Tag: Fried Rice

AlbuquerqueJapaneseKoreanRating: Very Good

Asian Pear – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:58 PM

“Careful Father, this stuff will melt your beads.” ~Lt Colonel Henry Blake, MASH 4077 Just as Hogan’s Heroes helped establish the perception many Americans (at least of my generation) had about German food, the television show MASH was the first introduction many of us had to Korean food. Set in South Korea during the Korean War, the series centered around a group of resilient doctors, nurses and support staff in an isolated hospital compound which saw more than its share of wounded. Not only did each half hour episode depict–sometimes rather graphically–the horrors of war, it painted a rather poignant and entirely accurate picture of sacrifice and hardship. Some of the sacrifice and hardship came at the hands of the kitchen staff which concocted some of the most unsavory fare conceivable (imagine a restaurant today serving creamed turnips, spam lamb and cream of weenie soup). Indigenous cuisine was apparently even worse because no matter how bad chow hall food was, the MASH team didn’t walk down to the nearby village for a meal of Korean food. And, as the quote above illustrates, when they did partake of Korean food, the impression given was that it was almost lethally piquant. Compared…

ChineseNew MexicoRating: GoodRio Rancho

Best Lee’s – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:14 AM

When does confidence become audacity? Is there a point at which a claim becomes braggadocio? To what extent can you trust a review on a hometown magazine? These were all questions we sought to answer during our inaugural meal at a Rio Rancho Chinese restaurant with the quaint name “Best Lee’s.”Best Lee’s is ensconced in the Southern Plaza Shopping Center in the same suite that held Peking House, a Chinese restaurant so mediocre I chose not to write anything about it during our one and only visit. In truth, we thought Peking House was still happily torturing taste buds until reading the December-January 2007 edition of Rio Rancho magazine (now defunct). A published review practically gushed with effusiveness over a dining experience at Best Lee’s. Then there’s the menu which proudly proclaims “best food in town.” That’s an audacious claim we were eager to validate or debunk. The menu, by the way, is encyclopedic in its volume, listing well over a hundred items in various categories: appetizers, soup, fried rice, lo mein, sweet and sour, seafood, poultry, pork, beef, vegetables, chow mein and chop suey, chow mein fun, diet special dishes, and the ever-present chef’s specials.   Best Lee’s opened for…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Fan Tang – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

For “city dwellers” Chinese restaurants are ubiquitous.  There’s one in every corner   Most urbanites were weaned on Chinese food.  It’s as much a part of their diet as “American” food.  Those of us who grew up in the “sticks” during the stone age had to travel great distances to find Chinese food…and when we did find a Chinese restaurant, we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  Everything we knew about that mysterious, exotic cuisine came from television programs in the days long preceding the Food Network.  Every once in a while, mention was made on one of those  television shows about egg foo young.  I’m thinking maybe Maxwell Smart may have mentioned egg foo young during in an episode in which he battled his nemesis “The Craw“, er…The Claw. As chronicled on Gil’s Thrilling…my very first experience with Chinese food transpired in Lexington, Massachusetts within easy walking distance of the famous Lexington Minuteman Statue.  My friend (and boss at the time) Paul Venne enjoyed my bumpkinly naivete.  I literally had no idea about Chinese food other than the little bit learned from television.  He recommended starting out at the Chinese Food 101 level.  That meant egg…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseFusionNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

El Palacio Imperial – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“Tradition is everything.  It’s very important. But we need to remember that the traditions of today Were the modernity of the past. And that the things we think are very science fiction type of things Will be the traditions of tomorrow.” ~Chef Jose Andres Chef Jose Andres was the founder of the World Central Kitchen which provides large-scale relief to communities affected by natural disasters and conflicts around the world.  He’s one of Time Magazine’s  world’s 100 most influential people.  He earned a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his altruism as well as for being the Spanish-American culinary innovator who popularized tapas in the United States.  His list of accomplishments and the reach of his philanthropic efforts mark him as one of those rare human beings whose influence and impact extend far beyond the kitchen. Several years ago, my Kim and I visited China Poblano, a spectacular restaurant launched by Chef Andres in Las Vegas, Nevada.  This eatery pays tribute to the concept of East meets West, serving both Mexican and Chinese foods.  Las Vegas Weekly called China Poblano “quite simply the perfect restaurant for today’s hipster foodie.”  China Poblano is not a fusion restaurant per se in that it doesn’t…

AlbuquerqueChineseDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Noodle Works – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:11 PM

“To witness the birth of a noodle is a glorious thing. I have listened, spellbound, as an 85-year-old noodle chef in Beijing told me why the act of making noodles helped him make sense of the world.” -~Terry Durack, Noodle In the movie Mr. Nice Guy, martial artist cum actor Jackie Chan portrays a  chef with a successful television show.  In the movie’s opening scene, Chef Jackie is presiding over a flour-dusted table, stretching, twisting, and pulling a piece of dough into fine strands of noodles, a process the TV host can only describe as “alchemy.”   For the culinary obsessed among us, that was the highlight of the movie, all the “special effects” we needed.  Later on, Chef Jackie would be stretching, twisting and pulling a drug lord and his syndicate in much the same manner as he did the noodles. There’s something almost mystical about the artisan process of pulling noodles by hand.  Certainly for the onlooker, it’s entertaining to the point of being mesmerizing.  It’s not prestidigitation in that there’s no sleight of hand to deceive you.  It’s sheer brilliant mastery of an time-honored craft.  It’s performance art and scientific precision in one.  Learning to repeatedly stretch…