Chow's Chinese Bistro   

A $57 mistake (2 of us, and we didn't get alcohol). We ate there at noon on 8-26-2006. We've eaten here once before, and the food was great - but not this time. We ordered the fried wontons and fire cracker dumplings for appetizers. The fried wontons were old and tasted like they were left over from the night before. They were so stale that they ended up shredding the top of my mouth. The dumplings were cold and rubbery. We came to the conclusion that these were probably left over from the night before. When he got the entrees (service was very slow since there was one waitress), they looked appealing (but then again, the appetizers look appealing too), however, they were cold and poorly prepared. I ordered the seafood delight and my companion ordered the duck dish. The duck appeared to have been pummeled to death. The bones were not removed. There seemed like hundreds of tiny bones in the duck. My companion complained that it was too much trouble to remove all of the bones to enjoy the duck. Plus, the duck was cold and stale (and greasy). I was disappointed with the seafood delight. Part of it was my fault; I thought the rice noodles would have been cooked. These rice noodles were crunchy and tasted like Styrofoam. There was very little seafood. The dish mostly consisted mostly of vegetables drowning in a cold cornstarch tasting bland sauce. The 3 scallops were okay. However, the snow crab was in various eviscerated shell pieces. My fingers got shredded up trying to get crabmeat from these squishy, sharp edge pieces of crab shell. I just gave up. Itﾒs too much trouble. Plus, being on a vegetable based diet 6 days of the week, the last thing I want of my diet free day are vegetables!!! Plus, there is little point to fight with your meal so you can get some mediocre enjoyment out of it.

It's no surprise Chow's has earned top honors from the top food experts in the country. I thought I died and went to heaven when I found the Bistro on Juan Tabo and then it got even better when they opened their latest gorgeous package at Cottonwood with an outside entrance. I can't believe they can serve such fabulous food at their prices when I can eat their and bring home two more meals from their generous portions. Most men I've dined with at places like Chang's laugh at the size of the plates in relation to the food (often tasty, attractive little morsels) lost in the middle of them. Chow's has it all, comfort, ambiance, gracious, engaging staff, creative, full-bodied, extensive menu with oversized portions and owners and general management most often "in the house." and attentive. We may not only be used to that here locally, but also just not know what to make of it. Try it , more than once!

I hosted a small party here a couple of weeks ago and the food was better than ever. I do wish they would bring WARM DINNER PLATES to the tables though.