Crystal Jade

Restaurant: Crystal Jade
Address: 7255 Cedar Street
Website: N/A
Genres: Chinese, American, fusion
Check Constraints: None
Chain: No | More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• General's Chicken (7.95)
  
• Eggdrop Soup (w/main dish)
  
• Crab Rangoon (2.95)
• Thai Iced Tea (2.50)

Howdy, true believers. We've skipped lunch for the past few weeks, for various reasons, and even worse, there are some places that we went to, but won't be reviewing until we go again, mainly because we got owned by work and can't remember what the heck we had. This is one of those revisits.

Tucked back behind the Omaha Tower, trapped inside an old Village Inn, is where you'll find Crystal Jade. Outside, it's... well, it's a Village Inn. Inside, it's a surprisingly nice place, with well padded chairs with steel backs and no arms (a blessing if you're larger than life). More importantly, though, there's a simple two page menu, half of which is filled with American food. barbecue ribs, chicken alfredo, stuff like that. We went there for Chinese, though, so no alfredo for me. The other half of the menu is a somewhat truncated selection of traditional Americanized Chinese food.

I've now had the General's Chicken twice, and this is sort of important, because General (whether Tao or Tso) chicken is always a tossup. One version of the dish is basically chicken McNuggets in corn syrup. The other version, the one that Crystal Jade serves, is chicken McNuggets in corn syrup and lots and LOTS of spice. Okay, that LOTS is probably overkill, because while it's at the top of my spice range, Cham still couldn't taste it at all, which I teased him about mercilessly. On the other hand, I'm going to be joining him in the spicehag club, eventually, I think. Mostly thanks to my growing love of horseradish.

The first time I was here, I actually got TWO bowls of soup. The eggdrop I got this time, and the creamy potato on the other side of the menu. I'll tell you now, to be complete, that the creamy potato is nothing special, and if you're out for potato soup, go to Petrow's or Brazen Head. The eggdrop soup, on the other hand, is pretty good stuff, enough that I grabbed it a second time.

The crab rangoon, everybody pretty much agrees, are above average, and both times I've been there, they came out piping hot straight from the deep fryer. Ditto the fried wontons, which Cham ordered twice, and both appetizers are quite affordable, at 4 or 6 for three bucks. There are also carafes (syrup bottles, no kidding) of sweet & sour at each table, for dipping. It's pretty good sauce, too, no catsup base here.

And then there's the thai iced tea. I love thai iced tea. Unfortunately, there's no refill on it here, but I gave strong consideration to getting a second glass anyway. If you love thai iced tea, you will not be disappointed, and the milk in the tea makes a good way to kill the burn of a spicy dish.

In any case, Crystal Jade's a great restaurant, and I hope anybody who reads this gives it a try, because it's totally worth the money. Give them a shot, you won't regret it.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Mongolian Beef Sandwich (8.95)

I've been a little sick of Asian food lately. There's no real good reason for it, but it caused me to take a look at some of the non-traditional food items here. The have some American-type dishes, like ND mentioned, and a couple of things listed under "fusion". I went for a bit of a fusion dish. The sandwich was really just mongolian beef on a ciabatta bun. It was hard to hold due to the soft bun and quite messy, but it was actually pretty good. The mongolian beef worked well as sandwich innards. The look reminded me a bit of a cheesesteak, but there was no cheese and an Asian flavor of course. I thought the mongolian beef here was really good by itself. The last time I had the dish, it was from China Garden, and it was overrun with (probably yellow) onions. I couldn't stand it. Here they were green onions, and they faded into the background, providing more of a look than a taste.

A bad mark on the service, however: the sandwich was supposed to come with fries, and I never received them. I didn't really notice they were missing until we had left, but it did seem a bit strange to see just the lone sandwich get delivered to the table. I considered ordering eggrolls (because the meal seemed so light), but the waitress was never at the table long enough for me to ask. She'd quickly drop something off, then take off again for who knows where. I believe they also forgot something of Maple's. I don't think there was any issue last time we went, however.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Wontons ($2.00)
• 2 Eggrolls ($1.50 each)
• Chicken Rendang ($7.95)
• Hot & Sour Soup
• Steamed Rice
• Side Salad

ND's characterization of the place is spot on. It's actually a bit of cognitive dissonance to walk inside what appears to be a Village Inn and find a restaurant with place settings and tablecloths. So don't let the exterior fool you, this really isn't someplace you should walk in with flip-flops and a shirt with the arms cut off. Not that you should do that anywhere; there's sanitation to be concerned about.

I am pretty sure this is exactly what I ordered the last time we visited, and I am pretty sure I had exactly the same experience, so the place has that going for it. Their wontons were crispy and had a delicious nugget of pork in the middle; though some at the table weren't fond of them, I liked them enough to get them again. The eggrolls seemed off to me, however, though I couldn't put my finger on why. They were fairly large in size, though at $1.50 they really ought to be. A small note; the "salad bar" here is a chilled pot of salad mix sitting on a table at the middle of the restaurant. They don't tell you this, so if you're waiting for them to deliver a side salad to your table you'll be waiting a while. Though honestly it's not worth getting up for unless you're hard up for iceberg lettuce in your diet. The only interesting thing are the wonton strips you can add, and perhaps the sesame dressing. On the other hand, the hot and sour soup is good, if not much above the average.

Despite my mixed reviews on the appetizers and sides, I can unequivocally recommend the chicken rendang. It's a curry-like concoction, and though I wasn't able to pick out many of the components of the sauce, it's pretty good. It comes with rice, either fried or steamed. I've gotten steamed both times so I can't speak to the quality of their fried rice. Still, when ladled out over the rice it's a tasty meal and while it's more filling than you'd expect, I'm still glad it comes with the extras.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Thai Iced Tea (2.50)
• Lemon Chicken (6.95)
• Hot & Sour Soup
• Fried Rice
  
• Side Salad

I actually missed the first visit here, due to something a long while back. Place is pretty solid on the overall, though, so I'm glad to have given it a shot. The Thai Iced Tea came in a big mug, actually, it's worth noting, as did the water and I think the other drinks. They do alcoholic drinks too, but it being lunch and us being responsible, we didn't have any. I agree with ND, it's very good. I need to not keep forgetting to look up how to make it myself.

The Lemon Chicken dish came with Hot and Sour of the good variety, and Cham is right about the salad bar: iceberg to fill up on. The dish itself was breaded chicken absolutely covered in a bright yellow lemon sauce. The sauce was exceedingly strong, sweet, and bitter, (and lemony), to the point where someone who wasn't huge on lemon couldn't have eaten it. I was expecting something with a lighter lemon flavor, so I was surprised. I still ate quite a bit of it and enjoyed, but be forewarned, this is not 'chicken with some component of lemon flavor', this is lemon chicken, heavy on the lemon sauce like general tso's chicken is usually heavy on the sauce.

I don't think the place will be supplanting as my favorite chinese anytime soon, but the increase in options and difference in styles gives me the option of a slight break in ordinary chinese food, and that's a good thing.


Editor's Note: MapleSyrup is being a huge tool and refusing to write his post. I am posting this anyway.

Out Of Town: Kyoto Japanese Restaurant, Rolla MO

Restaurant: Kyoto Japanese Restaurant
Address: 1002 N Bishop Ave, Rolla, MO
Website: None that I saw.
Genres: Sushi, Chinese
Check Constraints: None noted.
Chain:No.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Dumplings in Red Oil ($4.95)
• Sushi Set B ($12.50)
• 4 Sushi (Chef's choice)
• Spicy Tuna Roll
• Soup
• Salad

Once again, we were in Rolla, Missouri for our twice-annual visit. We only reviewed one restaurant this time, since we took things a little easier - Mecha, ND and I were all trying to decompress from work. It's almost a two-for-one deal, though, since Kyoto doesn't just do Japanese food and sushi, but does some interesting Chinese food as well. In its newer location along the "main drag" of Rolla, Kyoto has plenty of room inside, if not necessarily plenty of parking. The interior is fairly traditional in style, with several booths providing you the option of sitting with your legs underneath you.

But enough about the building. Onto the food! The dumplings were essentially large circular potstickers - meat and cabbage inside a layer of dough. They were steamed, and served in a bowl with a spoon, much like some sort of strange meatball cereal. They were also extremely hot, so be careful and let it cool before you spoon one into your mouth whole with eager anticipation, like I did. The "red oil" portion of the appetizer is a chili-flavored sesame oil, with which the dumplings were dressed. It added a nice peppery flavor and though I could have (of course) stood more heat, they were still deliciously spicy. Definitely Would Eat Again.

As with a lot of sushi places, the dinner I ordered came with soup and salad. The salad was good, although suffered from the "iceberg lettuce is the only lettuce" problem a lot of places have. Still, you get your fiber where you can. The soup was good, with what seemed to be an onion base - it had a deliciously oniony flavor to it. Still, a cup of it was probably enough. I don't think I'd opt for the bowl.

The sushi here was good. I wouldn't classify it as fantastic, though it's certainly not the worst sushi I've ever had. But given the circumstances - a college town in the middle of Missouri - it's got some remarkable tastiness to it. Granted, I have a very liberal hand with the wasabi so I'm not usually the best to comment on the subtle tastes of the nigiri. I can, however, say that both the nigiri and the rolls were well-crafted, and that the composition of the rolls made for some delicious eating. I sampled off a lot of people's plates and dishes, and they all fell into the "good" range for me. I don't think any of our party strayed off into the Chinese section of the menu, but I imagine the food is at least as good over there.

Someone at the table ordered red bean buns at the end of it all as dessert. I don't remember who that was, since I was kind of in a food-induced coma at that point. Regardless, they were chewy, delicious, and a good topper to the dinner.

We've been to Kyoto once before, and it's likely we'll be back. You don't have many choices when eating sushi in Rolla, but take heart in that your one choice is, in fact, enjoyable.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Triple Dinner ($16.95)
  • Chicken Teriyaki
  • Tekka Maki
  • 6 Sushi
• Rainbow Roll ($9.50)
• Inari ($3.00)
• Barley Tea ($2.50?)
  

I finally learned the proper way to have wasabi on your sushi. For the record, that's to mix it into the soy sauce in a dish, then dip it. I didn't know that. I'm not sure why.

In any case, the tea I had, which was roasted barley tea. It's their standard tea, and not listed as such, but now that I've figured out what it is, I looked it up, and the stuff I saw sitting in the tea was definitely barley. The first time I went there, we all got the stuff, practically, and wondered what the heck it was, and didn't like it very much. Now that I've figured out what it is, I can appreciate it as barley tea and not the green tea that I expected. Unfortunately, I have no basis for comparison of barley tea, so all I can tell you is that if you're not expecting green tea, it's decent tea. I think. It's also a pot plus a cup, and the pot's pretty good sized, so you're not going to run out quickly.

Inari rolls are a siren call to me. They're so very simple, reasonably priced for just grabbing to nosh, and are just plain good. I always get them now, wherever I go that has them. I prefer them hot, but cold seems to be the standard, the hot ones must have been an anomaly. These were the best cold ones I've had, though, as they were barely greasy at all, something that has plagued the cold rolls in the past. For those who are reading this as their first sushi review, Inari rolls are a blob of sushi rice with a tofu skin wrapped around it, then deep fried. I usually eat one straight up, and then dip the other in soy/wasabi mix, and they're both quite good.

The triple combo's a pretty good value. More substantial than a bento, for not a hell of a lot more price. The chicken teriyaki was nothing special, as far as I can remember. The tekka maki I'm remembering as quite a bit better than most of what I've had, and the sushi assortment, well. I had to pass off a piece on account of not being able to stomach shrimp, but other than that, it was decent to good.

The real star of the dinner, for me, was the rainbow roll. I had never had one of these before, but now, I'm thinking I'm gonna have it more often. Take a nice long california roll, which I mostly tolerate, but don't go out of my way to get. Now layer along its entire length maybe half a dozen types of fish, with multiple types overlapping on any given area, and cut it into delicious chunks, and arrange to look kinda like a rainbow, only with stripes the wrong way. Okay, my description skills suck, but the rainbow roll doesn't. It was wonderful, from beginning to end, and even my somewhat touchy stomach ate it up.

As for the red bean buns... well, they were delicious, and now ND just wants to go outside and take it easy.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Triple Dinner ($16.95)
  • Chicken Teriyaki
  • Tekka Maki
  • 6 Sushi
• Hamachi (Yellow Tail) (4.25)

I actually can't remember if I got Maki or not. Is very long ago, and I can't find the recept despite paying. It's a shame I went to Hiro after this, because it kinda overrides my impressions.

The dumplings Cham got were at a good and not unedible heat, so all could enjoy. I got some a la carte sushi, as I often do, this time opting for the yellow tail. It's definitely a fish I could go for again, and unlike Cham I do not destroy the subtle flavors with more wasabi than should ever possibly go on that fish. The a la carte comes by 2 pieces here, as it seems most places do (making Sakura Bana the exception to Matsu, Hiro, and Kyoto's rule.)

Their triple dinner came in a bit of a bento box format (I think?) and was definitely comparable. It came with an appetizer of a salad, and while being full of iceberg, the dressing was a bit off what you usually get, and pretty good. I'm remembering sesame, but it's been a while. The 'chef's choice' sushi was, as is pretty much standard, tuna, whitefish, shrimp, salmon, etc. This has to be tougher to get in with good time than Omaha's sushi places, so their ability to have comparable sushi to Sakura Bana is definitely a positive note, and it isn't as if there's huge competition in the town. The chicken teriyaki, I think, was actually better than it was at Sakura Bana, at least slightly. It definitely delivers, and at similar price as well. And the dessert of red bean buns, I nipped at a bit before biting in. Very sweet, enjoyable. And then the check. Whuu. Mid 120s, if I remember, for 6 people, pre-tip. Which isn't bad at all (20 bucks a person, with some sharing? Yeah.)

The overall on the place is that it's a good place to eat, does good sushi even in the middle of nowhere, and the prices are perfectly reasonable. If you're the type, in the area, and you can find parking, I don't think we've got a reservation about sending you to Kyoto. Missouri.

China Garden

Restaurant: China Garden
Address: 8315 Tangier Way, Omaha
Website: None
Genres: Chinese
Check Constraints: None (they didn't split our check, but I don't recall asking)
Chain: No | More Omaha Locations: No.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered

• Lunch Special: Sweet & Sour Chicken (4.95)
• Eggdrop Soup
• Crab Rangoon
  
• Dumplings (Gyoza/Potstickers) (4.95)

China Garden is a fairly generic looking Chinese restaurant from the outside. It's not quite a hole in the wall, but the building is tiny, the parking is even smaller, and the inside is, while not exactly "close", definitely not spread out. The interior seems sort of unfinished to me, like it really wasn't intended to be a restaurant, but is one anyway.

In any case, all this belies the truth of the place. That truth, the only truth, is that this is some of the best Chinese food in Omaha. Their lunch specials are a dream of economy, being five bucks more or less across the board, for a fairly incredible variety. You get a good size main dish, a bowl of either eggdrop or hot & sour soup, plus either an egg roll or a crab rangoon. For five bucks, you're probably not going to find a better deal in Omaha.

Their appetizer platters also weigh in at around five bucks, but again, are sized such that you're not going to care. If you go with five people, each of you kicking in two bucks can get you an order each of gyoza and donuts, each of which come in batches of ten. Their gyoza aren't quite so good as the Korean ones we had a couple weeks ago, but for the money, they're damn good. I'd certainly go with these over, say, Sakurabana's, and you pay significantly less for them here.

The crab rangoon here isn't the greatest I've ever had, but it's definitely in the upper half, and if it errs slightly on the side of having more cream cheese, well, at least it's not the dry nastiness that you get in worse places. The fact that the sweet & sour sauce here is high quality (and blessedly not catsup based) just makes it better overall.

The eggdrop soup was very eggy and chickeny. Eggdrop soup basically tastes to me like fried eggs and chicken broth, and this was probably the best I've ever had. It was a very well balanced blend of the two flavors, though nobody else who got it could taste the chicken broth flavor at all. Maybe I'm going a little crazy?

Anyway, the sweet & sour chicken. This is another of my sort of default dishes, much like chicken alfredo. I've had sweet & sour chicken in at least six major cities, from restaurants ranging from totally unrated to Zagat's four star. I know sweet & sour chicken. The sweet and sour here was high quality, with excellent flavor, just sticky enough to not drip much, but not so sticky that the flavor overwhelmed the chicken. The chicken did not measure up, though. I'm a big fan of larger strips of chicken, and what I got was nothing but bite size pieces, so that the breading almost overwhelmed the chicken flavor. I might have got the last dregs of a batch of chicken, I don't know. The overall experience was good enough, though, that I'd happily give this place another chance.

Luckily, they deliver, so the next time I have occasion to order out in the area, I may well order here. I understand they have a fairly large delivery area in Omaha, too, so do yourself a favor and see if you can try some.

==Mecha==
Ordered

• Lunch Special: Chicken w/Almonds (4.95)
• Hot + Sour Soup
  
• Eggroll
• Fried Rice (choice of Fried or Steamed)
  
• Donuts (Dough w/Sugar on it, 10 ct) (2.55)

This is a place I regularly order delivery from, and I do it because it's very solid food. There's a place that, IIRC, competes for flavor, but not for price. Also, the delivery charge is 2 bucks, IIRC. Always good to know!

I actually disagree with ND on the Potstickers. Not that they're bad, because they're not. I get them quite a bit. I disagree that they're better than Sakura Bana's. But whether steamed (which is what we got) or fried, they're always delicious, and the price is excellent. (Edit: A bit of crosstalk between ND and I causes me to note that the sauce that comes with them is very, very good here, probably better than Sakura Bana's. That may be the difference.)

I'm not a huge fan of crab rangoon (cream cheese, not my thing), but it's not bad here either. The sugar donuts are exactly as described, warm doughy balls of flakey donut consistency, about a solid palmful, and covered in sugar. And fairly cheap as far as such things go. If you want some extra sugar, go for it.

Their hot and sour soup is really quite good, and it's even spicier on delivery, in my experience. It's one of the things that got Cham to really love the place. As the eggdrop tends to be too eggy for me (especially in delivery), hot and sour is the way I like to go. I'll leave that caveat for those who are wary of the taste of eggs and delivery. The eggrolls are pretty standard, really, probably the least impressive part of the meal.

My regular is Sesame Chicken, but since that wasn't an option for the lunch special, I went with Chicken w/Almonds. It's a chicken and vegetable medley in sauce, including celery, mushrooms, almonds, and chicken of course. It's a good mix of flavors and I like it, but not as much as I like some of the other options there, in my opinion. Mainly because, while the celery worked for the dish, I'm not a huge fan of celery. If you are, you might find it more appealing. And, of course, fried rice. Apparently, the lunch portions don't have veggies in them, but the normal combinations do have vegetables in them. Not sure why they make two different types of fried rice.

I recommend the place highly, and although I've only eaten there in person twice, it's never been hugely busy, but the food has always been worth it. I don't know why they don't get more business, I really don't, but do yourself a favor and duck in if you get a chance. And pick up a delivery menu on the way out.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Diet Coke ($0.99)
• Szechuan Chicken Dinner Combo ($6.80)
  
• Fried Rice
• Eggroll
• Hot and Sour Soup
  
• Crab Rangoon Appetizer (6 ct, $3.55)

As Mecha mentions, we were introduced to this place via their delivery option, which I was made aware of via a menu dropped off in the vestibule of my apartment building not too long after I moved out to Omaha in the first place. As I mentioned in the review of Han Kuk Kwan, ethnic restaurants can go one of two ways: true to their roots, or Americanized to better suit the palate of the consumer. As with most Chinese restaurants, this one lands solidly in the later category. You're not going to be surprised here by unfamiliar flavor combinations, or intrigued by dishes you couldn't get on the menu of any other Chinese delivery place. It's just not that kind of restaurant. But that said, I have never looked for another Chinese delivery place since getting it from China Garden. Why?

Vegetables. If you order Kung Pao chicken from your average delivery joint, you are going to get something that is predominantly chicken, peanuts, and sauce. The expected celery and sometimes carrots are mere afterthoughts to meat that doesn't even deserve the center stage. The dishes at China Garden are delightful panoplies of vegetables paired with delicious meat, and - this is critical, here - not a surfeit of sauce. The sauces aren't overly sweet, either, so you feel more like you're eating a dish and not something that's purely carbs. The szechuan chicken comes with celery, onions, zucchini, and carrots (at the very least), and I recommend ordering it
extra spicy (that puts it close to medium for my capsaicin tolerance).

One thing worth noting, though; the soda here comes in cans, so don't expect a refill. Still, at 99c you could get two and not be too bad off. I'm not sure why they don't have a fountain, but I'm guessing it's because most of their business is takeout and delivery.

Their hot and sour soup is the best I've had anywhere, with real pieces of chicken and mushroom in it, and it's actually, you know. Spicy hot. Granted, I've never had it at anything other than the occasional buffet. The eggroll which comes with is good, but not much to write home about. The fried rice is delicious, and you're likely to encounter pieces of actual egg alongside the vegetables. I'll agree with Mecha here in that the gyoza were good, but not as good as Sakura Bana, and I'll conclude the discussion of the appetizers by saying that here and Heng Wing, in Palatine IL, are the only places I'll eat crab rangoon.

China Garden pairs exceptional cooking with exceptional value; they're a Chinese-American restaurant that hasn't cut corners to get food out the door or on the table, and when you drop in you're going to be very glad that they haven't.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Chicken Lo Mein Lunch ($4.35?)
  
• Eggroll
• Eggdrop
  

I too was introduced to China Garden by a menu on my doorstep. I could review a good number of things on the menu right now, as my wife and I have ordered delivery from here many times. This is the first time I've actually set foot in the building, however. It was mostly empty, but I do believe that most of their business is delivery or take-out as Cham has said.

The crab rangoon was crispy and gooey. I had ordered them once on delivery, but they are a bit rich for me to eat more than a couple of. I hadn't tried the donuts before, but I am a fan. They were perfectly warm, light and sugary. I didn't actually try the gyoza this time around, but at this point the main dishes were beginning to arrive. The food came in a fairly quick manner, and this ended up being one of our shortest lunches yet.

I chose the lo mein because it's one item I don't usually get. My wife gets it nearly every time. First, the soup. I've ordered the soup for delivery a few times (with a dinner combo), and every time I have been disappointed. I do not like the soups on delivery. I'm not sure what it is, but I can't finish them. That being said, I was surprised that eggdrop soup served at the restaurant was actually pretty good. The eggdrop on delivery is somewhat thicker and a bit unpleasant to me. My theory is that on delivery the soups get more condensed, which would explain the thicker and spicier soups. The main dish came as a heaping pile of noodles with a few vegetables and pieces of chicken throughout. It was heavily sauced, but it was good. I actually had a hard time finishing the whole thing.

A couple of comments on other dishes: The size of ND's chicken in his sweet and sour looked fairly typical to me. Most of the chicken in their dishes is bite sized with a few larger pieces appearing now and then. Those are probably ones that have stuck together. I'll agree that it does have a lot of breading, but the Sweet and Sour is one of my favorites. I attempted the Mongolian Beef at one point, and there was way too much onion for me. If you like onions, go for it, but otherwise watch out. The Curry Chicken also tends to have a lot of onion, but I don't think it's always like that. At one point I got a batch that could have been called Curry Onion. Though, it's generally decent. Finally on the top of the "Things I Avoid" list: the Egg Foo Young. Oh man. It is very deep fried egg, and even the sight was unappealing. It came with some kind of syrup, and that just made it harder to eat. Three fist-sized blobs of heart attack. On the positive side, there are a lot of dishes I do like. The Hunan, Szechuan, and Kung Pao are all delicious. The Mandarin Beef is pretty good and may be the only thing that comes swimming in sauce. Garden Beef is near the top of my list and so is Princess Chicken. It's a chicken dish in the style of their Sesame or General Tso's (both of which are also great) with just a little spiciness and a little sweetness.

As a whole, I'd recommend this place to anyone who is looking for Chinese food. I order delivery often, and they do deliver to a very wide range.