Mark Pi's China Gate (May 2, 2007)

Finally!

I found a Chinese place in Indiana that can cook a Beef Fried Rice dish without the use of onions. On top of that, the portions are large and the pricing is very reasonable.

Finally..

Mark Pi's China Gate is a chain that is scattered about god knows where. I went to one in Indianapolis circa 1999 and thought it was good. However, for some strange reason I had not been back. The Mark Pi's I witnessed back then was more of a fast food type place (though you had to wait a bit for your food).

Flash Forward 8 years later. Finals are over. I'm ready to go home, but not without a meal. I head over near the mall area and spot a Mark Pi's. I was craving something oriental, so why not?

I pull in and easily find a spot. There's barely anyone here. This kind of worries me.

I find the front door, go in, and am greeted by a long, wide hallway leading to the host/hostess station. Expensive couches line the left side of the hallway. Nobody is at the station. I get worried again.

Eventually, a friendly Asian woman guides me to a seat. It felt refreshing to be in a Chinese restaurant for once, rather than a buffet.

I sit and notice my surroundings. The main clientèle here consists of old people. A whole slew of them are seated at a table and are quite loud and boisterous. The rest of the place is relatively empty. A guy is sitting in the other table of two directly across from me and seems to be staring right at me. That was borderline bothersome. I sift through the menu and quickly decided to opt for my favorite Chinese dish - Beef Fried Rice.

During a chunk of my childhood, I lived in the Bay Area less than a mile away from one of the best Chinese restaurants in the area. The beef fried rice I had there was amazing. Whenever I recollect old times from my childhood, the Beef Fried Rice I got from Hong Kong Flower Garden in Millbrae always sticks out along with the Persian food we'd get from Pars in San Bruno (which ironically, is now a Chinese restaurant). The only other beef fried rice I've had to top the one from Hong Kong Flower Garden was in a hotel-attached Chinese restaurant in Honolulu back in 2005. Ever since I moved to the Midwest, every Beef Fried Rice I've had here was not nearly as good as the stuff I had before, until I had Mark Pi's back in 1999.

Mark Pi's Beef Fried Rice blew the all the contenders in Bloomington away. The rice was prepared just how I like it: sauced with a decent amount of soy sauce, topped with a generous amount of egg, and filled with tasty beef. Amazing. Almost as good as it was out west.

Now, the only strange thing about this place was the diet coke. It tasted like something else, but it wasn't anything remotely diet or anything remotely coke. Also, my waiter was a full blown stereotypical Fast Times at Ridgemont High American male, which kind of offset the oriental mood, but hey I am in Bloomington after all.

While I was eating, my friend called me about apartments. We still haven't found a good one and are quite worried if we will even get a decent place. We discussed it and agreed to meet soon to look. After I hung up the phone, I received my check for $6.68 and a fortune cookie, as always.

My fortune read - "You are about to make a most valuable discovery"

I seriously don't make these things up.