Flooding this week caused a synchronistic epic failure on the trestle. My plans to resupply at the Everett Chef's store has now been twice thwarted: last night and now today around 12:00 noon.
Undaunted, I decided to pay a visit to the Lake Stevens Tom Thumb on the way back after escaping the pending mind numbing experience of gridlock. A few weeks ago I read a glib mention of good Chinese food being offered there for lunch. A good time to check it out. (Really? "Good" Chinese food? At TT ?)
Frankly, I wasn't too eager to check it out. But the short mention I had read had the ring of a true believer. Someone who approached food with some reverence. Best not to ignore fate.
Saturday noon time at the Thumb wasn't busy. I chalked that up to the flooding or just plain luck. The hot food section had a few odds and ends but nothing Asian. I asked about the Chinese food to a female customer nearby. In a hushed voice laced with fanaticism she handed me a menu pamphlet and said the bacon fried rice was her favorite. Then gave me a knowing look as if to say I was in the good hands of Providence.
The manager was quick to show up. He greeted me warmly, made sure I had a menu, took my order, and offered me a place to sit and wait.
A quick scan showed all the usual favorites of beef/shrimp, Chow Mein/Rice, chicken, appetizers, and vegetarian dishes. Dishes were easily recognizable by name. One or two rice dishes that I've never seen before. And several lunch special dishes. Three sauces are explained to aid in your decision making.
I chose a dinner portion of sesame chicken. My experience with this dish in many places is the same: pre frozen breast meat that's been dipped in a batter. Then flash frozen and packaged. Or it is dredged in flour or dipped in a batter, then fried to a semi hard tensile strength in dark clumps.
The line cook fries a portion in hot oil, then it is drained and sauced with honey or maybe maple syrup and soy sauce and brown sugar. Sometimes it's darker in color due to overcooking in oil or adding too much soy sauce.
Since it is a chicken dish, it requires one to wade through a fried dough experience first, with the sauce adding to the experience. The sauce is typically overly sweet. Too much honey, sugar, or syrup. After the third bite it's just too sweet. One could compare it to a chicken filled super glazed donut. So it was either the sesame chicken or the other dish I frequently find disappointing: Orange chicken. I chose the sesame. Let's see what these folks can do.
In less than ten minutes it was ready. I was thanked for coming by and was on my way home. I could tell from the weight I had about two pounds of sesame chicken. I was right: 1.92 pounds when I weighed it at home. The portion was huge. And some skill in presentation was added. Just enough to frame the dish: broccoli florets. That little addition did not go unnoticed. It made the dish pop when I opened the container.
The chicken was obviously fresh. Not frozen. It had been coated with flour and corn starch. Fried but not to the point of it being crusty. Chewy. Not dry or tough. Moist. Chewy. Not doughy. The sauce was not overly sweet. The chef exercised restraint and allowed the sweetness to come through, but not dominate. I could taste sesame. After appreciating the dish, I tried adding some of the soy sauce from a packet they supplied. A slightly different complex of flavors but the chicken and sesame dominated. It provided a balanced harmony. Not better. Slightly different.
So for $17.45 (including tax), a very well executed sesame chicken with the portion easily feeding two adults. Take out only. Fast and friendly service until 9 PM.
My thanks to anyone who posts even a snippet of something about a place to give us a heads up. Had I not read that short comment about this place, I would have missed out. To that perThank you! read more