Janbo Express-Draper

Janbo is the epitome of “hole in the wall” especially right now with all the Fresh Market construction going on next door. While the restaurant might not have the ambiance of other Asian style fooderys in town nothing tastes quite as satisfying as fast inexpensive Chinese food. Don’t be scared away by the usually unsmiling teenager manning the cash register, the cooks are friendly and care about the quality of their food. They are always happy to meet special requests.. We ordered inside and it was ready in about 10 mins.

In true American chinese this-isn't-vaguely-authentic take out style I ordered the General Tao’s Chicken. The sauce actually has real spiciness (maybe a 6 on a 10 scale which is pretty impressive compared to the typical whitewasheria happening to most the ethnic food in town) and it isn’t too watery or too thick and gooey. The tender chicken seems to be white meat and has a medium crispy breading, a little heavier than tempura but this isn’t any KFC crisp. The ham fried rice actually has a decent amount of ham and isn’t too oily. My combination dinner also included 2 fried prawns and 2 cream cheese wontons. With all this food it easily lasts 2 meals and only costs $7.25!

If you want take-out or delivery or you just want something FAST I wouldn’t overlook this little place. It’s all you could need from Chinese take-out; they cook your food to order and they offer lots more choices than the chain Chinese express option on 123^rd.

My only personal critique is that I hate hate hate Styrofoam containers and their combo dinners always come in them. You can’t reheat them. You can’t recycle them. They aren’t sturdy. It’s time to move up. I’ll happily pay an extra $0.50 for a recyclable container and even brag on your greenness.