There’s nothing like being the King

Doug Tabbert

The menus at Chinese food restaurants are typically nuisances to my

dining experience. I go out to eat because I’m lazy and because I am

an inferior cook, so I don’t want to spend my time combing through

the annotated exponential possibilities.

Fortunately, the menu at the two Eggroll Kings is completely user

friendly with symbols for what is healthy and what is spicy.

I ordered the first thing I saw under complete lunches, the

award-winning house special chicken ($4.50). Lunches, which are

served from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., include a carrot- and

cabbage-filled egg roll, a fried won ton and a dome of steamed rice.

What a deal! According to one diner who’s a cashier at Stater

Brothers in the same forgettable strip mall, Tom, the owner, is more

than willing to substitute ingredients and side dishes.

The menu has several vegetarian options and asserts, “the Chinese

have a passion for preserving the original character of the plant.”

Well, the Eggroll King must have a comparable standard for their

meats, which are often grilled over high flames.

Not only is the house special chicken a winner; it’s the most

popular dish. The sweet pieces of diced chicken were topped with

minute slices of green onions served in a light, balanced sweet sauce

of vinegar, wine and soy, and a dash of white pepper.

You might come across a small piece of gristle or three while

eating. If that bothers you, there is hot braised bean curd, shrimp

and vegetarian options, but the white meat was incredibly tender and

well worth it. This was a simple meal at a neighborhood restaurant,

and you’ll be hard pressed to find a better plate of authentic

Chinese chicken and rice.

Beyond some framed Chinese, modestly three-dimensional art on the

wall, this place is bare bones; there are several tables, chairs,

real silverware settings and colorful paper placemats.

If the zodiac cartoons on the placemats don’t keep the kids

occupied -- I was born in the year of the horse -- get them a

smoothie ($2.50) with boba (45 cents more). The smoothies don’t

include any real fruit, just synthetic flavoring.

There are many flavors including strawberry, vanilla, coffee and

honeydew melon. I went for the latter, replete with tapioca balls, or

boba. These gummy, caramel candy bullets sit in the depths of the

flavored sugar ice, and are sucked up through a wide straw -- I had a

dozen in my mouth after my first suck. I felt like a cultural

anthropologist making my first discovery, a genuine article of modern

Asia or what the cynical might simply call a Chinese Slurpee. All the

same, children will be entertained.

Eggroll King does a large carryout business, with the dinner

portions being slightly larger and a couple bucks more. There is no

MSG or canned products are used -- there are four-star restaurants

that can’t say that.