Yum Yum Kitchen – Not So Much “Yum”

May 30, 2014

Yum Yum Kitchen seemed appealing enough. The kitsch name and decor seemed to promise tasty Chinese behind its bright red walls. It’s located on 21st south, next to a Burger King, another restaurant with which I have a history.

Inside, the bright colors and tasteful decor continued and so did the kitsch. We were soon seated at a booth and served a bowl of hot and sour soup.”Sludge” would be a good word to describe it. As would “brown.” And “disappointing.” It tasted like it may have been good once, and that time was probably the Ming dynasty.

Found in the regal land of South Salt Lake.

After a sizable wait, the main dish was served. The sides were forgettable. The cheese wontons were good, but you really have to screw it up to make cheese wontons taste bad. The General’s tasted…off. The pieces of chicken arrived as depressing, round mini-nuggets. The flavor of corn syrup dominated whatever flavor of the General’s may have been hiding in the sauce. The sweet and sour chicken my friend ordered also tasted strange and off-putting. While extremely disappointing, neither of these dishes were actually bad, but that is probably thanks to the exorbitant sugar.

The fried rice was plain and bland, like that girl from your high school English class. It reminded me of microwave rice, only without the thrill of wondering whether it will truly be done in less than a minute.

Service was slow considering the restaurant was empty. I’m not impressed with Yum Yum and I doubt I’ll ever return. Should’ve gone with BK.

Soup: 2 | Side: 5.5 | Rice: 3.5 | General’s/Main Dish: 5.5 | Ambiance: 7 | Service: 5 | Cost: 7

Cafe Anh Hong – Anh and Alone

August 15, 2014

It was on this, my fourteenth venture of the summer Chinese quest, that I finally ran out of friends willing to eat Chinese food with me. All this time I have been able to convince one friend, or several, or a family member, or even a date to come be seduced by the Asian persuasion. No longer. Eating alone is definitely worse than eating with friends,  but it shouldn’t be a shameful thing. And so I joyfully ate alone at Cafe Anh Hong today.

I’m usually more skeptical of places built into strip malls, but Anh Hong managed to be a pleasant surprise. The restaurant is more spacious than you’d expect upon viewing it from the outside. It’s well lit and decorated it quite well. A few couples were there finishing their meals; the entire restaurant emanated a relaxed feel. Cafe Anh Hong is quite well known for its dim sum. I am not a huge fan of dim sum – I just want a full helping of my General’s please. But if you’re a dim (sum) person, you may want to look into Anh Hong.

I can’t say the service was negative, as the food was prepared quickly and my class of water was kept full. But I quickly felt, well….slight hostility. Again, I’m not one who cares too much for quality of service as long as the essentials are covered. And they were.

I could feel the cashier judging me so hard as I took this.

The soup was a big step up from last week. It seemed quite peppery, while the actual flavor of the soup was still mild. It felt very comfortable – and just the right consistency.

The General’s was ready quickly. It was served along with steamed rice in separate bowls. For the lunch specials at least – steamed white rice was the only option. The breading was perfectly crisp – not soggy, but far from crunchy. The pieces of chicken had a natural, comforting variety. This edition was served with green peppers, which complements the General’s very well. The sauce was perhaps a bit too sweet, and of course, very little actual spice to it. But definitely a winner.

Apparently I sat on the wrong side of the table.

And so I ate. Alone. Flipping about on my smart phone to occupy myself. I wish I was more comfortable eating alone – no doubt there is more of it in my future.

Speaking of the future, my fortune was quite nice. It read “Your modesty will shame those with lesser knowledge.” Now there’s a nice ironic appeal to my ego, so big points for this fortune cookie.

I completely my transaction without a word from my server. There was no side, but the price was quite good. It was a large bowl of general’s – I had to stuff myself. So I would highly recommend Cafe Anh Hong. It’s nestled away near SLCC on State street  and it’s well worth stopping in. To reduce it to a word, I’d say the place is comfortable. Despite the sidelong glances from my server as we sat on opposite ends of the room, and my first solo Chinese outing, I quite enjoyed my time there and would heartily recommend it.