The SLY Foodie

On the rare occasion that we’re both home on a day off, the husband and I like to go out and eat. So with our second plus one in tow, we ventured into Rowland Heights, to one of Phoenix Food Boutique’s many locations. My BFF had been raving about Phoenix forever; it seems to be office’s Chinese takeout go-to. I had actually gone to the PFB in Arcadia on my last Din Tai Fung run, but only purchased some to go items such as milk and egg pudding.

Okay, let me just say, the combination of milk, sugar, eggs and probably some gelatin, never tasted so good. It was rich, creamy, and ultimately, very satisfying. It was creamy goodness in a cup; so much so that it piqued my curiosity on PFB’s savory offerings. Phoenix or bust!

On this adventure, we ordered enough to feed an army, but that is beside the point. First up is the beef fried rice for the little one. If his appetite is any indication of how the dish tasted, I must tell you that he devoured a whole bowl. The world’s most finicky eater literally ate a whole bowl, and wanted more. So take that for what it’s worth. I felt that it was the typical fried rice dish you can find in any respectable Chinese restaurant.

We also got the Hong Kong Style Beef Flat Rice Noodle, which translated into layman's terms means Dry Beef Chow Fun. While it was good, again, it was the typical chow fun dish with pieces of beef, onion, and scallion sauteed with flat rice noodles and soy sauce. It was served with the chiu chow hot sauce, which is my favorite, so needless to say, that disappeared not-so-mysteriously.

Next up, the House Special Stir Fried Noodle was one of the more impressionable dishes that we ordered. It was egg noodles, with pieces of chicken, shredded duck, bean sprouts, onion and scallion, sauteed and served piping hot. Although I think it may have used a little more salt, it was an overall solid dish, because the flavor of the duck really came through. This was also served with a small container of the chiu chow hot sauce goodness.

Because one rice dish and two noodle dishes weren't enough, we also ordered the Mayonnaise Shrimp with Glazed Walnuts. It is, simply put, lightly battered shrimp that is deep fried and then tossed into a sweeter version of mayonnaise, served with honey glazed walnuts. This delectable shellfish and nut combination was served with a cup of white rice. The crunch from the batter and from the walnuts provided a good texture contrast to the creaminess of the mayo and the juiciness of the shrimp. I must say, however, at the risk of stating an oxymoron, I wish they served bigger shrimp.

After stuffing ourselves with carbs, what else could we possibly want? Why, fried food, of course! We ordered the Deep Fried Dim Sum Platter, which consists of three pieces of shrimp roll, siu mai, curry chicken pastry puff and sweet bun. The shrimp roll was simply awesome - great texture contrast between the crunch wrapper and perfectly cooked shrimp. The siu mai made me realize why deep fried siu mai isn't very common. I think that the diner is given a very small window to consume the siu mai, otherwise the crunchiness is gone, and we missed that window. The curry chicken puff was so-so, it reminded me of an hors d'ouevres course at a wedding reception. The sweet bun was a nice surprise, because it was served with some condensed milk, which I initially mistook for a runny mayonnaise. Sheesh.

To further wallow in our gluttony, we also got the Garlic Chicken Wings. When I say "garlic," I'm not kidding; they load up the garlic. But it had a nice flavor, garlicky, with a hint of ginger. The pefect, crispy skin made me a very happy diner.

To wash down the carbs and the deep fried food, we taste tested several specialty drinks. One was the Fresh Fruits Tropical Iced Tea. When PFB prints something on the menu, they don't mess around. What I got was iced tea infused with chopped up pieces of fruit swimming in the tea. I think I bit into pieces of apple and pineapple. It was very fruity, tangy and refreshing.

I also wanted to try the Milk Tea Tapioca, which, in my opinion, was disappointing. It tasted bitter, and there was just a funky, indescribable aftertaste to it. Not even the goodness of the chewy tapioca could save the tea. The husband chalked it up to the tea being steeped too long.