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| - Been more than a bit busy as of late and haven't done any reviewing. (Although I do admit I've been using Yelp (as always) for my viewing pleasure-- just haven't been giving anything back.) However... last night's takeout dinner from Joyful Chinese was so good, I had to take a moment to post a review. I must do everything I can to ensure that others frequent this establishment, so I will continue to have my much needed Chinese fix met.
I admit it, I am addicted to Asian food. I love it all--sushi, dim sum, Thai, Vietnamese, etc., etc.-- but none more than just good old-fashioned Chinese takeout. I MUST have it once a week, or I begin to have serious withdrawal symptoms.
When I lived further North in Scottsdale, we used to alternate between Flo's and Shanghai Club weekly. Flo's, while a bit out of the realm of usual Chinese, is always delicious and Shanghai Club was (IMO) the epitome of really good, traditional Chinese fare. However, these days, Flo's is too far to be convenient and alas, Harry finally succumbed to the pressures of the economy, and it seems as if Shanghai Club is no more. (I almost cried when I discovered they had closed-- I'd been eating there since it opened (as Royal China) in 1992.)
Since the loss of my favorite place, hubby, son and myself have been searching (in vain until now) for a suitable replacement. We have tried--literally-- just about every Chinese restaurant within miles of our home. Most have been absolutely AWFUL, and a couple have been okay, but not worthy of a weekly repeat.
Finally(!!) last night was a winner!! Joyful Chinese was voted by all three of us as delicious and near perfect on all dishes!!
First off, we had the Hot and Sour soup. This is the dish by which we tend to judge all Chinese restaurants. (Flo's is a bit nontraditional with undertones of Cilantro but oh so good, and Shanghai Club's was perfect in every way!) Most of the places we have tried as of late can not make a good Hot and Sour if you paid them-- which we did!! The usual mistakes include too dark, too cloying, too peppery hot and not depth of flavor hot, too bland, and so on, and so on. When we picked up our box of food last night, Jacob almost yipped with glee when he saw the color of the H&S through it's container; it looked perfect!! And the flavor lived up to its color. The soup was hot (but not peppery); it was sour. The taste was full-bodied but not at all cloying, and it was filled with the correct amount of egg, tofu, shrimp and other goodies. All in all it was delicious!!
In addition to the soup, we had pot-stickers, Black Pepper Beef, Yui-Shan Pork and Curry Chicken (minus the potatoes-- I don't really like them and besides, who needs the added carbs!). Everything was wonderful!! The pot-stickers were as good as Angela N. described in her review back in April-- "wonderful and crispy on one side and lovely and soft on the other and the dumpling sauce was amazing and just spicy enough." The main dishes were all delicious and (as they should be) each unique in its flavor. (Sooo many of the places we have tried recently seem to make every dish taste almost exactly the same--yuck!) The beef was tender and flavorful with the perfect amount of pepper and spice. It had an excellent balance of green peppers, onions and mushrooms but still more beef than anything. The pork was perfectly spicy and pungent and it had all the appropriate julienned veggies (carrots, celery, etc.) that help make Yui-Shan one of my favorite dishes. Finally, the curry chicken was full of flavor, spicy but not killer hot and just the right amount of coconut milk to make the sauce thick and rich but not goopy or cloying.
I can honestly say that I liked all three of these main dishes equally. And when I asked the hubby which one(s) he'd like to take, as leftovers, for lunch today, he stated that they were all so great I could choose my pick first. That's high praise from him!! (For the record, I gave him the beef, I took the curry and I saved the leftover Yui Shan to eat cold (yum!) for breakfast one morning. I know it sounds weird, but try it; it's delish!!)
Wellll... this review got a bit long. But I needed you to understand just how important it is that you try Joyful Chinese (and send everyone else you know there too). They've been open for 4 years, according to the very nice lady who took our order, and only 4 people have reviewed them. Trust me; go there, and then write a review. We need to keep great-tasting, traditional Chinese places like this around. There are far too many mediocre ones taking over!!
p.s. As a side note-- if my memory serves me, this is the location that years ago used to be Eddie Chan's when he and Flo were still married. So the place has been there forever (even though the center is mostly dead), and it still looks like I remember it from when I was a kid, and my parents used to take us here weekly. Now you know where my addiction started.
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