The kids are in a vacation bible camp this week that meets from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Can you say dinner and adult conversation?

We can. My wife wanted steak, but I had a taste for Chinese food and wanted to try a new place in Mandarin (Jacksonville). Let’s start with the atmosphere:

Think Asian Fusion. Nice, modern. The tables were spaced far enough apart to allow for private conversations. Mostly adults, even as early as 6:30, which was nice on our child-free evening.

On to the food: I had the General Tso’s Chicken. I figured that, since it’s what I always get, it would be a good way to compare their food to the less expensive storefront takeout joints.

It was pretty good. The chicken was lightly breaded, unlike the frozen-then-deep-fried version you usually get. Nice and meaty. The sauce was adequately spicy, but you can never have too much spice for me. The rice was a choice between white or brown. I chose brown for health reasons, but I really wanted pork fried. It was acceptable. Sorry, I’m just not a fan unless it’s fried in pork grease.

We also had the spring rolls for an appetizer. Kind of pricey at $4 for two spring rolls, but again, they were handmade and very tasty. You gotta pay for quality.

My wife had the Mongolian Beef. Her assessment: Nice presentation, good: gingery taste, I usually like lots of green onions and it had a lot, looked appealing. On the bad side: No spice to it, very mild seasoning, green onions were undercooked to my taste.

So, a mixed review this time, but I think my wife’s issues can be solved next time by just asking for more spice and a little extra cooking time for those onions. So, I’d go back. Not often, because it’s about twice the cost of takeout, but I liked it.

Afterwards, we walked over to Peterbrooke Chocolates. Mmmmmm…. Always pricey, but she had a chocolate-covered strawberry, her usual, and it was good, as usual. I went with chocolate-dipped oreos. The dessert of champions, dontcha know?