Live, from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night starring this week’s host, Yen Ching and featuring specail guest stars, Ben (B Löwd) Lowrey, Mimi, Mei and Marco. And now, directly from Tanglewood Center on University, please welcome this week’s host, Yen Ching!
Usually on these vegetarian Saturday Night journey’s, Ben is behind the wheel, but he had to work late so we’ll be seeing him soon. I’ve magically appeared at Tanglewood Center all by myself and as you can see from the sign, it’s a good thing I’m here because our host for the evening, Yen Ching Restaurant is located within this shopping complex! We’ll just walk on down to Yen Ching, enter through that door and we’ll begin this week’s Saturday Night evening!
As you enter you first see the charming little bar at the front of the restaurant. I love that bar, it has a little bit of a tiki bar feel to it. Hey, check out the third special on the sign there: “Tofu Style Vegetables.” Perfect since this is a vegetarian Saturday night meal!
The entrance has an ornate gold archway and the sign says that you must wait to be seated. Well I didn’t have to wait long because Mimi was right there at the hostess station and...
She led me right into the large dining room and we chose this booth to sit at. I just got settled in and my favorite Yen Ching waitress Mei came over with a bottle of Tsingtao beer! Then her nephew showed up with a menu to order from. I took the menu from the lad but we have to wait for Ben to get here to order. I wonder where he is?
Oh, look, he’s right here! I love it when that happens! In addition to eating vegetarian meals here on the MBIP blog, Ben is also a DJ and music producer who goes by the name, B Löwd. You can check out his music here and he’s also got a weekly radio show on Urban Soundz Radio. Okay, now that we’ve got the obligatory B Löwd plugs in, let’s order dinner!
The menu here has a large selection of entrees and there’s an entire vegetable selection which is perfect for this evening!
Here’s a shot of the dining room from our point of view at our booth. The kitchen is in the back and while I was back there I took another shot of the dining room from that vantage point.
When I returned to the booth, dinner was starting to happen! They always start your dinner off with some complimentary fried cream cheese wontons. These are so good and I love the combination of the crispy wonton and the rich. warm creamy cheese inside!
After the wontons we got a bowl of the Egg Drop Soup which was delicious.
Then the main courses arrived! I got the Mixed Vegetable Delight and Ben got the Vegetable Tofu Special. The dinner’s come with a large bowl of rice and as you can see the portion’s are huge! There’s Ben diving into his dinner and it was a great meatless meal!
As I said, the portions here are very large so we had to box some of it to take back home.
And of course, the meal ended with a fortune cookie!
Mine said that this coming Saturday will be an exciting time for me! Well, stay tuned for that next week!
Sometimes fortune cookies drive me nuts and this one that Ben got is a perfect example! Just what in the holy name of hell is that even supposed to mean? If you lose something and then stop looking for it, you’re not ever going to find it! According to this, if you lose your car keys the best thing to do is to just sit in a chair like some sort of a nimble-nutted nitwit and just wait for them to magically appear in your pocket again. That makes no sense whatsoever! This is an insane and really irresponsible fortune and I’ll obsess over it for quite a while!
And to make sure of that, I’ve taped it on the MBIP World Headquarters refrigerator, right above the Avanti’s “corporate” note I got over four years ago! Just like 7-Eleven, I’ll never forget! We’ll see you all tomorrow.
I may be wrong, but I think Yen Ching is Peoria’s oldest Chinese restaurant. I know it’s been in this location since the early ‘80’s and I think it’s one of the best and most authentic Chinese restaurants here in Peoria.
The menu has a large selection of appetizers and entrees and there’s plenty of vegetarian options to be had here. We started dinner off with the cream cheese wontons and Egg Drop Soup and that was a wonderful start for our tenth vegetarian meal.
The main courses were really tasty and satisfying as well. I had the Mixed Vegetable Delight and it lived up to its name because it truly was a delightful entree! it had a nice mixture of broccoli, snow peas, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and those tiny little ears of corn that you only get at Chinese restaurants! It was delicious and Ben said his meal was equally wonderful. Now if they could only do something about those fortune cookies!
SN Rating
Four Galloping Gourmets—if you want to sample some authentic and delicious Chinese cuisine in a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere then you need to stop in and try Yen Ching! They’re open for lunch on weekdays and dinner is served every night!
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6936 N University Street
Peoria
309-692-9227
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Related Posts: Saturday Night Vegetarian Posts @ Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse, Hacienda El Mirador, Rizzi’s, Khoury’s Cuisine, Alexander’s Steakhouse, Last Chance Bar & Grill, Oliver’s Pizza & Pub North, Novu Sushi, PV II andPo-Boys On Frostwood.
I will sit and wonder,, With my vegetable friend...
Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
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Go See Charlie Montgomery For Your "Lost In America" Moment!
One of my favorite movies is “Lost In America.” If you’ve never seen it, it’s about a couple who get an RV and decide to drop out and travel the country. Last night I ran into my friend, Charlie Montgomery and it turns out he sells RV’s at Fourwinds RV in East Peoria! I didn’t have the MBIP Camera with me last night, but I found this photo of him working out on a stationary bike! If you’d like to experience your very own “Lost In America” moment, contact Charlie right here!