Lola Knows How To Treat A Lady...Date Night

A date night on a weeknight? What could be more special?

Thursday night, as a thank you for being a member of MyBlogSpark network, my girlfriend and I headed to downtown Chicago to attend a special dinner at Ben Pao. We arrived about a half hour late due to traffic. I started out with a glass or Shiraz and my girlfriend started out with a glass of Merlot. It was our first date in the big city.

Our dinner began with a flavorful hot and sour soup. We then had appetizers of chicken lettuce wrap, potsticker, spring roll and crab rangoon (not the traditional shape, it was tube-like and resembled taquitos and was delicious).

For our entrees we selected the Beef & Broccoli and Kung Pao Chicken to share. The entrees were good, but we definitely felt something was up with the Kung Pao Chicken. Normally that dish ordered at a Chinese restaurant is hot, as in spicy, knock you off your butt spicy. This was not and there were no spicy red chillies to be found.

Due to our arriving late, as we ate our appetizers, most diners were just finishing their entree or beginning dessert. Fortune cookies were passed out and a camera crew hit each table and interviewed diners. The interviewer asked each diner their name and asked them what they thought of the dinner. We realized that my girlfriend had to pick a blog name on the spot. We've discussed this before, but never came up with a name. We frantically brainstormed and came up with nothing. Fortunately the camera crew called it quits before heading back to our table.

As we dined on our dessert, a wonderful Lemon Ginger Cheesecake, we overheard other diners talking about their interview. "Were you fooled?" At that point we decided to open our fortune cookies. This is what they said:
No, we weren't fooled. Remember this commercial? This is what our evening was like:

I've tried many of the frozen Chinese and Asian entrees on the market, Wanchai Ferry is by far the best in my opinion. I've previously tried several of their entrees. As far as the Kung Pao Chicken goes, I'd like to see them provide a packet of freeze dried chillies to add to the entree to your taste. That would definitely make that entree as close to take out Chinese as it could be.

After retrieving my car from the valet and beginning our drive home we joked about how our waitress wasn't frozen from a box and how we half expected the Bounty quicker picker upper lady to show up to clean our table and Madge to come by with a saucer of Palmolive.

I must admit to being slightly embarrassed at the turn our date took, but my girlfriend assured me that she had a great time. Yes, we were punked, but she said it was fun...and it was.

Disclaimer: My girlfriend and I were provided with the dinner, a gift card, coupons, and product information through MyBlogSpark. Thank you to Ben Pao for the great service and atmosphere.

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