{"id":19033,"date":"2023-05-10T07:38:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T11:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=19033"},"modified":"2023-05-10T07:38:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T11:38:46","slug":"brobdingnagian-bargain-dining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=19033","title":{"rendered":"Brobdingnagian Bargain Dining"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(See what I did there?)<\/p>\n<p>So progress continues at Elmhurst\u2019s revivified HK Food Court but incrementally at best. They move things around as in a protracted game of chess and, with a few exceptions in the far right corner, I can\u2019t really determine who the vendors are \u2013 or perhaps there\u2019s only one, because the crew seems to wander freely among all of the stations. Each has some signage, but I\u2019m not convinced that it corresponds to the contents of the steam tables beneath. None of which has anything to do with the food, of course.<\/p>\n<p>But I have stumbled upon two items worth considering.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)<\/em><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2938-use-edited-1440.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2938-use-edited-1440.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1080\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19029\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2938-use-edited-1440.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2938-use-edited-1440-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2938-use-edited-1440-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2938-use-edited-1440-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2938-use-edited-1440-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Casa Fried Chicken, when it\u2019s staffed and when the chicken looks reasonably freshly fried, offers unreasonably inexpensive fare: wings are 4 for $2 and big honkin\u2019 chicken parts are $1 each. The piece on this plate was about six inches wide and 2\u00bd inches thick. \u201cIs that a thigh?\u201d I asked incredulously. She enclosed it in a wax paper bag and answered, \u201cOne dollar,\u201d avoiding my question. At home, my autopsy revealed that it appeared to be a thigh somehow firmly affixed to a breast based on the color of the meat but not on the skeleton or any anatomy I was familiar with. It was agreeably seasoned though, and for the price it was a genuine bargain.<\/p>\n<p>The Fried Rice Noodles are flavored modestly, well lubricated, and possess the satisfyingly chewy texture of an archetypical comfort food. And I\u2019m addicted to the stuff. You\u2019re looking at roughly a quarter of the large size which weighed in at over 2\u00bd lbs: $5.75. I\u2019ve fallen into the habit of bringing one of these home every time I visit because since they\u2019re delicious but not overpowering, they\u2019re easy to tinker with by adding other ingredients (meat, fish, veggies, etc.) and enhancing the seasoning appropriately thus creating something you didn\u2019t dine on the day before while staying well within your budget. This meal cost about $2.50.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2942-LL-use-edited-1440.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2942-LL-use-edited-1440.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1080\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19027\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2942-LL-use-edited-1440.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2942-LL-use-edited-1440-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2942-LL-use-edited-1440-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2942-LL-use-edited-1440-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_2942-LL-use-edited-1440-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nThe remarkable feature of these noodz is that they are enormous! I\u2019ve unfurled one in this photo; it measures about 7\u00bd x 5 inches and that\u2019s not the largest of the lot.<\/p>\n<p>I see a fusion Chinese Lasagna in my future.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>See what I did there? Read on&#8230;. <a href=\"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=19033\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3336,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-19033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-restaurants-food-courts","tag-chinese"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19033"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19044,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19033\/revisions\/19044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}