Monday, July 21, 2008

Big Bowl on the house!

Stepping into the blinding light of a midday sun after almost three hours of The Dark Knight was quite a shock. Michelle and I stumbled around for a few minutes, trying to get our bearings and not walk through any poor souls who may have stepped into our path along the way. Eventually we meandered into Border's, then headed toward the Apple Store to check on the iPhone 3G availability (needless to say there were none). Following that 30 second walk-by, Michelle had a few things to grab in the cosmetic section of Macy's before we did lunch.Speaking of lunch, boy do I love me some Big Bowl. Yeah, it's a chain, but my lord it's a good chain. Typically we start with the chicken potstickers, and yesterday was no exception. They were a bit greasier than normal, and the mustard-sesame sauce had a bit less mustard, but they were good either way. Following the appetizers came entree time. Michelle went with the Crispy Orange Chicken and I ordered the Panang Curry Chicken.

Michelle's crispy orange chicken was very good. She ordered it with fried, rather than jasmine, rice. Frankly, who can blame her? Unless you need the rice to cut the heat, go with the fried. The breading on the dish was lighter than one would see in an orange, sesame or General Tsao's chicken at a LeAnn Chin, or your traditional "Americanized" Chinese place, yet not with the mealiness of a tempura or beer-batter of a lemon or sweet & sour chicken either. It was indeed, crispy without being heavy and grease laden. Served with caramelized orange zest in strips tossed in the chicken pieces along with the sauce, it wasn't overpoweringly sweet with a fake "orange" flavor, rather the zest acted as a nuanced citrus feel on the tongue.


As always, the Panang curry chicken was outstanding. Seriously, great combination of delicate (pea pods, lemongrass and coconut milk) and spice (yellow curry and fresno peppers) with a wonderful bite in the aftertaste.

See, you can almost taste it through the picture! Man, this is excellent, and now I'm ridiulously hungry again. Time to go start marinating tonight's sirloin fillets.

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