16 January 2010

#86: Wei's Garden

Date Visited: 8 January 2010

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 2 - Me & Wendy

Experience: It's Friday night, daddy's hungry, and feelin' like Chinese! We decided to try Wei's Garden, having seen it's brightly lit sign from the Route 15 bypass many times before this our first visit. We were informed by our order-taker that Wei's has already been open for about a year.

We decided to try out some of our favorites, to see how Wei's Garden stacked up. For an appetizer, we tried the Crab Rangoon, which comes in triangular pieces, rather than the traditional pinched-together four-cornered style. It was nontheless delicious. We tried a couple of soups; Wendy got the Wonton Soup and I got the Chicken with Hot & Sour Soup. Wendy said the Wonton was very flavorful, as opposed to the bland kind you often get elsewhere. The Hot & Sour was nice and thick, tangy, and not too hot. For her entree, Wendy got the "Triple Delight (Mandarin Combination): Combination of shrimp, beef, and chicken sauteed with vegetables in our special sauce." She thought it was very good; I had the leftovers for lunch the next day and it was still very good! For my entree, I got the Kung Pao Chicken. It was unlike other Kung Paos I've ever had; it wasn't very "saucy" - each piece was was fully coated with the sauce, along with the peanuts and vegetabies, but it appeared kind of dry on the outside. Fortunately, it was very tender and juicy on the inside, and delicious. It also had just the right amount of spiciness for me (most people would probably call this "medium").

As for the service, it took a while for our food to be ready (we ordered there, for takeout). Apparently they felt sorry for us having to wait so long, so they brought us an extra couple of Crab Rangoon pieces while we waited.

We went back again a week later to see if our experience would be any different. I ordered the same Hot & Sour Soup and Kung Pao Chicken. It was exactly as before, which is to say, very good! Wendy got the Wonton Soup (again very good), but decided to try one of the Chef's Specialties: "Crispy Jumbo Shrimp with Walnut". The shrimp were jumbo all right, but not very crispy. I think this was a result of it being for takeout; it got a bit soggy in the container by the time we got home with it - not really their fault. Again, the service was very slow, and a couple of customers who were there before us had to wait a long time too. By the time our food was ready, a different lady brought it out from the kitchen, and told us she included something extra because we had to wait. It was some kind of dessert (not on the menu); kind of a custard with orange flavoring.

If you'd like to try some Chinese food that's a little different, give Wei's Garden a try!

Location: 161 Fort Evans Road NE, Leesburg, VA 20176, 703-771-9188

Web site: none

Total bill: $30.22 + $6.00 tip = $36.22

04 January 2010

#85: Boardwalk Fries

Date Visited: 5 December 2009

Meal: Lunch

Diners: 2 - Me & Wendy

Experience: We visited Boardwalk Fries on the same visit as the Kenny Rogers Roasters review below. This is the fourth in the set of reviews of "restaurants" at the Outlet Mall.

Boardwalk Fries is a national chain serving up, well, fries. They're really good: hot, thick, salty, and yummy! We shared a combo large order of fries and a drink (to go with our Kenny Rogers Roasters sandwiches). Boardwalk fries - highly recommended!

Location: 241 Fort Evans Road NE, Leesburg, VA 20176

Web site: http://boardwalkfries.com/

Total bill: $3.22 (includes 10% "Mall Discount")

#84: Kenny Rogers Roasters

Date Visited: 5 December 2009

Meal: Lunch

Diners: 2 - Me & Wendy

Experience: As I commented when reviewing Arthur Treacher's (4 Januarty 2009) and Nathan's Famous (10 Januarty 2009), it's kind of debatable as to whether these places in the food court of the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets should be considered as separate restaurants or not. Well, I decided that they will be reviewed separately, so that's the end of the debate.

Wendy and I were doing some shopping at the Outlet Mall and needed a quick bite to eat. We decided to try out a couple of the Kenny Rogers Roasters' Original Crispy Chicken Sandwiches. They weren't too bad, and at least lived up to the "crispy" part of the name. You can check out the history of Kenny Rogers Roasters on Wikipedia. Not much more to say; not exactly highly recommended.

Location: 241 Fort Evans Road NE, Leesburg, VA 20176

Web site: http://kennyrogers.cc/

Total bill: $7.00 (includes 10% "Mall Discount")