In the beginning . . . an all-day affair with apps on the Munchmobile
By Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com | June 22, 2012
[excerpted from online posting]You can’t go anywhere these days without hearing about apps. The newest, coolest, most creative. The apps you must have, can’t live without. Apps are where it’s at — readily available, amazingly useful, always at your fingertips.
Yep, nothing like some plump mussels, crispy calamari, veggie spring rolls or rare ahi tuna to start your meal.
What, you thought I was talking about smart phones?
Appetizers set the tone, forecast the future, of any dinner. If the apps are bad, how can the entrees be any better?
In the 13th century, King Alfonso of Castile miraculously recovered from a grave illness by drinking wine and eating small dishes between meals. That’s how tapas began, the story goes. But appetizers (Russians call them zakuski, for “little bites”) have been around since the beginning of, well, dinner.
We’re not sure where sliced conch with hot pepper sauce, or ox tongue and tripe with roasted chile peanut vinaigrette, figure in the World Appetizer Timeline, but they were among the highlights of our Munchmobile all-day apps adventure.
For some, anyway.
“Hated the ox tongue; no one could possibly enjoy this!” Muncher Steve Kady said of the cold appetizer at Cheng Du 23 in Wayne.
The sliced cabbage at Cheng Du 23 was one of the day’s hits.
Well, this taster enjoyed it, along with the spicy cabbage, the conch and ginger string beans.
Termite loved the cabbage, too, admiring its “nice crunch” and “gingery seasoning.”
Oh yes, Termite. That’s Mary O’Connor, Kady’s niece; he gave her the nickname as a kid because she ate everything.
“Lively” doesn’t do this Munch crew justice. Kady cracked us up with his Arnold Schwarzenegger imitations, not all of them using the proper words (hasta valista?). Gail Leicht, author of the “The Skinny on …” series of city guides, proved she was a tough, discerning critic.
Apps — food, phone, whatever — are great, when they work.
Some worked on this trip, others not so much.
Loved the sliced conch at Cheng Du 23.
CHENG DU 23, WAYNE
Walk past the fish tank, order the ants.
That would be Ants Climbing a Tree, a minced pork and cellophane noodle dish at Cheng Du 23, a short walk from Willowbrook Mall.
Kimchi aside, cabbage does not rank high on a list of sexy dishes. Try the spicy cabbage here and you’ll see the light. It’s a fiery, crispy delight. “Bright and fresh — wonderful balance,” an awed Leicht said.
Malanka marveled over the “contrasts” in the sliced conch with hot pepper sauce — “crisp vegetables; mild, tender conch; spicy sauce.”
The ginger string beans were another hit; JoAnna Silva called them “just crunchy enough with the perfect amount of ginger.”
Predictable scallion pancakes, but the steamed juice bun, in a bewitching dark vinegar-ginger sauce, was one of the day’s top appetizers. “The mixed pork and soup was a great surprise,” Kady said.
Chocolate-flavored fortune cookies? That’s different. “If you never change your mind,” read the Munchmobile driver’s fortune, “why have one?”
Oh, is that how it works?
WHERE WE MUNCHED
Cheng Du 23: 6 Willowbrook Road, Wayne; (973) 812-2800. BYOB.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. seven days a week. Website: www.chengdu23.com