This Friday I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try authentic Chinese food, rather than ordering my usual orange chicken. The restaurant that I visited was called Long Fei, located on Grant Street in Bloomington, IN.
When I walked in it, I noticed a lack of decorations on the walls and the overall simplicity of the restaurant’s appearance. Other than large mirrors covering the walls, only a television hung from one wall, playing a college football game. We were welcomed with an enthusiastic “Hello!” and seated at a table in the corner. When I opened the menu, I was met with an extensive list of options of food and drink to choose from. One of the first things I noticed was how the menu was divided into two sections, American Chinese and Authentic Chinese. Our service was rather slow, so I had plenty of time to look over the menu and Google search anything that I had questions about.
The first thing I ordered was homemade pan-fried pork dumplings served with a homemade duck sauce. Although we ordered it as an appetizer/snack, it was the last item that was brought out to us instead of being the first item brought out as an appetizer traditionally is. The dumplings were filled with a large seasoned piece of pork but nothing else. Even though I wasn’t that impressed with the salty seasonings or grease from the pork, I do have to admit that it was probably the best part of my meal.
Choosing an entrée was a bit of a challenge as I was clueless on what everything was, so I had to do some brief research. I decided to order three cup chicken, a dish that gets its name from its ingredients – a cup each of rice wine, soy sauce, and sesame oil. I’m not sure what I was expecting to be delivered from the kitchen, but I was a bit surprised when my plate was placed in front of me. I received a side plate of your typical fried rice with egg, peas, and carrots mixed in, but it was the chicken that took me by surprise. Rather than cut up chicken breasts or breaded and fried chicken, my plate was filled with what we Americans call fried chicken wings covered in the three cup sauce. I wasn’t sure how to approach the chicken, so I used a fork and knife and cut the chicken off the bone. I’ll be honest when I say my taste buds couldn’t get past the soy sauce and that’s the only flavor that I could pick out.
At the end of the day, I’m glad that I went out of my comfort zone and tried something new, but for now I will be sticking to my usual orange chicken.