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| - When eating on a T&L rated restaurant, sometimes the expectations will get in the way of the eating experience that one forgets enjoyment on the eating itself, but alas I find that not to be overbearingly true with Chou's Kitchen.
So I walked in on this hole in the wall Chinese restaurant and there's this plain interior with cramped booth and tables, was promptly greeted, seated, and served water in those 70's hard plastic glass with a straw, then after looking at the menu, my order was taken and written on (get this) Chinese characters. I waited and all the time salivated as I could hear the clanging of pots and pans and could smell the distinctly Chinese aroma of spices and seasonings from the back kitchen, with the cooks seemingly enjoying a chat as well.
Then my appetizer of beef pie arrived, handwrapped and I would admit greasy, so I had to kind-a dry them with a paper napkin, but here's the good part, the beef filling was so flavorful I had to take a moment to really ignore the fat and the juices. For the main course, the stir fry chicken with garlic souce blew my mind, and made me an even ardent believer that there were really nuances in regional cooking, NorthEastern it is, while having them with rice, just a fine balance of spicy and plain flavors in the palate.
So what is the value of experience over expectations you may ask - it is that I really feel I am eating amazing Chinese food prepared by masterful Chinese cook on this gem of a place.
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