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| - I'm trying the places close by my temporary Tempe home... it's tough to give more than two stars after my experience here.
I walked by on my way to Food Town, and I picked up a menu. In perusing the offerings, I was struck by the Thai Basil Chicken combination. I figured with egg roll and Lo Mein, the combination would probably work. After picking up the Food Town items, I walked toward Gourmet Wok.
On opening the door and walking in, I was the only customer in the restaurant. When I passed by earlier, picking up the menu, there were no customers in the restaurant. The only people in the restaurant were a waitress, her child and another lady at the same table. The tables and chairs...Goodwill Industries. The menu board...with lots of prices that have not been updated, even though the prices in the paper menu have...I thought I might have found the proverbial 'hole in the wall' for take-away Chinese cuisine.
I compared prices between the picture board, the written menu on the wall and the paper menu in my hands. The prices on certain items varied based on which source you ordered from. My Thai Basil Chicken combination cost $6.55 based on the paper menu. With tax, I paid $7.14. The person who took my order advised I would wait 5 minutes and my order would be ready.
I walked to the local literature distribution near the front door, where I picked up the coffee-time news. After reading my horoscope and several articles about truffles, I was called to pick up my order. 3:20 on my watch. This was either an extremely coordinated cook or certain items were cooked before being commingled with all the ingredients.
The person who took my order brought the bag to the counter, handles looped through one-another. I opened the bag, took a peek and everything looked appropriate. I asked for some pepper oil, and was provided with a container. Out the door and 2 blocks to the homestead...I walked in, unburdened from the trip, washed my hands and prepared to open the box for dinner.
The egg roll...it had been sitting under a heat lamp...there were no grease spots on the envelope. Cabbage, carrots, but no seasoning...frozen, not prepared fresh. No Lo Mein...but rice cooked in yellow broth, and it was a little hard, like it could have cooked for 2 or 3 more minutes. As hard as I tried, I just could not enjoy the rice, either.
Last but not least, the Thai Basil Chicken with no basil. I'm betting the cook did not read the order, or chickie who took the order wrote down chicken with broccoli, because while there was no basil, the broccoli was in large quantity and cooked to perfection. The chicken...no. It must have been cut and then steamed and left in a tray in the preparation area. The pieces were very uniform, very soft (beyond tender) and flavorless. While I could not see what the cook was doing in preparation, my bet is that he took already prepared broccoli, carrots and onion and tossed 'em with the chicken pieces, then slathered the whole thing in sauce.
First time, not very impressed. I will give them one more try, because every time I go by, the place is always empty. Maybe if they get the chance to impress, and succeed, they could grow.
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