Zhu Garden

While most of my asian dining experience is relative to buffets, I was recently invited to join my dear friends, the Horne Family, after church at their favorite local chinese restaurant, Zhu Garden. They "warned" me ahead of time that this was not a buffet, but well worth the trip. It certainly was.

A short drive out to west Knoxville took me to 120 south Peters road in Knoxville (just behind the Walgreens on Kingston Pike). This small little restaurant had an extensive lunch menu (featuring both chinese and thai food). After some persuasion, I opted for the sesame chicken lunch special, which included my choice of egg roll or wonton soup (I opted for the wonton soup), sesame chicken and fried rice. I also splurged for an unsweet tea (no lemon, of course) and a glass of water (no lemon). The wonton soup was fantastic. The portion was such that I could not finish it all initially. I was also pleased with the portion size of the entree. My plate was filled with 1/2 sesame chicken and 1/2 fried rice. The chicken was at the perfect temperature and had a terrific flavor. The same can be said for the rice.

The best part of the meal was the price - FREE! Well, normally the meal would only be $4.99 plus drink (which is already a bargain), but my buddy Cliff Horne picked up the tab (I owe you one, Cliff). The restaurant owner, Ty, is a friend of the Horne family. He came out and visited with us and really made us feel welcome at his restaurant.

Good food, good price and great friends - I definetely give Zhu Garden two thumbs up. This restaurant can be reached at 865-769-5448.

Chef Wang's

With all of my travel across the state and country, I literally get excited when my travels take me to Murfreesboro, TN. Recently, my co-worker Carmen and two of my 4-H members, Samantha and Mason, travelled with me to the Central Region 4-H Program Planning meeting in Murfreesboro, TN. While the meeting was interesting and getting to see old friends was great, the highlight of the day was lunch. I have become somewhat of a regular visitor to Chef Wang's buffet, located at 1145 N.W. Broad Street in Murfreesboro, TN.

This buffet has countless bars featuring chinese delicacies ranging from sweet and sour chicken to my personal favorite: coconut chicken. In fact, this buffet is one of the few around that also offers dragon rolls. These small rolls (which remind me of soft egg rolls cut into segments) has a crab meat combination rolled within it that is second to none.

The buffet even offers family friendly items included chicken bites and pizza. Their dessert bar is also out of this world.

I could go on and on about Chef Wangs, but I will leave the rest up to your imagination. This buffet would two thumbs and two toes up! They can be reached at 615-217-6899 and their website is http://www.chefwangs.net/.

Daily Buffet and Grill

On a recent trip to Lebanon, TN to work with the 4-H Performing Arts Troupe at the Wilson County Fair, I decided to pay a visit to the Daily Buffet and Grill. My buddy Luke and I stopped in at around 10:40 a.m. (note that the restaurant opens at 11:00). While some of the dishes were not quite ready yet, the owners allowed us on in to the buffet to begin our lunch journey. While this buffet lacks some of the unique variety of competitors, it is a quality experience for the price.

The buffet offers several favorites, like sweet and sour chicken, sesame chicken and wonton soup. It also offers a hibachi grill and a limited array of sushi (which is perfectly fine with me!). The buffet also offers a good variety of desserts including chocolate pudding (my personal favorite), cheesecake and those tasty peanuts covered in confectioners sugar.

All in all, this buffet gets 1 and 1/2 thumbs up. Good value, good few, but not the absolute best variety.

Daily Buffet and Grill is located at 623 South Cumberland Street, Unit#G in Lebanon, TN. Their phone number is 615-443-7257.

*note that I did not have my camera the day Luke and I ate there, so I had to stop and take a picture while passing through on a different day.

Lucky China

I had the opportunity to visit some family in Kennesaw, GA this week. While there, I enjoyed playing with my two nephews (ages 3 and 5) and catching some R&R time away from work. Of course, one thing I could not avoid was my passion for chinese food. On Wednesday night, we decided to order from the local chinese take-out restaurant, Lucky China. While the majority of my chinese cuisine involves a buffet, I decided to give this venue a try.

I ordered sesame chicken (complete with won ton soup) while my cousin Summer ordered beef and brocolli and her husband Kyle ordered the chicken fried rice. In true southern family tradition, we shared our entrees with each other. I found the chicken fried rice to be a quite generous portion (in fact, there was plenty for all three of us). Most orders of chicken fried rice are 99% rice and 1% chicken. This was not the case with this order. There was a large helping of chicken mixed in with the rice.

While I am not a fan of beef and brocolli, this dish was flavorful and tasty. Now, onto my entree. The dinner meal of sesame chicken (in the $8 range) was quite a substantial meal. Of course, the best part was that Kyle paid for it! The order of sesame chicken was at least 20 pieces of sesame chicken, plus a good helping of fried rice and a large container of won ton soup (which was excellent).

For the price, taste, freshness (and considering it was take-out and NOT a buffet), I definetely give Lucky China two thumbs up. Lucky China can be found at 3600 Cherokee Street NW, Suite 1112 in Kennesaw, GA. Their phone number is 770-428-7773.

Cocke County Fair

On a recent trip to Newport, TN (to work with the 4-H Performing Arts Troupe performance at the Cocke County Fair) I had hoped I would have time in my schedule to take in one of the two buffets in Newport. Unfortunately, time did not allow for that. Therefore, I decided to partake of local fair food.

After much debate, I decided to visit Hillbilly Concessions. This was due in large part to their health score, which was 97! This "restaurant on wheels" offered several meal deals. I opted for the cheeseburger/french fry special at $6.50, which is reasonable for fair food. I found the cheeseburger to be quite tasty and the french fries, though they were lacking in salt, to be fresh and crisp.

While I try to steer clear of fried foods (except, of course, at buffets) Hillbilly Concessions gets two thumbs up.

Tokyo & Mandarin - Halls, TN

Living in Fountain City has advantages. I am convenient to everything AND there are lots of great places to eat within a short drive. Just three miles north, in the small community of Halls, you will find Tokyo & Mandarin. Not to be confused with the Mandarin House, Tokyo & Mandarin is located in the old bank building next to the Food City parking lot near the intersection of Norris Freeway and Maynardville Highway. The actual address is 7212 Maynardville Pike, Halls, TN 37918 and the phone number is 865-922-8888.

Considering I have eaten at this particular buffet twice in the past 30 hour should speak highly of the restaurant. Last night, I enjoyed the buffet with some good friends and today I visited with some friends/co-workers. This buffet, in fact, is one of the best chinese restaurants in east TN. The food is always fresh and the variety is excellent.

The buffet offers several items which I enjoy, including teriyaki chicken, coconut chicken (my absolute favorite) and mandarin rolls. For someone who despises cabbage, egg rolls are not really an option for me. Mandarin rolls are (using my best descriptive ability) wheat based dough rolls that are deep fried (just like egg rolls), but contain minced meat rather than cabbage/assorted vegetables. Before you turn up your nose you must try one. They are absolutely delicious.

This buffet is also family friendly. Their bufffet line always includes kid favorites like plain chicken bites (mainly the plain chicken used in sweet and sour chicken), french fries and a soft-serve ice cream machine. What child would not be in Heaven at Tokyo & Mandarin?

The other great thing about this buffet is the price. The lunch buffet is around 7 dollars and some change (including your drink) while the dinner buffet (also including drink) is a little over 10 dollars. A great buffet and a value! Other perks include a friendly staff and a clean restaurant.

Overall, this buffet gets two BIG thumbs up.