Happy China, O'Fallon, MO

Happy China (http://happychinafood.com/) has become one of my favorite Chinese places to grab a bite to eat. It's located in Dardenne Square near Target. I think I feel the need to draw one of my lovely maps...

Ahhh, how I've missed my maps...
So, Happy China, yeah. Really good Chinese food (even if their Web site looks like it was designed by a 13-year-old kid in the mid-90s). And I'm pretty picky about my Chinese food. One of the best things about Happy China is they deliver, but you need a $15 minimum order. I still feel kind of bad for having the little Chinese lady deliver food to me in the middle of winter, but, hell, I didn't want to go out and I wanted some black pepper chicken. I tipped her well, though. Speaking of the black pepper chicken, it isn't listed on the menu, but you can order it. I don't know why it doesn't appear anymore, but it's pretty much the only dish I order unless I decide to get a lunch special. So, they're open every day also. Monday - Thursday: 10:30 am to 10:00 pm; Friday and Saturday: 10:30 am to 11:00 pm; Sunday: 11:00 am to 10:00 pm.

Black pepper deliciousness

I love the black pepper chicken, and the regular portions of their food is enough for 2 meals. Even the lunch portions are pushing it and could be a light lunch and a light dinner, especially if you get some wontons, crab rangoons, or egg rolls. Oh, the wontons. Mmmmmm. I'm not really a fan of wontons, but I now have to order them every time I get food here. They are just really good. I don't like pork, but I freaking love these wontons with a bit of soy sauce on them.

Fuzzy wontons (will get a better picture next time I order them). The crack that must be in them gives that extra bit of flavor.
So, the prices are pretty reasonable at Happy China, too, considering you can get two meals out of the regular portions or share it with someone. Lunch specials will run about 6 bucks and come with either fried or sticky rice and either an egg roll or a crab rangoon. The regular meals will vary from about $6 - $9.50 depending on what the ingredients are.

Happy China's menu
So if you live in the O'Fallon area, definitely give Happy China a shot: You won't be disappointed.

BBQ Chicken

Well friends, I’ve had to find a new chicken place to get my chicken fix since DD Chicken closed. And I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I had been cheating on DD with BBQ before DD brought our long-standing relationship to an end. Yes…I am a dirty chicken ho’: I don’t care where it comes from, as long as it’s fried and delicious.

And BBQ Chicken is indeed delicious. I'm pretty sure that they mix a little bit of crack in with the flour. I swear to insert-your-favorite-deity that for several days after I first took some BBQ Chicken home, I was jonesing for more chicken…breaking out in cold sweats…stomach growling….hallucinating about chicken…Ok, maybe not that extreme, but it is some damn good chicken and I was craving it for a few days until I got some more. It’s also one of the more expensive, if not the most, fried chicken places around. The prices will range from 15000 won to 20000 won.
(I’ll scan in a menu later)

I usually get chicken from the branch inside the complex at work when I leave work at night and have a chicken craving – it’s very convenient. Unfortunately, unless you work for Samsung, you can’t access this one. However, fear not my fellow Yeongtongites, Yeongtongians waegookins!! There is a BBQ Chicken branch located between the Yeongtong Homeplus and Kyunghee-de. I, unfortunately, can’t give you an exact location, but if you wander around between the two places, you’ll spot it :D I’ve only ordered delivery from here since I live down in the 4 danji area and don’t feel like walking forever for my chicken fix. Ordering delivery from them is pretty simple if you know you’re address…just say hello and then tell them what kind of chicken you want. They’ll ask something about if you want a small or large soda, and then for your address. The people there speak just enough English to prompt you. And, if you’re lucky, once you order a few times, they’ll repeat your address back to you before you even give it because they have stalkercaller ID.

I’ve tried a few different kinds of chicken from here because sometimes my team orders it, but when I order it myself, I keep it pretty simple with either the BB Wings or the Olive-whatever Chicken Strips – honestly, when I order from work, I just point at the picture, and I order “BB Wings” for delivery because it’s easy. I don’t eat a lot of whole chicken (just white meat) so that’s why I don’t order a lot of the “soon sal” chicken (순살), which is a whole chicken cut up and fried.

Mmm....wings...

Now, I’ve had a Korean friend warn me before that if you order a saucy chicken (no, it doesn’t have an attitude), they will fry the chicken in older oil since the sauce will cover up the darker batter color. I don’t know if it’s true, but eh, who cares: it’s fried chicken. I used to work at KFC when I was in high school, so I know how often the oil needs to be changed before it starts affecting the color.

There isn’t anything here that I’ve tried that I don’t like. The breading on the fried chicken is just, really, really good. I can’t really describe the flavor, but it’s yummy. The chicken is also juicy and not overcooked or undercooked.
So, for those that aren’t too hot with Korean, here’s a list of some of the words on the menu and what they are in English:

후라이드 (hu-ride) = fried
닭 (kind of like dawk) or 치킨 (chee-keen) = chicken
다리 (da-ri) = leg
웡스 (wings) = wings
칼슘양념 (cal-shum yeong-nyeom) = fried chicken dipped in a “calcium sauce” (not sure what it is, though)
매운맛양념 (mei-un-mat yeong-nyeom)= fried chicken dipped in a hot sauce
매운맛 닭 다리 (mei-un-mat dawk da-ri) = hot chicken legs
순살크래커 (soon-sal c-rak-ah) = I don’t know. I think this is the hacked up whole chicken fried in pieces
비비웡스 (bee bee wing-suh) ^^ - fried wings
스모크 치킨 (s-mo-kuh chee-keen) – smoked chicken
퉁다리비배큐 (tong da-ri bee-beh-que) = some kind of barbequed legs
골드휭거 (golduh hwing-gah) = chicken fingers (strips)

So, hope that helps! Good luck ordering chicken ^^

Imsil Cheese Pizza

As noted earlier this week, icky weather and poopy internet connections have kept me from blogging lately – sorry! So, today I’ll be posting a couple of different places to make up for the absence.

First on the list is Imsil Cheese Pizza. This is a pizza chain that tends to be operated as kind of a mom & pop pizza shop.

Depending on the size, toppings, and crust selection, the price will range from about 9900 won – 14000 won. I tend to go for simple when I order pizza in Korea – pepperoni & black olive or just pepperoni. I just find it easier to order if I’m ordering delivery, and there are very rarely any surprise toppings making guest appearances (you know I’m talking about you, Mr. Corn!!). It’s not that I dislike corn on my pizza, I just like to have what I ordered, and only what I ordered, on my pizza.

Anyway, back to Imsil Cheese Pizza. The cheese crust pizza is only slightly more expensive that the regular crust and is quite good. They also put the toppings under the cheese so they don’t get burnt. When I was a kid back in Missouri, my sister would always ask Pizza Hut to put the pepperoni under the cheese so it wouldn’t get burnt in the pizza oven, and I’ve found over the years that this tends to work out better for most pizzas. Imsil Cheese also doesn’t overdo it on the sauce so you don’t have sauce dripping down your hand while trying to eat it. You do also get the pizza side item staple – the cup of sweet pickles and a little pack of hot sauce.

The little couple that runs the place is very friendly and the pizzas only take 10 to 15 minutes. They also offer delivery in the Yeongtong area. The store is very tiny and only has one small table for customers waiting on pizza. For a quick pick-up as take out on the way home or delivery, I definitely prefer this place over Pizza Hut. It's located kind of catty-cornered from Samsung Digital Plaza at one of the main intersections in Yeongtong right next to the 300 block of apartments. I'll be posting a map soon to make things easier to find!!

My favorite: pepperoni w/ cheese crust

Mmm..cheesy