CoMO does Chinese
Nov. 11, 2008
Take our advice: while Columbia's Chinese food offerings generally disappoint, Jingo's is a pretty safe bet if you're craving takeout.
Columbia is sort of a culinary anomaly. There is great Thai food, passable sushi and even a couple really good Indian places. But Chinese food, one of the most common of the pseudo-ethnic cuisines, gets downplayed. In this edition of Consumption, we're on a mission to find out why that is.
I'll be the first to admit it: My standards for Chinese food are low. I consider Panda Express to have the best Chinese food in the entire world. If a fast-food restaurant can master Chinese food, then Columbia's restaurants should be able to do the same.
Hong Kong
You've no doubt seen their menus lying around your residence halls. Through their creative advertising, it was my first choice and my first experience of Columbia's Chinese food. When I put in my order (crab rangoon and shrimp lo mein), I sensed some confusion from the other end. Once I paid, I waited for a while and then a while turned into an hour, and my protesting stomach told my brain to call back. "Uh, can you wait a sec?" was the response on the other end of the receiver, and then the phone was put down. I'm really happy that whoever was ordering at the time wanted chicken fried rice and paid with a credit card, but I frankly didn't care. As I hung up, I still didn't know if and when my food would arrive. Ten minutes later, my protesting stomach was silenced when the deliveryman appeared. Signing the receipt, I noticed the total of $14.17, a bit steep for noodles and rangoon. I sat down and opened my bag to find two orders of egg rolls added on. Although unhappy that I had to pay extra for something I didn't actually want, I momentarily banished all thoughts and devoured my lo mein. Unfortunately, after eating approximately a fifth of the quart, my starved stomach decided that as hungry as it was, the lo mein wasn't worth it. The soggy, undercooked noodles were soaked in soy sauce. The crab rangoon was tasty enough, though I soon discovered all rangoon basically tasted the same everywhere. The egg rolls were paper-thin and stuffed with a tasteless medley of vegetables and unidentifiable meat. An hour after I had thrown all $14.17 worth of food away, my churning stomach decided that it too wanted to dispose of the Chinese food it had eaten that night. My first experience with Chinese food in Columbia ended in the bathroom.
Formosa
Although I'd been pretty scarred from my first experience, I decided to give Formosa a try after being told it was the best Chinese food around. The woman who took my order (which consisted of shrimp lo mein, cashew chicken and sweet and sour pork) was extremely pleasant. In 45 minutes, I would supposedly have food. To my surprise, 30 minutes later the deliveryman appeared. The cashew chicken was quickly devoured by my friend, who declared it to be awesome. The sweet and sour chicken was also finished, albeit more slowly. My lo mein, while actually edible this time, was pretty average. While Formosa isn't the worst Chinese place in Columbia, it definitely isn't the best.
China Star
China Star tapped into Hong Kong's market by showing up at residence halls with menus aplenty. According to its menus, China Star is one of Columbia's People's Choice best, so it was worth giving a shot. The menu itself has myriad options to choose from, and after two bad experiences with lo mein, I decided to go with the orange chicken and egg rolls. Once the food came (promptly) I was surprised how big each order was - three people could have easily eaten each item. The egg rolls were the standout item. They were thick and filled with a delectable array of vegetables and meat. The orange chicken wasn't my favorite, but it was popular among my friends. Our huge order of cashew chicken, however, was left uneaten. This was largely due to the inordinate amount of Birds Eye-style vegetables in the dish. A friend, who has happily eaten most remains of food, refused to eat the rest of the vegetables. There are probably some very good options at China Star, but this was not one of them.
Jingo's
After three so-so attempts at Chinese food, I wasn't very excited to try another one, no matter how good friends said it was. Although putting in the order for chicken lo mein, chicken fried rice and cashew chicken was a bit of a hassle that had me repeating myself a few times, the food came relatively quickly. The short wait was well worth it. The egg rolls, which at the other places were the highlight of the meal, were mediocre at best at Jingo's. The lo mein was about average, but at this point it was the best in Columbia. The actual chicken in the cashew chicken was delectable, but there were, once again, too many vegetables. Jingo's fried rice, however, was possibly the best fried rice I have ever tasted. The flavor and texture were excellent and the perfect amount of chicken and vegetables were present. The saying "save the best for last" definitely applied for Jingo's.
So is there any good Chinese food in Columbia? Yes, there are some places that have some tasty menu items. Overall, though, when it comes to takeout, stick to Jimmy John's.
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