Hungry Howie's in Deland, FL

Way back in the day, I listed Hungry Howie's Pizza pretty high on the pizza chain hierarchy. Of the big chains, Papa John's was near the top. Domino's was near the bottom of the list. Hungry Howie's was second or third on the list. Then all the nearby Hungry Howie's near me closed.

I was out in Volusia County and ended up at the Hungry Howie's in Deland. The pizza was very different than I remembered Hungry Howie's serving. The crust was thick and puffy. I remember it being much thinner than this pizza was. The flavor of the cheese and sauce were fine. It seemed like they drenched the entire pie in a disgusting amount of some sort of butter sauce. I very much did enjoy the sesame seeds on the crust.

Hungry Howie's (or at least this Hungry Howie's location) was not what I remembered at all. It was worse. If this was a good representation of the chain's pizzas, they have moved way down in my hierarchy of pizza chains.

Something else that bothered me: I ordered this pie in the days of COVID-19, but before Deland's mandatory mask order - not that it would probably make a difference since people aren't following the rule in Seminole or Orange County). Not a single person working in this store who I saw, both front of house and who I could see in the kitchen, was wearing a mask. Seems like a standard safety thing that all restaurants should be following. If Hungry Howie's ignores masks, I can imagine there's other food safety things that might be ignored. Not saying they were violating any other rules, but that seems like a logical next step...

China Lee in Orlando, FL

I ate lunch at China Lee in the MetroWest area of Orlando. This Chinese takeout restaurant is hidden away on the back side of a strip mall located in the parking lot of a Walmart. Typical of most restaurants like this, there were only a few tables for dining in with most of their business being to-go. My meal here consisted of the Szechuan shrimp combination.

While the price was a couple of dollars more than what I've seen at other similar restaurants, the reason was quickly apparent when my food was ready. The portion size was huge, probably double of what many other Chinese restaurants serve in these combinations. The Szechuan shrimp were large, served with lots and lots of vegetables, including peppers, broccoli, squash, onions, carrots, snow peas, corn, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. This Szechuan shrimp was also much spicier than what I've had elsewhere, which is always a good thing. That little pepper symbol on the menu actually meant something. A large serving of fried rice was also included alongside the shrimp as well as an egg roll. I'd return to China Lee again...

New China in West Melbourne, FL

On one of the first colder evenings of the fall, I decided some soup sounded good. I was in Melbourne and found a Chinese take-out called New China. I went in and ordered a quart of wonton soup. The soup was good, although a little on the salty side. There was plenty of wontons and each dumpling had a good amount of meat inside. No shredded pork at the bottom of the soup though. Overall, it was pretty average as far as Chinese take-out soup went. Not the best, but not the worst either.

King's Wok in Longwood, FL

I picked up some Chinese takeout from King's Wok next to Albertson's in Longwood.

Once ready, the food was handed over in a big cardboard box. Being handed a box full of food is so much better than being handed a plastic bag filled with food. Just something about it makes the food delivery system feel better...

After returning home, I started with some wonton soup. It had a flavorful broth, plenty of good sized wontons, and shredded pork at the bottom of the soup container.

For the main dishes, I shared two different items. First was the Chicken with Black Bean Sauce. It came with plenty of tender chicken, peppers, onions, carrots, and water chestnuts. Unfortunately, I didn't like the sauce all too much. It had a sweet flavor, which I was not expecting, being that this dish is normally more savory than sweet. There weren't enough beans either. Overall, it was okay, but not the best.

Next was the Chicken with Broccoli. Can't get much simpler than this, consisting of what the name implies. I definitely preferred the sauce on here over the black bean sauce.

Except the black bean sauce, I enjoyed my Chinese takeout. I'd come back to give King's Wok another try!