South Bay: Nutrition House
One of the Chinese restaurants that my family frequents is Nutrition House. My grandparents wanted to meet up for lunch last week and because my sister wanted to eat at Nutrition House, we talked my grandparents into believing that they wanted to eat there:
Sometimes, I just don't get Chinese restaurants. Why do they come up with English names that don't match the Chinese? Then again, I guess "Five Loaves and Two Fish" might be a bit of a mouthful. (For those of you who know your Bible stories, yes, that's where it's from.)
It was a relatively busy lunch hour:
There was a regular menu and a lunch special menu. My grandparents let my sister and I go crazy and order whatever we wanted.
If you order a certain number of dishes off the lunch special menu, everyone gets a bowl of soup:
Thick and goopy and meh.
Both my sister and I love intestine, so from the regular menu we ordered a dish with large intestine (liu fei chang):
I have yet to have an intestine that I didn't like.
One of my favorites at Nutrition House is their mushroom and chicken pot:
Unfortunately, it seems like they've changed the recipe because it no longer tastes like it once did. Bummer. Guess what I'm not ordering again?
My grandpa requested fried sole, which we found on the lunch special menu:
I was kind of expecting the whole fish, so I was a tad disappointed even though it was still delicious.
My sister really wanted the five color cold noodle with shredded chicken:
The five color part of the dish comes from the various julienned veggies and egg. The noodles are long and wide and very Q. The sesame sauce is added and everything is mixed tableside. My mom really likes this dish (she cleared the plate), but I felt that it was a bit on the bland side and could barely taste the chicken.
Another one of our favorites is the eggplant with potato and pork:
The sauce is what really makes the dish. My grandma complained that it was too salty, but that's what rice is for, right?
My grandpa really likes walnut shrimp, so we ordered that off the lunch special menu for him:
Unlike many other Chinese restaurants, the shrimp at Nutrition house isn't entirely covered by batter. Instead, the shrimp only has a slight coating of batter, but still retains it's shape and color. I really cannot stand the Americanized version of walnut shrimp where it looks like they just took fried shrimp, threw in some candied walnuts, and drizzled some sweet sauce on top.
Our server informed us that since we ordered two dishes off the lunch special menu, we should pick another one to get the three for $20 deal (something like that, I don't quite remember what the exact price is). Feeling pressured by the server's waiting gaze, my sister chose the first thing she saw on the lunch special menu that caught her interest - salt and pepper fish:
She stuck with that choice even when I reminded her that we'd already ordered the fried sole. I didn't push the issue. I can never get enough fried fish. Especially freshly fried fish.
Despite a few letdowns, I'm still a fan of Nutrition House, or as my family knows it, Wu Bing Er Yu. Not only is the food pretty damn good, the service is always friendly...and how often do you get friendly service in a Chinese restaurant?
Next to never. Take my word for it.
Nutrition House
496 Barber Ln
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 428-9285
Sometimes, I just don't get Chinese restaurants. Why do they come up with English names that don't match the Chinese? Then again, I guess "Five Loaves and Two Fish" might be a bit of a mouthful. (For those of you who know your Bible stories, yes, that's where it's from.)
It was a relatively busy lunch hour:
There was a regular menu and a lunch special menu. My grandparents let my sister and I go crazy and order whatever we wanted.
If you order a certain number of dishes off the lunch special menu, everyone gets a bowl of soup:
Thick and goopy and meh.
Both my sister and I love intestine, so from the regular menu we ordered a dish with large intestine (liu fei chang):
I have yet to have an intestine that I didn't like.
One of my favorites at Nutrition House is their mushroom and chicken pot:
Unfortunately, it seems like they've changed the recipe because it no longer tastes like it once did. Bummer. Guess what I'm not ordering again?
My grandpa requested fried sole, which we found on the lunch special menu:
I was kind of expecting the whole fish, so I was a tad disappointed even though it was still delicious.
My sister really wanted the five color cold noodle with shredded chicken:
The five color part of the dish comes from the various julienned veggies and egg. The noodles are long and wide and very Q. The sesame sauce is added and everything is mixed tableside. My mom really likes this dish (she cleared the plate), but I felt that it was a bit on the bland side and could barely taste the chicken.
Another one of our favorites is the eggplant with potato and pork:
The sauce is what really makes the dish. My grandma complained that it was too salty, but that's what rice is for, right?
My grandpa really likes walnut shrimp, so we ordered that off the lunch special menu for him:
Unlike many other Chinese restaurants, the shrimp at Nutrition house isn't entirely covered by batter. Instead, the shrimp only has a slight coating of batter, but still retains it's shape and color. I really cannot stand the Americanized version of walnut shrimp where it looks like they just took fried shrimp, threw in some candied walnuts, and drizzled some sweet sauce on top.
Our server informed us that since we ordered two dishes off the lunch special menu, we should pick another one to get the three for $20 deal (something like that, I don't quite remember what the exact price is). Feeling pressured by the server's waiting gaze, my sister chose the first thing she saw on the lunch special menu that caught her interest - salt and pepper fish:
She stuck with that choice even when I reminded her that we'd already ordered the fried sole. I didn't push the issue. I can never get enough fried fish. Especially freshly fried fish.
Despite a few letdowns, I'm still a fan of Nutrition House, or as my family knows it, Wu Bing Er Yu. Not only is the food pretty damn good, the service is always friendly...and how often do you get friendly service in a Chinese restaurant?
Next to never. Take my word for it.
Nutrition House
496 Barber Ln
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 428-9285
Wow, delectable dishes!! and the soup looks great too (and is free, hurray!). Loved reading this.
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