot of research on the available dim sum places.  The big contenders at that time were Wong's King and Ocean City.  I ended up choosing Wong's King, loved the experience, went back again the following year, and it would have made sense to go back there on this trip as well.  But of course, I'm me.

Golden Wok

So a reader recommended Golden Wok to me just over two years ago now.  I know, aren't I just the worst?  To be honest, I find it hard to get excited about Americanized Chinese food.  There's no shortage of those types of eateries around here, and let's call a spade a spade: most of them suck.  It seems to be all about nostalgia.  If a place is one you visited long, long ago or is remarkably similar to that place, you like it.  That's the only way I can explain the loyalty to some of the more popular Chinese restaurants around here.  Still, she was adamant and I felt bad for delaying, so I finally gave them a chance...

Pad Thai House

Well, since I'm starting to get backed up on Thai restaurants I need to review, I might as well get one of them out of the way.  Pad Thai House has become a favorite over the last several months, not just of mine but my roommate, my mother, my sister, my sister's boyfriend, etc.  They were one of those places I drove by a million times and never stopped at until my loved ones basically held an intervention to get me there.  Sometimes visiting a place a half dozen times in a few months makes reviewing them tricky, because I don't really recall my first visit or any anecdotes about it with any real clarity, but by the same token there are usually a lot more pictures to show and dishes to talk about.  So let's talk about some food, eh?

Sometimes the past should remain just that...

Well, time to clear the inbox of a few more places I'm having trouble making myself write about.   Today's theme is "What the hell happened to these places I used to love?!"

They grow up so fast...

Believe it or not (and trust me, I'm having a hard time believing it at the moment), I've been doing this food blogging thing for just four months shy of four years.  Of all the people I've met while eating my way across the Valley and beyond, both good and bad, a handful have ended up being very special to me.  Chefs with passion that inspires, history that fascinates and, most importantly, food that delights and challenges me.  Looking back over the years, there is probably one that stands out just a little more than the others, who pops up almost like clockwork through my Facebook and blog posts.  As my audience (and hopefully my skills as a reviewer) have grown, so has this chef's business and menu continued to develop and evolve.

When I first met Phu Tran, I had been indulging in this little hobby of mine for just over a year, about the same amount of time that he had been on the street in his RiceWorks truck slinging fresh, traditional Asian food to grateful office workers.  I ended up going back two more times in as many weeks, and the resulting write-up has had over 900 views (it doesn't sound like a lot, but it was for this site back in 2011).  Phu was the first chef ever to learn who I was before I actually ended up reviewing him, and he was the first person I interviewed during my ill-advised stint with the Boise Weekly, and believe it or not at that point he was considering calling it quits.  Since then, the truck got a helluva paint job, the all-important semi-monthly Food Truck Rally events have allowed many more people to sample his wares, and Phu has begun to focus more on fusion cuisine.  All of this has culminated in the opening of an honest-to-goodness brick and mortar restaurant in The Village at Meridian.  I considered writing a big, overall retrospective piece on the evolution of RiceWorks, but something tells me that Phu hasn't peaked yet, so let's just talk about last night's dinner instead.

Care for a few amuse-bouches?

Here's some random food stuff that is interesting me at the moment...

1)  There's another, bigger food truck rally going on this Thursday (September 1st) downtown at 4th and Grove.  The festivities will be from 5-9 PM.  Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to be able to make it myself, but that doesn't excuse the rest of you.  Here is the list of participants:

Archie's Place
B29 Streatery
Boise Fry Company
Brown Shuga Soul Food
Calle 75 Street Tacos
RiceWorks

I've reviewed all but one of these and pretty much adore all of them, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it will be an amazing evening.  There will also be beer by Payette Brewing and music by Hillfolk Noir.  What more convincing could you possibly need?

2)  Chris the Saladman, of Fair, festival and roadside truck fame, will be setting up permanent digs in his own restaurant starting October 1st.  Chris' on Broadway will be located, well, on Broadway.  The State Street spot the truck has been parked at is now vacant, and if you want street food from Chris, the Hyde Park Street Fair will be your last chance.  After that it's strictly brick and mortar, baby...

3)  Yet another Chinese buffet is getting ready to open, this one in the Shopko plaza on Fairview and Milwaukee.  The interesting thing about this one is that they're pushing the fact that they will offer sushi pretty hard.  There's no set date for the grand opening of City Buffet (did any of my fellow South Park fans giggle at that?), but there is a website with menu and the beginnings of an online ordering setup so you can get an idea what you'll be in for.  As for me, Chinese food AND sushi just a stone's throw from my office?  You can bet I'll at least have to check the place out, even if I'm keeping my expectations relatively low.

And on a personal note, I've noticed a couple of odd things regarding this site.  First of all, I'm getting a LOT of hits from Russia lately.  No idea why.  Secondly, my Native Taters review is getting a lot of hits lately, is there something going on with them that I'm unaware of?

The Great 2011 Dining Slump Round-Up

Damn I've been having a hard time motivating myself to write lately.  It's just so much more difficult when the food is mediocre.  I mean how many ways are there to describe food that's more or less "just okay"?  I've had these things piling up because I don't want to bother writing about them, so rather than waxing eloquent, let's just clean house...

RiceWorks

A couple of weeks ago, the B29 Streatery truck was parked across from WDS Global near the corner of Golden Trout and Kimball in Boise.  I decided to hit them up for lunch, and while I was there I noticed another truck parked a short distance down the block.  While the Streatery was putting my order together, I decided to take a quick stroll to investigate.  There I found something I didn't know had existed but which I've been wishing for and complaining about the lack of for over a year now: an Asian food truck in Boise.

Treats and Tragedies on the road: Wong's King (Portland)

In less than two months, I will be 35 years old.  Believe it or not, I was 33 before I took my first trip to Portland as an adult.  One of the first things I did while deciding what I wanted to see and do while I was there was to try and determine who made the best dim sum in town.  The general consensus, at least so far as I was able to find, is that you'll find the best at Wong's King.

Jade's Chopstick

In a lot of ways, I've more or less given up on the local Chinese food scene.  I have a couple of favorites just like anyone, but to a large extent it's all the same greasy, gristly, hole-in-the-wall fare.  Still, it's interesting that I was impaired the first two times I went to Jade's Chopstick.  The first time I was at a friend's house, a little drunk and not hungry so the couple of bites I had of her shrimp fried rice didn't really make an impression, and to be honest I didn't recall it all that vividly the next day.  The second time was with another friend just a couple of weeks ago who had presented the option of Jade's Chopstick or Mongolian Barbecue, and I chose the former.  I liked it fine, but I was also sick and not really at the top of my game when it came to giving something new a fair shake.  This same friend, a long-time patron of Jade's, insisted that we return just a few nights ago.  While I do abhor a cliché...well, most of them anyway...I can tell you that in this instance, the third time was indeed the charm.

Yen Ching

I have no idea how long Yen Ching has been occupying the corner of 9th and Bannock in downtown Boise.  I know that it's been there since at least the mid-90's, but beyond that I couldn't say.  Always one of the more interesting places in town, I rarely make it there because when I'm in the area I usually opt for Twin Dragon, whose chow mein I absolutely adore.  Yen Ching's food has always seemed slightly more homemade, somehow.  And to be honest, I simply hate peas and carrots in my fried rice.  However, Yen Ching has quite a bit to offer (such as their amazing bakery), and dim sum has recently been added to that list.

No, I didn't get a picture of the building...

P.F. Chang's (happy hour)

If memory serves, though it probably will less often as the years continue to pass, P.F. Chang's opened their branch in downtown Boise back in 2005.  Just a quick aside: I don't call it "Bodo".  And I'm not going to.  Ever.  Anyway, like all new places, especially nationwide chains, it was a madhouse when the doors opened.  It continued to be a madhouse for months afterward, and it seemed that every time I was in the area (though I'll grant you I don't make it downtown often except for hockey games), it was always teeming with people.  Add to that the fact that everyone was telling me how expensive it was, and I just never went. 

A while back, my girlfriend went there with several co-workers and hasn't stopped raving about the place since.  I agreed with her that it was time for me to finally try it, and since we were planning to be only a few blocks away at The Flicks watching The Girl Who Played With Fire recently, it seemed like the perfect time.

Golden Star

Just over a month ago, I wrote a blog on my thoughts regarding the Idaho Statesman's "Best of Treasure Valley" poll.  Mostly it was me ranting and griping, and the first thing I discussed (indeed, the thing that made me want to write the blog entry in the first place) was the "Best Asian Restaurant" category.  Long story short, I copped a little attitude about all the people in the comments section of the page bitching about the fact that there's no decent Chinese food to be found in the Treasure Valley.  I mostly agree with that sentiment, but in the name of playing devil's advocate I took the stance that regardless of the lack of authentic Chinese cuisine, the Statesman's readers still had to choose what they felt was the best of what's available.  The restaurant that won the poll this year (as well as the previous two) was Golden Star, and while I still feel my point is valid overall, I sincerely regret that my comments could be construed as a defense of the restaurant itself or their food.

Wok-Inn Noodle

In a run-down strip mall in Boise, at the corner of Orchard and Emerald, there are a few treasures for those who care to look.  Orient Market is one, the best Asian grocery in town, and they expanded several months ago to a larger space at the other end of the strip.  If you haven't been there since the move, you should drop by.  It's much cleaner and brighter now, and all kinds of delights await in the much larger refrigerator/freezer section.  The Chiang Mai House Thai restaurant is also there, and I intend to try it soon since I've heard so many good things.  There is also a storefront that looks like it hasn't been painted since the 70's, not just because of the color combination but also the state of disrepair.  It is beyond this façade that you will find Wok-Inn Noodle.