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Wha Ton-Ah Siam – A Wonton Soup Saga

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That’s how I feel. I was so looking forward to having this highly recommended Wonton Soup from this Chinese take-out joint a few blocks from work.  Our conversation at work, at it is oft to do, turned to Soup.  Knowing that we write a blog on Chinese restaurants, and we’re THE go to source for finding the best Chinese restaurants on Long Island and New York City, my opinion was sought out.  I said without a doubt, the best Wonton soup that I have ever had was the House Special Wonton Soup at The Orient in Bethpage, NY.  One of my co-workers said that the Wonton Soup at The Great Wall just down the road.  He spoke of a Wonton Soup that was overflowing with shrimp dumpling, large strips of pork, Chicken, scallops and other delights.  Now this was not the first time that I took out from this Chinese restaurant.  When I first started working on Stewart Ave., I discovered that this was the closest Chinese restaurant to work, so I HAD to try it.  Let’s just say I never took out from there again.  Until today…  So, you can understand how reluctant I was to try this “extraordinary” Wonton Soup!

Great Wall Chinese Restaurant Garden CityWell, this Mee, just HAD to try this potential marvel of a Wonton Soup.  We had planned to all go together one day at lunch time to try it.  As they say with best laid plans often go astray, and I was “forced” to venture out this cold day to pick up some of this magic elixir to cure my lunch time hunger.

So, Mee gets to the restaurant… walks in… saunters up to the counter and peruses the take-out menu.  Seeking a “House Special” Wonton Soup, but not finding one… thinking that perhaps the plainly labeled “Wonton Soup” is what I was really on this crusade for.  I asked if there was a “House special” Wonton soup and I received a blank stare and look of incomprehension on his face.  So I ordered “the Wonton Soup”.

I gave the gentleman my $1.80 and he gave me magic potion held within a plastic container and concealed inside a plain brown paper bag, lest I be accosted and held up on my way back to my car by someone looking to make off with my loot.

The Wonton Soup

Great Wall Chinese Restaurant Wonton SoupExcitedly when I got back to my desk… making sure that the coast was clear… I took the plastic vessel out of the well camouflaging brown paper bag, and with great anticipation I carefully removed the lid.  Guess what I found?  Wonton Soup.  Wonton Soup.  No shrimp dumplings.  No strips of pork.  No chicken.  Certainly no scallops.  They did give me a bag of chow mein noodles.  But alas, no fortune cookie.  I was devasted on more than one level.

However, if one took the Wonton soup at face value it was actually very palatable.   I enjoyed it.  THEN I confronted the person who recommended this soup.  THIS, I said was nothing special.  No siree.  Where is this soup that  you had spoke of?  He said “right here on the menu”.  Then he looked… he scanned.  He flipped the menu over.  He couldn’t find it.  Yet, he claimed that he had taken it out this past Friday and it was just as he said it was.  He said next time we’d all go together and we would definitely get the promised soup.

Do we think he was pulling my leg?  Has anyone ever taken out Chinese food from The Great Wall on Stewart Avenue in Garden City?

Can anyone else feel the pain that I’m feeling right now?  Anyone?  Anyone?

Repeat after Mee:

Wha Ton-Ah Siam

Wha Ton-Ah Siam

Wha Ton-Ah Siam

Humbly submitted for your consumption,

Mee Magnum  (“Chop!  Chop!”)

Well, I must say, I

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