Peking Chinese Restaurant- An Updated Review

Peking Chinese Restaurant
5960 Telegraph Rd, Ventura
Phone: 805-644-7777
Cuisine: Chinese

I first reviewed this restaurant a couple months ago. You can read that review here. I went with my wife and son last night, and felt I needed to review it again. I did not have the same pleasant experience this time around.

To be fair, most of what I am about to write about may be partially explained by the knowledge that there was only one cook there. I don't know how many cooks are normally there, but presumably it is more than one.

The waiter tonight seemed very sure of himself, but wasn't terribly helpful. He was not overly friendly either. The busboy did a much better job. The restaurant felt a lot dirtier as well. I visited the restroom for the first (and hopefully last) time. That was an experience.

Picture a 1970s style mobile home or church building, and you will get an idea of what greeted me there. The bathroom smelled pretty awful. Being near the back of the restaurant, it probably doesn't get the attention it requires. The urinal was set pretty high on the wall. So high in fact that there is a step that you must use to reach it. I found that entertaining. That is all I will say about the bathroom. Let's move on.

We ordered the cheaper of the three meal choices this time, both preferring the options in that price range. Roughly $12 a person gets you (per person) a spring roll, a piece of paper-wrapped (really aluminum foil) chicken, Egg Drop soup, a cream cheese wonton, and an entre. I went with the Kung Pao again, though I forgot to read my earlier post about how mild it was. My wife ordered the Beef and Broccoli, as she was sharing with my son who is a broccoli lover. I should have asked for more peppers. Next time I will remember to read my own reviews.

The paper-wrapped chicken was by far the best item of the night's fare. It tastes like the fillings of potstickers, which my wife and I both enjoy. The spring rolls are good, but not anything to really write about. The won ton tasted great as well. This Egg Drop soup comes with a bit of a twist. Chopped nuts are added. This soup was good too, but not as good as others.

The Beef and Broccoli tasted pretty good. I normally don't like this dish, but it was not too bad. It had a lot of garlic, which always is a good thing. My Kung Pao Chicken only had two peppers. This was really mild. I still enjoyed the lack of water chestnuts and celery. This is all chicken, peppers and peanuts. Just the way I like it.

One positive note was the Pepsi. I prefer restaurants who serve Pepsi, and I rate the quality of Pepsi wherever I go. This was not the greatest, but it was still really good. Much better than many other small restaurants.

Overall, last night's service was nowhere near the level it was during our first visit. The last experience, plus the Pepsi bring the rating up quite a bit. I am hoping that on my next visit they have recovered from whatever happened in between visits.

RATING:

Jersey Mike's Subs

Jersey Mike's Subs
1231 South Victoria Ave.
Oxnard, CA 93035

Jersey Mike's Subs is a fairly typical subway sandwich shop. They lean more toward Quiznos and Togos rather than Subway. My wife is a pretty big fan of this place, so this is the second time she has taken me there. The first time I went I liked the restaurant, but not my food. I figured I would try it again before I reviewed it. Today was the day.

Walking in, we were greeted by the whole staff, Starbucks and Coldstone Creamery style. They were pretty friendly. There wasn't a long line, so we ordered quickly.

Like Togo's and Quiznos they have a pretty set menu, and it doesn't feel they are too comfortable with additional items. Subway pretty much raised all our expectations in this area.

I ordered the Roast Beef sandwich, Mike's style. My wife got the Turkey sandwich, also Mike's style. Mike's style includes lettuce, tomato, pickles, oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. I added peperocini and jalepenos, and my wife added just the peperocinis.

For a sandwich, this was pretty good. I prefer hot sandwiches, but today's was of the cold variety. All in all it was a decent meal. I think the sizes are a little hard to gauge accurately. The regular looks small, so I ordered the large. It was way bigger than I intended to get, but for $10, I should hope it was huge.

This place didn't impress me, but it wasn't bad either. This is a pretty average place. The Pepsi is pretty good though, which makes a big difference to me. (I am a huge Pepsi fan). Go to Jersey Mike's for a decent meal.

RATING:

Mas de Caralt - 2003

originally posted on SurfJedi's Musings

Label: Mas de Caralt
Vintage: 2003
Type: Tempranillo
Country: Spain
Region: Penedes

I picked up this bottle about a year ago, and finally opened it up tonight. When I first opened the bottle I could smell a pleasant, fruity aroma. It smelled a lot like one of my favorite wines, in part because the Tempranillo grape is part of the blend. I am a huge Tempranillo fan. I let my wife smell the bottle too, even though she is not a red wine person. She thought it smelled pretty good.

When I swirled my glass I was able to see it had some pretty good legs on it. Not too thick, but definitely enough to notice. The taste followed the smell, and I could pick up the fruit pretty clearly. The next test was to put it together with my steak, and it worked perfectly.

I had a grilled 18 ounce New York Strip, with sauteed mushrooms and onions. My wife sauteed them with olive oil and butter, and once the mushrooms had a nice crust, added some salt and some of the red wine. Add some garlic bread and some jalepeno corn, and my meal was complete. The corn recipe involves a fresh jalapeno pepper, white corn, and cream cheese. I was a little nervous that the cream cheese would throw off the taste of the wine, but it worked out.

The bottle says that the wine includes Penedes, Tempranillo, Granache, and Monastrell grapes, and it is aged in oak. It says to expect fresh berries with floral notes, and describes it as smooth and silky. I think the bottle was not exaggerating here. My above description seems to fit with the one from the bottle. I always look at the bottle after the tasting, so it won't influence my interpretation.

If you are looking for a decent table wine, I recommend the Mas de Caralt. Beverages and More (BevMo) sells it for about $5, so it is a really good wine for the price. I think they only sell the 2006 now, but I am sure it will be just as good.

RATING: