Red Corner China Diner - and a GIVEAWAY!!

Tonight was Bonco's dinner night and our fearless leader always seems to find great places!  This time was no exception

The Red Corner China diner has been open a mere 3 weeks and it's already had a positive write up in the local newspaper.  In fact, it was this article that drove Debbie to change our plans from an old standby to venturing into uncharted territory.

We all like chinese food.  We've been to many a different place, and at each one, I tend to find a favorite dish.  When I opened the menu here - there were like 12 different options that caught my eye.  I'm always drawn to the ones with the red pepper next to them indicating a spicy dish.  Momma likey spicy!

We were getting seated and John was chitchatting with Yoshi one of our servers.  Yoshi asked where we had heard about the diner and John explained that Debbie had seen an article written about them and decided we needed to try them out.

Apparently that translated that we were there to write an article about the food, because a few moments later a tall chinese man approached our table asking about the article. He introduced himself as the owner and again asked about the writing of the article.   It took some time and some repeating but we finally were able to communicate why we had chosen their establishment.  He kept asking about the writing, so I told him I would write about him and his restaurant on my blog.  He graciously thanked me and offered a discount for our trouble.

Now, I was taking dinner seriously.

As we waited for the last couple to arrive we ordered some vegetarian spring rolls and some lettuce wraps.  Both were delicious!  On the table were condiments for you to add extra kick to any of the dishes or sauces that came out.  I'm almost wishing we had ordered more lettuce wraps since we really liked those!

The two servers were absolutely awesome.  They were the  most courteous and polite people I have seen in a dang long time.   Very friendly, and spoke English well enough for us to easily communicate with one another.  They were attentive without hovering and always so gracious and appreciative of us. There was a lot of slight bowing as they spoke to us, and quickly whisked away empty dishes.

In looking over the menu we finally decided to order two of the family dinners.  We turned it over to Debbie to choose, with my one request for something spicy and the rest of us went back to chatting.

First came out the soup.  We had a nice large bowl of hot and sour soup and another large bowl of egg drop soup.  I've never been a fan of chinese soup.  I tried a little of the hot and sour, and wasn't a fan, but my fellow diners raved over both of them.  Particularly the egg drop soup.

We had both fried rice and steamed rice brought to the table and both were great.  I particularly liked the steamed  It was nice and sticky, just as good chinese rice should be.

There were two dishes of chow mein that came out next and I liked the broad noodles.  The vegetables were cooked well.  Not mushy and not too crisp.  The set up of the restaurant allows all the tables to see the kitchen.  I like that.  I could see that our dishes were being prepared fresh as we ordered and not pulled out of a big pot and reheated.

With the two family dinners, we had 6 different entree's coming out and I particularly liked the pace of them.  Three all together, and then a lull.  That lull allowed us to fill out plates, enjoy those dishes with out feeling like all we were doing was passing plate after plate after plate. Once those three were done, the next three came out.  In my opinion, for a party of 8 it was perfect.

Garlic chicken with string beans

Mongolian Beef

Sweet and sour pork - the best I have ever tasted

Kung pao shrimp -delish!

No Debbie isn't wiping tears from the spicy - but rather laughing so hard. I think it might have involved something about a snot bubble. That's just how we roll man!

We also had mu shu pork, but I forgot to get a picture.

While I wasn't a fan, the others were and it came served with a flat tortilla and plum sauce so you could make a wrap with it.  It was hit around the table.

All the dishes were delicious - for me the Garlic chicken with string beans and the Kung Pao shrimp were my favorite!  I am literally reeking of garlic, but I am justifying it for the healthy properties of garlic : )

Sam, the owner was kind enough to pose for a picture with me

And then he took pictures of our group

Scooter, Debs, Debbie, Rob, John, Donna, Me and Splenda

We sat talking for a little bit longer, while Yoshi and the other server attentively watched and cleared plates, refiling water and diet cokes.

Soon Sam came back out and asked if I would help him.  He is trying to get a website up for his restaurant, and wondered if I wouldn't mind taking some pictures and emailing them to him so he could add them to his site.

Heck yeah I'd be willing to do that.

So we began posing : )

Sam with his very satisfied customers

Sam and his staff

When we finally gathered our things to leave, they were waiting at the door and handed each of us a fortune cooke as we left.  Such personal attention!

The bottom line is I had a good vibe from the minute I walked in. The colors are warm and inviting.  I love the red walls.  The staff is superb.  I watched as Sam's wife and children came in for dinner.  While the kids sat at the table and ate dinner, Mom went back into the kitchen area, put on a restaurant shirt and hat, and approached our table asking if everything was okay.

Sam and his staff were kind, polite and courteous to not just the customers but to each other.  I got the feeling that Sam is a kind employer.  We watched him interact with his staff and they were so respectable of each other.  They worked well together as a team which I find remarkable for being together for just 3 weeks.

Kudos to Sam, his staff and the Red Corner Chinese diner.

Now, for the fun part.  If you are local and are interested in giving Red Corner a try - I am hosting a giveaway!

Rules?  Pretty simple really.

 Leave a comment telling me what your favorite chinese dish is.  That gets you an entry.

Pimp this post out on your own blog (by linking back to me) and get others to come here and comment about their favorite chinese dish.  Make sure that they mention that YOU sent them.  That person will receive an entry and you will get another one.

That's it.  Just want to get the word out about this place. 

I'll take comments for one week.  Ending Monday the 30th at midnight.  All entries will be printed out, placed in a nice bowl and taken to Sam at the Red Corner.  He will randomly choose a winner and that winner gets a $20.00 gift certificate on me.  To be honest, that will pretty much cover your dinner tab.

So get the word out.  Sam is a nice guy just trying to work hard and make a living.  It's the small business guys like this that need our help the most right now.  And the one thing that sealed the deal for me with him?  He is closed Sunday's.  I dig that.

So - get on it friends.  Get the word out.  Let's win a gift certificate to a new fun Chinese place that is delicious and worth our patronage!