JagWire reviews Chinese takeout

The orange chicken at East China is very orange in color, but it has too much of a tangy orange flavor. When I first tasted it, all I noticed was an overwhelming sweetness. As I continued to eat, I tasted strong spices as well — but not strong enough to mask the sweetness. Though I appreciated the added vegetables, the sauce was too overwhelming for me to enjoy the orange chicken.

Out of the three General Tso’s chickens I had, this was definitely the sweetest. It still had some spice to it, for sure, but it was noticeably less so than anywhere else. The meat of the chicken was perfect, with no weird crunchiness like there was at Red Fortune. East China’s version of the General Tso’s chicken may not have the most kick, but it’s still delicious.

Great orange chicken is sweet, tangy and spicy. Grand Wok gets two out of the three flavors right, but misses a necessary spiciness. The sauce is thin, but it’s heartening to see orange peel pieces in it. And, side note: I really appreciate that Grand Wok actually provided me with takeout utensils, unlike the other two restaurants.

Out of the three places we visited, Grand Wok definitely had the best and most quintessential General Tso’s chicken. It wasn’t too spicy or too sweet, and had just the right amount of sauce. The dish tasted excellent, with the chicken being perfectly cooked. For a simply really good General Tso’s chicken, this is the place to go.

Red Fortune’s orange chicken looks very earthy, to the point where we couldn’t tell it from the General Tso’s chicken without tasting it. It tastes as earthy as it looks, which made it rise above the other restaurants’ food. The flavors in the sauce were layered, and, though the sauce made the breading on the chicken fall off occasionally, it was worth it. Red Fortune has always been my go-to...

This General Tso’s chicken stood out from the others in that it had almost an earthy taste to it. Unlike the other two places, the chicken here was a bit crunchy, and the whole dish just tasted very different than the same one at East China or Grand Wok. The flavor was a little spicy, more so than East China but less so than Grand Wok. This dish wasn’t the best out of the three, but is good if yo...