Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 11, 2009
Weekly Indulgence
Samara Litvack
Last Monday evening, I was feeling very under the weather. I got home from work, changed into pajamas, plopped down on the couch and felt sorry for myself for a good hour. When my stomach began growling, my attention turned from my third consecutive episode of “Family Guy” to “what’s for dinner, lazy?”
I’d been kicking around the idea of trying Dinner Delivered for months, but something had always come up on nights I’d planned to try it. Considering how horrible I felt that night, I figured there was no better time to have dinner brought straight to my door.
I visited www.dinnerdeliveredonline.com and clicked on the butler’s serving tray to view the menus. After entering my zip code, I was offered a selection of 25 different restaurants. Some I’d already written about, like Between the Bridges Café and Jet Stream Grill. Some I frequent regularly, such as Mellow Mushroom and Quiznos.
I decided to go with a place I’d never been, Genghis Grill, so I could write this column from two perspectives – one, from a first-time Dinner Delivered customer and two, from a first-time Genghis Grill customer.
Ordering online was simple. I clicked the Genghis Grill link and was directed to the restaurant’s menu. My roommate explained to me that the concept of Genghis Grill is “Mongolian BBQ.” I had no idea what that meant, but she continued, describing the process of visiting the restaurant in person.
Step one: choose your raw protein from a wide selection, including beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, turkey, ham, pepperoni, sausage, steak, egg, marinated cod, calamari, crab, scallops or tofu.
Step two: season your protein with any combination of Cajun spices, dragon salt, regular salt, yellow curry salt, lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper, black pepper, garlic, citrus garlic herbs, steakhouse blend or ginger.
Step three: pick your veggies. You can have whatever you like, including bean sprouts, carrots, green beans, onions, snow peas, 3G mix, baby corn, broccoli, cilantro, green onions, mongo peppers, mongo mix, pineapple, spinach, bamboo shoots, cabbage, classic stir fry mix, jalapenos, mushrooms, potatoes, squash, tomatoes and water chestnuts.
Step four: select a sauce. You can dress your dish in 3G, dragon, honey soy, red curry peanut, sweet and sour, Asian chili, garlic water, island teriyaki, roasted tomato, Szechwan, chili garlic, ginger citrus, Mongo barbecue or stir fry sauce.
Step five: call your starch. You can pair your creation with steamed rice, fried rice, brown rice, Udon noodles, spiral pasta or tortillas.
When you’ve completed the first four steps, you hand your bowl to a chef and your dish is prepared on the grill, right in front of you. The chef then adds your starch and there you have it – a tasty dish, served up Genghis Grill style, interactive and fresh to order.
The place sounded great, and I do plan to visit in person in the future, but that night, I didn’t feel like leaving the house. I was already confused from all the sinus medication I was taking, and with all those ingredients to choose from… I thought it best to go with a couple of Genghis Grill’s pre-designed bowls.
From the “traditional” portion of the online menu, I selected the Teriyaki Chicken Bowl. This dish comes with chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper, a classic mix of stir fry vegetables, cabbage, pineapples and the Island Teriyaki sauce. I was given the option to change anything in the bowl, but it all sounded amazing to me.
I also wanted to try a beef dish, and I figured if I was ordering from a Mongolian BBQ place, I might as well try one of its namesakes. From the “signature” side of the menu, I selected the Mongo BBQ Bowl, with beef, citrus garlic herbs, mongo mix, Mongo barbecue sauce and steamed rice. Again, I could have altered the ingredients but, again, I decided to stick with the given selections.
I completed my order online at 6:30 p.m., and was prompted to call Dinner Delivered and confirm myself as a new customer. I did so, and received confirmation that my order would be delivered at 7:30 p.m.
At 7:15, the Dinner Delivered car pulled up outside, and the driver was extremely friendly and gracious for his tip. The food was served hot, with chopsticks and soy sauce, and it smelled amazing.
I tried the chicken first and it was fantastic. The meat was seasoned wonderfully, and the pepper wasn’t too spicy. I loved the stir fry vegetables – your typical carrots, zucchini and such – and the big chunks of pineapple were the perfect complement to the teriyaki sauce. Also, I must add, each bite seemed the perfect proportion of chicken, veggies and rice.
I tried several bites of the Mongo BBQ, but decided it wasn’t for me. The flavors were amazing, but the heat was too much for my sensitive mouth to bear. The beef was shaved, or possibly thinly sliced, which created another problem for me. I am not a fan of this texture of meat (think beef on a Philly cheese steak sandwich) so I passed my leftovers along to my roommate, and she enjoyed them very much.
I must add that the portions from Genghis Grill were humongous. I ate a heaping plate of my chicken teriyaki and had another plateful left over for dinner the next day. (It was equally as scrumptious the second time around.)
I was pleased with both Genghis Grill and Dinner Delivered. My food was wonderful, the ordering process was simple and the service – both on the phone and in person – was very impressive. I would love to visit Genghis Grill in person and experience the interactive dining experience. And I will definitely use Dinner Delivered again. For only a $4.99 per restaurant delivery charge, you really can’t beat the convenience.
Contact Samara at samara@hamiltoncountyherald.com
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