Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.
One weekend, Jim and I found ourselves “discussing” at great length where to go for dinner that Saturday night. During this “discussion,” I did tell him several times where he could go, and it sure wasn’t a restaurant! Since we took so long to decide, we found ourselves without dinner reservations for a Saturday night. That was obstacle number one for this evening. We called a truce and decided to try a Chinese restaurant since everyone knows they don’t require reservations.
Nancy puts everything on her iPad, including our lengthy “restaurants to review” list. After scrolling through many pages, we decided on the Plum Garden Restaurant in McHenry.
When we arrived in downtown McHenry, we played that fun game of driving around the block in hopes of seeing backup lights, since this restaurant has only street parking. A woman had the nerve to stand in a parking spot while waiting for her husband to drive around the block and pull in. I was getting hangry and told Jim to just pull in, she’ll probably move. But lucky for her, the spot right next to it opened up. That was the second obstacle we had to conquer this evening.
Because this restaurant is in an older building, it is not handicap accessible. We also found ourselves having to wait 25 minutes for a table. Obstacle number three for this evening. So much for our “no reservation required” idea. Who would have thunk it?
Plum Garden Restaurant
3917 W. Main Street
McHenry 60050
(815) 385-1530
www.plumgardenrestaurant.com
Directions: Take Rte. 47 North to Rte. 176 East to Walkup Road North to Bull Valley Road East to Rte. 31 & Left on Main Street.
Estimated Travel Time: 35 minutes
The restaurant occupies two storefronts. The inside is nicely decorated with several neon dragons hanging on the walls. The dragon theme is continued with the names of some of the menu items.
To get a taste of the restaurant, we decided to try the Love Boat Sampler ($13.99) aka The Poo Poo Platter. This platter had two egg rolls, two crab rangoons, four won-tons, and four slices of barbecue pork (which was suppose to be a pork skewer). They tout the fact that their egg rolls won the best egg roll award for 2014–2017, although they were huge, they didn’t quite “float our boat.”
Jim spotted an old favorite of his, the Mongolian Beef ($13.99/small order), which is one of the Chef’s Picks. This was hand sliced angus beef stir fried with white onions, red peppers, and peapods in a homemade spicy Mongolian barbecue sauce. All entrees come with steamed rice, but for a 99¢ upcharge, you can get either plain fried rice or pan-fried noodles. Jim chose the pan-fried noodles and the waiter suggested cooking them in a garlic sauce (another $1 upcharge that we later saw on our bill). The beef was the best he’s ever had in a Chinese restaurant, and the noodles had enough garlic to satisfy even me.
Nancy felt hot and spicy tonight, so she went with the Kung Pao Chicken ($11.99/small order) and she chose as her side the plain fried rice. When it says “plain,” that’s exactly what it is. It was rice stir fried with soy sauce for flavor. Our advice, save 99¢ and stick with the steamed rice. Her dish was tasty, and she liked the way her chicken was thinly sliced. They weren’t chintzy with the peanuts either.
To “plum” it up, there were a lot of things that we liked about this restaurant, and other things, not so much. A nice touch at the end of our meal was the two almond cookies with the usual two fortune cookies.
The price for our night of obstacles was, $52.60.
Jim’s take: I loved the beef, but I wish they didn’t thicken the sauce so much.
Nancy’s take: I liked the sliced chicken, not chunks, which made my entree tasty.
Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com
