So much has changed. Now begins the rant.
About 2 months ago, we picked up some takeout. Husband’s food appeared to have been cooked twice. His Sesame Chicken was hard. Not crispy. Hard. My Broccoli with Garlic Sauce looked and tasted like the broccoli was several days past its freshness date. We ended up throwing away more than we ate.
Okay, anyone can have a bad night. Two weeks later, we gave them another shot. I like spicy food, so I ordered Family Style Tofu. It was so hot, I could barely eat it. Even mixing in tons of rice, there were so many peppers in it, I couldn’t taste anything but hot. Husband, ever the optimist, decided to try the Sesame Chicken again. He didn’t get what he ordered. It was something else entirely, and flavorless at that. Deciding they must have a new chef, we vowed to never eat there again.
Then we got to jonesing for Chinese. Dishes from Twin Dragon that we knew and loved. So we broke down and got takeout again. And it was good. Amazingly good. We were happy. Our favorite restaurant regained its rank.
So tonight, I took daughter and her boyfriend there for dinner. I ordered Bean curd with Black Mushrooms. Another one of my favorites. Not only did they serve me something other than what I ordered, they argued that it was Bean Curd with Black Mushrooms, because, “see: there’s the tofu, and there is a mushroom.”
When you order a dish, you expect its name to describe the food. It should have been primarily tofu and mushrooms, as it had been in the past, and is at every other Chinese restaurant where I’ve ever eaten. I got Bean Curd all right, but there was the equivalent of 1 1/2 mushrooms in the entire dish. Yes, anything over a total of one is plural, therefore 1 1/2 mushrooms qualifies as mushrooms.
When I explained that the dish wasn’t what I ordered, they took it back to the kitchen, mixed in some brown sauce and brought it back. When I said, “No, that’s not what I ordered, but I’ll go ahead and take it, anyway,” she brought the owner to the table, who evidently didn’t know what the dish was supposed to look like, because she argued that it was what I ordered. No, it was Buddah’s delight, plus brown sauce.
If I had been hungry for Buddah’s Delight, I would have been happy. But I didn’t, so I wasn’t. Especially when they claimed the dish in front of me was actually what I ordered.
Come on, how much does it cost to go back and prepare the correct dish? I’ll tell you what it cost this time: a lifetime customer. Yep, three strikes and you’re out.
Final burn: NO apology. No credit for the wrong dish on the ticket. Nothing.
By the way, here’s some good recipes for Bean Curd with Mushrooms:
Stir-fried tofu and shiitake mushrooms in spicy black bean sauce
Home-Style Tofu with Shiitake Mushrooms
Stir-fried Tofu With Mushrooms
