Man Chun Hong

Every third Thursday of the month, I lunch with a group of Asian women friends from the office. It started really as a Chinese group, but has expanded, and that's fine with me. We do typically go for Chinese food since there are so many great places and new ones are always popping up. M, one of my co-workers, is particularly into trying new places with here non-work friends and always has somewhere new that we can try.

Typically we will all discuss over email the trials of who can actually go, where to meet (we have groups from two buildings), who will drive, and where to go. Usually we will have a pitiful discussion by email, and at the last second, M will suggest somewhere completely new and we will all be on board with that.

This month was no exception. At the last second, M recommended Man Chun Hong (5953 Buford Hwy NE) which is actually the place that I found elsewhere online as being Nam Chun Hong (go figure) and the best place for freshly made noodles in the city. It's situated in a relatively new shopping center in what looks like a Korean area. It's just outside the perimeter on Buford Highway. (On the drive out here, I was told that my former boss had gotten lost out here once looking for a team meeting location. While he was driving and on the phone with the folks at the restaurant trying to find it, he said, "wow, xxx triple feature! See you guys in a while!" Maybe you had to know my former boss to really get that. He always liked to make jokes like that. Then again, he did make a lot a jokes about the (Pink) Pony. You never know when someone is serious about going there.) Anyway.

I always let my Mandarin-speaking friends do the ordering when we go to these lunches because they are typically Mandarin-speaking places. The only exception is when we go for dim sum when I get to order the tea (no one is surprised that I really care what tea I'm drinking) and order the particular things I want. As you know, when you go for dim sum, pretty much everyone points and orders what they want, and most dim sum places do speak a flavor of Mandarin anyway.

So anyway, M, H, C, and Y discuss the menu heatedly and order. We get five dishes for the six of us and, good little eaters that we are, finish it all. Three of these dishes are lunch specials and two are dinner size. I hear if you order all dinner size in a one-to-one ratio, it will be too much. This makes sense since most Chinese places are meant to be family style and not order-your-own places.

So, the dishes came out as they were ready, which is always nice also.

Eggplant with garlic sauce: spicy, eggplanty. Not really sure what else you could ask for in this dish except for maybe some pork. But it's nice to have one all veggie dish in a bunch of meaty ones.

Kung Pao Chicken: you know, the real thing and not the pitiful collection of take out places. Not bad really. Diced chicken sauteed in a "brown" sauce, reminiscent of my dad's peppercorn chicken, with some odds and ends like bamboo shoots and peanuts. Mostly chicken though, not filler.

Pickled vegetables with cellophane noodles and beef: reminds me highly of Sichuan stuff. I think westerners would be afraid of this dish, but I think J would like it.

"Homemade" tofu (ga surng daufu): sliced cubes of fried tofu sauteed with shitakes and some veggies.

Some pork dish: not spectacular, but it was the first dish out and I was hungry. I have no idea what was in it.

All in all, six people came out to $7 including a good tip. Sure, I was hungry an hour later, but when am I not? I would go again for lunch with my "Chinese mafia" group, as C calls us. I might not go by myself because, like at Cafe 101, I'm guessing I'm just missing out on the menu. Then again, I feel like I could order anything and it would be tasty. And true enough, I would like to try their noodles. Still, since M didn't mention their noodles at all, it might just be an western inclination.