One of the things I've always liked about Ann Arbor is the selection of restaurants--especially Chinese restaurants. At one point, I counted 21 Chinese restaurants in the AA/Ypsi area. Since then, I know that one has opened up at the Courtyard Shops and another is scheduled to open in the old Ponderosa on W Stadium. So, tell me about the Chinese food you've had lately.130 responses total.
Last week, I got daring and ordered one of the specials at Dynersty--the Hokien-Style Wonton Soup. For $4.50, they served me a huge bowl of soup with wontons, noodles, and some Chinese vegetable. It was excellent! If you ask me, Dynersty is one of the best deals in town.
I like Chef Jan's restaurants. The Empress on main street is my favorite Chinese restaurant of all, but it's not cheap. His other, the China Gate (South U at Church) is more reasonably priced, although higher than Dinersty. I prefer the food to Dinersty's, but I don't disagree that Dinersty is a bargain. I also like the Great Wall (around the corner on Forest).
There's a new take-out place on east of the Kroger's on Washtenaw in Ypsilanti. But I haven't tried the food yet.
I think Chef Jan sold China Gate, so his only current restaurant is The Empress. Like srw, I also like the Great Wall, but not nearly as much as the Empress.
He remodeled the China Gate, but the new look failed, so he went back to the old format. I don't think he sold it.
If you like spicy Hunan food, check out the Hunan Scallops in China Gate. MMmmmm. (Over $10, but worth it.)
Our favorite is Forbidden City East, on Washtenaw in Ypsi.
I've always wanted to attend a Chinese takeout potluck where everyone brings their favorite entree from their their favorite Chinese restaurant. Label the boxes and let everyone get a good sample of Chinese around town. I'd bring Orange Beef from Middle Kingdom or Champagne Chicken from the Empress. Yum.
That's a good idea. Wish I'd thought of it!
I'll bring this up again after the holidays when everyone again has a few free weekend evenings.
I noticed another new Chinese restaurant on Washtenaw between AA and Ypsi. It's across the street from the Don Carlos Mexican restaurant and called China Express or something like that.
I think that's the restaurant which used ot be Forbidden City East. My favorite in town is Empress and I love the Crispy Shrimp dish (S-8). Someone told me that they had one of the best Chines meals ever in Chelsea at a place called Chinese Tonight near Polly's market. Anyone tried it?
The restaurant at Washtenaw and Golfside has been Forbidden City East, but it has just been purchased by the manager, and will be called Emerald City. (I asked, and he did not know about the OZ stories.)
RE 12: Chinese Tonight is good. Nothing exceptional, except the lines to
pick up your order. They are either way understaffed or really
disorganized. The unique thing is that they are probably the only
Chinese restaurant within 20 miles of my home.
Steve, wouldn't Saline be closer to Manchester than Chelsea? If so, there is a pretty good Chinese restaurant on Michigan Ave, called The Golden Mushroom (or something close to it). We've been there a number of times and found it quite good.
It's in the little strip mall on the east side of Saline beside Leutheuser's Restaurant. Yes, it is quite good, but if you go, be careful and don't start laughing uncontrollably.
Er, we did one time, and the wait and kitchen staff all had then check us out, peeking from behind doors and such. Tsk, tsk. Can't take John anywhere.
Was it the MSG in the food that set off the laughing fit????
RE 15: As to distance it's very close. Chelsea is about 15 miles from home
and the restaurant in Saline is about 20 I think. Hmm, this
sounds like a candidate for "now what can I do on my commute into
work this time?":) ( I drive right by the Saline restaurant.)
RE 16: As to laughing, I don't remember anything in particular. For some
odd reason, most Chinese restaurants seem somewhat depressing to me.
I forget what it was we were laughing about -- nothing to do with the restaurant per se, I think. But the waitstaff found our behavior amusing. Why depressing?
Dunno. Must be those years in the bamboo cages of the Mekong Delta? Oh and it's 16.8 miles to the Golden Wok and about 12 to Chinese Tonight, but only if you live at my house.
Gack! Bamboo cages? Geometry tells us (if one makes certain simplifying assumptions) that there are two points at those distances from the restaurants, unless your house is on a straight line joining them.
John, assuming your assumption was that the distance was measured in a straight line, then I agree with your assertion that there are two places that shf's house could be located. I dod not follow that part about the straight line between them. Those points would involve shorter distances. Isn't it shameless the way we highjacked a Chinese Restaurant item to talk about math? :-)
Wouldn't be the first time. :-*)> If shf's house is on a straight line joining the restaurants, *and* the straight-line distances are as he stated, then the two circles whose centers are at the restaurants and pass through his house are tangent, with a single point of intersection. *Please* somebody get this item back on Chinese restaurants before we kill again.
I think I've had it with Christmas-type food. I think I'll go to Dinersty for lunch tomorrow.
Yeah, the christmas season should be symbolically closed on say January 2nd with a dinner involving roast rack of reindeer.
(this is now linked from aaypsi to kitchen)
Is that 21 Chinese restaurants, or are you including Korean, Thai, etc.?
Chinese restaurants only.
Wow.
Has anyone noticed any Caucasian employees of Dinersty, or are they all Mongoloid?
They do have at least one Caucasian employee. You'll love this, Tim. The guy's got a nose ring.
I like the Golden Chef between Dexter and Jackson off Stadium. Their food seems to be a little fresher than that at Dinersty.
Golden Chef is our favorite place for carryout -- good food, close to home.
They can even adapt if you don't want MSG or lots of salt on your food.
I'm a big fan of both Golden Chef locations. Yummy!
There is a second? Where?
Golden Chef Vegetarian is located on Packard, a bit south of Stadium, two buildings south of Big 10 Party Store. They're vegetarian at dinner; both veggie and non-veggie foods are available at lunchtime. Their lunches are an excellent deal: under $5 for soup and a neato tray of your entree, rice, egg roll, fruit, and a fortune cookie. And all the tea you can drink. Yummy! :)
I wonder how they stay open - there are hardly ever more than a couple of cars in the parking lot. We've eaten there, and it was never crowded. The *simulated* meats are really interesting.
I wonder this too. Sometimes it crowds up at lunchtime, but probably not enough for them to rake in enough bucks to stay open.
They're LAUNDERING money. Har har har...
Last nite, I had a chance to sample Dinersty for myself, being the cynic that I am. Dinner was Moo goo gai pan, plus 2 shrimp rolls. Everything was just as Danr said, excellent. The food was even hot when I arrived home 10 minutes later. The quart size was huge, and made for 2 nice meals. I highly recommend it
moo goo gai meow? (old, bad joke)
I've heard good and bad things about Dinersty. Guess it needs to be tried before making a judgment...
Food is good, but hiring practices are totally RACIST!
You mean just because they have a Chinese-Speaking requirement? That's linguistic, not racist. I think their food's OK, but there are a lot better places around. They're cheap though.
I don't care if they speak Martian, the food is good. Leave well enough alone. You know what happens when someone who knows something tries to change something.
I don't believe they have that requirement any more. Indeed, the last couple of times I've been in there, I saw a young, white guy behind the counter. He even sports a nose ring! He might speak Chinese, but I've never seen him do so.
I didnt know they changed their policy.
My above response was pre-change hysteria. Please ingnore it ;)
The Golden Chef (predominantly vegetarian) Chinese restaurant on Packard
is now called Chia Shiang. Gone is the prominent 'Vegetarian Chinese
restaurant' label from the new sign, but luckily, they still have many of the
same fake-flesh dishes, suitable for members of the lacto-ovo vegetarian
community.
The biggest change seems to simply be in the name of the place. The
same people work there, same decorations, etc. inside, but there's an
increased presence of available flesh for members of the (evil)
carnivore/omnivore community.
Actually, they used to be vegan-style vegetarian, not ovo-lacto-vegetarian, up until the time they went omnivorous. When they went omnivorous, one of the new things on the menu was egg drop soup. I asked one of the waitresses if it was vegetarian, and she explained to me that she wouldn't personally eat it because of the eggs, but other than the eggs it's vegetarian. So, until recently, they were actually stricter veg than either of us, Tim.
That was quite obvious to anyone who looked at the menu. My prior response was speaking as a member of the lacto-ovo vegetarian community, hence, my focus on LOV...
In comparing their current take-out menu to one of theirs from about a
year ago, they have also lowered a good deal of their prices.
Some items that used to be $7.95 are now $6.95, etc.
<abchan reminds herself to suggest that grexwalkers debrief at a Chinese restaurant the next time she makes it to a walk>
I would like to nominate my favorite Chinese restaurant, Evergreen which is in the Plymouth rd mall. Nice people, good food, they deliver but it's a little slow, but worth the wait. My personal favorite is Mongolian Beef, easy on the spices. I grew up eating nothing but chop suey, and chow mein, but you know, I really don't miss it. BTW, Bejing has chop suey when I'm in the mood.
Jim -- you might want to go nominate it in the walk item, rather than here. Dadroc is more likely to see it there.
I almost never go on walks, so it would be unfair to nominate a restaurant. I was just expressing my pleasure with the folks at Evergreen.
I used to eat there, Omni, until I read the ratings for cleanliness in the Ann Arbor News relatively recently. I try not to eat in any restaurant with a rating under 85. Evergreen's was quite a bit lower.
eep,
My parents live behind the Plymouth Mall--and the fumes coming out of Evergreen smells so nasty that my parents won't eat at chinese restaurants at all any more! I've been visiting many times in the nicer weather [when the windows are open in the house] and I concur; it smells horrible and greasy. I'm sure they have decent food--don't get me wrong, Jim! I'm just saying that the place emits [sp?] terrible odors!
Chinese restraunts, as a rule, seem to have back doors that smell just awful. Chinese food also doesn't seem to keep well, but is very good when fresh.
No offense taken Denise. There are things in this world one should never see. People who like the law and sausages, should not watch how either is made. ;)
I found the Evergreen items I've tried to be much too oily. My impression is that all Chinese restaurants are using more oil in food preparation than they used to, but it just might be my perception since I've greatly reduced my fat and oil consumption. We now ask the waitpersons for "low fat" preparation, but usually they look at us quizically, and try to pronounce "low fat?" as though they never have before.
Ya. When my favorite Chinese restaurant announced that they were about to change the selection of food they offered, I asked if they could include some low-fat items on the menu. They seemed puzzled by the request.
Whatever happened to that "healthy" Chinese restaurant on Packard near State? Didn't they intend to cook Chinese food with low/no fat, etc?
Hm. I'm not sure if you're talking about Chia Shiang (formerly known as "Golden Chef Vegetarian"), which is located on Packard south of Stadium, or Kai Garden, which is on Main Street. I was talking about Chia Shiang in #66. But I've never heard them make any claims of healthiness or lowfatness. Kai Garden claims to serve the same kind of food that people eat in China when they're eating healthily. Last I heard, they were still open and doing okay.
my favorite is san fu on main, near the main street market. REALLY good food, good prices, lots of food. :)
Preparing Chinese food usually causes large amounts of oil to be splattered everywhere and strange smells to emit from the kitchen. Luckily, I wasn't the one inside the kitchen :) Us kids would hide upstairs and play Nintendo while mass dinners were being prepared :)
Here is my problem with chinese places in Ann Arbor. Midwestern white people are of the kind who consider black pepper spicy. I, no offense, believe it to be ridiculously mild. But because I am white, I have trouble convincing asian restourant owners that I REALLY want my food hot. I ask for hot, they wink at eachother, tell me yes sure, and give me something mild. I have to go back and ask for more hot chily oil, or for the hot sauce that the asians costumers get instead of that soy sauce they gave. which means delivery is not an option. Does anyone know of a place who would believe a white person that she likes her stuff fiery - or at least will let her take her own chances? Thanks
Try the Bangkok Club in Southfield, if it's still there. When they say hot, they mean hot. I used to have lunch there once in a while with a friend who died a few years ago. He didn't die from the Thai food, but I vividly remember one day when he and I and a few others were lunching there and a man at a booth on the other side of the room suddenly shouted "Jesus CHRIST!!!"
Gourmet Garden on Stadium in Pauline is pretty good at making food hot, too.
Dinersty is willing to leave out the salt for us, I expect they could learn to add more hot stuff for you.
I live in the metro detroit area but go to ann arbor alot one of the intresting things in Orental Resterants I have noticed is that The Chinesse Buffet Style resturants. You can have fun mixing and matching what you want to eat. In down town detroit There is a restrunt called Tai Chi's They are cool they have tai food and chinessse food and have jazz and blues music.
(Re 73: I think you meant "Gourmet Garden on Stadium near Liberty".)
Went to San Fu (A^2, South Main Market) with a friend this evening. Not as good as i recall from a few years ago, and my friend (who eats out Chinese much more than i) was not favorably impressed. );
San Fu remains my favorite Chinese Delivery. They're quick, reasonably cheep, and i love their beef fried rice. What more can you ask for? :)
My 5 year old son and I went to Szechuan West on Saturday. He's pretty stubborn about his Chinese restaurants and likes a buffet place in Adrian best, but admitted the General Tso's Chicken at Szechuan West was great. (We got it mild.) I think we're going to take my parents there the next time they come to visit. They're just learning about Chinese food from their new small-town Chinese/Polish/American restaurant and the buffet I mentioned, and need to expand their horizons.
There is also a Chinese buffet place in Westgate or Maple Village, something with the word Garden in the name. We found it singularly lacking in garden-type foods (heavy on the meat, few vegetables). Lots of batter-fried things.
Went to Gourmet Garden (W. Stadium north of Liberty) with a "church" group Sunday. Very nice service; good food, prices, & atmosphere. Many of the (older) group though very well of the food (i'm uncultured and/or blind to "really good" Chinese cooking...or maybe it's just not my thing). Enjoyed a lovely walk home (~70 minutes).
I like Great Lake -- it's very authentic (we've gotten opinions from Hong Kong experts), and the food is great as long as you order the Hong Kong-style stuff. Americanized and Szechuan dishes (e.g. General's Chicken) are okay, but I don't find them exceptional. Recommendations: Beef Tenderloin with Black Pepper, Salmon with Garlic, Pan-Fried Noodles with Seafood (Beef is also good), Braised Noodles with Black Mushroom (this one can be made vegetarian), Mixed Seafood with Spicy Salt, whole fish in any sauce (for the adventurous), Roast Duck, Shrimp with Honey Walnuts.
Great Lake used frozen vegetables in their buffet. We never went back.
I don't eat the buffet, and buffets aren't a good indication of a restaurant's quality in my experience.
I don't like most Chinese buffets. They always run out of the best items; many items are often left sitting out for too long; I'm not much in favor of eating anything that 20 other people have poked through anyway. Naturally my son's favorite food in the world is Chinese food from a buffet. Darned kid...
He's a'ight by me.. I love Chinese buffets. Granted, there are a few places around my area that are simply buffet, and nothing but; but I remember one in Yakima that *was* really good. The food was served on catering dishes with Sterno burners instead of a steam table, and it was much better quality than most buffets I've seen. I'm sure jmsaul is right by his comments in resp:84, but from what I could tell, the menu items looked quite a notch above the typical Chinese place, too.
We like the large selection in buffets, and the fact that we can pick out the vegetables and leave the meat behind so this also increases the selection. Sometimes people help by picking out the meat and leaving us the vegetables. I don't know of any good Chinese buffets in or near Ann Arbor, but Hong Kong Inn says if we cannot find what we want in the buffet they will cook us something extra. They did this twice when there were only meat dishes there, and just brought our vegetables straight to the table. This is essentially an all-you-can eat price of our choice of dishes (they know we will not pick any of the expensive (meat) dishes).
Eating dishes where the meat has been picked out and the vegetables left behind in not eating vegetarian let alone vegan. The meat enzemes are in the entire dish not just the pieces of meat.
Re #87: I'm not sure there's any point in you and I swapping restaurant
recommendations, honestly. I just don't think we're from the same
planet.
We are not religious vegetarians. The point is to eat low on the food chain, not to have the restaurants throw out vegetables because they have been 'tainted' by association with dead animals and the meat eaters won't eat them because they have no meat with them.
At least you said "eat low on the food chain." Some friends of ours once told us they were trying to "get lower on the food chain," and we teased them mercilessly about what kind of predators they were planning to get munched by.
Mosquitos.
Yeah, but that happens already.
I'll throw in a comment about Great Lake Seafood. My brother in law has eaten in chinese places around the world, and said it was the best chinese meal he has ever eaten. I'll go to Dynersty when I'm working downtown for a quick lunch, but Great lake is where I go for a top quality dinner.
We tried their lunch buffet several years ago and it was awful - the vegetables were frozen, not fresh. Dynersty uses all fresh vegetables (or dried mushrooms). Dan, I hear you are trying to start up the lunchtime meetings for self-employed people again - is this related research?
I had lunch at Great Lake yesterday. I couldn't taste the crab in the "crab cheese Rangoon", but the Mongolian beef and the rice were good. :)
The one time I ate at Great Lake, I was underwhelmed. I haven't been back, but maybe I'll try it again.
I've not been to Great Lakes in awhile (they have little to offer veggies), but their shrimp is always perfectly done. We've always been impressed with them!
Ok, I'm looking for an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in Ann Arbor/Ypsi area. What is your recommendation?
This response has been erased.
I can't think of the name off the top of my head and I've never been to it, but there's one on Washtenaw Ave in Ypsi, just past Golfside, on the right [KMart's on the left]. I'd say its probably within the first 1/4-to-1/2 mile past the interesection. Nearby is an Asian grocery store [that I haven't checked out yet, either].
I'm looking for "quality versus cost" and "variety versus cost" comments. Got a hungry 20 something to feed.
Dynasty, about $6.50 each for lunch, on Washtenaw Ave, has more than the standard fare, including things like daikon salad, fried plantains, and a lot of vegetable dishes, and has a good reputation. Supper costs more and includes crab legs. On the west side of Ann Arbor near K-Mart i (Westgate) is 'something Garden' which is salty and mostly meat.
The place Denise is refering to is China Buffet II. We feel that the quality is much, much better than Dynasty which is referred to as Die Nasty at work.
I think i've been to the China Buffet II (if its the one next to the Arby's), I stopped in and stuffed myself silly. Pretty decent selection in the buffet for the price.
China Buffet II is probably the best Chinese buffet in the area. It's not next to Arby's, it's on Washtenaw east of Golfside. It used to be Hunan Garden. A number of people have told me that they got less-than-fully-cooked food at Dynasty on Liberty. There's another Chinese buffet on Washtenaw, west of Golfside, across from the entrance to Spicetree. That one is also called Dynasty. Some people rave about it, but I always liked China Buffet II better. Keesan is right, though...China Buffet II is not very vegetarian-friendly, if that's a consideration for your group of 20+.
re #106 are we talking about the same place? http://homepages.wmich.edu/~j4castee/buffet.jpg http://homepages.wmich.edu/~j4castee/inside_buffet.jpg
The place on Liberty is Dinersty, not Dynasty. They are not connected. We have had both horrible service and unacceptable food at Dynasty Buffet. The food is ineptly prepared, not kept at the proper temperature, unevenly cooked and spiced and not logically laid out. We have had battered foods where the batter was overcooked on the outside and raw inside. Things that are labeled spicy often have no spice at all. We tried more than once. We will not be back. China Buffet II, a couple miles up Washtenaw and on the other side of the street is much better.
I've got a bunch of meat eaters. Sounds like China Buffet II is the answer. I remember the buffet place that used to be next to Arby's. The space is now a mobile phone store, I think.
re #109 Sounds like China Buffet II is the answer I dunno...you might want to reconsider their restaurant inspection report versus Dynasty's... CHINESE BUFFET II 2905 WASHTENAW YPSILANTI, MI 48197, Washtenaw County Inspection date: 3/16/2006 -EMPLOYEES FOUND TO BE PREPPING READY TO EAT FOODS WITH BARE HANDS. INCLUDING ORANGES, LEMONS, CUCUMBERS. BARE HAND CONTACT IS PROHIBITED WITH READY TO EAT FOODS. -SOUP FOUND COOLING IN 5 GALLON CONTAINER IN THE WALK IN COOLER. TEMPED AT 75 DEGREES F. COOLING FOR MORE THAN 2 HRS. POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS MUST BE COOLED RAPIDLY FROM 140 - 70 DEGREES IN 2 HRS AND 70 - 41 DEGREES IN AN ADDITIONAL 4 HRS. CORRECTED BY DISCUSSION AND PLACING INTO FREEZER TO RAPIDLY COOL THE REMAINDER OF THE TIME TO 41 DEGREES F. -OPEN CUP OF TEA FOUND ON THE MAKE LINE TO BE CONSUMED BY EMPLOYEE. COVERED WITH OVERSIZED LID. OPEN CUPS ARE PROHIBITED. -BULK CONTAINER WITH SOAP FOUND TO BE UNLABELLED NEXT TO THE COOKING EQUIPMENT IN THE REAR. -THE DOOR TO THE PREP UNIT OPPOSITE THE FRYERS IS NOT CLOSING TIGHTLY. AT TIME OF INSPECTION DOOR WAS FOUND AJAR AND AMBIENT AIR TEMPERATURE OF THE UNIT WAS SLIGHTLY ELEVATED. -BAGS OF ONIONS AND ORANGES FOUND STORED ON THE FLOOR IN THE REAR DRY STORAGE AREA. ASSORTED CARTONS AND CONTAINERS OF FOODS ON THE FLOOR IN THE WALK IN UNITS. -BULK FOOD CONTAINERS NEED TO BE RELABELLED. THE WRITING IS COMING OFF AND THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT PROPERLY IDENTIFIED. -THE CONDENSATE LINE IN THE WALK IN COOLER IS NOT WRAPPED IN INSULATION. -GASKETS ON THE DOOR OF THE REACH IN COOLER THAT IS USED FOR STORAGE OF BAGS IS TORN AND HANGING OFF DOOR. -MPLOYEE RESTROOM HANDSINK FOUND WITH A NEWSPAPER IN THE SINK BASIN. -ASSORTED FOODS FOUND UNCOVERED IN THE WALK IN COOLER, WALK IN FREEZER. FOODS FOUND IN WALK IN COOLER IN REAR COVERED WITH UNAPPROVED MATERIALS. -CARDBOARD FROM BOXES LINING SHELVES IN THE COOK AREA IS PROHIBITED. -IMPROPER THAWING OF ASSORTED POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS INCLUDING SHRIMP, GROUND SEASONED BEEF, FISH. ALL FOUND THAWING AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. DYNASTY BUFFET 4675 WASHTENAW ANN ARBOR, MI 48108, Washtenaw County Inspection Date: 1/31/2006 -OBSERVED DIRTY CAN OPENER ON THE PREP. TABLE IN COOKING / PREP. AREA. -OBSERVED RAW CHICKEN MEAT STORED NEXT TO RTE FOOD(CHINESE DESSERT CAKE) ON THE SHELF OF WIC. -HAIR RESTRAINT NOT WORN ON HEAD -HANDWASHING FACILITY COOKING/PREPARATION ARE HANDSINK SOILED
dy-NASTY Todd, where do you find those reports?
re #111 Todd, where do you find those reports? See my re #100 (which apparently got ignored by most.)
ewwwww!
In this day and age, I'd take sanitary conditions pretty serious.
What vegetables does China Buffet II offer? Most buffets have ONLY green beans or only bean sprouts, plus iceberg lettuce, olives, shredded carrots and other American salad type stuff. We tried about 5 of them on our 3 week trip and one had at least 5 cooked vegetable dishes (Bloomington IA). We don't eat the fried/battered stuff anyway.
It's been awhile since discussing chinese restaurants in AA/Ypsi. My housemate and I were discussing this topic recently and we both agreed that we weren't crazy about the chinese restaurant in the strip mall on Whitaker Rd in Ypsi, near Aubree's [I think it's called 'The Great Wall?]. I wish it WAS good; I've only gotten food there once. But my housemate concurred with my opinion; stating that he found a piece of plastic wrap of some sort in with his food. Yuck. I noticed a couple months ago that the Chinese Buffet II [located on Washtenaw in Ypsi, next to the Asian Market] is no longer there; the building's been torn down. There's still some machinery on the lot like maybe they'll be something built in its space--but there hasn't been recent work, from what I can tell. I'm still looking for someplace good in the Ypsi area...
We've beem going to Paradise, in the Collonade Mall (883 W EISENHOWER PKWY). Chinese and Vietamese cuisine.
Is that the strip mall on the corner of Eishenhower and State St, across from Briarwood? Or maybe its the one further down past Main St? I'm out near Briarwood for an appt. each week so I may have to check it out someday.
The Collonade Mall is closer to Ann-Arbor Saline Rd. Across from Office Depot.
I dont eat Chinese Food in Ypsilanti too much but there are a couple of places that have pretty decent food. One is called China Chef. It is on Washtenaw in the same mall as the Secretary of State. The other is called Lucky's or something similar and is in that little strip mall next to the McDonald's that is near EMU on Huron River Drive. I havent eaten in either place in at least a year but both places have been in business for years (a good sign) and when I have eaten there, I havent had any bad experiences. Also, there is a Panda Express in the EMU student center which is ok too. Nothing to write home about or anything but it is pretty cheap.
Paradise, by the way, is a family business: the owners are there and serve. They are Vietnamese. Their daughter is in her rotations in medical school, and their son is trying to get into acting in Hollywood. It is like a classic American immigrants success story - so long as the recession doesn't hit their restaurant too hard.
Dear Ken,
Could we try Paradise as a debrief location one of these Saturdays?
I mean, how bad could Paradise be?
Sincerely,
Gladys Tanktop
Mention my name....
Speaking of chinese restaurants and a Saturday debriefing--rumor has it that this week's will be at the Evergreen Restaurant in the Plymouth Mall [the mall is located on the north side of Plymouth Rd, just west of Huron Parkway].
We may go food shopping this Saturday at the Chinese grocery store next door. The restaurant itself is possibly the most uninteresting Chinese one we have been to. Maybe it is okay for carnivores. The food store is the best in Ann Arbor. Dried shiitake by the pound, preserved duck eggs, dried tofu, unusual vegetables, jujube fruits (red dates), various noodles...
Though I've been to the restaurant [Evergreen] several times, I've never checked out the grocery store. Are they owned by the same people? I think I'm going to be in that neck of the woods tomorrow [my sister's in town and will most likely be at my brother's tomorrow through Sunday when she heads back to Chicago]--so I'll probably be seeing her somewhere along the line. I'll have to see if I can work in a visit to the Plymouth Mall, if I can work it in around noon.
I don't know if they are the same owners. The store is doing well and has expanded into several store fronts. They have a vegetable and a fresh fish section too, and lots of snack types stuff, and prepared dishes in the freezer. The other customers can usually explain what things are.
Evergreen is awful. I didn't like it even when I was a carnivore.
I've eaten there a few times and thought it was ok.
On my way home this afternoon, I noticed that the chinese place in the strip mall a few miles from my house was open today. If I had liked the food better the one time I had stopped there in the past-I would've been tempted to stop and bring home some food for dinner this evening. But I passed on the idea, saving the $$ for something else that would taste better and be more economical. Though there ARE a number of chinese places that give you a lot of food for the $$. At least there used to be; I haven't eaten at many since moving back up to Michigan.
You have several choices: