Been to any good restaurants in Vancouver lately? (Mill Plain: to live, prices)

[Jane917]

Thanks for the tip on the Chinese restaurant. We have been looking for a good Chinese restaurant, but are often disappointed. Although there are many good Thai restaurants, I can't recommend Thai Wok Kitchen enough. Try the crispy duck. We have eaten several time at Petra House, the first time with a Groupon.

[silibran]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

After 6 months living in the area my wife and I have settled on Petra House as our new favorite Vancouver area restaurant. It is a Jordanian restaurant way out on 164th in the same strip mall as the McMenamin's Very nice middle eastern restaurant with all the usual middle eastern dishes plus some unique Jordanian specialties. You can either sit on the floor in private booths or sit at normal tables.

Petra House Restaurant, Vancouver – Traditional Mediterranean Food | Located in Vancouver, WA

For good traditional Chinese food we have discovered a place called Tangs Wok which is a little strip mall joint on SE McGillivray Blvd across in the strip mall across the street from New Season's Market (sort of diagonal across 164th from Fred Meyer. Apparently it is a place that has been there for a while but there are brand new owners (Mr. and Mrs Chen) who are trying to make the place more traditionally Chinese and not so much a copy of Panda Express. We found the food to be delicious and the new owners very engaging.

I visited Petra House shortly after it first opened, and I was encourage and hopeful. On about the third visit, I found that sitting in a booth with the large brass trays covering the table made dining too hard. And I decided that the food did not seem as tasty as I thought it should have.

Perhaps it has improved? I also found the service intrusive.

I might try it out again for lunch. What things did you like on the Petra House menu?

And I'll have a look into Tang's Wok as well. I like Chinese but not when everything on the menu is deep fried.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by silibran

I visited Petra House shortly after it first opened, and I was encourage and hopeful. On about the third visit, I found that sitting in a booth with the large brass trays covering the table made dining too hard. And I decided that the food did not seem as tasty as I thought it should have.

Perhaps it has improved? I also found the service intrusive.

I might try it out again for lunch. What things did you like on the Petra House menu?

And I'll have a look into Tang's Wok as well. I like Chinese but not when everything on the menu is deep fried.

On one side of Petra House they have the floor cushions in booths. The other half of the restaurant is regular chairs and tables. As for what to order? We usually just order traditional med fare like the appetizer plates and kabobs but my wife has ventured into some more traditional Jordanian dishes.

Tangs is a simple strip mall Chinese place and definitely not some high end Chinese cuisine. But we liked the people running it and the food.

I would like to find some more high end Chinese places around. Seems like there used to be more of them in the PDX area. Back when I was in college in Portland in the 80s there were lots of nice Szechuan places in Portland. They seem to have faded away and been replaced by Thai places. Is it just me or have the higher-end Chinese places gone out of style?

[Jane917]

Has anyone tried the HK Restaurant on 82nd? I have not been, but I have heard good things about it. The menu offers a large variety of fish and seafood. I agree with you about seemingly fewer higher-end Chinese places. When my son was at Lewis and Clark in the 90s, it seems like we had no trouble finding good Chinese food. When visiting the Chinese Gardens this summer with my brother from San Francisco, we were directed by a docent to Good Taste near Burnside. While definitely not higher-end, the food was very good. It is a tiny dive with duck hanging in the window.

[StealthRabbit]

HK cafe in Portland on 82nd?

https://www.google.com/search?q=HK+R...d7939bfba83a,1,

Haven't tried this one yet,,, but we're pretty hard up for good chinese... (tried one on east Mill Plain with great ratings, but was not to our taste)

Seems we get pretty good Chinese, when we take a Chinese person with us.

[silibran]

We haven't found good Chinese food here.

My complaint about Petras was about the large brass trays that were bolted to the tables in the booths. Awkward.

I think I had a gyro there. Can't remember if I liked it.

[Vic Romano]

Originally Posted by Jane917

Has anyone tried the HK Restaurant on 82nd? I have not been, but I have heard good things about it. The menu offers a large variety of fish and seafood. I agree with you about seemingly fewer higher-end Chinese places. When my son was at Lewis and Clark in the 90s, it seems like we had no trouble finding good Chinese food. When visiting the Chinese Gardens this summer with my brother from San Francisco, we were directed by a docent to Good Taste near Burnside. While definitely not higher-end, the food was very good. It is a tiny dive with duck hanging in the window.

I have not found any good Chinese restaurants in the Portland area yet, so I'll have to try this one...

BUT to my amazement, I found an authentic Chinese restaurant in Independence called Happy Dragon. i know it's a drive from Portland, my in-laws live in Dallas. There were a lot of what appeared to be Chinese students there, maybe because of Monmouth College. We had steamed fish, roast duck, dry sauteed string beans...all great! I can't wait to go back and try their clay pot dishes!

[silibran]

Another sort of cuisine not represented here, to my knowledge is Southern fried chicken. This is a treat food for me for every so often. Chain chicken is often too salty and not reliably done well. I have tried Safeway chicken, and it tasted like used frying oil.

[stickball]

Another Thai/Fushion (?) place opened near me, and it's really really good. It's called Eight Noodles, and it's located in the Fred Meyer Shopping Center on Tenney Road in Salmon Creek. Absolutely excellent.. Terrific Salad Rolls, Roast Pork Fried Rice, and other specialties. I also can highly recommend Thai Wok Kitchen, but it's on the other side of town from me, and now that we found Eight Noodles, well...

[Jane917]

Hi Stickball! I think Eight Noodles is pretty good too, along with the Thai restaurant on the other side of the FM shopping center. I think the name is Planet Thai. Although Thai Wok Kitchen is 30 minutes from us, we just can't stay away.