Name: Zheng's Chinese
1350 East Tennessee Street Ste. C1b
Tallahassee, FL 32308

Telephone : (850) 942-9990

Price: $3.99 (for the fried rice)

Rice: Yellow

Style: Chinese

Description: This is almost exclusively a takeout joint though they did have a few tables that myself and my friend Lindsay sat at. They had kids playing all around and our server carried a little baby as a backpack. I ordered a pint of veggie fried rice and some fantail shrimp. The rice was alright, nothing special. It came with onions, broccoli, mini-corn, snow peas, carrots, cabbage and sprouts. The carrots were noticeably not the pre-cut frozen kind though overall the vegetables didn't seem especially fresh.


Fortune: Had to ask for it as I was leaving, but haven't opened it yet. EDIT: "You will attend an unusual party and meet someone important"

Overall: 3

Name: Ocean Garden
2814 Apalachee Pkwy
Tallahassee FL 32301
http://www.oceanseafoodtally.com/

Telephone : 850-877-5888

Price: $5.95 (for the fried rice)

Rice: Yellow

Style: Chinese

Description: I did not get the buffet here because it seemed expensive and I wasn't in the mood to eat a lot of food. I did order some vegetable fried rice, spring rolls and an ice tea. The rolls were decent but the ice tea was very dry. Not sure how else to describe it. This place used to be named China Garden but has obviously undergone a renovation recently to focus on seafood.
They only had one size of fried rice, probably a quart since it seemed like more than a pint but since it was served on a plate, I'm really not sure. The fried rice was better than expected. It had mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy, peas, carrots, onions and scallions in it. It wasn't anything to rave about but not bad either.


Fortune: None.

Overall: 3

Name: Sumo Sabi
2020 Pensacola Street
Tallahassee, FL 32304
http://www.sumosabisushi.com

Telephone : 850) 222-5550

Price:

Rice: White

Style: Japanese.

Description: This was a Japanese sushi restaurant. They didn't have a vegetable fried rice entree so instead I got Volcano Tofu on fried rice. The rice had a very distinctive flavor. Not bad or good but I couldn't quite place it. It came with egg, carrots and peas. The rice was sticky and worked well with chopsticks. The meal overall was good though the fried rice was nothing exceptional.


Fortune: None.

Overall: 3

Empire Chinese Restaurant

Name: Empire Chinese Restaurant
1700 N Monroe St # 12
Tallahassee, FL 32303

Telephone : 850) 222-5550

Price: $7.05 (quart with shrimp eggroll)

Rice: White

Style: Chinese.

Description: This is a first for me and this blog, in that I'm live blogging or writing this as I'm eating. I had been avoiding this restaurant because, though I've eaten here many times before, I knew it was particularly nothing special and have been wanting to try other places. I go here quite often because it's right by the Publix that I shop at and, as it were, I had to pick up a few things at Publix, so I figured I'd go ahead and get the review of this establishment out of the way. I often like to kill two birds with one stone and get things done in pairs (like shopping and getting lunch). I guess it's a hold over from the days of $4 gasoline.
The rice has cabbage, broccoli, cubed carrots and peas, water chestnuts, mushrooms and baby corn. While deep in variety the tastes is rather bland.


Fortune: Keep your plans secret for now. (HUNSTY cherries brand)

Overall: 2

Bamboo House Chinese Restaurant

Name: Bamboo House Chinese Restaurant
112 East 6th Avenue
Tallahassee, FL 32303-6129

Telephone : (850) 224-9099

Price: $9.00 (buffet with drink)

Rice: White

Style: Chinese.

Description: My friend Lindsay and I went to lunch (I owed her for buying me ice cream the other night). This place was a real restaurant! Not a Chinese take out joint. Being such, they had a buffet lunch which I decided to partake in. The buffet is very vegetarian friendly (I'm not a vegetarian, I just play one on the Internet(s)). They had lots of yummy tofu dishes and a really good veggie eggroll. I also had some fruit, Chinese donut and miso soup.
While I didn't have veggie fried rice, they obviously had plain fried rice. The fried rice was exactly that: plain. No veggies though it did have egg in it and a slight browning. Overall, unimpressive and fairly bland so I mostly ate the other yummy dishes this place had to offer. Please don't construe my 2 rating below with the overall quality of the restaurant. Most of the food was very good, but the rice was for the most part disappointing. I may also be getting more critical and I get a bit sick of eating fried rice so often. Maybe I need to break for a week or two and eat other things.



Fortune: "You will be called upon to help a friend. Answer it." Wow! An actual fortune. Most fortune cookies contain old Chinese proverbs or more recent renditions of wisdom. This one contains an actual predictive element. I probably need to start paying attention to who manufactures what kind of fortune cookies.

Overall: 2

Eastern Chinese Restaurant

Name: Eastern Chinese Restaurant
6615 Mahan Dr # 108
Tallahassee, FL

Telephone : (850) 942-3777

Price: $6.72 (with shrimp egg roll and iced tea)

Rice: Yellow.

Style: Chinese.

Description: I went out this place far off Mahan right near the I-10 exit. Technically, I think it's outside Tallahassee, but they have a Tallahassee address and this might be useful to anybody coming to Tallahassee from I-10. The rice was pleasantly served on a real plate, not a disposable one. It was light and fresh and almost seemed like just a plate of mixed veggies and rice. You could hardly tell it was "fried." There was a good mix of vegetables but it was hard to make the distinction between whether they were frozen or fresh. It had the standard cube carrots and peas but also a good helping of mushrooms, broccoli, thin strips of bamboo, lettuce, onions, and snow peas. Overall quite good but nothing to rave about.

Fortune: Damn it! They had a bowl of fortune cookies on the counter and I forgot to get one!

Overall: 3