Thursday, June 25, 2009

Jacky Chen (not Chan) III

Date: Saturday, June 20, 2009
Time: 1:30pm
Location: Newton, KS
Restaurant: Jacky Chen III
Overall Rating: 1.5







Egg Roll: 1
Food Quality: 1.5
Price: 3
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 2

As I said in my “Mission & Background” entry, I will when I can, venture out of Lincoln, Nebraska to taste some Chinese cuisine around the country and give you my fairest rating. This past weekend I took a jaunt down to Newton, KS to visit my mother. We went out to eat (as we nearly always do) at Jacky Chen’s Chinese food buffet. We arrived at about 1:30pm and to our dismay nothing on the buffet was fresh. I was trying to make excuses for them about it being later in the lunch time frame, but as my mother put it “that doesn’t matter.” And I couldn’t agree more!

I went straight for the Chicken Egg Roll and Vegetable Spring Roll. Both were very dry, which seemed to be the theme of this dining experience. DRY! I couldn’t even finish the egg roll (a very rare occurrence). Next I tried the Crab Rangoon, not bad if you like a lot of cream cheese and not so much crab. They didn’t have Cashew Chicken and I couldn’t really find anything close to equivalent. So, I tried the Spicy Chicken. It was the best item I found on the buffet. Just enough spice, not overpowering, and the chicken was a good consistency. General Tso’s Chicken was just ok. Tried a Crab Stuffed Mushroom. It would have been good fresh. The Garlic Mushrooms needed more garlic flavor. The Teriyaki Chicken on a stick was so dry I could hardly get it off the stick. Last, I tried the Japanese Chicken, which was nothing spectacular. I’d stick to perfecting their Chinese food before they venture to Japan.

I can say they had a good variety of food. This place is kid friendly with many other options besides Chinese food. I tried a Cheese Stick and Fried Okra. Like a broken record, they would have been good FRESH. They had sushi too. I tried the California Roll (just about the only sushi I will try off a buffet). You can never be too safe with raw fish. It was average. Not exceptional, but not bad. The price for this buffet was $6. That was the silver lining – I didn’t break the bank to eat bad food!

So, if any of you happen to be in Newton, KS sometime in your life and your heart is craving a little Chinese flavor, I recommend going to Jacky Chen’s Chinese buffet only if you can get there as soon as it opens. If you can’t be at the door as it unlocks, I’d order off the menu, or better yet, drive about 20 miles East to Wichita and take your chance at another Chinese food establishment.

Fortune: “An interesting musical opportunity is in your near future.”

Turns out that musical opportunity was closer than I thought. For the first time in nearly six years I have a car with a CD player! For my trip down to Kansas I found all my old CDs from high school and literally sang until my throat was on fire. Forgot how good it feels to hear old songs I love, reminisce about high school friends, and even play a little air guitar all in the privacy of my little bubble on wheels. Give it a try sometime!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

We love chinese food! The best one we have found is in Indy..Chinese Chef!
Usually always pretty fresh and lots of variety and flavor! Hope your visit went smooth!

We got news!
Love your Auntie

fife2001 said...

Well at least there is no MSG!

Unknown said...

imposter restaurant name = imposter chinese food ?

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