Helen Huang’s Mandarin House
2031 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, FL 33020
… more pix on Google Maps, Yelp, TA
Are the bell pepper mold or from cooking?
We planned to have dinner at Miami tennis Open but I didn’t realize (so me…) that I purchased qualifying round which means they close shop early.
We’re hungry. And found this Chinese, on the way to home with 4+ star rating. So Chinese it is.
Meter parking. Upon entering, the fish tank perks me up. At 7pm on a Tuesday, it’s empty. There is only one couple. The decor is dated and dark.
I see two women, one serves us and one is working around the dining hall, like
restoring or the like.
I asked if they’ve Chinese menu, she said no.
We’ve ma po tofu 麻婆豆腐and shredded pork Sichuan style. We’ve been sweating under the sun at the matches and wanted salt. The hot tea is soothing. (at bill time did I know it’s free, so is the rice.)
They’ve wine by the glass but I didn’t order which is rare. Something isn’t right.
Both dishes are sweet. Ha … And as we’re winding down and I’m picking on the last few strains of bell pepper, I see the mold. Horrified, I told the woman who comes to ask if we’ve done.
She is defensive and asks me if I know how to cook and the ‘molds’ are the birthmark of the wok.
“But they’re so tiny and concise, how could a wok make such marks?”
The woman goes away and returns with a container full of sliced bell pepper, raising her voice, “this is what we use. We don’t use moulded bell pepper…”
To be fair to them, I showed the photo to a few Chinese friends who cook, mold or cooking marks. Their answers, without knowing the above story, mold.
Oh well. What do you think?