Meal 32

Sesame Chicken

Rating: 8.5(Ballzy-The Cat’s Meow)

Fortune of the day- Something on 4 wheels will soon be a fun investment for you!

We had a guest come along with us on this outing to Dragon city and I promised him that he could write the review for his meal.

Favorable Quote: "It seems like the only reason it has the name it does is because of the unevenly spread sesame seeds over a total of two pieces of chicken"

The sauce it was in had a molasses-like texture with a well proportioned tart taste to it. As some may say, "General Tso's w/o the Red Pepper." Chicken pieces were rather large and a tad overcooked, but still a great meal. Also, the dish having only one other dish that consisted of the same taste variation was refreshing compared to most other dishes of Modern Chinese Culinary. It possessed a peculiarity about it that, for lack of a better word, indefinitely separated it from the rest of the menu. The above decent taste and nonconformity of the dish earned this meal a thorough 8.5.

-Jarrod Creameans-

Meal 31

Mon Go Beef

 Rating: 6.5(Mediocre-Succulent)

Fortune of the day- An interesting musical opportunity is in your near future.

The Mon Go Beef was just another ordinary meal at Dragon City. The dish was lacking originality and complexity. It favored many of the other plates, consisting of the identical ingredients and occupying the same basic texture and taste. Fashioned out of the common vegetables found in Chinese dishes, there were carrots, baby corn, onions, green bell peppers, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. Strangely enough, there was no broccoli, which would have maxed out the foliage in this fare. The onions were not cooked thoroughly living a slightly bitter taste to them. They usually do a wonderful job cooking the food but finished this meal a little too soon. I recommend this meal to anyone who is too afraid to take chances because I guarantee this meal will not deviate from its 6.5 rating. 

Meal 30

General Tso’s Chicken

 Rating: 10(Godsent)

Fortune of the day- Believe in yourself!

As most of you know, General Tso’s Chicken is the dish that started it all. It is extremely hard to find the right words to describe this meal. There are none that come to mind that can even remotely express how we feel about this astonishing and majestic meal meant only for the gods of men. I found this quote to best suit our sentiment:

Tell the heavens and the earth to celebrate and sing! Command every mountain to join in song! For General Tso’s has arrived.

                                                                                               -Isaiah 49:13

Many would disagree with this quote, mainly for the last part but I promise you it is in the bible. God not only sent is begotten son but also this tasty dish thus earning the ultimate Godsent!

Meal 29

Hot & Spicy Shrimp

Rating: 8.5(Ballzy-The Cat’s Meow)

Fortune of the day- A day without sunshine is like night.

The Hot & Spicy Shrimp was basically the Szechuan dish of shrimp. Seemingly the same sauce as the Shredded Beef Szechuan, the Hot & Spicy Shrimp had a tangy yet spicy flavor, twisting our tongues into a delectable predicament. Containing the most perfect collection of vegetables, this hearty dish of onions, bell peppers, celery, and carrots did extremely well in not overloading the plate. It was a wonderful combination of sweet, zest, fiery savor that placed it above many of the other dishes. This meal was by far the best shrimp dish that we have encountered along the way ergo earning an 8.5.

Meal 28

Roast Pork in Garlic Sauce

Rating: 7.5(Succulent-Ballzy)

Fortune of the day- You will have a long, adventurous life.

Now with most of the information we have gathered, it is no longer a difficult task deciding what is in the meals at Dragon City. The Pork in Garlic Sauce, for anyone who has kept up, is the same as the Chicken with Garlic Sauce, minus the “Chicken” and the word “with” in the title. It had all the fixings such as water chestnuts, baby corn, broccoli, celery, cabbage, carrots, green peas, and bamboo shoots. I know it’s overwhelming but you can pick through them. The sauce was the same with a sweet and tangy spin, making for a decent meal. If you are more of a pork fan than you are a chicken or plain broccoli fan, then I highly suggest taking the succulent to ballzy route on this one.

Meal 27

Hunan Roast Pork

Rating: 8(Ballzy)

Fortune of the day- A lie prevails, until the truth arrives.

Yes, this dish is the same as the Hunan Chicken and Hunan Beef. It was expected as were the other meals. It had the same vegetables like carrots, cabbage, broccoli, water chestnuts, baby corn, and green peas. The main difference between the roast pork and the chicken or beef was the sauce. The sauce on the roast pork was much thicker, presenting a consistency of barbeque sauce. This heftier coating added a different taste, only obtaining an 8 instead of an 8.5.

Meal 26

Hunan Beef

Rating: 8.5(Ballzy-The Cat’s Meow)

Fortune of the day- ¡Usted es el más grande en el mundo!

First of all, let me say that the fortune of the day is in Spanish because this is what we pulled out of our fortune cookie. I could tell you what it says but it is so darn easy to translate things these days with Google and things like that, that I don’t see why I should! Now that’s done, we can get down to business. The Hunan Beef was eerily similar to the Hunan Chicken; it really freaked us out. Actually no it didn’t. We expected the two meals to be almost identical with the exception of the beef and chicken. This dish had the same vegetables which included (in case you didn’t read Meal 25) water chestnuts, baby corn, broccoli, celery, cabbage, carrots, green pepper, and bamboo shoots. If I missed anything, please take note of it and send me an email to let me know. This meal was also spicy with little flakes of red pepper floating around in the sauce. It too provided as a great nasal cleansing. As with most meals, if they would have exempted some of the unwanted vegetables, than it would have been rated higher than an 8.5

Game 2

Fox’s Pizza Den (5.6) Vs. Pizza Chef (5.6)

Even though this is just the second game of the Pizza Playoffs, I challenge any teams to come as close as these two did. As you can see by the score it was a perfect tie, making it extremely hard to judge. For the price, both Fox’s and Pizza Chef scored a 5. It cost around $11 bucks for a medium one-topping pizza. As for the cheese, Pizza Chef pulled through with a 7 while Fox’s only scored a 5.5. Both teams were lacking on their sauce but Fox’s outscored their opponent with a 6 with Pizza chef only earning a 4. The crust for Fox’s and Pizza Chef were very close with Fox’s gaining a 6 and Pizza Chef a 6.5. With all of these scores tallied, that left us with a tie. Fortunately we consider delivery and preparation time. Pizza Chef did not deliver and it took them longer to cook the pizza thus crowning Fox’s Pizza Den the winner.

Meal 25

Hunan Chicken

Rating: 8.5(Ballzy-The Cat’s Meow)

Fortune of the day- Read between the lines.

Remember meal 5, the Chicken with Mixed Vegetables? Well take that meal and throw some red pepper in there and you have yourself a Hunan Chicken. Like many of the other dishes, this plate had every vegetable under the sun from baby corn to green peas with water chestnuts, broccoli, celery, cabbage, carrots, and bamboo shoots in between. The chicken shredded and mangled like it usually is. The sauce was fairly dark and rich with red pepper flakes scattered throughout. It gave the dish a distinctive taste, setting it aside and declaring it different.  Even with all of the unwanted veggies, this dish left my palate exposed, earning an 8.5

Meal 24

Curry Chicken

Rating: 8(Ballzy)

Fortune of the day- A good worker deserves a good salary.

The Curry Chicken definitely earns a top choice award for leading us off the beaten path. This Guru, of a seemingly Indian cuisine, brought a lot of kicks to the chop sticks. After diluting some of the vegetables, this dish was not overpowered too greatly only containing carrots, onions, baby corn, green peas, celery, and water chestnuts. The curry is what brought this one home, adding a completely new dimension of flavor. It was moderately spicy, clearing out the sinuses and making way for a distinct taste. Curry, commonly thought of as a type of spice, can mean many things. Its basic definition states that it is a collective seasoning of different types of hot spices (including curry powder), thus making it extremely difficult to tell you exactly what was in the Curry Chicken.  All I can say is that this meal had my taste buds "Bollywooding" and karate chopping, earning a ballzy title. 

Meal 23

Chicken w. Garlic Sauce

Rating: 7.5(Succulent-Ballzy)

Fortune of the day- Remember that time is money.

If you enjoyed the Broccoli with Garlic Sauce then chances are you are going to adore the Chicken with Garlic Sauce. Yes it has a slightly lower rating but that is only because of the unwanted vegetables like baby corn and water chestnuts. What really gave this meal its bang was the sauce, which was the same sweet and tangy, garlic induced phenomenon that enveloped the broccoli in the previous meal. The added celery, cabbage stocks, carrots, green bell peppers, and bamboo shoots made for a much needed variety. The chicken was nothing special, cooked like all the other chicken dishes only this one had garlic sauce obviously. A lot of these meals have an overwhelming amount of vegetables. If Dragon City would limit the quantity, yet keep the medley, then Chicken with Garlic Sauce would have earned a higher rating than 7.5. 

Game 1

Pizza Works (6.7) vs. Dominos (7.4)

This was a fairly challenging match as both teams were well prepared. Pertaining to the cost, it was a very close call. All down the board, the score only varied by one point. Dominos earned a 6 while Pizza Works earned a 6.25. Remember that the cost is determined by quantity and not necessarily the price of the overall value. The cheese was rather close as well but Dominos pulled through with a 7.25 to Pizza Works’ 7. As the price, the sauce only varied by one point with Dominos obtaining a 6.75 and Pizza Works grabbing a 7. The deciding factor in this game came down to the crust. Hands down, Dominos won with its crust boasting a 9.5 while Pizza Works only showed a 6.75. So what’s the verdict? Pizza Works loses to Dominos by a short margin. 

Meal 22

Kung Pao Chicken

 Rating: 6(Mediocre)

Fortune of the day-You have a charming way with words. Write a letter this week.

“Why put peanuts on a perfectly good meal?” I want to ask Dragon City. It seems it would have been perfectly acceptable with a vacancy of goobers but instead they beefed up the Kung Pao Chicken with more protein than you can possibly govern. This pallet of feed exhibits a fine display of traditional Chinese vegetables flaunting diced celery, water chestnuts, and carrots along with green bell peppers and baby corn. When you get down to the actual chicken, it’s really not too shabby, advocating an interesting blend of sweet and spicy zest. Two components made this meal undesirable and that was the peanuts and water chestnuts. Kung Pao Chicken is a strange enough of a name. Literally called pinyin gōng bǎo jī dīng, it obtained its name from Ding Baozhen, an official in the late Qing Dynasty. After the Cultural Revolution, it was deemed politically incorrect being then known as “fast-fried chicken cubes” and was not reinstated until the 1980’s. Maybe you will like the salty peanuts in contrast to the peppery chicken but we found it frankly, marginally Mediocre.

Meal 21

Shredded Beef Szechuan

Rating: 8.5(Ballzy-The Cat’s Meow)

Fortune of the day- Now is the time for peace in your life. Go along with other’s ideas.

Chances are I haven’t pronounced this dish correctly yet. Having said that, who cares? This platter with surprise matter was more than expected for even the heartiest of eaters.  The Shredded Beef Szechuan’s sauce danced around a tingling, yet welcomed spiciness in my mouth, providing a sultry base on which a pyramid of epic deliciousness was constructed. This lunch special boasted its fair share of veggies including, but probably not limited to, onions, green bell peppers, carrots, and celery.  Intertwined within the surplus of vegetables was a healthy portion of beef.  Two factors made this dish a great success: 1.) the shredded vegetables took the shape and place of noodles creating an appeasing texture. 2.) The sauce leaves you begging for more rice as it blended beautifully with the golden field in the Styrofoam container.  All things considered, this was the Ballziest Cat’s Meow on Main Street, earning it a rating of 8.5.

-Ethan Constant-

Meal 20

Broccoli in Garlic Sauce

Rating: 8(Ballzy)

Fortune of the day- You will advance socially, without any special effort.

Broccoli in Garlic Sauce sounds like a dull and banal meal consisting solely of a tree-like vegetable. Actually the dish was a delight, leaps and bounds better than Vegetable Delight. Even though it had just one ingredient, this plate gave our palates that perpetual piquancy that we have been pursuing. The trunks of broccoli were entirely too large. It was difficult to shove an entire piece into your mouth. Do not fear though, the sauce made any inconvenience the meal provided seem small and insignificant. The sauce was thicker than others being rather sweet; it caught us off guard. After the sweetness wore off, the spiciness shown through but this was expected since we have entered the spicy meals off the lunch menu. Of course there was a hint of garlic but come on, its in the title.  This contradictory made for an extremely appealing taste earning a solid 8.  

Meal 19

Shrimp w. Lobster Sauce

Rating: 6(Mediocre)

Fortune of the day- Next summer, you will dance to a different beat.

The Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is actually a soup. I know it is hard to believe granted its name does not signify that its soup in any fashion. This is the first soup we have encountered at Dragon City and it is safe to say that it was actually so-so. It was notably watery with peas, carrots, shrimp, and what was either egg or lobster. This mystery matter was elongated and gooey but decent nonetheless.  Overall it was slightly salty but not strong enough to harm a slug, giving it a pretty good taste. It reminded us of Egg Drop Soup which is a Chinese soup composed of beaten eggs boiled in a broth, in most cases chicken broth. The Shrimp with Lobster Sauce would have earned a higher rating if it had contained more pieces of shrimp. There were only three crustaceans floating around in the brew. Once they add more substance, this meal will be more preferable but until then  it shall stay as Mediocre.

Meal 18

Shrimp w. Chinese Vegetable

Rating: 4.5(Passable-Bearable)

Fortune of the day- Your hidden creative talents will soon be revealed.

Shrimp with Chinese Vegetables bore close resemblance to Meal 2, the Shrimp Chow Mein.  Like the Shrimp Chow Mein, this dish had an extremely gooey texture. The vegetables were too crisp to be boiled so I would say the sauce obtained its drippy caliber from some other means. Vegetables reigned over this meal once again with water chestnuts, celery, peas, carrots, cabbage, and bamboo shoots making up 95% of the grub. The shrimp was decadent but being covered in placenta made it slightly less attractive. It had a taste but the impact was not sufficient enough to be remembered therefore earning a 4.5 on the Jaxon Scale. 

Play-In Game and Grading System

If it wasn't evident, CiCi's Pizza won last place. It was the restaurant that you guys voted on to be excluded from the Pizza Playoffs in order for Pizza Works to take its place. A good idea was thrown my way though. Just because CiCi's Pizza was the most disliked, it would not be fair to allow Pizza Works to take its place. It was decided that a play-in game would determine which pizza joint would join the tournament. Yesterday we ordered both CiCi's Pizza and Pizza Works and put our taste buds to the test. It was a tough battle yet Pizza Works reigned over its opponent.

So how was this victor determined? Well we have a grading rubric that looks at multiple components. It compares the cheese, sauce, crust, and price of both pizzas. Each section is given a rating from 1-10 and we add them up. We take the average and see which one has the overall higher rating. If it comes down to a close one, delivery and time it takes to prepare comes into play. With CiCi's Pizza, you will not find a cheaper pizza in town. You can get 3 medium, one topping pizza for $9.99. It cost that much for just one medium, one topping pizza at Pizza Works. So keep dropping by and see which pizza place will take the trophy.

Meal 17

Vegetable Delight

Rating: 4(Passable)

Fortune of the day- Don’t worry about money. The best things in life are free.

Baby corn, broccoli, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, green bell peppers, carrots, celery, cabbage, and peas; no I did not just list every vegetable known to man. Actually these were all the edible plants that infiltrated the Vegetable Delight. It was a huge plate of green, white, greenish, and a tad of orange foliage cooked in soy sauce. There was no mystery to the dish, the name says it all. A vegetarian would kill to have this meal. Everything was cooked correctly, the peppers were moist, broccoli was crisp, and water chestnuts were…well water chestnuts. The meal was not necessarily bad, it just didn’t surprise us with a ton of tang or even a crumb. Until the veggies grab a tantalizing taste we have to tag it as Passable.