Grits and Chopsticks?

Chinese Food South of the Border

You know I wasn’t going to take a trip to Virginia without checking out the local Chinese restaurants, right?  Right!  On our last trip down to Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Virginia, we did eat at “Chopsticks Chinese Restaurant“.  Were there grits on the menu?  No, not then, and not this time either.  

It was getting late in our vacation and we were running out of opportunities for us to check out one of the other local Chinese restaurants.  Thank goodness we just so happened (hmm, I wonder how THAT happened!) to be right in the neighborhood right at the time lunch time rolled around.  Actually it was well past lunch time that we rolled in to the Food Lion Parking lot, home of “Peking Chinese Restaurant“, which is located at 14807 Moneta Road, Suite 1, Moneta, VA 24121.

Now, from out the outside it could look just a take-out Chinese restaurant.  But, as you see, there’s a lot of nice Chinese decorations, and four tables for dining in.  And even on a weekday, at 1:30pm, ALL four tables were taken.  Including the one that we occupied.  

Mee Wen Dee had eaten there few years ago, mostly out of desperation on a late night with three starving kids to feed.  They loved their dumplings.  They did NOT love the 12 dime-sized dumplings that they had this night.

So, why should we expect this night to be different than any other night?  No wait, that’s for Passover (and I wasn’t going to pass over this opportunity to try another Chinese restaurant), and besides, it was daytime and not nighttime. 

Guess what?  It WAS different this time.  The boys, Mini Mee, the “Dumpling King“, and Mee Pee Tee, both ordered the Steamed Pork Dumplings.   Lo and behold, they came out looking like the steamed dumplings we all know and love.  And Mini Mee gave them, not only his blessing, and two thumbs up!

Mee Wen Dee had her usual staple, Boneless Spareribs.  Oddly, that’s all she got.  No rice.  No egg roll (or soup, or soda).  Boneless Spareribs.  But, they were, I must say, good.  I really liked the BBQ sauce.  Just the way I like it.  BBQ’ish, and a little sweet.  Just yummy!

My basic staple when trying a new Chinese restaurant (when not on a Quest) is Beef with Broccoli.  I ordered the combination platter which came with pork fried rice.  I oped for a soda.  It was also served with one Crab Ragoon Fried Dumpling.  I’d never seen that before!  The Beef was ok.  The Broccoli good.  The Fried Rice?  Tolerable.  And the Crab Ragoon Dumpling?  That, I could have done without.

…

If we had to rate Peking Chinese Restaurant, we would have given it a 2.5 (on our standard scale of 0 to 5).  

Oh, and there were no grits on the menu.

The check came with Fortune Cookies, which were very fresh!  

Would we come back to Peking Chinese Restaurant the next time we were down in Moneta Virginia?  Probably not.  But, primarily because I would like to try other Chinese restaurants (not that there were a lot to choose from).

Humbly submitted for your consumption,

—Mee Magnum  (“Chop!  Chop!”)

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