Critic's Review
Today I had a 1998 moment. I went to a restaurant because of wildly outdated info on their website and almost no info online. The way it used to be.
This place claims "NY Style Chinese Food", and when I used to work in NYC I ate Chinese food twice a week; not only because it was cheap but because it was good. If you knew where to go, you ordered the salt and pepper pork chops, which are a lot better than they sound when prepared properly. This place has it on their online menu and I had to go to another place not too far from here, so I picked up some food.
They advertise a "casual dining experience", which for Chinese food is usually a card table and a box, so I decided to do takeout. From the outside the place looks like nothing; upon entry there's the standard counter and minimal decor.
There was no-one at the counter; the dining room isn't bad; I probably would have eaten in if I knew, but ultimately I'm glad I didn't.
They had menus on the counter and alas, no more salt and pepper pork chops. They had salt and pepper shrimp and squid, but I didn't want that. I could have asked them to make it, but as it turned out I had enough trouble ordering a combo.
Eventually a man came over to see what I wanted. "C11", I said, following the instructions on the menu to order by the numbers. The man seemed confused. I pointed at the combos. "#11". "Chicken?", he said. He started reading the menu like it was the first time he ever saw it. "Oh, comes with egg roll". Good grief. "Yes, I said, Pork Fried Rice and Egg Roll. Chicken with Black Bean". He even underlined it on my menu. "Yes, that's the one". "Ok, have a seat".
Publix is next door, so I told him I'd be back in 10 minutes. When I returned the package was ready. Paper checks and a pinpad; their menu is dated March 2015. Change is slow here.
When I got home the container was still hot; not bad considering it's a 20 minute drive. Not a bad portion for $8.45 with the egg roll.
The Egg Roll was NY style, although it didn't have anything interesting inside. Basically a cabbage roll with a few shards of carrot. About what you'd expect for free, but I wouldn't pay anything for this.
At first glance the chicken looked ok, but the sauce didn't look right and was laden with sesame seeds, which simply don't belong.
While the ingredients mix was better than usual, the sauce ruined the dish. Why was there a strong presence of anise, did they think they were making licorice?
The rice was ok but had nothing other than rice and pork; no egg or vegetables. The cheap stuff reserved for the combos.
I ended up having to rinse the sauce off the rest of the chicken and I'll make leftovers with something in my fridge.
Another bad Chinese restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.
Conclusion
They seem to have compromised their smaller, more interesting menu over the years for a standard take-out menu offering every combination of every sauce to cater to dopey South Floridians who know nothing about Chinese Food. The problem with takeout is that all of the sauces are just tossed together with the understanding that most people can't tell the difference between one sauce and the other. Proper black bean sauce takes 2-3 days to make; I think I'm sticking to the stuff in the jar from the Chinese grocery from now on.
