Peking Chinese Restaurant

Peking Chinese Restaurant

For over 35 years, this family owned and operated business has been cooking an authentic Mandarin style Chinese cuisine in Junction City Kansas. The restaurant may be hard to find, but look for the red sign with the mask right across from the bowling alley. My family, friends, and I have been eating at this delicious establishment for years and it’s voted the number one best Chinese restaurant in town. Let me first begin with the overall atmosphere. It’s not too big, it’s not too small, but it’s just the right balance to hold a decent crowd. What I think that stands out the most in this restaurant is the art. Everywhere you look, there is always art work whether it’s paintings, sculptures, or hand made paper art, just take a closer look at the fine detail. If you go on my instagram (link at the bottom) each of the pictures you will see shows brief designs of art that is located throughout the restaurant.

Service

My family and I have been knowing the waitresses and families for years, including some who used to work there. What I like about the service is that no matter who is serving you, they are like family. With the look of the face, they will ask about you and anything that is going on. I actually love waiters and waitresses who are friendly, caring, and personable.

Food

You are always offered any appetizer off the menu. The appetizer that suits well for me is one order of Egg Roll, and one order of Crab Rangoon. Sometimes I get a soup along with the meal but not this time. What I love about these two appetizers is that it’s simple, fresh, and are actually homemade (not frozen). For the main course I tend to get the same thing every time I go, but this time I decided to give Moo Shi Pork a try. Moo Shi Pork is a northern Chinese cuisine that originated in Shandong. This dish is sautéed eggs with pork, mushrooms, cabbage, bean sprouts and bamboo shoots with four pancakes.  Along with this dish comes a paste or hoisin sauce that is to be spread evenly on the thin pancake while taking the pork, placing it on the inside, and then wrapping the pancake. Like most American-Chinese traditions, it is to be wrapped as if it was a soft taco. I however like to wrap it as if it was a dumpling creating a four corner hold at the top. This dish is actually quite delicious. If you tend to be more authentic and traditional, I would recommend eating the Moo Shi Pork with rice. This dish has a lot of flavor packed in with all of the vegetables balancing well.  Each dish you order will come with plain white rice.

Within my twenty years of eating at this delicious establishment, I still have not completed the menu of eating every dish. I’m about 60% way through. However the dishes that I would recommend is listed below. These are SOME of the dishes I have tried and hopefully you will try as well.

Chicken: Hot Braised Chicken, Smoked Tea Duck(Seasonal), Almond Chicken

Pork: Moo Shi Pork, Hot Braised Pork

Beef: Mongolian Beef, House Beef, Beef with Pineapple, Beef and Broccoli, Ming’s Beef

Seafood: Princess Prawns, Triple Delight, Volcano specials, Jam Bong

You can always visit the website to find more information about this restaurant. But for business purposes they are open everyday except Monday for lunch from 11:00 AM-9:00pm. They are closed from 2:00-4:00pm everyday to prepare for dinner.  On Sundays they offer a buffet which is always great for a church crowd. For events and socials, they do offer a banquet room located in the back.

There are a variety of dishes you can try that is excellent. This is one restaurant in town that I never get tired of eating at. This place is very casual for great food, good conversation, and a wonderful atmosphere. I can probably write a book about this place, but check it out.  Whether it’s for lunch or dinner, give this place a try.

Rating: 10 Stars-Voted Best Chinese In Town

Official Website: http://pekingrestaurantjc.com/Home/

Twitter: @RonaldAtkinson9

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ronaldatkinson9

The Chef: A Breakfast Cafe

It’s the morning of Game day and perhaps you would like some breakfast before heading over to Bill Snyder Family Stadium. You’re unsure of which restaurant to go to, but you realized you wanted to shop for some K-State Apparel on Poyntz Avenue. Finally, you turn on Fourth street and realized there’s a restaurant called “The Chef”.

The Chef originally opened in 1943 by a person named Charles “Cotton” Limbocker. It was nothing but the famous horseshoe counter in a small room that was present at the time, and all you had to do was eat fast so the next person in line can eat. In 1971, Bob, Teryl, and Gertie (the cook) soon took over the business and transformed the cuisine of homemade pies and meatloaf home cooking to quick and tasty lunches for the downtown business folks. As the Chef became a popular place to eat, the lunch and coffee crowds soon grew. Once the restaurant grew, they expanded another space next door. By 1986, the Chef closed down and now presently in 2008, local fiends decided to fill the diner downtown for some breakfast. Kevin and Kurstin Harris, along with their friend Zach Filbert, reopened the Chef in September 2008. The Chef was transformed into a modern, comfortable, family café. Since the Chef has been around for decades, The Riley County Historical Archeological provided the original chef neon sign to hang outside. The menu today is served with delectable comfort favorites and spirits.

I came here once with my mother and tried it for the first time. It was K-State Graduation Day and it was packed crowded. I would have to say it was pretty delicious. So I decided to come back again for another review on a typical ordinary day when it was not so crowded. Now as I compare between both days, I ordered The Classic Breakfast(which includes two eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast with a side of a biscuit and gravy). This is usually your typical everyday comfort breakfast, but the one thing that stuck out and gave me the best review was the biscuits and gravy, and the hash browns. When you go to most restaurants, hash browns are generally flat and golden crispy at the top. These hash browns were not a disappointment. They were super thick and enough to satisfy yourself. Thick, hot, and fluffy potatoes was like eating a potato pancake. The biscuits were made from scratch with homemade sausage gravy.  The second time, I decided to order the homemade corned beef hash(delicious and chunky hash topped with two poached eggs and a slice of toast). What impressed me about this dish was the fact that the potatoes were thick, and the corned beef was actually pieces of real corned beef and not like the mushy stuff you would see in a can. Of course I couldn’t leave without ordering the hash browns. Overall, the food is enough to leave you feeling satisfied. The portion sizes are decent in making sure you are not left feeling hungry.

Service is always the number one broken management in the restaurant business like any other restaurant. Sometimes service is due to lack of training or the person itself. When it comes to service for me, it needs to be friendly and efficient. Here at The Chef, the waitresses are nice and friendly, but perhaps there can be times where a check up is needed. They know when to provide an extra refill and when to stop and talk about certain things(hence the history above). I would give the service in general a 9 out of 10. I do enjoy the professionalism.

The overall atmosphere of this establishment is very inviting and warm. The theme is what sticks out the most. Since this is known as a breakfast café, the theme is hen, rooster, or a chicken. Each rooms has the pastel colors of blue and yellow to the restaurant with hardwood floors, booths, and tables set up for your enjoyment. On both sides, there are televisions so guest may sit and enjoy a Saturday football game. On the original side is the horseshoe bar that was originally created in the chef. Although it’s expanded, it still stands the gem to this day.  The menu itself is not over priced including the spirits. The price ranges from a mixture of $4.00 to $11.00 not including the A La Carte items. So for your money, it’s worth a go. I have had many friends eat there on mornings before class or during Finals week. It’s one of Manhattan’s number one choice to eat Breakfast. This Restaurant was featured in Food Network Magazine and the 2012 Local Eats Top 20 Breakfast Winner.   

The Official Website The Chef: A Breakfast Cafe

My Rating: 10 Stars



<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/182/1346259/restaurant/Kansas/The-Chef-Manhattan"><img alt="The Chef on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1346259/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a>

The Loveless Cafe

The Loveless Café is located on Natchez Trace Parkway just right outside of Nashville Tennessee. The Loveless Motel and Café was purchased from Lon and Annie Loveless serving their famous Fried Chicken, Country Ham and Biscuits to the travelers driving up and down the highway. For over 60 years, the legacy that Annie and Lon created grew to what became known as “The Loveless Café”.

I found this place when Paula Dean asked Facebook “who makes the best biscuits?” and about almost a majority of the people said “The Loveless Café”. I decided to do some research about this restaurant and came upon the famous biscuit lady Ms. Carol Fay Ellison where she began working at the Loveless Café as a dishwasher in 1979 and eventually proven her skills as a cook and started another Loveless legacy like never before. The Biscuit recipe has been a secret guarded for over  60 years and nobody knows what’s in it except for Carol Fay herself along with the other chefs. But don’t worry, you can always buy the biscuit mix to take back with you.

Walking in the café, we were greeted in the foyer where you will see tons of celebrity photos who have made their mark by coming to The Loveless Café. Don’t be surprised if you ever see a famous celebrity yourself. Once you’re sat down at the table, feel free to stop by the kitchen on your way to the bathroom and watch the magic unfold right before your eyes. On one side was a huge pot of Chicken and dumplings, and on the other side was the chef making the famous secret recipe biscuits.

We were welcome by the waitress as she bought a plate full of biscuits and preserves. You get three types of fresh preserves, Peach, Blackberry, and Strawberry. Once there were so many great decisions of what to order, I decided to get the dish of what they’re famous for. “The Loveless Fried Chicken Platter”. This platter comes with hot biscuits and two side dishes. I decided to go with the macaroni and cheese and Turnip Greens with Pot Liquor. If you think this place has only Southern Comfort food, think again. They also smoke Bar Be Que every single morning cooking as early as 5am. What’s been discussed in the media is absolutely true. The staff was friendly, the manager was friendly as he greeted us, the food was excellent made from scratch, and above all the atmosphere is brilliant. To this day, I still crave and brag how great this place is. This restaurant is more than a café. There is so much to do even when you’re not eating. You may shop at any of the venues for gift items and souvenirs and check out the loveless barn for any special performances and events going on. Be sure to check their website out for many updates, stories, blogs, and much more events going on. It’s definitely a true American treasure to visit.

Rate: 10 Stars

The Loveless Cafe Official Website