EVANSVILLE, Ind. – When you enter the Chopstick Dwelling cafe, the initial factor you see are framed Courier & Push posts relationship back in excess of 30 decades —– tales of meals shared by hungry and satisfied food items writers.
They have phrases these types of as “a great whole-flavored dish,” “the greatest sweet and bitter rooster I have tasted in the Tri-Point out,” “one of the very best values” and “consistently tasty.”
The Chopstick Property just celebrated its 32nd anniversary, and none of this has adjusted.
When the cafe opened in 1989, Evansville’s palate was significantly less adventuresome, and diners were being most common with the incredibly delicate, Cantonese-design and style dishes served at dining establishments these types of as F’s Steakhouse and the Dwelling of Chong.
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Homeowners Eddie and Karen Kung are originally from Hong Kong. Eddie arrived to the United States from in 1973 and Karen followed in 1981. Jointly, they worked at Chinese dining places in quite a few states right before settling in Evansville, wherever family members members owned The Residence of Chong.
“We required to have our personal company, so we saved up some money and discovered this area. We preferred Evansville for the reason that it is not far too huge, not way too tiny, and our son liked heading to university below,” Karen mentioned.
Hong Kong borders Canton (now Guangdong) province, but they made a extensive-ranging menu of favorites motivated from lots of areas of China, bringing spicy dishes from Szechwan Kung Po Rooster to meats in fragrant curry sauces. It was effectively gained.
Several of the menu goods have remained the identical, with new specials becoming extra and the favorites retained about the decades. When so lots of Chinese dining establishments have been introducing buffets, the Kungs did not.
“We didn’t consider it was a superior notion,” Karen said. “We like the client to buy from the menu and the foodstuff will come out refreshing and very hot it’s when it’s the finest high quality.”
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The Chopstick Property menu is substantial, combining a assortment of meats and seafood with veggies, rice, noodles, and diverse sauces from gentle to spicy to sweet and tangy.
Sweet and bitter hen has generally been the Chopstick House’s claim to fame, and it remains one of the most common dishes.
The rooster is white meat, battered and fried to purchase, tossed with pineapple, tomato wedges, and green pepper, and finally doused in a homemade sweet and sour sauce that contains ginger, lemon, vinegar and sugar.
Sweet and bitter lovers may possibly also select pork, shrimp, fried wontons with cheese filling, or even duck breast cooked this way.
Other well known specialties are the dwelling variation of Normal Tso’s Rooster, spicy Hunan chicken, and the residence fried rice, which is tossed in a fiery wok for that unique smoky flavor and seasoned with a dash of dark mushroom soy sauce for a abundant brown shade.
We really don’t have room to wax poetic about all the dishes on the Chopstick House’s menu, because there are in excess of 100 of them, and which is just the entrees.
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This spot also continues to be a very excellent worth. Meal entre
es are priced from $8.75 for fried rice to $14.95 for some duck and scallop dishes, with most falling in the $10 – $13 variety. A quart of hot and sour or wonton soup is continue to only $5.75.
The menu involves a vegetarian section, particular relatives dinners, a few American options these as a cheeseburger and chicken nuggets for the kiddos and lunch specials with an entrée, soup and appetizer for $7 – $8.
The Kungs are not prepared to retire nonetheless, and their target is to keep the restaurant the same and preserve the doorways open until finally they are prepared. With a focused consumer foundation and brisk have-out business enterprise, COVID didn’t slow them down as well a lot and they are forging ideal ahead.
“We are fortunate we have pretty loyal shoppers,” Karen claimed. “We have some family members that have three generations coming below. It’s like their relatives. Some retired folks say this has become like their 2nd dwelling.”
If You Go
The place: The Chopstick Dwelling is at 5412 E Indiana St.
Cellphone: 812-473-5551
Hrs: Tuesday – Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. shut Monday.