There is something great about a local haunt with familiar food. Sure, a homemade meal from the people you love is the best thing you will ever eat. However, there are also other places like a longtime local restaurant that can become special. My sister and I were both ‘in town.’ Although we might not live far, an hour away tops, whenever we wander our way back home, we tend to take a drive down nostalgia lane. This time that meant a trip to our long-time go-to spot, The Gourmet House in Algonquin to meet up with my Grandma and Grandpa.
I have always been someone who has struggled with the idea of having a local hangout. I simply enjoy going to new places and trying new experiences too much. What I had forgotten about was the time in my life when I didn’t pick where and what dinner was. I am talking, of course, about childhood.
The Gourmet House
We have been going to the Gourmet House for as long as I can remember as it has long been one of our favorite lunch spots.
One of the things that keeps drawing us back is that The Gourmet House does a lunch special that is under $10 and includes a meal, an egg roll (although today I switched mine for Crab Rangoon), and soup if you dine in. If you dine out, you have a choice of sodas instead.
My order has stayed pretty consistent over the years. I usually get either the Kung Po Chicken or the Beef Ho Fun. Although lately I usually order the Beef Ho Fun which is exactly what I did that day.
With our large group of 6, we sat at one of the bigger tables that had a lazy susan. We chatted and shared life. Birds tweeted from the TV screens. For real though, they brought nature indoors with a tv screen above us playing a loop of bird footage.
I stumbled over my no-menu-needed-here order. I gave the wrong soup name. Yikes!
My go-to is normally egg drop soup but with so many people ordering the same soup my mouth got ahead of my mind and ordered the table favorite Hot and Sour soup.
Time to Eat!
The soup began to appear quickly after our order was placed. The Hot and Sour soup was really good. The chili flakes did give the dish a bit of a kick, though the menu helpfully warns those who are sensitive to spicy foods with a small pepper next to the dish name.
Not long after our meals began arriving in smaller batches. Luckily, they all appeared around a similar time, and some of us were still finishing our soup at that point.
I wrap the thick noodles of the Beef Ho Fun around my fork and dig in.
It’s just as good as I remember. My favorite part of the dish is the splash of green, the green bean that adds a bit of crunch!
Like I said earlier I swapped my egg roll for a crab rangoon on a whim. I usually don’t like seafood, but I have liked crab rangoon in the past and decided on a side of adventure with my main course of nostalgia.
I loved the first bite, the one with the crunch! It’s shaped kind of like a folded-up flower, so the first bite is crispy fried dough.
As someone who doesn’t eat seafood, I enjoy the fact that you can barely taste the crab. I hate writing that because I know seafood connoisseurs are looking down on me for that. But I did like the Crab Rangoon.
Our meal of course ends with a fortune cookie, which turns into a read-aloud as everyone wants to know what you got.
My fortune that day was most likely a simple saying of sorts. One that I instantly forgot, but this trip to Gourmet House, like all the others, would be a memory to hold!
Nice write up on our family favorite restaurant! Although Betsy I think those are snap peas and not green beans in your beef ho fun 😉 Love that dish too!