Food and Fortune(s)

"The true test of courage is to bear defeat without losing heart."  "A career change is in the near future."  "Determination will get you through this."  Uh, what?!  Is the sweetness of my fortune cookie trying to soften the blow of future events to come?  If so, it's kind of just creeping me out. And if appending "in bed,"  it's just depressing.  This was the ending to my meal from Hop Bo, unlike the food, which was much less ominous and much more delicious.

Although I'm of Asian descent, one would think that I'd like Chinese food, but I'll be honest about my selections in the Chinese food arena.  I always get the least Chinese items--Bourbon Chicken and fortune cookies.  In fact, the one thing that sways me when it comes to Chinese take out is if the place has the Bourbon Chicken.  But this time, I changed the game plan since my eating plans weren't coming through for me fast enough (free doesn't always mean free, i.e. "Free Burrito Day").

Let's just say, Hop Bo was way better than toe-tapping, getting frustrated in Moe's free burrito line.  I had been referred to Hop Bo Chinese take-out by many people, and the Mango Chicken was high on the list.  You've heard critics always say stick with the special?  Well, that's exactly what I did.  I figured I couldn't go wrong if the dish was suggested by my co-worker, pictured on the magnet business cards, and framed on the wall for being a healthy dish as analyzed by HealthyDiningFinder.com.

I liked it.  Good darn thing too because I would have really been bummed out that I didn't get a free burrito for lunch and then got sub par chinese food.  First, portion size: whoa, that's a lot of food for me.  Second, they done good with the veggies.  I like my veggies in the stir-fry department stir-fried.  I say nay-nay to soggy, bendy, wilted snap peas and carrots!  And Hop Bo delivered with the Mango Chicken 's  snap peas, carrots, without being drowned in the sweet, sour, and spicy sauce.  However, I was hoping that the mango in the dish would be more like the Philippine mango or maybe the honey mango, but for some reason I always have trouble finding that particular variety, so it wasn't a high priority for me.  Hmm, the rice situation.  I totally could have used more rice.  I'm not a big rice fan, but the rice was rationed in my opinion, it was in the littlest take out box.  

Service?  Fast.  Real fast.  I probably wasn't in there for more than 5 minutes.  This was real good, since I wasted most of my lunch 45 minutes waiting for the elusive free burrito from Moe's.  I spent $8.95 for lunch, but it was lunch for multiple days.  Next time, I'm trying the Bourbon Chicken.  Nix the fortune cookies. 

(cartoon image: http://www.derp.co.uk/xkcd/comics/fortune_cookies.png)