When we first moved to Georgia, I remember my mom's hunt for a good chinese restaurant. Coming from the bay area where there is a prevalence of good asian food, I think she thought it might be difficult. However, just down the road, we found a place called Mandarin Garden. One of the things that made this our chinese restaurant of choice was the fact that their fried potstickers were made with a nice thin dough that didn't overwhelm the delicious pork stuffing. Many a Friday night we ordered General Tso's Chicken (which turns out isn't even chinese but was actually invented in San Francisco), pot stickers and Mu Shu Pork (or sometimes Sweet and Sour Pork... yum yum).
Sadly, Mandarin Garden eventually went out of business when the shopping center it was in was basically deserted by the anchor store (that was a grocery store) and slowly all the rest of the small businesses left. We never did find another chinese place that had potstickers as good as Mandarin Garden. So many of the new places had such thick dough on their potstickers (I keep mentioning these, but seriously, who likes doughy potstickers?) and just wasn't quite as good.
So the point of this story (and there is one, I promise) is that when I moved back out here to the west coast, chinese food was one of the things I was really looking forward to. Chinese, Sushi, and sourdough bread from San Francisco (I'm heading there next weekend and look for an entire post on the perfection that is a clam chowder sourdough bread bowl).
Sadly, there are 3 chinese restaurants I can think of off the top of my head. I've been to two of them and the third one has the kind of reputation that makes me want to have the paramedics on speed dial. The one in Atascadero is a chinese buffet. Aaron is pretty sure that when you call them for delivery they just take the food out of the buffet trays and bring you that. I have not had to break down to call for delivery from them so I don't actually know if that's true. What I can tell you is, once was enough.
When we really need chinese food in SLO, we head down to Mandarin Gourmet. It's no Mandarin Garden, but they have a lunch special that can't be beat. A cup of soup, cup of rice, an entree, a fried wonton, a spring roll and a slice of orange for color all for under ten dollars. The price varies by dish, but most all of them are under ten. Also when they bring you the fortune cookies, ask them for an almond cookie. They come with a slice of almond and some orange sugar on top. They are surprisingly addictive for a packaged cookie.
I've had the cashew chicken, the General Tso's chicken, beef and broccoli, sweet and sour pork (not one I'd highly recommend), and the vegetable chow mein. Ryan especially enjoys the hot and sour soup especially the tofu pieces. Surprisingly he really seems to enjoy tofu in general, but that's the subject of another post.
Overall, its not bad and gets high grades for value. If you're going to go, they really can't be beat for their lunch specials. They also give a lovely hot pot of tea as soon as you sit down and always include fortune cookies at the end. We even sometimes get a nice surprise dessert for being regulars.
Mandarin Gourmet
1316 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA
Showing posts with label night out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label night out. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
SloCo Pasty Company
Do you know what a pasty is? I'm not talking about the stick-on kind you find in places where the girls jiggle. I'm talking about little pastries that you can find in Cornwall, or here on the Central Coast.
past·y/ˈpastē/
This does not begin to describe the little pouches of deliciousness that you get at the Pasty Company. Located in downtown San Luis Obispo, the Pasty Company overlooks the historic San Luis Obispo Mission and if you're not looking for it, you might miss it.
Aaron and I go to the San Luis Obispo Farmer's Market just about every Thursday. Not only does it have dozens of booths of fresh, local produce, many of the local restaurants come out and set up stalls with their culinary offerings. I happened to see the Pasty Company and decided to try it out.
I've had a few of their pasties now including the traditional pasty called the Oggy. With steak, potatoes, rutabaga, onions and a hint of rosemary, it is what you would typically get in a Cornish Pasty in Cornwall. According to Wikipedia
The great thing about the SloCo Pasty Company is that they offer pasties with a california twist. They offer a Tri-tip pasty which is something you would only find here on the Central Coast. (Tri-tip, by the way, is a whole article unto itself) The Aporkrodite with porkloin, feta cheese, gorgonzola cheese, cream cheese, bacon and chives is a creamy delicious concoction that really is love at first bite. Their vegetarian options are also delicious and a nice lower calorie options. What really makes these pasties delicious, to me, are the sauces they are served with. Most of them come with either the red wine sauce that is sumptuous and rich or the gorgonzola cream sauce that is creamy and tangy. Both sauces compliment their respective pasties perfectly.
Even little Ryan likes the pasties. Their dessert menu features a Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Banana pasty that is just perfect for little fingers, after it cools of course. The dessert one usually feeds him for two meals and heats up nicely in the toaster oven. I've stolen a couple bites and the PBJ&B dessert pasty quite delicious.
As if the pasty isn't enough, they serve a fresh broccoli slaw on the side with dried cranberries, sliced almonds, and a light, peanut dressing. Order a nice Magner's irish cider on the side and it is truly a perfect meal.
SloCo Pasty Company
1032 Chorro Street
San Luis Obispo, CA
past·y/ˈpastē/
| Noun: |
|
This does not begin to describe the little pouches of deliciousness that you get at the Pasty Company. Located in downtown San Luis Obispo, the Pasty Company overlooks the historic San Luis Obispo Mission and if you're not looking for it, you might miss it.
Aaron and I go to the San Luis Obispo Farmer's Market just about every Thursday. Not only does it have dozens of booths of fresh, local produce, many of the local restaurants come out and set up stalls with their culinary offerings. I happened to see the Pasty Company and decided to try it out.
I've had a few of their pasties now including the traditional pasty called the Oggy. With steak, potatoes, rutabaga, onions and a hint of rosemary, it is what you would typically get in a Cornish Pasty in Cornwall. According to Wikipedia
The traditional Cornish pasty, which has Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status in Europe,[2] is filled with beef, sliced or diced potato, swede (also known as a yellow turnip or rutabaga) and onion, seasoned with salt and pepper, and is baked. Today, the pasty is the food most associated with Cornwall regarded as its national dish, and accounts for 6% of the Cornish food economy. Pasties with many different fillings are made; some shops specialise in selling all sorts of pasties.
The great thing about the SloCo Pasty Company is that they offer pasties with a california twist. They offer a Tri-tip pasty which is something you would only find here on the Central Coast. (Tri-tip, by the way, is a whole article unto itself) The Aporkrodite with porkloin, feta cheese, gorgonzola cheese, cream cheese, bacon and chives is a creamy delicious concoction that really is love at first bite. Their vegetarian options are also delicious and a nice lower calorie options. What really makes these pasties delicious, to me, are the sauces they are served with. Most of them come with either the red wine sauce that is sumptuous and rich or the gorgonzola cream sauce that is creamy and tangy. Both sauces compliment their respective pasties perfectly.Even little Ryan likes the pasties. Their dessert menu features a Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Banana pasty that is just perfect for little fingers, after it cools of course. The dessert one usually feeds him for two meals and heats up nicely in the toaster oven. I've stolen a couple bites and the PBJ&B dessert pasty quite delicious.
As if the pasty isn't enough, they serve a fresh broccoli slaw on the side with dried cranberries, sliced almonds, and a light, peanut dressing. Order a nice Magner's irish cider on the side and it is truly a perfect meal.
SloCo Pasty Company
1032 Chorro Street
San Luis Obispo, CA
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