Chinese

Frank Fat’s, Sacramento, 10/30/24

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entrance – 806 L St, Sacramento, CA 95814

Frank Fat opened his namesake restaurant in 1939 calling it “Frank’s 806” (which you can see at the end of the awning).  Today, it’s Frank Fat’s and the oldest Sacramento restaurant exclusively owned by one family.  When Frank Fat began, he was very interested in feeding people quality food with great service and that has allowed him to open several other places with varying cuisine.  In 2013 he received a James Beard Foundation Classics Award, given to locally owned and operated restaurants. It has a reputation as a place where influential California politicians come to drink, dine and negotiate, which makes sense as its location is a short walk from the capital building.  Every California governor has been a customer since the restaurant opened.  It is a large place that runs several rooms deep, all with beautiful Chinese decorations.   The first room had stools around a bar counter and bench seating along the wall.  Further in bare dark brown wood tables appear.  They serve a large menu of old-school Chinese food and have specials for lunch, which are smaller versions of some of their more popular dishes.  The food was quite good and the service was friendly and efficient.  I would put this on your list, especially after taking a free tour of the California State Capital building. Continue reading →

Silver Dragon Restaurant, Calgary, 6/14/23

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exterior – 106 3 Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0B6, Canada

The Silver Dragon Restaurant is located in the heart of Chinatown in Calgary.  They offer over 200 Chinese dishes as well as brunch dim sum cart service daily (till 2:30).  It’s a fairly large place on the second floor of the building that has been successful enough to now have a second location in Banff.  The tables were well-spaced but not set with pepper oil, soy sauce or vinegar.  It’s old-school Chinese food and service was friendly and fast with lots of carts coming to your table at any time.  However, if you didn’t see what you wanted on a cart they would get it for you if it was presently being served.  If it wasn’t they would only serve it if you had 2 orders of it.  That made it tough since there were just the two of us but there was plenty of selection to choose from.  They did bring us a tray with a bit of hot oil and some vinegar, but the hot oil was gone quickly.  Some items came with sauce and then I saw others asking for soy, etc. and they cut most items when served.   I would not call it outstanding but it was perfectly satisfying, just not extraordinary. The only specialty item worth commenting on was the ginger beef – a dish invented in Calgary.  It’s a fried strip of beef in a sweet/spicy sauce.  Fun to try something new. Continue reading →

First Chinese B-B-Q, Dallas, 10/28/21

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exterior

First Chinese BBQ has been around a long time but somehow never got a visit from Frankie. I’m sorry cause this is a gem of a place located in the corner of a strip shopping center in Richardson.  There is an adequate parking lot out front and also one behind the building.  As you enter through the double set of doors you’ll see the hanging chickens and roasted ducks on your right as well as various cuts of beef and BBQ pork.  On busy days you’ll hear the chef out there hacking up the meats to serve to the tables or use in take out orders.  The menu is large and filled with many tasty Cantonese options, meant to be served family style.   I particularly like their noodle dishes and fresh greens.  Inside there are booths along both walls of the dining rooms and bigger tables as well a few smaller ones in the middle.  At the table you’ll find various condiments but the food is well seasoned.  The staff speak limited but usable English, lighting is bright, no music is in the background and they only take cash for payment. Continue reading →

DanDan, Philadelphia, 5/21/21

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exterior

DanDan (126 S. 16th St., Philadelphia) serves Sichuan and Taiwanese dishes along with having a full bar.  It is a smaller place in Rittenhouse Square that also offers some outdoor seating.  Inside the downstairs has counter seating around the bar and in the window.  Upstairs are multiple tables in different combinations of sizes.  The spheres that are the light fixtures hang from the ceiling and give it a fun view from upstairs.  They appeared to do a lively takeout business but were not busy at any of the tables, but we were early. Music is in the background and some paintings are on the walls.  It is a large menu but several favorites had been suggested by local magazines and we got most of them.  This place got rave reviews but we seemed to hit it on an off day. Continue reading →

Mama Chang, Fairfax, VA., 4/2/21

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exterior

Mama Chang opened early in 2019 in Fairfax, VA.  It focuses on family dishes from the Hubei province, where Peter Chang is from, ones his mother and other females in the family cooked.  There is less pepper than in the traditional Szechuan dishes.  The large interior is filled with light from the many windows and white walls.  Textured ropes hang from the ceiling, the well spaced light wood tables are bare and tons of green plants surround the room.  It feels open and spacious but a bit sterile.  Portions are generally large – we way over-ordered but wanted to try a number of the dishes.  The server was masked and willing to give advice. One note is about their to-go containers which were nice plastic dishes with good locking lids not the usual leaky styrofoam containers. Continue reading →