Ordinarily, I would have just ordered regular chicken teriyaki, but so many reviewers commented about how good the spicy was that I went with the spicy.
I was ordering for 2, and the other half of my party (who was not present) is a bottomless pit. No matter how good the food, he will love or hate any restaurant he orders from based solely on quantity of food. So I knew I had better order plenty!
I saw a family dish ($40) that contained chicken, pork, and beef, so I asked the girl behind the counter if I could get that in spicy. Her eyes widened and she said "That's a FAMILY MEAL! It's for 2-3 people!" I nodded and asked again "Can I get that in spicy?" She looked at me incredulously, but told me I could get it in spicy. She asked me if I wanted regular spicy or extra spicy, and I said "Regular. Because he loves REALLY SPICY food, and I only just like my food a little bit spicy, so I think the regular should be fine for both of us." So now she knows there are at least 2 people in this "family."
Since the meal came with steamed white rice, when she asked if I wanted anything else, I said "Yeah. I'd like an order of pork fried rice." And, again, she gapes at me. "A whole order?!" Me: "Um... yes?" Then she said "If you would rather get fried rice instead of the steamed rice in your meal, we can substitute it." I said "Oh, okay! That sounds great!" So she put in the substitution.
She said it would be about 15 minutes, and because I didn't want to stand in there with a stupid mask on, I told her I would come back for it.
I returned and it was ready. She handed it to me as she said "Here is your family meal that feeds 2-3 people" (WTAF?!). I opened it up to check the order before leaving (I always do), and when I got to the container of meat, I exclaim "Oh, he'll LOVE THIS! He always complains that places never give enough meat, but this is amazing! He's going to be really happy!" And she just sort of nods.
Super weird ordering experience.
Now to the food:
The salad was fine, but nothing special. Just lettuce with the sweet white dressing that teriyaki places always make. It tasted to me like it had mustard in it, which made it slightly unique, but still good.
The eggrolls were outstanding. They came with packets of that pink/red sweet & sour sauce for dipping, but I didn't use any of it. The gyoza was also very good, as was the sauce (could have just been soy sauce, but I'm not sure).
The meat was very spicy, but very good. I would say their "regular spicy" was about 3.5 stars. Luckily, that is my spicy limit, so I could handle it. The beef was very smoky, which I loved. The chicken did remind me of regular teriyaki chicken, but spicy. I loved it too. The pork was fine, but totally didn't stand out as anything special.
The rice was AWFUL. For one thing (though I don't think it would have mattered, all else considered), she didn't substitute the pork fried rice I'd ordered - she just substituted regular fried rice. But omg, it was terrible. It was just the steamed white rice with some veggies in it. It honestly tasted exactly like steamed white rice with butter. Which I don't like. And whether I liked it, or not, it was in no way reminiscent of "fried rice" of any kind. I would never, ever order that again.
But between the quantity of food, and how good everything else was, I would definitely go back. I think the value was good for all that we got. Next time, I will just order the regular chicken teriyaki, and I'll definitely get the eggroll again.
For the record, the family meal lasted me and the bottomless pit for 5 meals! In case she was worried that I was going to eat the whole thing myself in one sitting. :D read more