Henry’s China House

It is hard competing with memories but that is what happened when I walked into Henry's, a restaurant I haven't been into for over 25 years and that wasn't at this location.

For many years they were located a couple of blocks south of State Road 84 on Federal Highway located near a roller skating ring and The Copa, a gay bar and nightclub.

Did the food taste any better then or was it as pedestrian as the food we had today? I had the shrimp with lobster sauce ($7.25) and a diet cola ($1.25) served with pork fried rice and 2 fried wings while Allen had the Sweet and Sour Shrimp with rice and an egg roll ($7.25) and diet cola ($1.25) and Anthony had the Egg Foo Young with rice and a Spring Roll with ice tea ($2) no ice. With tax and tip, the check came to $33.50.

The food tasted like the food I ate in the Bronx many years ago, no better, no worse and certainly no fresher!

(And I hope the kids waiting on us--and they were kids, young kids--were just off for the holidays!)

I wish it was as good as I remembered but even this small 'new' place has no resemblance to what it once was.

By the way, don't bother going to their web page--prices are all wrong--at least for lunch.

Lotus Chinese Kitchen

There is nothing really to differentiate the Lotus from over the 1,000 (probably) Chinese restaurants I have eaten in my 82 years (well started eating out when I was about 4 so let's say 78 years.)

The fish tank, the menu, the food, the pot of tea, the dish of cold fried noodles is all par for the course. I had the Moo Gai Pan ($13.95) which came with an egg roll, brown rice and tea was as bland and 'manufactured' tasting as ever. Okay, it is a standard dish on every Chinese restaurant menu but sometimes you just want some familiar dish.

I've heard that most of the food here is homemade but certainly didn't taste like it.

There is nothing wrong with the food and service while the main dining room is elegant looking but there is nothing that sets the Lotus Chinese Kitchen apart from the many other Chinese restaurants in the Fort Lauderdale area or, for that matter, in the Bronx!

After not having Chinese food for a couple of years and eating at Henry's China House on 17th Street last week and this week at the Lotus I can go for another few years without the run of the mill Florida Chinese restaurants for a while and will stick to Nabu when I have a yen for Chinese food.

For the record, both Henry's and Lotus have been around for decades so they must be doing something right.