Grub Crawl - West Colonial: Chef Wang's Kitchen and Banh Mi Cali

I went to these two places in the area I refer to as Chinatown today at lunch.

Chef Wang's Kitchen - I had the beef stew in flaming wok for $16. It came with white rice. It was a wok full of beef shank. It was mostly skin and tendons. Not bad though. It was stewed long enough to make everything fork tender. Yet, I still probably eschewed eating half of it. The flame also went out too quickly and the stew became cold. Not a ton of flavor in the broth. It was an interesting presentation and that is what I was looking for. The rest of the menu is composed of beef, poultry, pork, vegetables and seafood dishes. About a half dozen of each. Not your usual suspects. Shrimp walnuts. Shredded potato. Seafood Shark Fin soup. Chili Pepper Shredded pork. Stuff like that. They also have Kung Pao chicken and fried rice (and more) if that scares you. A few whities came and left. I think they were freaked bu the menu. More for us. The menu is south eastern. Mostly Szechwan in style. Although they have a whole dim sum section that says "North". So who knows. They also do some noodle dishes. Prices are good. My dish was on the high side. Apps are little too close to main prices for my taste. It's a replacement for Ming;s Court (once on I Drive). They have been open for just few months. It's in the rear middle of the parking lot. Next to that Korean place I reviewed recently. Unsurprisingly, the layout of the place is similar. A rectangle with the short side up front and back. They have around ten tables of four on the walls and two large tables in the middle. Some minor decoration. White walls. Clean look. There seemed to be only one cook and one host/waiter. Four other tables were there while I was. No problem with service. I'm not sure how much they can handle with that staff. Maybe they bring in more at other times? Maybe some were hidden? They are closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'd go back.

Banh Mi Cali - I grabbed a traditional banh mi (ham, pork roll and pate) to go for $5. It was great. The way it should be done. The best I can remember. Probably not the best , but, the best I can remember.. Great baguette. They may have baked it themselves. They sell bread, etc. It seems plausible. All the veg were good. The meats were fine. Tasty pate. The sandwich was big. They even buttered the bread. Oooh la la. They have been open for fifteen months. They are across the lot from Wang's. Nearer to Colonial. It's a take out place. They offer four other banh mi. A few other things. IE - something called a sesame donut. They will be on the favs list. Now I believe I've hit up all the restaurants in that plaza for you.

*I noticed some new places between here and I-4. Near where the O-rena used to be. A barbeque and a Korean place.