They come, they go… it’s hard to keep up sometimes.
First some good news: the Clinton location Bonsai restaurant is open. It looks like they’re calling themselves “Bonsai II”. It’s been open since late December 2011, and we even tried to go but the place was packed with an hour wait so we left. Soon, Bonsai, soon.
The sad news: Lula’s Cafe is closed. We heard from the grapevine that it was actually too successful and became too much to keep up with since it was only supposed to be a side project for the owner. They’ve been bought out by people who will start a new restaurant there named “Olde Towne Grocery”. A quick Google search only turns up Olde Towne Grocery’s Facebook page that says they’ll be serving lunch Monday-Friday starting January 3, 2012 and dinner Thursday-Saturday starting January 12, 2012. I haven’t been by to see if they’re actually open yet though–update here when I do. Edit 1/23/2012: drove by during lunch hour today and Olde Towne Grocery was decidedly closed. They even still had the Lula’s Cafe logo etched on the door. Hopefully they’ll update their Facebook page or get a proper website up soon so we can get updates. Edit 1/26/2012: per Emily’s comment below, Olde Towne Grocery will not open at all.
Lastly, China Express has a new, bigger menu, in English too no less! Since our first visit we’ve been quite a few times and have gotten the same great service and food every time. The new menu of course adds some new items, and their new signature dish seems to be the Szechuan Spicy Chicken, which we haven’t tried but definitely will sometime soon.
China Express Restaurant at closing time
Score another local find for Denise. A couple months ago she noticed that China Express Restaurant had taken up residence in the old location of the by-then-defunct Euphoria Smoothies and said that some Asian folks were eating in there. I remember her saying that but for some reason it didn’t register in my consciousness that this could be the first solid Chinese place in Clinton, so we didn’t go until recently after being reminded of its existence by a friend from church (thanks, James!). Maybe the name made me dismiss it right off the bat, but whatever the reasoning at the time I was sorely mistaken. Oh, China Express… please forgive me for neglecting you. I prone myself before you both begging for mercy and basking in your magnificence, for you are truly a marvelous restaurant–to my knowledge the first and only authentic Chinese restaurant in Clinton.
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Burrito Mexpress
“Burrito Mexpress”!? Really!? The name of this new restaurant in Clinton filled me with nothing but doubt. Thankfully Denise convinced me that we should try it, and because of that we’ve discovered the first authentic Mexican restaurant in Clinton and the best tacos in town.
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Posting about Lula’s Cafe reminded me of this since they have similar food. Since my 1st post about Froghead Grill a couple years ago we’ve been back quite a few times. Good food and a nice variety–what’s not to like, right? Well, let me throw some caveats out there:
- The excellent calamari appetizer is dead. Deceased. Done for. Not on the menu anymore. Quite a shame, that.
- Speaking of items coming off the menu, they like to rotate items on and off the menu. As far as I can tell it’s not for reasons like seasonal ingredients or anything. Point is, don’t get too attached to anything as it might not be on the menu next time you go. Assuming their online menu is kept up to date, I’d check it before heading out.
- Service is slow and scatterbrained. If you’re getting food to go, be prepared to wait a long time unless you get there super early to beat the dinner rush. Then make sure you double-check your order because if they forget anything and you call them up they’ll offer to have the missing item(s) ready for you to come pick up yourself before begrudgingly also offering you a free dessert after you complain about leaving your hot food at home to pick up the item(s) they forgot.
Despite all that, I must say that if you’re dining in and have no particular attachment to any dish on their menu and you’re not in a rush, they do a good job with their food. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal there food-wise, so it’s still a good place to eat if you’re in Clinton.
Lula's Cafe
Working through some backlog items here. What can I say? I’m a prolific eater but not a prolific blogger. We had lunch at Lula’s Cafe a while back when they were just getting started. Lula’s Cafe is a Southern food restaurant in Clinton. They serve breakfast and lunch on weekdays (they weren’t open on weekends when we went, but call them to find out for sure). They’re a soup/salad/sandwich kind of place with a sprinkling of Southern dishes and a daily plate special.
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Van Hung Asian Market
Thanks to a tip from Daniel in the comments of my previous post about Van Hung, I found out that Van Hung simply moved to a better location. Denise needed some light soy sauce and chili bean sauce to cook dinner with, so I went there to check it out. Good selection and prices as always, and it’s great that the owners are always there to greet you and they remember all their regulars. The new store is much nicer than the old one, and it looks a lot less cramped. Good move, I say. Despite the Oriental Supermarket opening up to deserved acclaim, I’ll still be a Van Hung regular for everything Asian except those few items that they don’t carry. They’ve been in the community a long time and provided a tremendous service to the Asian and Asian-food-loving community for quite a few years, so I think they deserve our continued support.
Frozen section
Aisles of good stuff
Van Hung Asian Market
51 Place
637 Highway 51 North, #B & B1
Ridgeland, MS 39157
(601) 856-9638
Closed on Tuesday
Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat: 10am – 7pm
Fri: 10am – 9pm
Sun: 11am – 7pm
Store is on the opposite side of the street from where Google Maps says it is. It’s on the northwest corner of the intersection of Highway 51 and W. Ridgeland Ave./Sunnycrest Dr.–on your left if you’re going north on Highway 51.
I went by Van Hung Asian Market in Ridgeland to pick up a few supplies, but the store was dark and when I peeked in the window the shelves and merchandise were all gone. Have they moved or have they closed down completely? Hopefully the former but I can’t find any info on what happened, so I fear the latter. With the big Oriental Supermarket opening up business was bound to be tougher for them, but it’s a real shame if they had to close. If anybody knows what’s up with Van Hung, please let me know.
Update 7/22/2011: yes, they’re still in business!
That should be “… or lack thereof.” There still aren’t food trucks in Jackson, and it seems that there’s a war brewing between those in favor and those not. Gringo Tacos and Tortas is a food truck business that is awaiting a Jackson city ordinance governing food trucks before launching. Their Twitter feed shows that they are confident they’ll be able to serve food somewhere in the Jackson Metro area, but less overtly confident about doing so in downtown Jackson where I think they’d do great business if permitted. A quick read of a couple articles from Gannett’s local newspaper branch explains why downtown might be a tricky proposition:
Ideas for regulating food carts collide in Jackson
Food fight? Eateries want say
On the one hand I can understand restaurant owners’ concerns regarding the stagnant business lunch crowd audience in downtown and the danger to their business by allowing food trucks to come and go. On the other hand if they’re only doing lunch business maybe they should consider packing up and doing trucks of their own instead of maintaining hefty downtown rent for 5 meals a week. Besides, what other businesses get to tell city council not to allow competition to open up nearby for fear of losing to the competition? Anti-competitive much? Steve Long of Steve’s Downtown Deli (their brisket wrap is superb) has the right idea, saying that he wants in. We need forward thinkers like him, not those trying to cling to outdated business models and stifle competition instead of keeping up through improvement and innovation.
The only argument I’ve seen against food trucks is they’ll negatively impact existing eateries. I’d like to know if I’m just missing the point here, but that’s no kind of argument in a country that (mostly) favors free commerce. Whatever happens, this will be an interesting battle in light of Jackson’s recent efforts to mimic more modern and forward-thinking cities in terms of city planning. I have a feeling there will be tight restrictions on when, where, and how food trucks can operate. I have no issue with regulations, but if past Jackson policy is any indication I fear we might end up with an ordinance straight out of the dark ages instead of something progressive and modern. I hope I’m wrong. I’ll definitely be watching.
Edit 4/20/2011: Found this post at Jackson Jambalaya with supposed details of the proposed ordinance. The comments section contains comments from none other than Tom Ramsey, the chef pushing the Gringo Tacos and Tortas truck, and Jeff Good who was quoted as being concerned about the effect of food trucks on downtown eateries. Good stuff here.
Property damage
Mississippi was hit by a number of tornadoes yesterday, one cutting a swath through Clinton a couple miles away from where we live. Thankfully no deaths have been reported although some injuries occurred. Most of the damage was to property, which can always be replaced. As for us and our house, we escaped unharmed. We lost power for a few hours but that’s it. The tornado that touched down in Clinton drew a line right between an elementary school and a daycare/school but harmed neither people or property at either location. Thank God for his providence.
Since we didn’t have power at dinner time and didn’t know how long we would be without, we decided to leave the fridge closed to keep it cold and eat out instead. We drove to Jackson to eat at Mr. Chen’s and the above photo is what we saw there. One tornado tore through the shopping area where Mr. Chen’s is located, doing what looks like considerable damage to adjacent stores while Mr. Chen’s got through it undamaged.
This tornado was close enough for Denise to hear its tell-tale train-like sound while it traveled through town, and the damaged areas are all places we’re very familiar with. This one really hit home so we’re very thankful to be safe and back to relatively normal just a day later.
Tasty treats at Taste of Mississippi
From the better-almost-late-than-never department comes this public service announcement: Taste of Mississippi 2011 is tonight (3/28/2011) from 7:00p to 10:00p in Highland Village. Many of the best restaurants in Jackson come together every year for this event where you pay for a ticket to get in, and once you’re in you can sample food and drinks from as many of these local dining establishments as you like. The proceeds of the event go to support Stewpot Community Services, who provide food, shelter, etc. for the homeless and needy in the Jackson Metro area. I’ve photographed this event the past 4 years and will be there again tonight. Great food and drinks, fun music, friendly people, cool art and miscellaneous other items up for auction–all for a good cause. Go to their website for more details on tickets, etc. I hope to see you there!
Denise made me realize that I’ve had this blog for almost 2 years now but have yet to put up a proper Taste of Mississippi post. Lord willing that will happen soon after this year’s event.