Date Night - Week 6: China Gate - Mark Pi's

I ruined Valentine’s Day.

But let me start at the beginning. My almost three-year-old Blackberry has been on the downward spiral ever since my dad knocked it into the sink a few months ago, but I’ve been putting up with the freezing screen and sticking keys, holding out for the Verizon iPhone 4. I emailed my dad last Wednesday asking for the password to our family plan account so I could preorder my phone for pick-up two days later at the Verizon store; his response to my email was “NO.”

Dad’s not a good secret keeper. Mom would have made up some excuse – that she didn’t have the password with her, or that she’d order it and I could pay her back – but Dad isn’t so creative. When I questioned his negative response and all he could come back with was “Just be patient, do I have to spell it out for you?” I knew that Jeremy was involved and this would be an Apple-filled V-Day.

So I – the impatient surprise-ruiner – nagged Jeremy until he broke and fessed up (I know, I know, I should have just kept my mouth shut and acted surprised). I tried to pull the “I didn’t want to lie to you” line, but he knew that I just wanted to play with my new toy. Valentine’s Day, then, came early – the phone was in my possession on Wednesay night of last week.  To be honest, though, he’s spent a lot more time with it than I have, perfecting his Skee-Ball toss and trying to pass the free Moron Test.

I’ve never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day anyway, (though I’ve decided it can be greatly improved by the gifting of electronics) so when Jeremy asked what I wanted to do on the actual day, I requested Chinese food and a good horror movie – his favorite. I suggested the Justin Bieber movie for the holiday terror flick but was swiftly rejected – too scary.

I asked some of my students for recommendations on good Chinese food, and was directed to China Gate (Mark Pi’s) at the Galleria. I called in our order at 5 p.m. and asked for it to be ready at 6 p.m. (I had to run some errands before picking it up). It took two tries to get through on the phone – the first number listed on the website is incorrect. 

When I arrived at the restaurant at 6 p.m. to pick up the order, it had clearly been sitting out for a while. The food was lukewarm and the grease and oil from the egg rolls had leaked through the bottom of the paper bag.

Out of the bag, the food looked great but was disappointing – my vegetable lo mein was bland and my tofu was swimming in oil, and Jeremy’s beef and broccoli were – in his words – “just not good,” tasteless and uninteresting.

It was expensive, too – our order (lo mein, beef and broccoli, a tofu and vegetable dish, and two veggie spring rolls) was just over $40, and though there were plenty of leftovers, there wasn’t much that we wanted to reheat and eat a second time.

I’ve heard and read mixed reviews on Mark Pi’s. Of the ten reviews on urbanspoon.com, four shared our opinion of bland and greasy food and a lack of attention to service, five were mostly positive, noting the variety of options and the presentation of the meals, and one was mixed, stating that it’s better than many other local take-outs but not what they expected for the price.

Most of the positive comments were in regards to eating in rather than carrying out. I’m definitely a giver of second chances, and there were a number of dishes on the menu that I was deciding between for my meal, so maybe one night Jeremy and I will give the sit-down restaurant a try. What are your thoughts about China Gate - Mark Pi’s?  Know of any other good Chinese take-outs in the area?

Oh, and the rest of Valentine’s Day?  I bought Jeremy a new pair of ski poles and a brown stuffed bear holding a pink heart (had to get something cliché) and we snuggled up on his couch and watched “Chucky” and “The Crazies.”  Romantic, huh?