Sherman's Food Adventures: Nordel Kitchen

Nordel Kitchen

Whenever I mention the words "Manchu Wok", it elicits 2 types of responses.  There are those who are okay with it or those who would rather listen to Gangnam Style on repeat for a month than eat there.  For me, I don't mind it, if I have reasonable expectations going into it. I do realize the blasphemy since I'm Chinese, but really, I don't consider it to be authentic, so it doesn't bother me.  And to be completely honest, I do crave that style of Chinese food once-in-awhile.  Hence, I made my way to Nordel Kitchen in search of large portions, low prices and blasphemous (according to some people) Chinese food.  Formerly Hang Lee Wok, nothing much had changed, other than the name and possibly a smaller selection of items.

I decided on the Super Combo consisting of 3 items plus rice or noodles.  I went for Fried Rice which exhibited a lot of wok heat.  Maybe a little too much as some of it was burnt.  On the other hand, the rice had a nutty flavour and was texturally pleasing.  The Gai Lan with Beef was decent where the veggie was crunchy while the beef was properly tenderized.  The Sweet & Sour Pork was pretty average where the meat had a pleasing chewy texture.  However, it was pretty soggy and not all that flavourful.  The Sesame Chicken was okay as well with a nice sesame oil hit while being moist.  On another visit, I went for the Fried Noodles instead.  They were standard and did the job.  I had the Dry Pork which was crispy on the outside, yet relatively juicy on the inside.  However, there was practically no flavour to it (needed some salt).  The Spicy Chicken with Vegetables had a surprising heat level which featured proper textures for all the components.  Lastly, the Orange Chicken was pretty much the same as the sesame chicken except for a hint of tang. I tried going back a third time to try their BBQ Pork (as it is made in-house), but they never once had it ready for lunch.  Finally, I was able to try the pork many attempts later.  Not sure if it was really worth it, but it was lean and moist due to the wok toss in diluted and sweetened soy sauce.  Nothing that memorable here.  However, if you want a whack load of food for cheap (which is passable), then this is for you.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Cheap
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Limited selection
- Some things are not ready for lunch

Nordel Kitchen on Urbanspoon

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well I suppose if I was starving and absolutely everthing was closed, including fast food chains, I might eat here.

But, come to think of it, nah. Just too spoiled by the variety available in Burnaby, Vancouver, and Richmond.

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