Text 7934, 82 rader
Skriven 2013-12-17 12:21:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: depot food 599
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Bojangles in Washington!

I found myself in the desolate food court in the Union
Station basement and took the saddening tour. There was
a unfortunate soul in a red chef's hat accosting every
passerby with the question "sample?" but in such a heavy
accent that it was difficult to make out that word; he
was offering the wares of a place with sushi in its name,
and I found that peculiar indeed. And I reflected on what
a sad life it must be to don a red chef's hat and offer
samples of Japanese mystery food all day. I said a prayer
for the poor soul, and as you know I am not normally a
praying sort of guy. I was disappointed to see that the
King BBQ stand was still in existence - the food there is
a total abomination. The Indian joint, overpriced for what
it gives, is still there. But I was pleased to find a
Bojangles ... I've found in general that the food is bland
and salty, but it is in fact crunchy and hot; and it was
a slushy and cold day out, so I went up and made a spectacle
of myself by getting as close to the counter and squinting
at the menu.

I noted that a 2-piece dark (leg and thigh) with biscuit and
one side was one exorbitant price, but the 3-piece, adding a
thigh, was only a buck more, so that's what I got.

The cashier-server was pleasant - I'd noticed her taking in
hand a new father trying to feed his infant and selling him
a thigh and reminding him to remove the skin and coating, as
"this is Cajun-style and a little spicy for the young 'un."
There was not a place on the slip for a tip nor a tip jar.

The chicken was less salty and quite a bit spicier than at
the other Bojangleses I've been to. It was also fresh, never
frozen, so the marrow was juicy and clean-tasting. Crisp and
rather delicious skin with a nice dose of cayenne. It was in
fact as good as good Popeye's chicken and better than average
Popeye's and much better than most Bojangles or KFC.

A dirty rice side was a different story: it tasted like Uncle
Ben's mixed with cheap pork sausage and some bouillon cube water.
At least the bouillon was skimpy, so it wasn't too salty.

I'd go back, but next time, just chicken probably.

Asian Chao in Philly again.

So I'm heading back to Williamsport to see Annie for the
holidays and scheduled a long layover in Philly so I might
visit my friends at the various clubs ...

Unfortunately, I got the shakes from hunger and stopped by
one of my standard haunts where I submit myself to awful
food because it's cheap and available. The choices were
Smashburger (way salty), Far East (I couldn't see the food),
Wendy's (gross burgers), Chick-Fil-A (makes me sick), Sbarro
(disgusting), or Asian Chao, which by default has become one
of my standard haunts, though the food is salty, stale, and
somewhere between third- and fourth-rate. I buzzed by to
make sure they had tofu with vegetables, something that I
occasionally get a yen for, even though the version served
here is not as good as what I make nor what someone might
make if I gave them my recipe and left half the words out.

I asked for a serving of the stuff hold the starch and was
charged only $5 instead of $7, so I left a buck tip.

This time, it was a simple mixture of fried tofu with
broccoli, some sort of fresh, some yesterday's. A bit
sweeter than I hoped, less than I feared, with soy sauce
and maybe a touch of hoisin. Not awful. I augmented this
with a packet of Yi Pin hot sauce, which was actually not
horrid, reminding me rather of Texas Pete only a little less
viscous and a tiny bit hotter. I was pleased enough with the
hot sauce that I Googled it. People seem to have a fairly
high opinion of it but also seem to think that it is a very
hot sauce, which it's not - I'd characterize it as halfway
between French onion soup and a respectable hot and sour soup.

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