Ming Jie's House

Okay, I know the title is burgers and brews, but I have to tell you about this great Chinese restaurant we have here in Walden. The name is Ming Jie’s House and you can find it at 47 Main Street. We’ve been going there for years and never had a bad meal.

Ming Jie’s is what I consider gourmet Chinese at reasonable prices. Yeah, they have the traditional stuff like moo shoo pork, noodles, egg foo yung and all that, but try something different. I have a few favorites like the shrimp with bacon, dragon and phoenix, and the crispy shrimp with walnuts and chili sauce. That’s the one in the picture. My family likes the kung pao chicken, the broccoli in garlic sauce and my granddaughter thinks they make the best fried dumplings in the world. Being five she hasn’t seen too much of the world, but they are the best dumplings I’ve ever had.

Ming Jie’s is a family run, and oriented restaurant. They make you feel at home and we’ve gotten to know their children over the years as we’ve eaten there. The service is good, the food is great, and the prices are reasonable.

Gateway Diner

The Gateway Diner on Union Avenue has a good location, sitting right next to a hotel. Unfortunately, for them, it also sits next to two big chain restaurants, Chile’s and Longhorn Steakhouse. Now before these restaurants opened Gateway Diner was a nice place to eat. They had a nice salad bar and an extensive menu. We tried it a while ago and liked it quite a bit. Recently that seems to have changed.

Now, I’ve had some good meals here, but mostly breakfast items. They have the best home fries. Last time there, the salad bar was not good or fresh and the onion soup was greasy. The moussaka was dry, c’mon, this is a Greek diner and the moussaka was bad.

The bottom line is that I don't think they're getting enough business to turn over fresh food and the quality has suffered. If you want an omelet with home fries, give them a try. If you want a real meal, give them a pass.