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Julian’s Asian Diner

August 10th, 2011

Julians Restaurant
 

Julian’s is an asian diner located in the Time Square shopping center in Tyler TX that has been in Tyler for seven years, changing management and remodeling once in October of 2009. Julians has been a popular Tyler dinner spot for years. The food is good, well cooked and with unique flavor  that distinguishes it from an average asian food restaurant. The food may be above average but that doesn’t apply to most other aspects of the restaurant.

The low lighting is nice and helps provide a calm atmosphere but it doesn’t completely distract from from the minimal lame wall decor or awkward arrangement in my opinion. However, the bar is pretty decent, it’s in a separate room entirely from the dining area and has an even darker sleeker feel than the restaurant. As of recently Julians has started doing drink specials with Texas Tuesdays and Monday Martinis for six dollars.

The good thing about the food though, is that in addition to be being flavorful and well made of good ingredients it is also not too expensive as long as you go at lunch or if you’re content with Julian’s exceptional fried rice a half order is only $5.50 and despite being a half it amounts to a decent meal.

But if you’re interested in something a little more substantial they have a very good honey seared chicken which is lightly battered and wok fired in a honey soy sauce with garlic. If you’re looking for s meal specifically healthy or even vegetarian then I suggest one of Julian’s health bowls such as the Apex Shrimp Bowl consisting of shrimp, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms and ginger or the Tofu bowl for the vegetarians.

Julians has good features, but it has not always had an excellent reputation for cleanliness, although it’s certainly not always the case. The service has been good as far as I’ve seen and the wait for food acceptable. However, the wait for a table can be long on certain nights so time your arrival well. The restaurant may not pull off the upscale look perfectly but the food is considered upscale for Tyler’s asian food scale which admittedly is not large.

Genghis Grill

March 10th, 2011

Genghis grill is a new Mongolian stir fry restaurant which has recently opened a location here in Tyler at 3709 Troup Highway. This is a buffet style restaurant where you make your own bowl by choosing from a very large selection of vegetables, spices and protein such as chicken, beef or even tofu. Each customer is given a small metal bowl and a challenge to fit as many vegetables into it as physically possible.

The vegetable selection is wide and therefore it is important to carefully browse your options before getting carried away with your selections after only seeing some of the variety of ingredients. If you are more comfortable doing so there are small instructional cards to guide your bowl to a traditional style or feel free to be creative and do what looks best to you.

After piling your vegetables up high move on to choose your seasoning spices and sauteing sauce for your meal to be prepared in. Now you are ready to exchange this heaping mound of personalized stir fry for a number.

Take a seat and await for the traditional Mongolian style cooking method developed originally for use in battle on the warriors shields. After a fiery display of vegetable grilling and a few gong rings your food will be brought to you and you will be able to experience your creation.

One piece of advice some might appreciate would be to go easy on the sauce when preparing your selection, it is much stronger than one might expect. Genghis Grill also has a bar and even a selection of wine as do most restaurants in Tyler’s pseudo-dry community.

Genghis Grill is a new restaurant and the service is enthusiastic as you might expect from a fresh crew and place. It has a enjoyable atmosphere with no overbearing music or stressful crowds.The showmanship of the cooking provides a subtle entertainment for while you wait for your food.

Genghis Grill also provides the self proclaimed healthy options, in fact they are so confident in the benefit of their health options they’re currently hosting a subway style exclusive diet contest between three contestants who will eat nothing but this menu for three months, while following a hospital recommended exercise and nutrition plan to demonstrate exactly how life changing eating healthy and eating at Genghis Grill can be.

The prize will be ten thousand dollars awarded by the public’s choice of their favorite contestant, a somewhat confusing judgment process that doesn’t necessarily directly account for the relative health or improvement of the contest participants. But no matter how this riveting contest ends it is good to know that Genghis Grill is a responsible as well as delicious source for Mongolian stir fry in Tyler.

Ate at Pancho Panda today, they have both Mexican and Chinese cuisine and a buffet

January 5th, 2011

Mexican Chinese buffet in Tyler Texas

Pancho Panda
3841 Hwy 64 West
Tyler, TX 75704
Phone: 903-593-9200
Hours of Business:
Monday – Sunday: 11:00am to 9:00pm

I am one of those people that is  little scared of gong into a buffet and if it weren’t for others in my family that enjoy the occasional buffet I would never go.

I think of things like sick people coughing into the food that are in the buffet line and stupid things like that but isn’t that why they have a plexiglass shield guard so that doesn’t happen?

Well Pancho Panda has the plexi glass guard to protect the buffet food and under that glass are both mexican food entrees and chinese food.

Thinking of the combination of Mexican food and Chinese food never wets my appetite but my brother wanted me to try this place out so me and a few other guys went in to give it a shot.

I was surprised to find out that the restaurant wasn’t half bad. The enchiladas, crunchy tacos and quesadillas all tasted pretty good.

I also tried some Chinese food. I got the bourbon chicken, an egg roll, and some fried rice. I was pleased with the Chinese food as well.

cream cheese won tonsFor desert I had some jello squares and cream cheese fried won tons. The fried won tons were ok bu they are the seafood kind. I was hoping it would just have cream cheese in them without the seafood but that is hardly ever the case.

Well anyway this place wasn’t half bad. I am ok with this place and I think if you are a buffet person you will want to give them a try.

Will I go back here by myself? Probably not, I am just not into buffets and probably never will be. When comparing buffets in Tyler Texas though this takes on of the top spots. Take this review for what it is worth coming from someone who normally does not choose a buffet restaurant as a place to eat at.

Genghis Grill in Tyler Texas

September 16th, 2010

Tyler recently opened a Mongolian stir fry grill. The Genghis quickly became very popular. It has such a different spin on stir fry, that the restaurant is usually packed. The fact of the popularity of the restaurant was my first worry. The tables are so close together that it makes the dinning experience uncomfortable. I got pretty sick and tired of the guy next to accidentally sticking his back side in my face every time he tried to sit down.

Once everyone was seated and people stopped getting up, the experience was great. The waitress showed us how to make our bowls. You start with a metal bowl and walk through the buffet of meats vegetables. You can choose from the many different uncooked meats, such as steak, chicken, shrimp, and much more. You can pile as much as you can fit into your metal bowl. Choose from their many seasonings for your meat. Top off your meat with a selection of uncooked vegetables. At the end of the buffet you can try their great selection of sauces from sweet to spicy. Lastly you fill your small cup with a sauce that you have chosen.

When you are done putting together your bowl, you hand your uncooked meal to the chief who asks you if you want to have rice or noodles with your stir fry. The chiefs put on somewhat of a show while they are cooking your food. They start large fires in the middle of the grill and bang gongs. The restaurant gets really loud with yelling orders and gongs ringing. It is quite the entertaining to watch them cook your food.

The food was wonderful but really spicy. If you are worried about how the food you put together will taste, you can follow recipes that the chiefs provide. And for four more dollars you can get an endless bowl and keep going back for more. It is not really a very quiet atmosphere, and it is very crowded, but the food it great and the experience is fun.

Genghis Grill in Tyler Texas

June 28th, 2010
Genghis Grill in Tyler Texas

Genghis Grill in Tyler Texas

Tonight we tried out Genghis Grill in Tyler TX and even though I was instructed on exactly what to do by our waitress I still managed to not know what to do.

I picked up a couple of recipe cards and gave them to the cooks. They stared at me and I stared for a minute and then said, I’m stupid so what do I do I need some help.

They pointed me back to the buffet line that has all the raw ingredients like meat and vegetables.

So I got back in line with my recipe cards. As I went on through I felt a little Luby’s cafeteria pressure from the other patrons in line to keep a move on.

I ended up tossing in a few more things in my bowl then what the recipe called for and did my own thing.

It all ended up being cooked well and tasted great! I have no complaints and my son really like the peas in the pod and miniature corn things.

I like this place and will go back although I still like Oliveto a little better as my passion is Italian food and Oliveto does a very good job.

One complaint I do have is I wish the parking could be better. This commercial complex has terrible parking and I am always parking at the back of the place most of the time.