Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Is there any good chinese food in Seattle?

Last night, after a particularly long work-day, we ordered dinner from Judy Fu's Snappy Dragon, located in Maple Leaf. This has to have been one of the most dissatisfying Chinese meals I've ever had in Seattle. I'll note that there have been many. This one falls even shorter than the average-tasting meals I've had at better Chinese--T&T in Shoreline and Shanghai Garden in Bellevue. I still miss Top Gun Dim Sum in the International District, but even then, I wasn't blown away. Snappy Dragon is probably a place where I won't reorder.

Now, our flaw may have been getting the food as delivered takeout, but given the quality, I have a feeling it would have been bad in any location. We ordered the standard Americanized Chinese entrées: General Tso's Chicken, Sesame Chicken, egg rolls, and fortune cookies. My basic Chinese comfort food.

The sweet and sour sauce was flavorless, the egg rolls were unusual (not in a good way), and the chicken in our General Tso's and in our Sesame Chicken was overcooked and dry. Several pieces of chicken were as difficult to chew as beef jerky would be, if they were smothered in the "spicy sauce."

Normally, I don't pass on negative information about a place before trying it several more times. Since this restaurant has had so many recommend it online, I feel obligated to pass along the bad experience to prevent others from having my high expections.

I give it 1 out of 5 little umbrellas.