HUHOT MONGOLIAN GRILL

Where: HuHot Mongolian Grill, 693 N 920 E, Spanish Fork

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen 

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: 2 Dinner Buffets (one with sweet & sour soup, the other with Asian salad)

What It Cost: $36.78

What We Thought: 

Continuing on the Asian theme from last week, we decided to make a visit to HuHot Mongolian Grill in Spanish Fork. After trying Mongo's Stir Fry in Provo (I can't find my pictures anywhere!!! We loved it, but it might be closed? Let us know if you know anything about this!!), we were pretty excited. Excited enough to make a trip all the way down to Spanish Fork, after all :) 

I was put off from the start of the visit by the service - I am that annoying customer who always asks to be sat next to a window (hey! It was really dark in the restaurant, and I am taking pictures for all of you here!), and for some reason they refused to seat us at one of the several empty tables that were near windows. They claimed something about having to keep a rotation or something, and assured me that those tables were being used or reserved, but two of them stayed empty during our whole stay. It's a little thing, I know, but it really was only in their benefit (photo-wise). Oh well.

We ordered the dinner buffet, since that was really the only option for dinner. You have to get the full, all-you-can-eat buffet choice, and there are no cheaper options for people who aren't really in the mood to eat a ton, which was a bummer. I started out with the Asian salad, and to be honest, it looked so bleh that I didn't even really eat it. The dressing was weak (thus, dry salad), the raw broccoli was gross, and really - who is going to eat a salad when they can get as many noodles as they want? Don't fill up on this. Plus the whole package of ramen noodles on top was rather deterring.

Owen got the sweet and sour soup, which was alright. Pretty brothy and mild. Not good, but not bad.

Then we got in line to make our noodle stir fry. They have three types of noodles, various meats (pork, beef, chicken, even tofu!), an assortment of vegetables, and a whole lot of sauces. The sauces are really the highlight here, and for those of you who are easily intimidated, they have sample "recipes" where you can combine various sauces for more interesting flavor profiles. 

So you load up everything onto a plate, and then get in line to have it fried for you on the Mongolian grill. Somehow, all of those foods magically cook at the same rates, and they mix, chop and fry it all up for you right then and there. This part is pretty fun, and though you can tell they are dying of sweat and exhaustion, the fry cooks put on a little show, throwing knives and such around. I hope they are getting paid a lot! 

After waiting in two, possibly three, lines, you can finally eat your food! It's really hard to comment on the flavors of the food here, since it's your own fault if you put together a bad plate of stir fry! It's really up to you to make a good combo of meat, vegetables, and sauces. The ingredients on their own were all fresh and mostly well-cooked (broccoli and potatoes turned out a little raw, so be warned), and it's a great place for picky eaters! The only bummer was both Owen and I were totally full after one round.

We went back because we felt like we had to "get our money's worth," and $18 for one plate of stir fry really did not seem worthwhile. But we ending up totally stuffing our faces (and stomachs), and regretting it afterwards.

What You Should Do: If you're in the mood, you better come very hungry. Or if you're like a football player or something, this place may be good for you. If you are a regular person who generally only eats one plate of food per meal, you may be disappointed by high costs. We loved Mongo's because they had different size options (small, large, or all-you-can-eat) with better prices, and if HuHot went this route, we would totally be down with it. But for how much normally eat, we both thought it was too expensive. Plus they forgot our rice (not that we would have eaten it...)

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SPICY THAI

Where: Spicy Thai, 3230 N University Avenue, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Kelsey, Daniel, Scott & Hayley

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Green Curry, Pad Thai, Pineapple Red Curry, Pineapple Yellow Curry, Mango & Sticky Rice

What It Cost: $27.25 for two people (2 entrees + dessert)

What We Thought:

Decent curry, not the cheapest prices, kind of Americanized dishes.

None of the dishes were anything to go crazy about, but none of them were bad. This meal left me full, but not really excited, if you know what I mean? I thought their heat meters were pretty accurate - I was satisfied with the spiciness of my dish, without having my taste buds burned off. But for those of you who like your Thai food REALLY spicy, Spicy Thai may not be your best bet.

The Pad Thai was pretty good - not as peanut-y as I normally like, and the sauce was pretty acidic. Of course this didn't stop me from eating the whole thing with Owen, since Pad Thai is my new favorite meal of 2014, but I've had better. I liked how you could choose what type (or if) of meat you wanted.

Cute rice container! There was plenty of rice for everyone's curry, which was nice. Nothing worse that shortages of rice! I thought it was a little odd how much they charged extra if you want sticky or brown rice though...I love sticky rice, but I definitely wouldn't "upgrade" to it here.

Normal yellow pineapple curry. Nothing too crazy here...

I ordered the red pineapple curry, and thought it was pretty good. It was actually my first red curry (I usually stick to yellow), and I was surprised to find I like it more! Nice pepper flavor coming through, which was tasty with the pineapple to mellow out the heat.

I always have to get mangoes & sticky rice! This one was much more soup-y than others I've had - it kind of seemed like the coconut sauce was just poured on top instead of cooking the rice with any coconut flavor. But mango was in season, so the fruit was absolutely divine.

What You Should Do: It's not a bad choice, but it definitely wasn't my favorite Thai place we've been to. I've heard they are really good for take-out, but I don't know if we'll be back, since it wasn't that cheap for the portion sizes.

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THAI DRIFT

Where: Thai Drift, 1655 N State Street, Orem 

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Papaya Salad, Spicy Pad Phet, and Pineapple Curry

What It Cost: $36.00 (including tip)

What We Thought: 

Let me just start off with, this is literally the most spicy meal I have ever eaten in my entire life. Ever. And man, I like spicy food, and don't try to avoid it. BUT WOW. 

So when we ordered the papaya salad, and the server asked us how we wanted the spiciness on a level of 0-10, we went with for a 7, since papaya sounded fruity and like it would kind of cancel out some of the heat. UM, NO NO NO. Do not be surprised. It's the kind of heat where the food tastes super good so you eat it really quickly, and then it hits you. And you die. Because it feels like your tongue is literally bleeding from every taste bud -- seriously, I asked Owen to check my mouth to make sure I wasn't actually bleeding! Let me tell you, it was spicier than everything I've ever had, but the flavors were excellent and it was a lot of fun! But if you don't actually like spicy food, maybe go for like a 2. The server kind of laughed when we said we want a 7.

The spicy pad phet on the other hand wasn't as spicy as you might think (thankfully). I have to admit, we had to save most of the dishes we ordered, and reheat them the next day so that we could actually taste them. Because our taste bloods were on fire. Eating was actually physically painful. Anyway, the pad phet was really good -- normally I don't really love bamboo, but this dish made it work for me, and it was great!

Pineapple curry is always my favorite, and this one definitely did NOT disappoint! Of course, the pineapple enzymes made me want to go in for anesthesia, considering the papaya salad-damaged tongue. But when I ate it the next day, IT WAS SO GOOD! I'm telling you, Thai food definitely makes the best leftovers. This was one of the sweetest (but not in a bad way), creamiest, best pineapple curries I've ever had. And that's saying something.

The only thing I didn't like about this meal was that I was so full by the end that I couldn't order my all-time favorite dessert, mango and sticky rice! But man, it looked good, and I want to go back and order dessert first next time!

What You Should Do: I have it on quite good authority that this is the best Thai food in Utah County, and so far, I have to agree! In every other restaurant we've been to in Utah County, when you say you want something hot, they make it with a little kick, but usually pretty weak. THIS IS THE EXCEPTION. You can't say I didn't warn you. But it's so worth it!

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SAIGON CAFE

Where: Saigon Cafe, 440 W 300 S, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Egg Rolls, Szechuan Chicken and Mongolian Beef

What It Cost: $22 (including tip)

What We Thought: 

Being from the Pacific Northwest, I have a special spot in my heart for every type of Asian cuisine. And it's so hard to find here in Utah for some reason! Especially teriyaki. Does anyone know of any good teriyaki places in the state of Utah?? I crave it all the time! Anyway, when I saw that Saigon Cafe was one of the highest rated Chinese restaurants in Utah County, I immediately added it to my wishlist. Then Owen surprised me on a date taking me here - what a great guy :)

I heart egg rolls. These ones were about as good as you could expect -- not outstanding but definitely satisfying. The dipping sauce was tangy and delicious, and they were served hot and crispy. So far, a good start. 

I ordered the Szechuan chicken, which had a couple chili peppers next its name, which made me pretty excited. Who knew they were literal chili peppers?! Nonetheless, it was super delicious, just the right amount of spicy, and a good balance of meat and vegetables. And I'm not sure if you noticed the plate above, but it was huge! Definitely plenty of food for dinner and at least one lunch later on...

They also brought us a little plate of fried wontons with some dipping sauce, which was kind of cute, but I didn't really get it. Are you supposed to eat them just like plain? Is it like the tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant? I don't know. We ate them because we were hungry and they were tasty, but I'm not sure if we were doing it correctly...

Owen got the Mongolian beef, which was super fun with these little crispy white things on top. The meat was super tender and delicious, perfectly cooked, and there was a lot of it! We loved the flavor of the sauce, and the dish as a whole. Yum!

What You Should Do: I don't know...I think Saigon Cafe may be moving up the ranks as my new favorite Chinese restaurant in Utah Valley! I'll have to visit it again to confirm, but it was pretty tasty. It was also a great deal! An appetizer plus two gigantic entrees for around $20 -- not bad. I would definitely recommend Saigon Cafe to anyone looking for excellent Chinese food near BYU.

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Suki Hana

Where: Suki Hana, 28 S State Street, Salt Lake City

Who Went: Chelsey

Number of Visits: 1

What I Ordered: Chicken Teriyaki with Noodles

What It Cost: $5.25

What I Thought:

Where I'm from, Asian restaurants serving pho and teriyaki are as prevalent as Mexican restaurants are here. So every now and then I get a serioussss craving for some salty, sticky, saucy teriyaki that must be filled! Since City Creek is a popular destination for me and all my shopping, I decided to give Suki Hana a try at the City Creek food court.

I am sorry people, but this is some sad teriyaki. The noodles were obviously prepared hours ago and were slightly cold and oily. And the chicken, though it did satisfy my craving, was definitely nowhere near the best teriyaki I've ever had. It was drowning in too much sauce and felt soggy. There was enough salt and MSG in the dish to make it palatable, but I don't think I'll go here next time I get the teriyaki urge.

What You Should Do: The City Creek food court has lots of different options, and in the future, I'd probably recommend avoiding this one. Though inexpensive, the food was not very good quality, the teriyaki was very sad, and the noodles were too oily and tepid to be enjoyed. Check out Taste of the Red Iguana instead!

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Wild Ginger

Where: Wild Ginger, 366 N University Avenue, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Sidney

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Wonton Soup, Fried Dumplings, Sesame Chicken, Beef & Broccoli

What It Cost: $24.37

What We Thought:

What used to be a cheap and rather shady Chinese buffet has been transformed into a more upscale and delicious Chinese restaurant near downtown Provo! When you're in the mood for Chinese food that doesn't come from a paper box, Wild Ginger is a great place to check out. They have a huge range of menu options (seriously, the menu is like 20 pages or something), and lots of specials and also sushi choices, if that's your thing. Sidney and I decided to go with a couple classics, and were delighted with the results.

We both started out with the wonton soup, which was included with our entreé. I loved the plethora of soft wonton noodles in the light broth, and enjoyed the spicy soy sauce that could be mixed in as well. They offered a great variety of condiments and sauces that could be used to customize the soup to your tastebuds, and I thought it was a great way to start off the meal.

Though not necessarily the healthiest option, these fried dumplings were absolutely delicious. It was a huge portion, and definitely would have been enough food for an entire meal, and even though I tried to convince Sidney to eat some, we were both completely stuffed by the end of our meal. These dumplings were fried without being too greasy, and were full of delicious flavor. I tried making my own dumplings once and decided that they were way too much work so I always appreciate heavenly dumplings that someone else prepares :)

Just look at how perfect that sesame chicken looks. Yeah, it was pretty dang good. Just the right amount of sauce (not dry, not drenched), and perfectly sized pieces of chicken (I hate it when you get a piece of chicken that takes like ten bites to eat) helped make this sesame chicken dish perfect. Coated with plenty of toasted sesame seeds and a flavorful sauce, this dish is definitely a good choice. I usually prefer spicy foods, so I probably would have gone with the orange chicken or something with a stronger flavor, but Sidney was overall very satisfied with this dish.

I absolutely loved my beef and broccoli, which surprisingly came with much more than just these two ingredients. I thought the mixed in zucchini and carrots were a fantastic addition that enhanced the texture of variety of this dish. The beef was tender and savory, and all of the vegetables were cooked to perfection. I thought the sauce was great, and was pleasantly surprised by the fried rice I had on the side. There weren't any vegetables or anything mixed into the rice, which I was initially disappointed about, but this made it go really well with the beef & broccoli and completely the dish nicely.

What You Should Do: Definitely check it out! I think that Wild Ginger may be my new favorite Chinese restaurant in the area, which is a bold statement for me because it has taken forever to decide! They have a cool atmosphere, convenient location, reasonable prices, and delicious dishes.

Green Panda Cafe

Where: Green Panda Cafe, 3220 N University Avenue, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Peach Boba Smoothie & Passion Fruit Boba Smoothie

What It Cost: $8.08

What We Thought:


Okay, so we didn't get a full meal here, but I really wanted to share with you about this place! If you're from the PNW like me, you know that bubble tea is a HUGE deal over on the West Coast. For a while, bubble tea was as ubiquitous over there as frozen yogurt is here in Provo. I'm not the biggest tea person, so I would usually go for a bubble (or boba) smoothie instead, and I fell in love with the fun experience of drinking a delicious smoothie with fun little balls of tapioca that get slurped through a giant straw. When I drove by Green Panda and saw their giant sign outside advertising boba smoothies, I was so excited that a place nearby is selling one of my favorite treats! If you know of any other places nearby that sell boba smoothies, please let me know. But so far, this has been the only place that I've found that makes these tasty beverages, and they do a fantastic job.

Their smoothies are light and refreshing on a hot day (which we seem to have had plenty of lately), and are HUGE! Next time I definitely think that Owen and I will share one. They have an awesome range of flavors, including lychee, honeydew, green apple, mango, peach, passion fruit, strawberry, and more. I loved the peach flavor of my smoothie - it actually tasted like the real fruit, rather than a mix of artificial flavorings. And the bobas (chewy tapioca balls) are fantastic - great texture and they really give you quite a few in your drink. Some bubble tea places I've been to in Washington give you like five bobas in your smoothie, but Green Panda puts in just the right amount.

What You Should Do: Check them out! If you've never had a boba smoothie before, then you are in for a real fun and unique dessert experience. Some people think that they are too weird, but I love them!  Definitely a nice change of pace from getting frozen yogurt all the time... Green Panda does a great job with them. Though it may not look like much from the outside, Green Panda Cafe has an adorable panda-themed interior, friendly staff, and fabulous smoothies. We will definitely be heading back there to try the other food on their menu soon! 

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Rice King

Where: Rice King, 278 W Center Street, Provo

Who Went: Owen & Chelsey

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: 2 Egg Rolls, Sesame Chicken, & Mongolian Beef

What It Cost: $18.93

What We Thought:


The other day when Owen & I were decided where to eat, we realized that we didn't have a favorite quick Chinese take-out place. How embarrassing! So I snapped up this Restaurant.com coupon really quick and we headed down to Center Street.

Despite the lackluster restaurant interior and greasy odor in the air, the restaurant was surprisingly populated. We were comforted by this, and many people around us seem to frequent the restaurant regularly, which is typically a good sign. We placed our order and then entertained ourselves with the Chinese Year informative paper place mats.

Rice King definitely has quick service - they brought out our food less than five minutes after ordering, and we were impressed by the very large portion sizes. The egg rolls were decent - nice and crispy, normal-tasting insides, tangy dipping sauce. About what you would expect from an egg roll and a decent price.

My sesame chicken was sadly not as good as it looks - there was hardly any sauce on the chicken, which made the overall meal dry and just tasting like flavorless fried chicken. When paired with the rice served on the side, it was overwhelmingly anhydrous. What little sauce was dripped on the plate did not have a very distinctive sesame flavor, and I was just overall not that satisfied. On the upside, I was also not very hungry by the end of the meal - I only ate half the dish and was still plenty full.

Owen's Mongolian Beef was equally unimpressive. The portion once again was enormous, and the beef was surprisingly tender, but the dish was completely lacking any flavor punch. On the menu, it showed a "spicy" icon next to this option, but we couldn't detect any heat at all. Not necessarily bad, but certainly not great - at least it was cheap!

What You Should Do: If you're in a desperate mood for some cheap Chinese food, then Rice King may be the place for you, but I don't think we will go there again - the quest for the best Chinese take-out continues! They have exceptionally large portions, fairly cheap prices (especially the lunch specials), and lots of options, just not the best flavors we've ever experienced. Any recommendations for great Chinese take-out?

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Thai Mango

Where: Thai Mango, 2250 N University Pkwy #4, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Spring Rolls, Pineapple Curry, and another dish we can't remember the name of (!!!) Something with "pad" and maybe "king" in it??

What It Cost: $31.00 (including tip) 

What We Thought:

Okay, so along with Korean food, we also are not really the number one experts when it comes to Thai food. But a guy in my research lab said that this was one of their favorite restaurants, so we thought we'd give it a try. 

We started out with the spring rolls, which were very different and much better than I expected. Of course (don't judge me for this), I'm pretty sure the last time I had a spring roll was at Panda Express, so...I probably didn't have a very good idea going into it! But they were super delicious! The filling was fresh and delicious, I loved all the basil, and they tasted great dipped in the peanut sauce it was served with. I loved the combination of crunchy and crisp with the meat inside them, and could have eaten like 20 more.

Then I got the pineapple curry with jasmine rice, which was super tasty. I loved the tangy infusion of pineapple in the sauce, and chicken was definitely a good choice with the other flavors. The only thing I didn't love was the bamboo - the texture stood out too much for me in the medley of other vegetables, and the pieces of bamboo were pretty big. I ended up eating around most of them, but thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it.

Neither Owen nor I for the life of us can remember the name of his dish, but all we remember is that he loved it! He got it with beef and jasmine rice, and loved the savory sauce mixed with fresh grilled vegetables. He was a little surprised at the huge branches of basil in it, but I am a basil fanatic, so I thought they were delicious. 

What You Should Do: Definitely check it out. The service was better than I was expecting from other reviews - they were pretty busy and didn't have many people working, but we never had to wait super long for anything. This was a great experience for us, and we certainly are going to be trying other Thai food restaurants soon!

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Sam Hawk

Where: Sam Hawk Korean Restaurant, 660 N Freedom Blvd, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey and Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Beef Bulgogi and Jop Chae

What It Cost: $23.00


What We Thought:

I just have to start out this post with a huge disclaimer -- of all types of foods, I really do not know that much about Asian foods. I have been hesitant to write about any because people who know what really is good and authentic will just make fun of me and realize I'm totally clueless with many ethnic foods.

But even though I don't necessarily know what is authentic or true to the country, I still think I have a pretty good idea of what tastes good, what good service looks like, and what a pleasant restaurant experience is. Plus I checked with some of my Korean friends to see what they thought, so I have a little more credibility!

We were seated rather quickly and got our food pretty fast. Before bringing out our entreés, our server brought out two giant glasses of water (seriously large, I was expecting super spicy food!) and six different little side dishes and 2 pots of sticky rice. It was a little overwhelming for us first-time Korean food eaters, and we didn't really know how to eat each item...but it still tasted good! Apparently Sam Hawk is one of the few places that makes their own kimchi, which is pretty cool, and basically I just tried lots of different combinations until I decided what tasted good!

The first thing I thought when I received my beef bulgogi was -- "Wow, that is a lot of meat!!" I was impressed with the size of the entreé, and loved the flavor. The meat was pretty tender, flavorful, and steaming hot! It was served with romaine lettuce on the side, presumable so you can make a little lettuce wrap kind of like this:

But after getting food poisoning from the lettuce wraps at the Rainforest Café on our honeymoon, I've had a mental/physical block against lettuce wraps, so I pretty much just ate the meat straight up. Yeah, I'm carnivorous that way...And the dish was super good in that way!

Owen got the noodle dish, Jop Chae. These noodles are commonly nicknamed "Glass Noodles," were translucent, and were unlike anything we've ever tasted, texture-wise. They were smooth and fun to bite into, and tossed with a great medley of vegetables. The noodle dish was very filling, and we loved the unique flavors and consistency.


What You Should Do: Give it a try! We originally were trying to go to dinner at a Mexican place called Chunga's that night, but it's apparently closed, so I remembered a recommendation from our restaurant survey (click link or see on sidebar of page) and decided to give it a try! We were pleasantly surprised, and left the restaurant satisfied and excited to try more Korean food. As small as Provo is, there are tons of great opportunities to try food from other cultures, and we would definitely recommend this restaurant.

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