Sunday, July 19, 2009

Chi Tung

On Friday, my friend Tiffiney and I went to Chi Tung Restaurant. It is near my house and has Japanese, Chinese, and Thai food, plus a new Hibachi Steakhouse (http://www.chitung.com/). When we first moved to our house about 3 yrs now, we went once. Ordered from the Thai menu and were very disappointed. All of our dishes (our friend Bob went with us) were not good. We ordered the main dishes like Pad Thai, Thai Fried Rice, all without much taste. Also, the soup was more a version of Raman (maybe IT was raman noodles). So, we never went back.
About a week ago, Mike was saying that he had been reading reviews and that Chi Tung scored really high in its food and everytime that we drive by it is packed. I thought maybe after 3 yrs, they changed something? So, I gave it a try. [We actually waited about 10 minutes to be seated, that is how full this place was + countless of take out that I saw in that amount of time].
We ordered two Maki - Spider and Shrimp Tempura, an appetizer from the Thai menu - vegetable potstickers, and the Chinese for 2 - which came with some appetizers: Shrimp Tempura, a BBQ rib, egg roll, Hot and Sour Soup, and the main entrees: Sweet and Sour Chicken and Steak and Broccoli.
The soup came first - no taste, no spice. Oh, oh. Not a good start. Well, let's hope. The Shrimp tempura had a good batter consistency, but still missing on flavor. The rib was ok. At least the meat was soft. The egg roll average. Oh, God. Let's hope for the Thai appetizer. The potstickers came in. They were the best from the meal. Not much inside, they could be a bit more generous in their vegetables, but they were good. The chinese came in, and it was so bland, how can they cook with no flavor?! We did not eat much.
I looked around and saw many people ordering mainly sushi (at least closed to us). Their sushi was so average. I did not think the ingredients were fresh enough, it felt griddy too. In that sense (sushi) this restaurant does not hold a candle to Sesame Inn. If you are in the mood for that, there is no choice go for Sesame Inn.
Yes, the portions for the chinese are pretty big. So, after the whole experience and a huge pack of leftovers. (Tiffiney thought her brothers may eat them), we left the restaurant.
So, nothing was worth coming back. Huge menu not a good idea. I read somewhere "beware of restaurants with big menus". Now, I know why. I still don't understand why is so busy? Well, don't waste your money or time.

[[ Don't know how it is their new Hibachi Steakhouse, but I don't think I will try it]]

2 comments:

Ron Nelson said...

Yea, never trust a restaurant with a big menu, or one that has strange combinations. Thai and American Chinese and Japanese are pretty different cuisines, which is probably why they can't pull it off.

I go to Thai places for Thai. Vietnamese places for pho, etc. The trouble is, the south side is sorely lacking for good variety, which I've never been able to understand.

Erika (for Arianna :) said...

Yeah, and I think that is the reason why this place is soooooooo busy. I mean it is always BUSY! And sadly, to get some good food you need to drive quite far, well except for the sushi.