Stop the Presses!!!

I was polishing up a blog entry about the double-whammy celebrity deaths yesterday (Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson), but something far more important has come up.

There’s a new Chinese restaurant in Oregon City.

(pause for effect)

I’m a huge fan of Chinese food. Out of all the food options available to me in these modern times, nothing excites me quite like good Chinese food. I live in Tualatin, so I have several Chinese options (my favorites are Wong’s and Wu’s Open Kitchen). However, I work in Oregon City, so my options are much more limited: there’s Panda Express (which, let’s face it, doesn’t really qualify), and there’s the little Chinese deli inside Danielson’s grocery store (which is far from great, but their hot & sour soup is actually quite good). There used be a place up the street called Leong’s, but it’s been gone for a few years now. There are a couple of places down the hill, on the opposite end of town, but they’re both average at best, and not worth the (lunch)time spent driving there and back. I’d pretty much resigned myself to the sad fact that Chinese food was not a luxury I’d be enjoying for lunch during the week.

And then I saw it on my way to work this morning: Pine Garden Chinese Restaurant and Lounge. I turned around and pulled up for a closer look. It was closed, naturally (it was 7:45 am), but I vowed to return for lunch. I then remembered that I’d brought leftovers from PF Chang’s, where Teresa and I dined last night (it was our 4th anniversary). So… Chinese for breakfast AND lunch? Seemed unlikely. I figured I’d try it next week.

As I (barely) worked through the morning, my thoughts kept returning to Pine Garden. My mind reeled at the possibilities. What if it’s truly great? What if it’s the best Chinese food ever? Could I really wait until next week? Of course not. I had to know. At 11:15, I took a (late) morning break and ran over to Pine Garden and picked up a to-go menu. Phase one, complete.


I studied the menu. Lots of choices, very reasonable prices. I hoped fervently that the food would be good.

At 12:30, halfway through my lunch hour, I called and placed my order (you might be wondering why I waited so long, since my lunch starts at noon. Well, dear readers, it’s like this: my lunch hour is my ME time, and I’m not gonna waste it on something as mundane as eating. I dine while I work. I’m a staunch supporter of eating on the clock). As I’ve mentioned in previous entries, my initial quality check for Chinese food consists of three items: General Tsao Chicken, Hot and Sour Soup, and Pot Stickers. These were the three items I ordered. I drove back, picked up my food, and returned to work.

And…. And…

It was okay. Just okay. The General Tsao Chicken was pretty unremarkable. The pork fried rice wasn’t nearly porky enough. The pot stickers were okay, but nothing special (the dipping sauce was straight up soy sauce, which is NOT cool. I gotta have garlic and ginger in there, not to mention onions and rice wine vinegar). The best part of the meal was the hot and sour soup, which I’d rate a solid 7 (by contrast, PF Chang’s version is a 9.5).

Will I go back? Um… yeah, I’ll give ‘em another try sometime. I saw a few other dishes on the menu that might be promising. But my expectations are much lower now. Sad.