Chang's Bubble Tea

Chang's Bubble Tea
8095 Macon Road (Cordova)
737-8839

When Warren was in California over Christmas, he told me about a bubble tea restaurant that his friend took him to. This reminded me that I had Chang's Bubble Tea on my list of places to go. We're big fans of the bubble tea at a few of our favorite Midtown Vietnamese restaurants, but I wanted the full experience. One Saturday afternoon, after visiting the Apple store, we drove down Germantown Road in search of Chang's. It was in a small strip mall located next to the Germantown Osaka that I had never actually located. Had I not been on "assignment," I would have probably hightailed it into Osaka for some sushi. However, I knew that Chang's also had a full menu, and that we should try it.

Once inside I was instantly in a good mood. The bright green walls, live plants, and other touches gave it a California smoothie bar feel and differentiated it from other local Asian hot spots. I asked Warren if it reminded him of the one in California and he got a goofy look on his face. "Uh, a little," he said. (The one he went to in California had waitresses who wore lingerie.)

There were several other people in the restaurant, but no one was sitting at the small bar in back. Since we were eating too, we grabbed a table near the bar. A waitress greeted us and since the menu was already on the table, left us to our own devices. There was only one menu, and it was quite extensive, so I stole another one off of a different table.

Before we could even begin to decide what to eat, the waitress brought out some complimentary edamame--a small bowl for each of us. Ding ding ding--major bonus points. (And yes, she was fully clothed.) The immediate food was great for the cranky monkeys we had with us. Satchel (7) and Jiro (5) had a friend spend the night and as is per usual with sleepovers, there was very little actual sleeping.

There were over 40 flavors of bubble tea so it was really hard to choose. You also have the option of a slush or smoothie consistency, mixing flavors, and adding tapioca or jelly. (Tapioca is more standard here.) Eventually Warren decided on a Green Tea Chai, the boys agreed to split a Chocolate Mocha, and I--despite all of the fun options--got my usual coconut.


I had a hard time getting the monkeys to give me input on what they might want to eat, so I just ordered their standard fried chicken wings. Warren opted for one of the $5.50 lunch specials--Veggie Lo Mein--that came with soup, rice, and eggroll. I got wooed by the Chef's Specials, specifically the Lychee Shrimp. It was listed as $9.99, but I figured it would be a big enough serving for another meal at home and that I could share the rice with the monkeys, so I went for it. Once our orders were in, we let the monkeys play their DSes and I let Warren talk my ear off about the kombucha he ordered. (It's a medicinal tea that you ferment yourself.) In fact he talked so much, I don't think he even noticed when I ate his hot & sour soup that he was ignoring on the table. (It was pretty good, nothing special.)

Every so often the monkeys would whine about the whereabouts of their bubble tea. There was a constant hum of blenders coming from the kitchen so I could only assure them that it would be soon. And eventually one by one our bubble teas arrived. We marveled at the machine that vacuum sealed the tops and took pleasure in choosing a large, colored straw of our choice and ramming it through the plastic. It was a very satisfying exercise.

Warren and I started debating whether or not bubble tea is actually healthy. I say no. It's no different from a milkshake in my mind. He sees it more like a vitamin packed smoothie. I noted that the main ingredient was most likely sugar. He responded, "Sugar makes your muscles work."

Soon our food arrived and we all stopped talking. Satchel ate two chicken wings and lots of rice from our plates...with his fingers. "Use your spoon," is the soundtrack to most of our dining experiences these days. (Sometimes we vary it with "Use your fork.") Jiro had to be prodded to eat even one wing. He simply wasn't interested in eating, as evidenced by his lack of concern for the bubble tea Satchel was no longer sharing with him.

Warren's lunch looked very nice and healthy. It was a decent sized portion, not too big, not too small. I wished I'd ordered it. My lychee shrimp was surprisingly small considering the price tag and lack of side items. And, uh, it was SO SWEET. Why this surprised me I don't know. Lychees are one of my favorite fruits. I know how sweet they are. Also I don't know why the fact that they were canned disappointed me. It was February! Anyways, the shrimp was nice and crunchy and thanks to the container of hot sauce on the table, I was able to mask the sticky sweetness of the dish. I definitely will never order that again. Next time I'll go for something spicy from the get go, or ask the waitress for a suggestion. (Or I'll take my bubble tea next door to Osaka!)

We ended up staying for awhile, enjoying our food and tea, and even the atmosphere. We were having so much fun, we asked Satchel to take our picture. After 20 takes we found one I liked enough to post on the internet.

Satchel needed to go to the bathroom, so I accompanied him. It was passable, but not the best bathroom ever. Definitely no changing table--just a wobbly table from the restaurant. I'd definitely be scared to change a diaper on it.

As we were leaving, I asked the monkeys what they thought of the restaurant. "I love it," said Jiro, not looking up from his game.

Absynnia

Abyssinia Restaurant
2600 Poplar Ave. #115
321-0082

My husband, Warren, is a big fan of Ethiopian food. I like it too, but not as much as I like about a million other things. However, for the sake of marital bliss and to introduce the monkeys (Satchel, 7, and Jiro, 5) to a new cuisine, we decided to go to Absynnia last Thursday night. It just so happened that my mom, my 10 year old niece, and my 13 year old nephew joined us. Because Ethiopian food is best when served family style, I like having a lot of people in tow so we can order several dishes. (The last time Warren and I went to Absynnia we caught the tail end of the buffet and were not impressed.)

On the way over I texted my friend, Elizabeth, who loves Absynnia, to see what we should order. She instructed me to get the lamb and the chicken stew. "You really can't go wrong," she said. Once we all got seated and I convinced the monkeys to stop dipping their Legos in their drinking water, I was put in charge of ordering. I asked for the Yebeg Tibes (stir fried lamb), Yedoro Key Wat (chicken stew), Gored Gored (cubed beef), Yetsome Bayaynetu (a vegetarian sampler), and Tilapia.

There seemed to be a lot of trepidation on the part of my mom and my niece, but they kept it to themselves. Satchel wanted to read the menu and Jiro wanted a run down of the kid options, but I told them to just trust me. There was no kids' menu listed, but there is an (expired) coupon on Memphis Menus Online that says "Free child's meal with purchase of adult's meal." I only just saw the coupon while looking up the menu, so I didn't ask about it while we were there.

While we waited on the food I insisted on all 4 kids washing their hands. Having seen them lick their fingers after dipping the Legos, I was a bit grossed out. Suddenly the family style eating didn't sound too appealing. Everyone obliged and when they came back to the table, I instructed them to wait for me to show them how to pick up bites of food with the injera.


Once the food came out, we ended up spooning a taste of everything on to a special plate for the kids' end of the table. Everyone got their own plate of injera, which was nice. I think the 5 out of 7 of us who had never eaten Ethiopian were a little surprised by what came out, but luckily everyone was hungry enough not to voice any complaints.

The monkeys immediately zoned in on the chicken drummies. I tried a bite of the accompanying stew and it was quite spicy. I worried they would take one bite and then freak out, but much to my amazement, they both finished their legs. (Satchel did drink a ton of water though!)



Once Jiro ate his chicken, he declared himself finished. Satchel on the other hand, was enjoying the new flavors. The injera was by far his favorite thing. He ate all of his large portion straight from the plate. "The injera smells like bologna!" he cooed. (I believe that was a compliment.) He was also a big fan of the cheese, which was like a cross between cottage and feta.

My niece and nephew also seemed to be enjoying the food. My mom, despite being very sensitive to spice, tried some of everything and reported that she liked it. Everything was incredibly spicy, which is fine by me, but probably not the best for most kids. I definitely stuffed myself. The chicken stew was my favorite. Warren lamented the fact that we didn't order any goat, but for the most part seemed happy. His only real complaint was that they never brought out the hot tea he ordered. They were very, very attentive to the water, however. Very. Attentive.

The kids started quizzing each other on social studies topics and I went to the counter to pay the bill. I was a little shocked by the price tag--$62--but reminded myself that it was for 7 instead of our usual 4. I got a small (styrofoam) box for the little bit of leftovers that we had and then we went happily on our way.

(Satchel begged me to let him eat the leftovers the next day! I think eating the really spicy food was like a rite of passage for him.)

Kwik Shop Grill

Kwik Shop Grill
711 East Parkway
552-3690

I've been in a convenience store kind of mood. I did a piece for the current issue of Edible Memphis, Well isn't that convenient, that lists my faves. The Kwik Shop Grill, which recently burnt down and got rebuilt, was under construction when I did the story. Since I have always heard they have good burgers and the monkeys (Satchel, 7, and Jiro, 5) love burgers, I decided to take them last night.

Warren picked them up from school since I had a meeting. When I got home I discovered they had both eaten a bowl of rice and a bowl of cereal. Thinking they wouldn't be hungry, I almost called it off. However, they assured me that they were still hungry enough to eat a hamburger. Honestly, I was hungry enough to eat three hamburgers, so I didn't care if they actually ate or not, as long as they didn't climb the walls.

Dining with monkeys in convenience stores poses a few problems. Namely, you have to walk past shelves full of sugary drinks, chips and candy to get to the counter. Kwik Shop Grill is no exception. A shelf of Doritos about three feet inside the door at the monkeys' eye level greeted us upon arrival. I went ahead and instructed them to pick out a bag each. (They couldn't be any worse than fries, right?) It wasn't like we were about to have a healthy meal or anything.


They each handed me their bags and then took a seat in a booth by the window. I scanned the store. There were two people working the grill and one person playing on his phone, presumably waiting for his food to be ready. There were about eight tables in all, two large booths, and one small booth. A soda fountain in the middle of the store visually separated the grill area from the store area. I glanced at the large menu board above the grill, noted that burgers were $2.99, and asked each monkey what they wanted on theirs.

"I want cheese, pickles, and sausages on mine," said Jiro. I love how he calls the burger itself "sausages."

"Ketchup too?" I clarified. He nodded. "Satchel?"

"Ketchup and pickles," he said. "And sausages," he added, laughing.

I decided to get a grilled chicken pita because I imagined it would be similar to the one I ate almost every day at the JCC over the summer. (Bach's catering ran the concession stand.) I went for a combo so that I could try the fries and get a drink for us to share. After placing my order with a nice man at the counter, I stood there for a few minutes, expecting to pay. "I'll take your money when I'm done, lady," the nice man said. (He really did say it in a nice way. There was definitely a language barrier.)


I joined the monkeys at the table and commanded them to share their Doritos with me. "I need water!" Satchel moaned, his lips coated in orange, cheesy powder. I walked back to the grill and asked the other guy (the first guy disappeared) if I could just go ahead and get my drink. He kind of laughed and said yes. Then I said, "Water too?" He laughed and nodded. I guess I appeared mildly stupid but funny to him. I was just checking!

I was about to ask which size drink came with the combo when I realized that all of the (styrofoam) cups were the same size--20 oz. I filled one with water for Satchel and one with Diet Coke for me and Jiro to share. (When did I start letting my kids drink soda?) There was only one lid, so I put it on Satchel's cup and asked if there were any behind the counter. The guy that thought I was stupid said he'd have the other guy get some in a minute. Jiro asked for a sip of my "Diet Dr. Coffee" which was pretty funny. Maybe that's why I let him drink soda.

While we waited for the lid and our food, several more people came in to both pick up and place orders. Between dropping Doritos on the floor, the monkeys quizzed me. "How do they plug that in?" they asked, motioning to a sign plugged into an outlet in the ceiling. We argued whether a ladder could fit next to the booth or whether either of the men working would be tall enough to reach if they stood on our table. Next Satchel told me about the perioDICK table they had in their classroom. (His friend, Theo told him how to pronounce that.)

The nice man hollered that our food was ready, so I grabbed my wallet and went to retrieve it. I was impressed with how big the burgers were. My sandwich looked filling too, but the fries were not very pretty. They looked like they had been cooked a few hours earlier then re-dipped. I tried to pay, but the man said, "Eat! Eat!" So I grabbed the three (styrofoam) plates and sat back down.


Jiro picked up his giant burger and went to town. Satchel grabbed half of my fries and went to town on them despite their lackluster appearance. I dug right into my grilled chicken pita. I was starved! My pita definitely had some grilled chicken deliciousness going on. The pita was nice & thick and had been warmed on the grill just the way I like it. The lettuce, tomato, and onion "fixings" were rather blah. Iceberg lettuce, pale tomato, teeny tiny slices of raw white onion. My choices for sauce were Ranch or Honey Mustard, neither of which sounded appealing, but I got Ranch on the side. (At the JCC, the grilled chicken pita comes with hummus and tahini on it.) The lack of an exciting sauce made the sandwich rather dry and disappointing.


Jiro had about 1/3 of his hamburger left when I realized I better ask for a bite soon. The burger was actually good, especially slathered in cheese, pickles, and ketchup. The bun tasted like it had been brushed with butter and grilled, which was a nice touch. However, the patty looked like it had arrived at the store pre-made and frozen. That's a fail. However, Jiro, who had just enough ketchup on his face to look cute rather than slovenly, said, "This sure is a yummy hamburger."

Satchel finally started on his burger, much to my surprise. (I really thought the rice, cereal, chips, and fries would have filled him up.) He too declared the burger delicious and ate almost all of it in record time. We were all busy chewing so there wasn't much talking going on at our table. The guys next to us made up for it with their liberal use of the F bomb! (Since we were near the counter, I also noticed that a lot of people were ordering the fish filet and chicken filet combo.)

I had planned to take leftovers to Warren, but realizing there weren't going to be any, I went to pay and ordered him a gyro. (I know, I should have gotten him a burger.) The total came to $18 until I reminded the guy that I had two bags of Doritos, then it was $20. Not bad, not great. I did, however, like that the receipt did not come back with a tip line. Instead they had a tip jar next to the counter. (I don't like feeling like I HAVE to tip at a counter.)

I sat back down with the monkeys. Satchel was finishing up his last few bites and Jiro was annoying him by kicking him under the table. Satchel kicked back and before I knew it, they were nearing a full wrestle. Just as I started using my mean voice, the counter guy alerted me to the fact that the gyro was ready. I thanked him, grabbed the sandwich, and directed the monkeys to the door. They ignored my mean voice and played, "The ground is hot lava" on the way out, which required them to scale the booths. They conveniently landed next to the shelf with chocolatey offerings by the door. Jiro was fingering a brownie, but I firmly stated that there would be no dessert. Despite their whining, I held fast. I promised that they could have dessert at home. (Satchel chose popcorn and Jiro chose four breakfast sausages.)

When Warren got home, he said, "How was it? As good as Kwik Check [on Madison]? Where's my burger?" I told him that it was okay, but that I probably wouldn't go out of my way to eat there again. "If my car broke down nearby, maybe," I said. "And If I did, I get a burger." This did not help when I had to explain that I got him a gyro.