Critic's Review
Every once in a while I make myself one of the great Chinese Dishes you can get in NYC; Salt and Pepper Pork Chops. It's a spicy dish that uses a mix of roasted salt, white pepper and Chinese 5 spice power that's made spicier by frying the pork chops with hot peppers. I was in the mood for it; I had the jalapenos, but the pork chops were frozen. And I didn't feel like defrosting them, making the batter; too much work for a Friday Afternoon. I had to go to Trader Joes for a few things, so I called Crazy Wok. They had Salt and Pepper Chicken, which is how a lot of places make it outside of NYC. I hoped it was close enough; it had the "spicy" indicator so I thought there was a good chance.
The online ordering worked well; it's badly needed by Chinese restaurants because you can never be quite sure if they understand you; and when they read back the order I can never understand them. And I could ask for extra mustard in advance. You can also specify to pay at the store, which is a necessary option.
I was slightly baffled by the fried rice selection
Add Pork? Is that to add extra pork, or does the pork fried rice not come with pork? I left it unchecked.
I picked up the food first and then went to TJs, but I was in and out in a couple of minutes as I knew exactly what I was buying. I opened the bag and I was overcome with disappointment and fear.
Black pepper on the chicken (put on after the fact) is always a bad sign. I tasted a piece of chicken; tasted like plain battered chicken. Good Grief. Chinese people can't even make Chinese food down here.
I didn't know what the tub of red sauce was; was that some sort of hot sauce? I tasted it and threw it into the garbage.
The rice looked ok, and there was pork in it. I guess they just give you a little pork for the regular price and more for $2 more. I kind of expect pork fried rice to have pork in it. Silly me.
The chicken had no flavor at all, so there was no reason to eat this. Chicken pieces with pork fried rice wasn't the reason I ordered Chinese food. So it looked like I was going to have to cook.
I actually had some salt and pepper seasoning made; normally you'd put it into the chicken batter but I'd have to do it differently. I just tossed the chicken in some oil and chinese wine with the seasoning while I fried up some peppers with garlic in the wok.
Once the peppers were about done, I tossed in the chicken.
Just as simple as that. Spicy and delicious.
Doesn't really go with pork fried rice, but my eyes were watering, so it did the job.
Conclusion
Perhaps my expectation for a specific recipe was inappropriate, but nothing I get down here in Chinese restaurants is what I expect. This dish failed regardless because the menu claims it's spicy but it wasn't spicy at all.
I might as well cook myself. In NY you do Chinese take out because you can't make it as good at home. Down here, it's just the opposite.
Review 7/6/10
Crazy Wok of Coral Springs has opened another location in the shopping center across from Barnes and Noble. They call themselves a "chinese takeout" restaurant, but they have quite a few tables and the place is much nicer than most chinese take out places. They even have a flat screen TV for the dining room.
The first impression is not so good. Placing an order on the phone was difficult. The order taker had no phone skill whatsoever. There was a lot of noise in the background. I was nearby and hoping to pick the food up on my way home. After I'd placed the order she said it would be 20 minutes. Seems like a long time, but ok.
I arrived precisely 20 minutes later and had to wait about 10 more minutes for the food to be ready. This was late afternoon so it wasn't busy. 30 minutes is too long for chinese takeout.
I'm a big dumpling/dim sum fan, and I can tell a lot about how good a chinese restaurant is from their dumplings. These dumplings were completely devoid of any notable chinese flavor. Dumplings are usually made with ginger, sesame oil and some cabbage, bok choy or water chestnuts to add crunch. These had none of that; just a ball of chopped pork stuck into an overly doughy wanton. I love dumplings and I'll probably toss the rest of these. They taste like nothing and they're just not worth the calories.
I also ordered pork fried rice and chicken with black bean sauce, because thats usually what I order when I eat chinese. The food was cooked well; the chicken and pork were tender and there was no complaint about the meat. But the recipes aren't to my liking. I'm not sure if they were out of onions or something, but there were no onions in either dish (and there should be). The chicken had a token scrap of red pepper but mostly green peppers and zucchini. Typically this dish is made with onions and peppers, preferably red peppers. Without onions and with only green peppers and zucchini its just not that good. I only ate a small portion and when I eat the rest I'll wok up some onions and red peppers and garlic and make it right.
The rice was fine although it lacked stuff. Its mostly pork and rice with no onions and only a sprinkle of bean sprouts, peas and eggs. So little that I wonder why they bothered at all. It will do but its nothing special.
The things I do like about Crazy Wok are that "small" items are pretty large and they give you containers that can be resealed rather than the boxes. They also use the packets for the mustard and duck sauce and they have them out in front of the register so you can grab as many extras as you want.
They also have lunch and dinner combos that include rice, soup or egg roll. The lunch combo is around 5.95 and its about 7.95 for dinner. As I mentioned the dining room isn't too bad so you can stop in for a combo for lunch (until 3pm).
All in all the food is OK, but I don't particularly care for their preparation. I have no patience for tasteless dumplings.
We literally ate Chinese food everyday for either lunch or dinner.
Can't beat Chinese food in NYC, here in south Florida very few palates actually know what really good Chinese takeout for is.