# Probably the worst restaurant i've ever been to **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 16, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077 "2004-11-16T17:19:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/61 "2004-11-16T23:54:33Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Which can make for a tasty soft drink, but it’s not exactly what you get in a can. Because, obviously, what you get in the can is the pinnacle of taste refinement… 😛 … ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/62 "2004-11-16T23:57:56Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Are you talking about Yen Ching? Yen Ching is still there? That was a good place, too. We would get carry out once in a while from there. Dragon and Great Wall are new to me, but then the way out toward Whitehall was still building up when we left. We lived out by College Mall, and really went out west just for Big Lots. **bodypoet** , I’m suprised that the Trojan Horse is still there, but then again it’s one of those landmark places, like Paglia’s Pizza used to be. Now I’m getting a little homesick (and I grew up 5 miles from where I live right now). Vlad/Igor ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/63 "2004-11-17T00:15:52Z")
I just went up to third street to buy groceries and I saw the restaurant you’re referring to, Mandarin Buffet. The one with green and yellow trimmings next to outback steakhouse. I have been there once, the food is as good as Great Taste Buffet and the selection is better. I didn’t know they have a mandarin BBQ but i’ve only been there once. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/64 "2004-11-17T00:37:00Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > If you were important enough to pay attention to I would probably know what you stand for and could probably insult you back, but dammitall, you are just some bitter little troll who is tough on the internet so I can’t do that. Sorry I haven’t shared enough stories of what color my sperm turns after a week in a plastic bag to meet your definition of “important”. -lv ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/65 "2004-11-17T01:00:04Z")
> [@LordVor](#): > > Sorry I haven’t shared enough stories of what color my sperm turns after a week in a plastic bag to meet your definition of “important”. > > -lv LMAO. I would’ve kept if for you if you’d just asked nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/66 "2004-11-17T01:17:30Z")
Reminds me of the time I went to a kosher deli and they told me I couldn’t have a ham sandwich! Or the time I was at a “sushi” (whatever that is) restaurant and they had the nerve to bring me raw fish! See, “Mongolian BBQ,” by definition, consists of a selection of raw materials which you give to the cook. To put it in simpler terms, it’s your own damn fault. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/67 "2004-11-17T01:32:01Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Reminds me of the time I went to a kosher deli and they told me I couldn’t have a ham sandwich! Or the time I was at a “sushi” (whatever that is) restaurant and they had the nerve to bring me raw fish! > > See, “Mongolian BBQ,” by definition, consists of a selection of raw materials which you give to the cook. > > To put it in simpler terms, it’s your own damn fault. \, has the OP not already admitted that this may be the case? Has he not established that he is, indeed, willing to try Mongolian BBQ again, armed with the knowledge that he has gained from this thread? In short, why the fuck are you people still sniping? Does it make you feel good, or big? I swear, some of you people are just fucking mean. Like a bunch of sharks smelling blood in the water. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/68 "2004-11-17T01:32:37Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Reminds me of the time I went to a kosher deli and they told me I couldn’t have a ham sandwich! Or the time I was at a “sushi” (whatever that is) restaurant and they had the nerve to bring me raw fish! > > See, “Mongolian BBQ,” by definition, consists of a selection of raw materials which you give to the cook. > > To put it in simpler terms, it’s your own damn fault. Brilliant, because I had no idea about this fact. Must be hard putting your skills to waste on a message board when there is so much crime and suffering on earth. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/69 "2004-11-17T01:37:58Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Brilliant, because I had no idea about this fact. Must be hard putting your skills to waste on a message board when there is so much crime and suffering on earth. Psst. Not to worry, I got your back. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/70 "2004-11-17T01:41:07Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Brilliant, because I had no idea about this fact. Must be hard putting your skills to waste on a message board when there is so much crime and suffering on earth. Beautiful put-down. Especially as the only Mongolian BBQ I’ve been to involved pointing at the meat you wanted, and they’d select all the veg & sauce to suit. But clearly, we were both ignorant in not knowing what to expect from our local variants of the Mongolian franchise 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/71 "2004-11-17T02:07:48Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Brilliant, because I had no idea about this fact. Must be hard putting your skills to waste on a message board when there is so much crime and suffering on earth. Perspective! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/72 "2004-11-17T02:28:10Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Brilliant, because I had no idea about this fact. Must be hard putting your skills to waste on a message board when there is so much crime and suffering on earth. Believe me, ace, I have plenty to go around. No sense allowing you to wallow in your own ignorance when I can lay it to rest with a few sentences. Perhaps for someone such as yourself, composing a few lines of prose is a daunting task full of dire introspection and ass-clenching effort, but such is not the case for everyone. Oh, and **binarydrone** , what the fuck is your problem? Gonna cry about it or something? Why am I “just plain mean” if I merely point out that he was ignorant of the nature of the cuisine, and his lack of enjoyment was his own fault? I never once called him an idiot, pillock, goatfucker, used cum-bag, bonehead, moron, retard, assclown, or dipshit. The OP irritated me. I wrote an irritated response concomitant with his continued use of indifferently witty ripostes. Need a hanky or something? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/73 "2004-11-17T02:48:59Z")
The coke was still watered down, the chicken still made me nauseous due to its vinegar content and the selection was very limited because several of the food bins were empty as I said in my original post. These things are independent of the actual quality of the BBQ, so even if I had done my BBQ right it still would’ve been a sucky restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/74 "2004-11-17T02:51:33Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > The coke was still watered down, the chicken still made me nauseous due to its vinegar content and the selection was very limited because several of the food bins were empty as I said in my original post. These things are independent of the actual quality of the BBQ, so even if I had done my BBQ right it still would’ve been a sucky restaurant. Oh man, if you’d done the BBQ right, the rest of the food would have been completely inconsequential! ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/75 "2004-11-17T02:53:30Z")
Actually, I’d like to issue an apology for the previous post. I was a jerk. Bad day, yadda yadda yadda. But then I went to see the [beer.com](http://beer.com) girl, and now everything is a-ok. Sorry, **Wesley** and **binarydrone**. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/76 "2004-11-17T02:54:03Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Oh man, if you’d done the BBQ right, the rest of the food would have been completely inconsequential! Tho I must concede that I’ve actually been to a mongolian BBQ where the selection was so limited, and the veggies so gross that it did suck pretty bad. Next time, take a guide. If you’re in my area, let me know, we’ll hit the local “Genghis Khan” together, and you will know happiness. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/77 "2004-11-17T03:20:14Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Oh man, if you’d done the BBQ right, the rest of the food would have been completely inconsequential! Well bodypoet says that mandarin buffet on 3rd street has a BBQ, so next time I try chinese/asian food I will go there because the food selection is alot better and of higher quality than this place I went to today and they still have a mandarin BBQ. Ogre - happens. No big deal. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/78 "2004-11-17T03:59:51Z")
Here’s what I don’t get: You go into a restaurant with a main format which is unlike anything you’ve seen or experienced before. Instead of fumbling through on your own, why not ask for help? Say to the hostess or a server or whomever “Hey, I’ve never been here before, how does this work, exactly?” You go to a restaurant and you’re served a Coke that tastes watered down. Instead of drinking it and complaining later, why not send it back? Say to the server “This doesn’t taste right, there’s too much water in the mix. Can you bring me another or some milk or some tea?” You go to a buffet and an item on the buffet doesn’t taste the way you’d enjoy and in fact, contains an ingredient that you really don’t like and that you can _smell_ before you even put the food in your mouth. Instead of eating the food and getting nauseated, why not simply stop eating it, push it aside, and get something else? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/79 "2004-11-17T04:40:13Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > Here’s what I don’t get: > > You go into a restaurant with a main format which is unlike anything you’ve seen or experienced before. Instead of fumbling through on your own, why not ask for help? Say to the hostess or a server or whomever “Hey, I’ve never been here before, how does this work, exactly?” > > You go to a restaurant and you’re served a Coke that tastes watered down. Instead of drinking it and complaining later, why not send it back? Say to the server “This doesn’t taste right, there’s too much water in the mix. Can you bring me another or some milk or some tea?” > > You go to a buffet and an item on the buffet doesn’t taste the way you’d enjoy and in fact, contains an ingredient that you really don’t like and that you can _smell_ before you even put the food in your mouth. Instead of eating the food and getting nauseated, why not simply stop eating it, push it aside, and get something else? I am shy and somewhat non-assertive and really didn’t know there actually were any instructions to a Mandarin BBQ. I assumed you just picked things, I didn’t know you have to put a variety of spices on them to make them edible. The fact that I had a hard time understanding what the servers said through their accents didn’t help, plus I prefer to figure things out on my own, which didn’t work this time but no system is perfect. I assumed they watered the coke down on purpose and I didn’t send it back partially because I am not that assertive, partially because it was not a huge deal, partially because I have heard too many horror stories about restaurant employees getting back at finicky eaters by putting undesirable ‘things’ in their food and partially because I figured if they watered down the coke i’d just get another watered down coke and partially because I enjoyed the idea that I actually found a place that watered down drinks. I’d never actually been to a place where they did that, just heard stories about it happening. I didn’t eat the chicken and get nauseated, I smelled it and tried to eat it and got nauseated. The other food didn’t look too appealing either as the chinese donuts were burnt a little but still edible. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077/80 "2004-11-17T05:05:52Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > I am shy and somewhat non-assertive and really didn’t know there actually were any instructions to a Mandarin BBQ. Ah, so you’re just a little snit who’s tough on the internet, then? Explains quite a bit. (Yes, I’m in a mood tonight. Yes, I’ll probably regret this post tomorrow. But this guy has the balls to call **me** a troll? Me, who’s personally attacked a grand total of 2 posters in the nearly 5 years that I’ve been posting here? Fuck that.) -lv [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-worst-restaurant-ive-ever-been-to/275077.md?page=5)