A long, long time ago (no, Don Maclean was not there) a couple friends made Roomie and I aware of the awesomeness that is GC. We were introduced to the location in Abington on Rt 16. I had heard nothing but raves from these friends and from family. To be honest, I was slightly jealous that I hadn't heard about it sooner in life.
After one visit, I was hooked. I constantly try to get back but heading to Abington take some planning and forethought. We all know how much this blogger digs her spontenaity. So imagine my excitement when I learned that there was a Quincy location that offered take-out! Hallelujah buddah!
When it comes to location vs. location, I am more partial to the Abington venue. It's bigger and feels really exciting inside. It is hopin'! The Quincy haunt is more relaxed, casual, quiet. Almost somber. I remember in being in Abington and sitting right near a very large bar with a dane floor, live karaoke and a nice view of the hibatchi grill. Lots of action. The food, however, is great at either location.
This weekend we got take out. We got a couple standards and a couple 1st time choices. Let's do our list:
Scallion Pankcakes
A very generous serving accompanied by an amazing dipping sauce. The cakes are so large that I struggle to get through 2, for fear of not getting to my meal. Now we order a small to keep everything at an even keel. (The dipping sauce can be used for other things, too. We dumped it all over our fried rice...what fried, you ask?)
Great Chow Fried Rice
One of 1st time orders, the house fried rice has shrimp, pork, beef, chicken, veggies, the kitchen sink...It's got it all. The color of the rice is a little confusing. You except to see the rice in a shade of brown, from all the soy sauce. For this dish, the rice is really still very white and it is excellent. I love fried rice a lot and there was nothing to dissapoint here. It did not need the dipping sauce that we added to it. That's just a personal preference. And it reheats very nicely. There is nothing like fried rice leftovers.
Pad Thai - Veggies
Our other 1st time order. And another dish that made us do a double take at first sight. The noodles were wider than we'd seen other places and they were also very yellow. For some reason it made me think of chicken noodle soup, without the broth. It did not look bad, just surprising. The taste? Great! It is extremely spicey. I think they should mark the menu with 2 of their little peppers rather than just 1. But we like spice and consumed many spoonfuls.
Orange Flavored Beef
I don't know if I am going to make it through this part without having to stop and run home to get my leftovers. This dish is so unbelievably, crazy good I don't even understand it. I cannot believe there is not a line out the door every single night of crazed foodies trying to get their 'buds on this meal. The orange flavored beef is not your standard beef and brocolli special. It is thin beef which has been lightly floured and fried in a delicious soy, teriakyi orange sauce. It tastes like...like...candy. Like beef candy. I kid you not. It is so sweet with just the littlest tang and saltiness. I can't even handle this. Just go get it.
Just so I don't sound like my head is completely in the clouds and oblivious in life, I want to give you a heads-up on something not to order. Let's call this the "Because I care" segement of the blog.
Because I care: Do not order the lemon chicken. The portion is one-size-fits-all and I have to tell you, it's so wasteful because it is NOT good. The chicken is breaded and fried very sadly and the lemon flavoring tastes like sour jelly. And visually, it looks like they erratically squeezed lemon jelly all over fried chicken. It was so depressing.
A hopin' night, a casual dinner or take out for two. Great Chow is just that, so long as you steer clear of the dish that shall be named no more.
Chow!
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