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| - I had been to the Super L Ranch Market next door at the Cofco Chinese Cultural Center, and was craving Chinese food so I headed for Beijing Garden Chinese for a late lunch. As I approached the entrance, a group of 4 diners came out - headed to their car. I asked them how they enjoyed their meal. One of them said he really enjoyed his shrimp dish, but the others didn't want to comment. Since the one gentleman was enthusiastic, I decided to continue inside.
As I entered, I was greeted and led right away to a table near the kitchen entrance. As I took my seat, I could see that the plates on the table in front of me were both chipped. I asked for a plate that wasn't chipped, and it took my server a minute to find one which she switched from another table before she delivered a glass of water, and left me with the menu. Looking around, I noticed that there were very few diners present.
The menu was quite extensive and a bit overwhelming. It helped somewhat that photos of some of the dishes were included, but dishes were less than completely described, providing little sense of flavor profiles, or how one sauce might compare to another. I love vegetables, and wanted to be sure that whatever dish I ordered had plenty of them, in addition to meat or seafood. Understand that by vegetables, I mean nutritious vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, snow peas and the like, not just onions and bell peppers or celery. I also wanted lots of flavor as opposed to a bland dish.
The more I studied the menu, the more questions I had about the various preparations, but for at least 10 minutes, no one came within hailing distance of my table. Finally, with a couple of potential items in mind, and a host of questions, I closed my menu and put it down. Only at that point did my server re-appear.
She wasn't particularly helpful in terms of being able to describe flavors of the dishes, and we appeared to be having some language barrier difficulties. I had been leaning to the Beef with Broccoli, perhaps with garlic sauce instead of brown sauce. After explaining that the garlic sauce was a white sauce that they used with chicken. She indicated that I should just get #82, the Beef with Black Pepper Sauce in Sizzling Plate, which had more spice. I finally convinced her to have Broccoli added to the #82 after clarifying that bell peppers and onions were not sufficient to meet my taste for vegetables. When I asked if they could add a level of spice to the dish, she said no, but she would bring me some hot oil. While not busy at all, she appeared frustrated by my questions, so I left it at that, in addition to some hot tea - hoping for the best.
She brought my tea almost immediately, along with a dish of white rice covered by a bowl, and hot chili oil. I opened my book (dining alone, I always carry one) poured some tea, and settled in to wait for my meal which I thought would be out in short order since the rice had already been brought.
After a good while, a young man set a heated metal plate in a wooden base before me. From a white soup bowl, he poured my beef dish onto the hot plate where the ingredients at the bottom against the plate began to sizzle and give off a delicious aroma. The slivers of beef were in a bit of sauce, and were clearly seasoned with black pepper. The beef apparently had been sautéed with pieces of bell pepper and onions about the size of quarters, and broccoli. Overall it smelled wonderful, and looked appetizing, and the portion size was generous.
I spooned rice, which I realized was now barely warm, and the beef dish onto my plate. After an initial taste, I added Chili Oil to my plate, and to the remainder of the beef dish.
The dish was overly salty overall - although not too salty to eat initially, provided each mouthful included lots of rice. After my first few bites, I realized that not only was the rice not hot, but neither was the beef dish. I found that by digging to the bottom of the metal plate, I could find meat and vegetables that were warmer and almost hot. Each bite tasted overwhelmingly of black pepper. I soon gave up trying to eat it, poured some more tea, and went back to reading my book. No one bothered to approach my table for another 15 minutes - this time I checked my watch...
When someone did return, it was with my check. No one ever asked me how my food was, or if I wanted a take-out container for the large amount of remaining food. They simply removed it. When they saw that I had produced my credit card, they came to collect it right away, and returned in very short order with my card, my receipt, and a fortune cookie, and left my table with no further comment.
Overall, my experience was disappointing. There may be wonderful things on the menu, but they are not helpful at assisting you with finding them.
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