China Lake

Name: China Lake
Location: 3215 E Main St., Endicott, NY 13760
Phone: (607) 748-2133
Cuisine: Chinese (American and Authentic)
Price: Around $10 per person

Review:
Endwell's China Lake represents one of at least two Chinese restaurants in the Binghamton area that offer not only the standard Americanized Chinese take-out that most folks in this country are acquainted with, but also a special menu of more "authentic" Chinese cuisine. The other, Moon Star (also in Endwell, about a quarter mile up the road from China Lake), has long been a favorite of mine. It's been my "go-to" Chinese place since I first went there a few years back. Lately, I've had somewhat of a renewed interest in the area's Chinese restaurants. I heard China Lake was one of the best from friends, from various blurbs around the internet, and from loyal readers of this blog, and today we went to try it out.

China Lake is located in a small strip mall in Endwell on 17C, just before the North St. split. There's a tiny, awkward parking lot in front of the restaurant. Upon entering China Lake you'll notice there is hardly any ambiance to be had. The place has about 8 tables. There are a few 4-seaters along the left side, but most of the tables are for larger parties of 8 or more. The restaurant is slightly on the dingy side and has little by way of decoration to spruce it up. One gets the sense that China Lake works best as a take-out place. They also deliver (not sure to how wide a radius).

We took a seat and were given menus, noodles, and a homemade duck sauce. Since it was lunch time when we were there, we ordered from the lunch menu, which had two components. First was a list of Lunch Specials featuring an entree with soup of your choice (wonton, egg drop, hot & sour), from which Megan ordered the Chicken with Broccoli with wonton soup. On the flip side was the authentic Chinese menu, with several interesting looking choices (some easily more adventurous than I was willing to go on this day). From the special menu, I ordered the Barbecued Beef and also opted for some wonton soup.


The soup came first and I thought it was pretty good, maybe the best of the wonton soups I've had in this area. The wontons themselves were smaller, tighter pouches than what you get at many other places, but had very nice flavor. This is a soup I would definitely order again.


Next came the entrees. Megan liked the Chicken with Broccoli quite a lot, preferring it to the same dish at Moon Star (and any other Chinese we've had in the area for that matter). I had a couple bites and it wasn't bad. But not nearly as good as my entree.


I really enjoyed my Barbecued Beef entree a lot. This featured beef stir-fried in a somewhat spicy garlic sauce with green onions served over a bed of Chinese cabbage. Completely delicious, and something I would order again in a heartbeat. If I had to be a little bit critical of the dish, I'd say it was very oily. From the above picture, you can literally see it swimming in oil. This didn't bother me, nor detract from my enjoyment of the dish, but I get the sense that some people might be a little turned off by that aspect. Fortune cookies and fresh orange slices followed to complete the meal.

Service at China Lake was provided by friendly, if a bit gruff, older Chinese lady. I'd have to say the service was a bit spotty, as it took about 15 minutes for us to get drinks (just water and tea), and there was an extended wait for our check because the restaurant staff decided it was their time to eat. All this means is that China Lake has not supplanted Moon Star as my "dining-out" Chinese restaurant. I thought China Lake's food was probably the best Chinese I've had in the area, but I plan to enjoy exclusively it as take-out in the future. For what it's worth, Megan shares the exact same opinion. She enjoyed the food quite a bit, but to quote her: "There's no way I'll ever eat there again." If you choose to dine in, consider yourself warned.

China Lake is a very good, if somewhat flawed, Chinese restaurant. No doubt the menu is more expansive and unique than most others around, and most importantly, we found the food to be extremely tasty. Ambiance and service definitely knock the place down a peg in our eyes, an area in which the restaurant pales in comparison to the nearby Moon Star. But if all that matters is the food, I would have to conclude China Lake is the best restaurant of its ilk that you'll find in the Triple Cities.

Grade: B+

Fu Star Chinese

Name: Fu Star Chinese
Location: 1185 Vestal Ave., Ste. 3, Binghamton, NY 13903
Phone: (607) 722-5767
Cuisine: Chinese
Price: Less than $10 per person

Review:
Sometimes I get these cravings for Chinese take-out for lunch, and the Triple Cities have many options in that regard that are always very quick and inexpensive, but variable in quality. Moon Star in Endwell and Foliage on Riverside Dr. in Johnson City are a couple good ones that I've found, but I'd heard some good things about Fu Star on Binghamton's South Side, and so off I went to try it out.

Fu Star is located in a small plaza on the South Side, behind Thirsty's and across the street from Whole in the Wall and South Side Yanni's. The restaurant is small but has a few tables available if you choose to eat there. My guess is that 90% of their business is take-out. The small store is clean, but does not offer anything by way of ambiance. Which is fine. I do not expect much from these sorts of places.

With it being around 1:00 PM, I opted to order a Lunch Special, which features one of about 25 different entree options (the usual ones) served with your choice of white or fried rice. To me, this is kind of "meh" for a special. Many of the other places offer soup or an eggroll, or at least a beverage as part of their special; Fu Star did not. Cripes. But I was hopeful that the General Tso's Chicken with pork fried rice I ordered would be up to snuff.

Within 5 minutes my order was ready. Be sure to bring cash if you're going to Fu Star, as they do not accept credit cards. It's 2011 and they don't take credit. Come on! Anyway, $5.35 later, I was out the door. A pretty good deal.


Unfortunately, I did not care for this meal at all. As soon as I opened the packaging, I knew this was going to be subpar Chinese due to the glossy, syrupy appearance of the chicken. I am usually a pretty big fan of General Tso's. I like it best when the spicy quotient is amped up and the sweet component is secondary. This was the exact opposite of my preference. Sugar-sweet chicken that wasn't spicy at all. The rice was pretty much par for the course, a little dried out. And no fortune cookie in the bag? What's that all about?

Here's how the missing fortune should've read: You will never return to Fu Star Chinese Restaurant.

Grade: D

Far East Chinese Restaurant

Name: Far East Chinese Restaurant
Location: 117 N Main St., Vestal, NY 13850
Phone: (607) 785-8811
Cuisine: Chinese
Price: Most lunch entrees under $5, dinner entrees under $10

Review:
Today I was hungry for some Chinese food for lunch, but my usual Chinese place of choice, Moon Star, is not open on Tuesdays. I recalled a conversation I recently had with a colleague of mine, who commented that her favorite Chinese place in the area was Far East in Vestal. My immediate reaction was "Really?!?" After all, I used to live near the Four Corners location of Far East and I got take-out there once. Once, as it turned out, was enough for me to conclude that it was below-average. But I had not been there since they remodeled a couple of years ago, so I was willing to give it another chance.

Far East is located in the tiniest strip mall I've ever seen, with only two store-fronts. To the left lies Far East, to the right is a store under construction with a sign in the window promising an "Asian/Fusion Restaurant Coming Soon." Now we're talking...and that is something I will be keeping an eye on! But anyway, I arrived at Far East around 1:00 PM and ordered the Chicken with Garlic Sauce Lunch Special ($4.45). The "special" comes with your choice of fried rice or white rice and if you want, you can add Egg Drop or Wonton soup for $1. I wanted the Hot & Sour soup, which my colleague had recommended, so I ponied up an additional $1.99 for that.

As I said, this is a new building for Far East--and hence I was surprised by how dirty it was. The floor was filthy and in need of a major scrubbing. There was garbage (used napkins, straw wrappers, etc.) underneath some of the tables. I don't know if this was the result of falling behind after the lunch crowd hit, but I doubt it. Needless to say, I was left unimpressed by the ambiance. It didn't help that a foul-smelling obese woman came in right after I did and decided to hover in my general vicinity. I was left to hope the food would make up for this series of unfortunate events.

Upon arriving home I unpacked the goods and found healthy portions of both the entree and the soup. I decided to try the soup first and I thought it was quite good. This Hot & Sour soup was loaded with ingredients and definitely lived up to the "Hot" part of its name. It was a little heavier on the tofu and a little lighter on the pork than I prefer, but I liked it. As far as the Chicken with Garlic Sauce, I did not like it. At all. The chicken was rubbery and the sauce was bland. The rice did not help matters...it was the typical Chinese take-out rice and way inferior in quality and taste to the fried rice at both Foliage and Moon Star.

Overall, I was largely dissatisfied with Far East. The soup was a definite highlight, and the service was quick and friendly, but the cleanliness of the establishment was a bit bothersome and the entree was pretty much a failure. Skip this place...there are a couple places (namely Moon Star and Foliage) not too far to the east that are more worthy of your business.

Grade: C-

Moon Star Chinese Restaurant

Name: Moon Star Chinese Restaurant
Location: 3600 George F Hwy., Endicott, NY 13760
Phone: (607) 754-6778
Cuisine: Chinese
Price: Less than $15 for two for lunch, less than $30 for two for dinner

Review:
For the longest time I thought the area's Chinese restaurants were truly abysmal. We'd gotten take-out a few times from several different places and couldn't find a place we liked. If we were really in the mood to go out for Chinese we'd settle for a buffet, where we could usually find at least a couple passable items. My opinion changed the day we found Endwell's Moon Star. Of those I've been to, Moon Star is the best Chinese restaurant in the Triple Cities.

Moon Star is located in a small strip mall near the intersection of 17C (George F Hwy) and Hooper Road in Endwell. It's an odd location and probably not what I would consider the most ideal of spots for a restaurant, but it suffices. The restaurant does not look like anything special from the outside, but it's nice and clean inside. Unlike with most Chinese restaurants, I advise eating at the restaurant in lieu of getting take-out. The take-out isn't bad but there's a measurable difference in quality between eating in and taking out. I have typically been impressed with the presentation of the dishes when eating there as well, and the fried noodles served at the beginning of the meal are homemade, delicious, and far superior to the packaged noodles you get at most Chinese places.

The most intriguing thing about Moon Star is that they have literally two distinct menus that you can order from. They have the typical "Americanized" Chinese food menu that includes all the sorts of things you find at every other Chinese place (General Tso's Chicken, Sweet & Sour, Triple Delight, Chicken w/ Garlic Sauce, etc...), but also a menu of "authentic Chinese" dishes including items served in a hot pot, scallion pancakes, tripe, and a personal favorite of mine, the Mongolian Beef.

I've been there a number of times and have ordered items from both menus. I find the items on the "American" side are very good, for those not wanting to deviate from the Chinese food they know and love. I am a sucker for General Tso's Chicken and this is easily among the best I've had. The spicy, tangy sauce is perfect and it's always served with fresh-cut broccoli. Megan likes the Chicken with Broccoli, which I have sampled, and liked, a number of times. Another dish I like is the Chicken with Garlic Sauce. The sauce is delicious and the vegetables in the dish are always fresh. I have to admit, I have not delved deeply into the alternate menu, but I thought the Mongolian Beef was superb and probably the best I've had of that dish. Items on the regular menu tend to range between $8 and $12 while the alternate menu might run a dollar or two more on average.



Today, I opted not to follow my own advice of eating there and instead went for take-out. Their Lunch Special for $5.25 represents fantastic value. You get an entree (30 different choices including most "usual favorites"), your choice of white or pork fried rice, and your choice of soup (egg drop/wonton/hot & sour) or an egg roll. This is a ton of food and definitely enough to feed you for an entire day. I got my usual standby, the General Tso's, with pork fried rice and wonton soup.

The soup was alright but the wontons were a little overdone. The rice was good and appeared to be freshly-made, while the General Tso's was great, just as I had remembered it to be.

To those who have lost hope in finding a good Chinese restaurant in the Triple Cities, and to those who settle for subpar buffets, consider making a trip to Moon Star in Endwell. This is good Chinese food with a whole menu full of authentic choices, with a pleasant, low-key ambiance and consistently excellent service. Between Moon Star and Foliage in Johnson City, the Triple Cities aren't so bad off when it comes to Chinese dining options after all.

Grade: B+

Foliage Chinese Restaurant

Name: Foliage Chinese Restaurant
Location: 47 Riverside Dr., Johnson City, NY 13790
Phone: (607) 798-8998
Cuisine: Chinese
Price: Less than $10 per person

Review:
I was recently on a plane ride out of Binghamton and had the fortune of sitting next to a rather chatty fellow, and this blog, relatively new as it is, came up in the course of conversation. He asked what I thought of the Chinese restaurants in the Triple Cities and I commented that most places I had tried were below average, but there were a couple I found mostly agreeable, especially Moon Star in Endwell (which I shall review soon). My fellow passenger suggested that I try out Foliage, a place he had eaten at and enjoyed on numerous occasions. Today, I got around to trying it out for lunch.

Foliage is located on Riverside Dr. in Johnson City, right on the border of where JC meets Binghamton. It's located in the same small plaza as Pancho's Pit. It's a tiny restaurant with about five tables available for dining in, but I get the sense that most business is of the take-out variety. It's not really great on ambiance but is fairly well-decorated and looks, well, like a typical Chinese restaurant.

I approached the counter and placed an order to-go. With it being the lunch hour, I went with their Lunch Special, which featured my choice of entree, wonton or egg drop soup, and white or pork fried rice for around $5. I decided to go with Chicken with Garlic Sauce, the wonton soup, and the fried rice, and a mere ten minutes later I was out the door, bag in hand.


Upon arriving home, I was stunned to open the bag and find a fairly enormous amount of food that I had paid a mere $5 for. If this stuff tastes any good, I thought to myself, I've just come across one of the best values in Binghamton!

And sure enough, I was quite happy with the food. The wonton soup broth was a little watery and kind of average in my opinion, but the wontons themselves were really tasty. The fried rice had great flavor and was not just the random yellow rice you get at a lot of places around here. And the chicken with garlic sauce was very good, with a nice mix of stir-fry veggies in a sweet and fairly spicy garlic sauce. If you don't like spice, I recommend letting them know before they make your food. As for me, I'll take it as spicy as you want to serve it to me, thankyouverymuch.

Foliage certainly won't get confused with gourmet Chinese food anytime soon, but that's perfectly fine. I thought the food was definitely on par with my other favorite, Moon Star, at a much lower price, at least for the lunch portion. Heck, that was probably enough food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If this is the lunch portion, I can't imagine what the dinner looks like. Oh, and did I mention it was only $5? Well, Foliage, welcome to my rotation, and thank you, fellow Greater Binghamton Airport denizen, for not leading me astray.

Grade: B+