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What I Ate: March 12, 2009 (Lee's Kitchen, Won Ton House)
Posted 12 March, 2009 at 11:39pm by Michael Chu(Filed under: Food, What I Ate)
Harold and I decided to try a place that I had heard about that was supposed to have excellent fried chicken wings - Lee's Kitchen (2527 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA - (408) 247-8662). It's a tiny shack on the side of the road (we missed it several times while driving past) and we wouldn't have spotted it if it wasn't for Harold wanting to see if Wienerschnitzel still had their Polish Sausages.
I thought there wouldn't be any seats, but there are three small tables in the "restaurant". We ordered the Fried Chicken Wings (because that's why we went there).
The first thing to arrive was the BBQ Pork Buns ($1 each) which were large but doughy.
We also had potstickers which actually had a good filling (just the right mixture of pork and cabbage).
We also had Sup Gum Chow Mein (which seems to just be combination chow mein). Most of the food was passable - tastes like what I think American Chinese food would taste like.
The woman at the counter (possibly the owner) came out and spoke to me in Chinese and informed me that the food there was really good and they've been in business for 34 years (since 1974). I think this is another example of "local favorite restaurant syndrome" where people who grew up eating the food loves it (skewing online ratings and reviews). I should probably start a list of "local favorites" that are really just mediocre (or even plain bad).
Tina wanted to eat at Won Ton House (1205 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA - (408) 984-8668) for dinner, so we went there. I had the Wor Won Ton Soup.
We also shared the Shanghai String Beans.
4 comments to What I Ate: March 12, 2009 (Lee's Kitchen, Won Ton House)
Don, March 13th, 2009 at 6:29 am:
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How were the chicken wings? They look almost too crunchy.
Nate, March 13th, 2009 at 9:28 am:
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Yeah, you went for the chicken wings but didn't say specifically how they were, unless you lumped it in with "passable - tastes what American Chinese food would taste like."
Those potsticker skins look doughy.
Harold, March 13th, 2009 at 3:26 pm:
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For my part, they (chicken wings) were OK. That's saying a LOT for me, as I usually can't stand chicken wings - they seem like a waste of time to me…a lot of effort for very little food. They certainly compared favorably to the Jollibee ChickenJoy, even though they were wings. They had a nice crunch with a little bit of savory flavor, and the meat was tender and juicy. I think, too, that they cut the wings to include some of the shoulder meat, because there was more meat on these wings than I've seen on a chicken wing before. They were also cooked for an interesting display: the picture isn't terribly clear, but they pulled the wings apart so that the pinion bones (so to speak - I mean the wingtip bones) were pointed up, perpendicular to the plane of the rest of the wing. This was convenient for eating, but creeped us out a little, too: it looked like the wings were all reaching for us.
All that said, though, we ended up putting the bright red sweet and sour sauce on the wings more often than not, because that slight savory flavor wasn't enough for us.
Yes, the pot stickers were pretty doughy, too, though in comparison to the pork buns they were tortilla chips. The noodles in the chow mein were also doughy - it just seemed like all the bread elements of the dishes were too doughy for our tastes.
Michael Chu, March 13th, 2009 at 4:35 pm:
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I wouldn't go back. I think I prefer the hot wings that KFC sells - crunchy, salty, and spicy.