Monkey King Noodle Company

Monkey King Noodle Co.

 

For the dead of winter, it was a pretty pleasant day when Kristin and I visited this place.  The sun was out and the temperature hovered around 60 degrees.  Not too bad for a place that had no indoor seating.  It's mostly a take out place, with seating on the sidewalk or on the rooftop, which is where we ate.

 

Monkey King offers Chinese street food in one of Dallas' art fart districts, called Deep Ellum.  They have a small menu with beef, chicken, or pork noodle soup, wontons, dumplings, and spicey cucumber salad(Yuck!).  I order the chicken noodle soup, while Kristin got the beef. 

 

The chicken noodle soup was pulled dark and white chicken in a savory broth with herbs.  I don't know what they were, but they were green.  It was oh so delicious and perfect on a day with a little nip in the air.  The only draw back was the noodles.  They were a little thick for my taste.  If I wanted something that thick, I might as well boil my shoelaces with a bullion cube.

 

I tried some of Kristin's beef soup.  Initially the beef had a peculiar taste.  I think it was the chili oil they used, but the more you chewed it, the better it got as you released the braised beef and broth flavors.

 

Definitely a win!  I would try this place again, especially on a nice day in the spring or fall.  If you go during the summer, it's probably best to get it to go and find some air conditioning.

 

Spicey Beef Noodle Soup

Hand Pulled Chicken Noodle Soup

Rooftop Patio


 

Monkey King Noodle Co.

Home Cookin

Since I have moved out on my own and now have to worry about those pesky things like rent and electric bills, money has become a little tight.  I haven't been able to drive all over the DFW and try new restaurants as I would like.  So I have taken to cooking at home a lot.

I have always enjoyed cooking.  It's easier on my wallet and ultimately healthier for me in the long run.  I have largely cut out fast food, and I do not eat anything that is processed or nuked in a microwave.  I haven't turned into some sanctimonious health nut, but cooking my own meals has allowed me to stretch what I eat, get more bang for my buck, and allow for more variety.

I usually serf the web for recipe ideas.  I found one website, 10-minute meals.com, with some easy recipes.  The name is a fake out, of course.  It may take ten minutes to cook, but each recipe may take 30 minutes to six years to prepare so I have to be a little picky when, during the week, I choose to prepare something.

I tried my hand at a few different things.  Some things were hits, other went off like lead balloons.  I have cooked home made lasagna, pot roast, gumbo, tikka masala, and chicken piccata.  Each with their own varying degree of success.

Eventually I would like to get to point where I can start entertaining here in my apartment.  I would like to have that fellowship around the table(I'll have to get one) and be able to serve them something that does not have the same effect as ipecac.

Gumbo

Easy Lasagna

Southwestern Chicken Pasta

Um...don't know what this is.  It was good though.



Sometimes you don't have to go far to have a culinary adventure.  At least with eating out, I didn't have to worry about cleaning the dishes afterward.