That Food Guy
Friday, September 02, 2016
Gwennie’s Old Alaska Restaurant
Anchorage, Alaska
It was a long and tiring trip northward, back to Alaska. My
good buddy Larry met me at the airport. That’s right! There are two Larrys and
when you get the two of us together there is bound to be trouble so beware. It
was an arrival in the wee hours of the morning so it was off to his place to
crash for the little that was left of the night. After a welcome sleep I was up
early for Alaska but late for the East Coast. Over coffee we caught up on the
news of the day. There were lots of things to do that day. I needed to get a
new battery for the pickup so I would have wheels and I needed get some
groceries to stock the pantry. But before any of that it was time for
breakfast.
If you have been in the greater Anchorage area very long
then you must have heard about Gwennie’s Old Alaska Restaurant. It is located
in Spenard, an area a bit removed from downtown Anchorage during the rough and
ready days of the Alaska Pipeline construction. Spenard was where the oil field
workers would go to seek female companionship. The unofficial rumor is that the
upper floors of Gweenie’s saw a lot of action back then. Those wild frontier
days are long gone and the area has mellowed and is now busy with tourism and
general commerce. But Gwennie’s Old Alaska Restaurant is still there.
The décor of Gwennie’s features rock walls, stuffed bears, a
wishing well in the middle of the dining room; all the Alaska kitsch you can
think of. It is also know for tasty food at Alaska prices. It was off to
Gweenie’s for breakfast.
Our server was named Sparky. It was a good name for her. She
was always busy but always there when you needed her. She brought our coffee
quickly and left a carafe with more coffee. Sipping our coffee we studied the
menu. The other Larry decided on a broccoli and mushroom omelet (Broccoli and Mushroom Omelet $11.75 Omelets served with melted cheese sauce: All
omelets served with choice of home fries or grits, toast or biscuits.) with
the home fries and toast. It was large and filling meal, an omelet filled with
mushrooms and bright green broccoli covered with melted cheese. It was well
cooked without any crispy edges. Larry enjoyed his omelet saying that it tasted
very good, had loads of mushrooms and broccoli. The home fries are primitive in
nature consisting of various sizes and shape of potato. Apparently cooked in
masse on a griddle, there are many textures that make for an interesting
dish. Some are golden brown all over and
some have darker crispy edges. 
This Larry was going to order eggs and the potatoes I just
couldn’t decide on what breakfast meat. It had been a long time since I had
corned beef hash and I finally decided on that. (Breakfast served anytime: Corned beef hash or ham or sausage or bacon
and eggs.$8.75 Served with a choice of home fries or grits, toast or biscuit.) I also ordered the home fries and toast. The
eggs were cooked to order and I had a good-sized serving of the same potatoes
the other Larry had. There was a very large serving of corned beef hash. This
hash wasn’t made in the kitchen; it came ready to heat and serve in a large
container form a supplier. That’s not to say it wasn’t good. A bit of a salty
tang as normal, it was fully equal to the premium canned corned beef hash you
would get at your local super market. There was lots of corned beef and a small
amount of diced potato. The toast was thick slices of bread toasted golden
brown. It was a big and filling meal, one that I fully enjoyed.
If you are ever fortunate enough to be in anchorage, Alaska,
seek out Gwennie’s Old Alaska Restaurant for one of your meals. It is Alaska
however and where else could you say that you had breakfast in a bawdy house? Labels: Alaska, Anchorage, bawdy house, broccoli, cheese, corned beef hash, eggs, Gwennie's, home fries, ill repute, medium, Old, omelet, over, restaurant, toast
¶ 5:09 PM 0 Comments
Friday, August 26, 2016
Oriental Cuisine - Maryville, Tennessee
Oriental
Cuisine
622 Condry
Lane
Maryville,
TN 37803
I would have never known the Oriental Cuisine Restaurant was
there except for one thing. Several times a week my wife and I would go to the
local gym. When leaving, while waiting for traffic, we would be looking across
the street down a very small alley like street that has a name. In fact its
name denotes its diminutive stature, Condry Lane. A lane; it is so much less
that a boulevard, an avenue or even a street. It serves as the back entrance to
a muffler shop and a bank parking lot as well as access for some industrial
metal buildings on the left. Way down at the end of the street where it appears
to dead end is one small sign; Oriental Cuisine shares sign space with a rug
and tile company. From our vantage point we cannot see that building because it
is set back to allow for customer parking in front. I was intrigued by this
almost hidden restaurant and I thought that it must have something going for it
as it would not garner any drive-by traffic.
Many months went by before I finally decided to see what it was all about. I did some internet research and found their website which is basically their menu. They offer a mix of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese foods. I was on my own for lunch one day and stopped by for a takeout meal of sweet and sour chicken ($9.00 Breaded white chicken chunks deep fried to a golden brown and served with diced tomato, green pepper and pineapple in our sweet and sour sauce. Served with fried or steamed rice). At $9.00 dollars it seemed a bit on the expensive side but this was an exploratory visit to see what they offered and on that day I did have a “hankering” for some Chinese food. I also asked for a spring roll to compliment the meal ($1.75 A delicious mixture of jicama, carrots, onions, rice thread and pork wrapped in a crunchy spring roll wrapper) .
My order soon arrived. It was a large brown paper bag,
neatly folded and stapled. I was quite surprised when I picked it up. Thinking
back to my thoughts about the rather high cost I now, at least, considered it a
very good deal on a price per pound basis. There was a lot of food inside that
bag. I could hardly wait to get it home and check out the contents. The fact
that it smelled so good made me even more eager.
(I just have to add
this in as a parenthetical comment: Over the years I have noticed that sweet
and sour chicken or pork have become cheapened and degraded under the
banner of “New York style” and the pineapple, sweet peppers and other
vegetables that helped to define the dish in Chinatown settings have been
eliminated and all you get is breaded chicken and sauce usually served separate.
That rendition of sweet and sour chicken is travesty and defames the sweet and
savory combination that is also beautiful to the eye. A pox on New York style.)
Taking myself at my word, I divided the food into two portions
and cut the spring roll in half. I would have half now and the remainder at a later
time. I plated the food for a photo before eating; nothing fancy, just so it
wasn’t a picture looking down into the bottom of a box. It was only half of my
order but the food literally filled the plate. The sweet and sour chicken was
delicious. The breading was fried crispy and the chicken inside was moist and
juicy. It occurred to me while I was eating it that the extra effort in separate packaging made for a crisp
chicken in the sauce whereas if it had been all packaged together the chicken
in all likelihood would have been soggy and unpalatable. The sweet and sour
sauce was very good with a bit of tang from perhaps vinegar and sweetness but
not just from sugar. I enjoyed the snap and flavor of the slightly crispy
pepper and loved the fruity sweetness of the pineapple. An excellent sweet and
sour dish I will definitely try again.
My drink was delivered with a bowl of fried wontons, I sat back
to await my meal. As I mentioned, it was a miserably hot day outside and the
cool interior of the restaurant was a relief. The shades were drawn and the lighting
subdued but you could still see images of the out-of-doors through the slats in
the shade. I looked around. It was as I described before. It was oriental in
motif, black lacquer chairs, a mural but not much else to give it that Asian
look, certainly not gaudy. A quick count found about 50 seats. There were two
tradesmen at the table next to me and a solo elderly gentleman across the aisle.
There was a party of about 6 or 8 in the alcove. About 8 people came in to pick
up their take-out orders; all must have called in and each order was ready on
their arrival. Towards the end of my meal several people arrive and must have
been regulars from the greetings. Apparently Sabrina, the server, saw one of
them parking his car and had his preferred beverage ready for him when he
entered the store. My observations answered the fundamental question I had
harbored. How does this almost hidden restaurant manage to survive? It requires
returning customers and word of mouth advertising. It certainly has returning
customers and I will be providing some word of mouth. It is not an ornate place
nor does it have an elegant ambiance but it is comfortable and it does have the
feeling like in the old Cheers theme song,
“…where everybody knows your name.”
The rice was the standard carbohydrate filler, seasoned with
just the right amount of soy sauce. It was a soup-bowl full of rice, upended on
the plate to make the rounded pile of rice. A line of three large florets of
steamed broccoli divided he plate. The remainder of the plate was filled with
chunks of breaded and fried chicken, coated with sauce and liberally sprinkled with
toasted sesame seeds. Great aroma and a very nice presentation; it looked very
appetizing.
Oriental
Cuisine
622 Condry
Lane
Maryville,
TN 37803
865-984-0810
First Visit – A Take-Out
Order
I would have never known the Oriental Cuisine Restaurant was
there except for one thing. Several times a week my wife and I would go to the
local gym. When leaving, while waiting for traffic, we would be looking across
the street down a very small alley like street that has a name. In fact its
name denotes its diminutive stature, Condry Lane. A lane; it is so much less
that a boulevard, an avenue or even a street. It serves as the back entrance to
a muffler shop and a bank parking lot as well as access for some industrial
metal buildings on the left. Way down at the end of the street where it appears
to dead end is one small sign; Oriental Cuisine shares sign space with a rug
and tile company. From our vantage point we cannot see that building because it
is set back to allow for customer parking in front. I was intrigued by this
almost hidden restaurant and I thought that it must have something going for it
as it would not garner any drive-by traffic.Many months went by before I finally decided to see what it was all about. I did some internet research and found their website which is basically their menu. They offer a mix of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese foods. I was on my own for lunch one day and stopped by for a takeout meal of sweet and sour chicken ($9.00 Breaded white chicken chunks deep fried to a golden brown and served with diced tomato, green pepper and pineapple in our sweet and sour sauce. Served with fried or steamed rice). At $9.00 dollars it seemed a bit on the expensive side but this was an exploratory visit to see what they offered and on that day I did have a “hankering” for some Chinese food. I also asked for a spring roll to compliment the meal ($1.75 A delicious mixture of jicama, carrots, onions, rice thread and pork wrapped in a crunchy spring roll wrapper) .
I was offered a seat at the nearest table and while I was
waiting for my order I read over my take-home menu copy. I had ordered from the
inside, the a la carte portion. On the back was the lunch menu of lower-priced
combinations meals. Part of the combination is a bowl of soup. That would have
made for an inconvenient take-home but I planned one day, if my pending order
was good, return to try something their luncheon menu.
My order soon arrived. It was a large brown paper bag,
neatly folded and stapled. I was quite surprised when I picked it up. Thinking
back to my thoughts about the rather high cost I now, at least, considered it a
very good deal on a price per pound basis. There was a lot of food inside that
bag. I could hardly wait to get it home and check out the contents. The fact
that it smelled so good made me even more eager.
Opening the bag, I found a large (26-ounce?) traditional
Chinese take-out container of breaded fried chicken that was overflowing. I
suspect that was a fluke and I got the benefit of the chef’s “Oops, I cooked a
bit too much.” It was a large-sized container and if the chicken all fit inside
it would still be a large portion. There was a portion of sweet and sour sauce
and a portion of fruit and vegetables.
(I just have to add
this in as a parenthetical comment: Over the years I have noticed that sweet
and sour chicken or pork have become cheapened and degraded under the
banner of “New York style” and the pineapple, sweet peppers and other
vegetables that helped to define the dish in Chinatown settings have been
eliminated and all you get is breaded chicken and sauce usually served separate.
That rendition of sweet and sour chicken is travesty and defames the sweet and
savory combination that is also beautiful to the eye. A pox on New York style.)
There was a 16-ounce container of fried rice, the spring
roll, some packages of soy sauce, some plastic utensils and a fortune cookie.
Looking over my stash of Chinese food I realized that if I had bought another
spring roll I would have satisfying and filling meals for two; on a per serving
basis, $4.50 per person plus the spring roll. The economics of my Oriental Cuisine
purchase were looking much better. Now how does it taste?
Taking myself at my word, I divided the food into two portions
and cut the spring roll in half. I would have half now and the remainder at a later
time. I plated the food for a photo before eating; nothing fancy, just so it
wasn’t a picture looking down into the bottom of a box. It was only half of my
order but the food literally filled the plate. The sweet and sour chicken was
delicious. The breading was fried crispy and the chicken inside was moist and
juicy. It occurred to me while I was eating it that the extra effort in separate packaging made for a crisp
chicken in the sauce whereas if it had been all packaged together the chicken
in all likelihood would have been soggy and unpalatable. The sweet and sour
sauce was very good with a bit of tang from perhaps vinegar and sweetness but
not just from sugar. I enjoyed the snap and flavor of the slightly crispy
pepper and loved the fruity sweetness of the pineapple. An excellent sweet and
sour dish I will definitely try again.
You can order fried rice as an entrée and it will be more
elaborate that the pedestrian fried rice that usually serves as the
carbohydrate filler in combination plates. This rice was no exception to that
rule of thumb. There are bits and pieces here and there but for the most part
it is rice, fried and seasoned with soy sauce. Certainly more flavorful than
steamed rice but it was not too salty or overly seasoned with soy sauce. It was good as filler rice goes but at the
same time it was not exceptional.
The spring roll was crispy fried and the filling was tasty.
A bit of hot Chinese mustard would have been beneficial but not necessary.
Although I prefer the thicker, less crispy egg roll skins, I did enjoy the spring
roll. It seems that egg or spring rolls are always an appetizer on Chinese food
menus. I like them well enough that they should be a main course item. I will
certainly add these spring rolls to my next order.
As a side note, take-out orders don’t always go home to be
eaten. They may go to the office or on a climate day, to a picnic table in the
park. The inclusion of the plastic cutlery was a nice thought.
Second Visit A Month Or So Later – Eat In
Luncheon Special
It was a very hot and sultry day, one usually better spent
indoors. I had errands to run and as luck would have it, I was on my own for
meals that day. I decided to treat myself to lunch out. It wouldn’t be a
drive-thru burger this time. It would be the long awaited sit down meal at the
Oriental Cuisine Restaurant for lunch. On the previous visit I had ordered an entrée
from the main or dinner menu. While
waiting, I noticed that they also serve from a lunch menu with lower prices
from 11:00Am to 3:30PM. It is a long list of choices and the entrée is served with
soup (your choice of hot and sour, wonton or egg drop), a spring roll and rice
(your choice of steamed or fried). My expectation was that It would be smaller
portions and perhaps less elaborate in presentation. The lunch menu includes
sweet and sour chicken and it would have been a good comparison but I also
wanted to try a broader range of their offering so I chose the Sesame Chicken
at $6.00 instead. For my soup I ordered
the wonton. For beverage I went with Coca Cola. My server, Sabrina, was very
attentive, very personable. She checked on me at intervals and kept my soda
glass full. I need to thank her for making my dining experience pleasurable.
My drink was delivered with a bowl of fried wontons, I sat back
to await my meal. As I mentioned, it was a miserably hot day outside and the
cool interior of the restaurant was a relief. The shades were drawn and the lighting
subdued but you could still see images of the out-of-doors through the slats in
the shade. I looked around. It was as I described before. It was oriental in
motif, black lacquer chairs, a mural but not much else to give it that Asian
look, certainly not gaudy. A quick count found about 50 seats. There were two
tradesmen at the table next to me and a solo elderly gentleman across the aisle.
There was a party of about 6 or 8 in the alcove. About 8 people came in to pick
up their take-out orders; all must have called in and each order was ready on
their arrival. Towards the end of my meal several people arrive and must have
been regulars from the greetings. Apparently Sabrina, the server, saw one of
them parking his car and had his preferred beverage ready for him when he
entered the store. My observations answered the fundamental question I had
harbored. How does this almost hidden restaurant manage to survive? It requires
returning customers and word of mouth advertising. It certainly has returning
customers and I will be providing some word of mouth. It is not an ornate place
nor does it have an elegant ambiance but it is comfortable and it does have the
feeling like in the old Cheers theme song,
“…where everybody knows your name.”
The wonton soup arrived quickly. There were two wontons in a
clear broth. It is served hot. A couple
of the small ice pellet from my soda cooled it enough to sip. It is a mild
broth with hints of many flavors, chicken and vegetables but not highly
seasoned; nice flavor but mild, very subtle. The wontons are large and the wrappers are thick
that made for a slightly doughy texture. A seasoned pork mixture in the middle was
tasty. It was a flavorful way to await the entrée.
My entrée soon arrived. Oh, my God! The expected meager
portions were huge. I must admit that I ate the whole thing with relish but I
would have been much better of eating half and taking the rest home for later
(something I saw others in the restaurant do). Two people could have shared the
meal and felt satisfied. 
The rice was the standard carbohydrate filler, seasoned with
just the right amount of soy sauce. It was a soup-bowl full of rice, upended on
the plate to make the rounded pile of rice. A line of three large florets of
steamed broccoli divided he plate. The remainder of the plate was filled with
chunks of breaded and fried chicken, coated with sauce and liberally sprinkled with
toasted sesame seeds. Great aroma and a very nice presentation; it looked very
appetizing.
In conclusion: Will I go back to Oriental Cuisine? Most assuredly!
The food is good, the portions are large, the staff members are friendly and
the restaurant just seems to be a comfortable palace to be. They have a lot
more dishes that I would like to try but I will remember in the future to
divide my plate; eat that part there and take the other part home for later.
They are
open 6 day a week, closed on Mondays
Hours are
Sunday – Thursday 10:00AM to 9:30PM
Friday 11:00AM to 10:00PM
Labels: broccoli, chicken, Chinese, cuisine, fried rice, Maryville, oriental, pork, sesame, soup, steamed, sweet and sour, Tennessee, Thai, Vietnamese, won ton, wonton
¶ 12:51 PM 0 Comments
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Product Review - Tai Pei General Tso's Chicken
 |
| Tai Pei General Tso's Chicken Carton |
Tai Pei - Asian Gardens - Spicy General Tso’s Chicken
This is an impromptu product evaluation. It all started when
I was going to make a small batch of fried rice to use up some leftover
chicken. A bit before the wife said she was going to have some other left over
for dinner just to clean out the fridge. When she found out I was going to make
fried rice she decided that she wanted fried rice too. Fried rice is popular at
our house. It is a great catch-all for leftovers and it tastes really good not
to mention that it is quite simple to make in its simplest form. When I plan to
make it ahead of time as a main dish it can be quite elaborate; seasoned rice,
lots of fresh chopped vegetables and loads of the selected meat, be it chicken,
beef, pork or shrimp.
This batch of fried rice was not going to be as elaborate. I
was missing a few of the veggies I like to use, notably scallions but I was
going to use chives fresh from the garden instead. There was just a small dab
of chicken so I only cooked a cup of rice ahead of time. That would have made
an adequate dish for one but when I found out it was being split two ways I
knew someone was going to be really hungry after dinner, mainly me.
 |
| Serving 1 - The yellow rice in the back is the fried rice. |
I was thinking it would be a good time to go to the local
Chinese take-out and pick up a side dish to go with the rice. It was a bit
early to start preparing dinner and we needed a few things from the store. So
we decided instead to get something from the frozen food section to go along
with the rice. Some time back we had picked up a box of General Tso’s Chicken
at the local Sam’s Club. It was typical a typical Sam’s Club mega-pack with
bags of breaded and fried chicken morsels and packs of sauce. That particular
offering was just the meat and sauce, no vegetables, not a hint of broccoli.
But they did taste good; a nice spicy sauce over large pieces of mostly white
chicken meat. The memory of a good experience with that product prompted us to
seek out a similar one at the local super market.
It was slim pickings at the super market. There was a large
bag with vegetables and sauce mix (you add your own chicken) that would have
made a main dish all by itself for almost $9 not counting the chicken. I kept
looking for something smaller, less elaborate, something tasty and easy to
share… About the only other thing I could
find in the oriental vein was a line of Tai Pei products in various flavors
including General Tso’s chicken. It was pint-sized container of General Tso’s
Chicken with some vegetables and sauce over rice. At almost $4 it was only
slightly less expensive as a pint of take out from the local Chinese place. I
wasn’t too happy about the rice that was included but it was getting close to
dinner time and we took home our prize.
 |
| Serving 2 - 1/2 of the carton. The yellow rice in the background is fried rice |
I suppose if I had read the label including all of the very
fine print I would have known better. And, what I wanted and expected was not
the product that Tai Pei provided. What I expected was a pint serving of
General Tso’s Chicken with some rice added; an entrée dish. The instructions
were to microwave for several minutes without removing or puncturing the
plastic wrap – apparently to trap steam. After it was cooked I open the package
and looked inside, deep, way down inside. It is amazing how deep the inside of
a pint container can seem when there is little content at the bottom. It didn’t
look too bad, perhaps a bit “oversteamed,”it had a nice aroma and it tasted
good. At first I was concerned that I perhaps had gotten a defective, under-filled
package. Looking at the container I saw the words that I should have heeded at
the supermarket. There is a small illustration showing the levels as frozen and
after cooking; from three quarters to one half and the caveat, “Settling may
occur.” It also said that the contents were sold by weight and not by volume.
The 11 ounce by weight contents fall way short of filling the 16 fluid ounce
container. As for the settling after cooking, it was all there hiding in the
bottom third of the container, a serving spoon dollop apiece was our share.
In the future I will stock up on a couple of the Sam’s Club
offerings to have in the freezer for the wisp of the moment, conger up
something good to eat moments. And, if I ever need to augment again, I will
stop in at the local Chinese take-out. Compared to the Tai Pei offering, a
third of a carton of cooked food, at $4, for $5or even $6 at the local take-out
they will provide me with a full pint container of good tasting food, hot and ready
to serve; three times the food for only a dollar or two more.
 |
| Read the label before you buy. |
As I mentioned, if I had been more careful in reading the
menu at the super market I would have probably passed on this product. It wasn’t what I really wanted. I wanted a pint
of Chinese take-out from the grocer’s freezer. That is not what it is. It is a
snack-sized portion of Chinese style food in an oversized Chinese take-out
container. If a snack-sized serving is what you want, available in just 5
minutes from the freezer, either at home or work, this may be just right for
you. Although the cooking directions seem to result in a bit of over-cooking ,
it doesn’t look too bad, has a nice aroma and tastes very good. It is mostly
rice with some vegetables and a bit of chicken. I just have trouble getting
past the large amount of empty space and rice I purchased at the same rate as a
full, real Chinese take-out.
Labels: broccoli, chicken, Chinese, General, spicy, take-out, Tso's
¶ 9:36 AM 4 Comments
