LRP Redux* installment 8: Shifu Express

This place opened at least a year ago, but we just now got around to trying it. I am not 100 percent sure about this because I used Google translator, but I think “Shifu” means “master” in Chinese, as in having mastered the art of cooking Chinese food.

Shifu Express is in the mall at the southeast corner of South Boulder Road and South Public Road where Fortune Cookie used to be. We ordered takeout on a Wednesday night, and G drove over to pick it up. I asked him if they still have a steam table, which is one of the offerings on their website and probably the reason for “Express” in the name, but he said no, at least not that night. There were several other parties stopping in for takeout orders. There is an online ordering system that worked very well, though it would be nice to have more details about the menu options in the ordering system. For instance, I assume the dumplings we ordered were filled with pork, but the menu didn’t specify.

We got an order of fried pork dumplings, General Tau’s chicken for G, and combination fried rice for me. I especially liked the dumplings because they had a nice chewy texture and lots of filling. G said his chicken was good, and I liked my fried rice (this is a kind of basic comfort food for me; I contemplated being more adventurous but then stuck with a familiar selection).

Believe it or not, it’s actually difficult for me to find much more to say about it! When I did the first restaurant project, someone asked me what my favorite Chinese restaurant in Lafayette was now that I had tried them all, and I was unable to pick one because they all seemed good. It’s possible that they have slightly different menu options, but for the things we like and tend to order, they are pretty much the same. It would be hard to compare unless I had an order of, say, fried rice from each of them to line up and do an actual taste test. At any rate, we would be happy to eat here again.

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

Top left: General Tau's chicken with dumplings; top right: combination fried rice with dumplings

B287 installment 1: Colorado Wok

We have moved on to the Baseline and 287 subproject now that we have almost completed the A95RP. We still have one more A95RP restaurant left, but we saved it for a special occasion this weekend because I know I like the desserts there. If you have been paying really obsessive attention, you might know which restaurant I mean. But there is no reason that the subprojects can't overlap!

So … Colorado Wok. We used to go here occasionally, but we stopped going several years ago after a couple of poor service experiences. Thus, to be honest, our expectations were low. But this time, the service was excellent, the server was very pleasant, and the food was good. We both ordered the dinner combination from the last page of the menu, so we each got soup (egg drop for both of us), an egg roll and a fried wonton, and an entrée. G's entrée was sesame chicken, which he rated as "hot and tasty," and mine was beef with broccoli. I appreciated that the egg roll was crisp but not swimming in grease, the beef was tasty, and the broccoli was cooked just right.

We visited the restaurant on Sunday night, and it was very quiet, which we have found to be typical of most restaurants on Sunday night. There were only a few other occupied tables (the people at one table near us were obviously regulars because they and the server seemed to know each other well) and, of course, a steady takeout business. We liked the cozy booth by the window where were seated, and G said he though the wall art was not bad (he appreciates bad restaurant/hotel art, so this might actually be a drawback).

We have now visited every Chinese restaurant in Lafayette, and I will tell you my (not expert) opinion: they are all good! Some people will disagree because I've noticed that some of you have strong opinions about your favorite Chinese places, and you will even go far afield to visit particular ones. But as a relatively nonpicky eater, I'd go back to any of these.

Egg-drop soup and fried wonton strips

G's sesame chicken with egg roll, vegetable fried rice, and fried wontons

I had the beef and broccoli with steamed rice, an egg roll, and fried wontons

Quiet on a Sunday. This photo doesn't show the booths along two walls.

PRRP installment 14: Ting's Place (CLOSED)

Ting's Place closed permanently in 2023.

-------------

Ting's has been around since 1988, a year before we moved to Lafayette, and we used to eat there frequently when it was in what used to be called (I think) Coal Creek Plaza. From the days of those visits, we even have a goofy inside joke where we say "Ting's" instead of "Thanks." (Don't judge; I said it was goofy!) 

We had stopped going in recent years, for no reason except that we favored restaurants in easier walking distance, and we had only been to the newer location a couple of times before. We ordered the Mandarin meal for two and got soup (wonton for both), assorted appetizers (eggrolls, fried wontons, ribs), an entree (spicy tangy chicken and cashew shrimp), and ice cream for a fixed price. It was all good, and we enjoyed revisiting this old favorite.

Appetizer assortment: all good!

Wonton soup, fried wontons (which we did not actually eat but were brought when we sat down), tea, and Tsingtao 

Spicy tangy chicken and cashew shrimp with fried rice. We had never tried either of these before, and they were both good. G might like something even spicier than the spicy tangy chicken next time.

G got a mysterious fortune. Mine was more straightforward.

PRRP installment 3: Pho Cafe

The PRRP continues with Pho Cafe, where we ate some delicious Vietnamese egg rolls; G had a big bowl of pho with steak, tendon, and tripe; and I had a rice noodle bowl with combo grilled meats. Good food, nice staff, reasonable prices.