| rev:text
| - Lee Cafe was recommended by friends as the the best/most authentic Chinese restaurant in the Charlotte area, so we checked it out. It's located right down the road from Carowinds. We were there for lunch and had no problem getting a table. At first glance of the menu given, the dishes were not that different from what you would find in any mall food court: General Chicken, Mongolian Beef, etc. I got the Beef with Broccoli which came with egg fried rice...again, mall food court fare and tasted as such. As I looked around the dining room, I noticed other parties with elaborate dishes and asked the waitress about some of them. She gave us another menu with "authentic" Chinese dishes listed. This is why we came! She pointed out some dishes we saw and we made note of it for our return trip the next day.
So we finally ended up trying the Salt & Spices Tofu (breaded deep fried tofu), Sizzling Steak Black Pepper Sauce (brought out on a hot skillet similar to fajitas), and the Szechuan Spicy Fish Filet. The tofu was all right, seasoned well although maybe it could've been served with a dipping sauce the way Vietnamese fried tofu is served (or is that just a Vietnamese thing, IDK). The sizzling steak had an authentic ethnic/Chinese (I guess) taste to it, but the more I ate, the more I enjoyed! However, it was the Szechuan Spicy Fish Fillet that we were eager to try. This is the dish that everyone was eating! It came out in a large bowl with nothing but fried chilies on top. The fish was underneath the chilies swimming in chili oil and bean sprouts. My mistake was popping a piece of fish into my mouth right away without letting it cool first, thereby burning my tongue. I wasn't wowed as much as my wife was over this dish. It was just OK. I'm not sure if it was because I burned my tongue, but I found it very bland. Oh well, there are lots of other dishes on the real menu to explore. If you're the adventurous type, ask for the authentic Chinese menu when you're here!
|