Project Crab Rangoon: Episode 2

While Marit was visiting, we took a trip to a local Chinese Restaurant on College Ave. in Berkeley - called King Yen.

This experiment is quickly getting depressing. We ordered the "Crab Cheese Puffs" on the menu. And we got....crab cheese puffs. Something that ACTUALLY had crab in it. WHAT?! Clearly not a crab rangoon. Here are the official results: (sorry - no pictures!)

1. Cream Cheesiness: barely there. barely cheesy. nonexistent. where cheese should coat your mouth with creaminess, there was only crab juice. yuck. Grade: D
2. Crabbiness: WAY TOO CRABBY. actual crab - not imitation crab. normally, this would impress me. not tonight. high crabbiness factor, but not in that rubbery rangoon way. Grade: C
3. Wonton Quality: thick, overcooked, bubbly surface - way too crispy and dark brown. ew. bad show, King Yen. Grade: D
4. Wonton Shape: little packages - not delicate like chez Becky - but thick and heavy. kind of gross. Grade: C-
5. Duck Sauce: definitely varies by coast. red, syrupy, and with a dollop of MUSTARD on the side. i wish i had a picture of this - it was a bowl of duck sauce syrup, and half of the syrup was splashed with yellow liquid mustard. kind of gross. marit secretly liked it. Grade: D

OVERALL GRADE: D

Seriously, it was disgusting. But to be fair (unlike Becky's) the rest of their food was top notch - really delicious, with fresh veggies and meat. not like some of that overdone, heavy grossness i'm used to tasting as chinese fare. Maybe it's an inverse relationship: quality of chinese food>
the better the chinese food, the worse the rangoon?

the search goes on, but i'm already starting to despair. and looking forward to some rangoons when i go home in may. if i can make it until then!