Grady Cheese: Doc Chey's

Tuesday, April 28

Doc Chey's

Robin Nevetral, Grady JOUR 5590 Food Critic Extraordinaire

Doc Chey’s Noodle House is one of Athens’ best casual restaurants, located right in the heart of downtown. The casual style of the pan-Asian restaurant matches perfectly with the pace of this college town. Doc Chey’s has locations in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Their menu varies slightly based on location but overall, many menu items remain the same. The Athens location is at the corner of East Clayton Street and Jackson.

Lunch and dinner at Doc Chey’s are slightly different. Upon walking into the modern restaurant at lunch time, customers order their food at the counter, seat themselves and then wait for one of the servers to bring the food. However, when eating dinner at Doc Chey’s, you walk in and wait to be seated. Customers order at the table as they would any other sit-down restaurant.

Walking into Doc Chey’s Monday night for dinner, I was excited to see that my friend and I would be seated at one of the taller tables by the windows, a great spot for people watching. All of the tables in the middle of the restaurant are picnic style, complete with benches you have to awkwardly slide into.

One of the first things I noticed upon walking into the restaurant was the noise. The kitchen is open so customers can watch as the chefs prepare their food. The noise from the kitchen combined with the noise generated from people’s conversations means that if you are looking for a quiet place to eat, Doc Chey’s is not where you should be headed.

The noise, however, does not take away from Doc Chey’s amazing menu selections and freshly prepared entrees made from scratch. The menu offers several dishes to appeal to varied crowds, including Chinese Lo Mein, Wok Fried Rice and Pad Thai. Many of the dishes can be prepared with chicken, beef or shrimp as well as tofu and veggies. Because every dish is made fresh, dishes can be customized to fit the needs and wants of the customer. The price of a meal at Doc Chey’s is definitely affordable in a college town. One can easily walk in and get a satisfying meal (plus the complementary orange and fortune cookie brought to the table with the check) for under $10.

The service at Doc Chey’s was remarkable. The waitress who waited on our party was attentive to our needs and was always nearby with a drink refill when our glasses were empty. We were brought our food quickly despite the fact that the restaurant was crowded and our server appeared to be waiting on several other tables in addition to ours.

As an appetizer, I had the Crispy Veggie Spring Rolls. The veggies are wok-seared and wrapped in a crispy spring roll so thin you can see the vegetables inside. Upon the first bite, steam pours out of the spring roll. They are served with a delicious sweet chili sauce that adds a nice kick to the veggie rolls. They proved to be an excellent entry to the rest of the meal.

For dinner I ordered the General Chey’s with chicken. It is a dish that features broccoli, onions, and red peppers in a sweet and spicy sauce. The small pepper symbol on the menu next to the description of the meal indicates that this dish is spicy. The bright red peppers and broccoli pop out on the plate and add some color to the dish. I could see the grill marks on the veggies as well as the chicken, and since I love foods prepared on a grill this made me extremely happy. My plate was steaming when brought to the table but the dish was not so hot that I could not immediately enjoy my meal. The sweet and spicy sauce was a wonderful aspect to the meal. It was the kind of sauce that makes one want to lick the plate at the end of the meal (I resisted since I was in public).

The dish is definitely not for those who have a low level of tolerance for spicy foods. I love spicy foods, and even I was taken aback slightly by the spice. The vegetables were perfectly prepared. They were well cooked and added a nice crunch to the dish. I ate every last bite of my meal (it was that good).

I have eaten at Doc Chey’s many times before, but had always ordered the same dish (Mongolian with chicken – another wonderful dish I would recommend); however, after trying the General Chey’s, I believe I have found a new favorite dish. It is a dish I will definitely order again.

2 comments:

Julie LeungMay 2, 2009 at 1:55 PM
Every time I go to Doc Chey's I always order the Japanese Udon with Fried Tofu. Always. I always know its going to be good, which I can't say the same for every dish there. But reading this, I may just venture outside to the Mongolian chicken.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Diane ParkMay 6, 2009 at 11:10 PM
I have a favorite Doc Chey's entree too: Chicken Pad Thai! I don't ever think about eating anything else - a trend? After reading your review though I would definitely consider trying the General Chey's (if it changed your mind, maybe it'll change mine). There is definitely a soft spot for that restaurant in my list of favorite places to eat - and I think you really did the restaurant justice here. It was very informative - and since you eat there a lot, you could tell with all the extra information you included. awesome!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Role of the critic according to Judy

As someone who appreciates open mindedness, free thought and new perspectives, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the role of the critic is not only relevant but also necessary in society today. I’ve always been the kind of person who tried to learn from other people – both from their successes and their failures. My one stipulation, however, was that the individual I was learning from had to have some solid understanding in the area that they had either succeeded or failed in before I would use them as an example for my own life. I believe that same rule certainly applies with today’s critic.

I wouldn’t ask someone to fly a plane if they hadn’t been to school for it. Would you? So, why would we gain our knowledge and understanding about pop-culture, the arts or any other critique-able venue from someone who didn’t have some sort of training (or any otherwise firm grasp) on why something is or is not “good.” Sure, it’s not difficult to go on the internet these days and (with the click of a few buttons) find a tantrum-ridden, one-sided, non-backed-up opinion from some know-it-all who thinks his word is God (not that some of those aren’t hilarious and interesting to read). But is that really worth basing a strong decision on (as to whether you would see, buy or visit) whatever is being critiqued?

After all, without any education to back it up, it’s just an opinion (not a critique). And we all know what they say about opinions. So there you have it, my thoughts on why I feel the role of the critic is absolutely necessary in our world today. And, for what it’s worth, I did get a bit of training in this area. Critics Rule!

The Role of the Critic according to Nathan

The new role of the critic is to make their opinions relevant to the paying public in a time-conscious manner. People don’t have time any more to absorb entertainment for themselves; they need a way to be able to form an informed opinion without taking the time to inform themselves.

The key to that system is that the readers have to form the opinion for themselves, and that comes one of two ways. Either they are given all the relevant information to form an opinion for themselves, or they believe the critic’s opinion is trustworthy and worth repeating. The critic’s job is to form a relationship with the reader in order to earn that trust so the readers don’t have to do all the work of immersing themselves in culture.

The critic must have a consistent, honest voice, and should give a personal opinion so the reader can see the person behind the article. That way, the reader can talk about critics as if they were friends. “Well I know Nathan leans toward plot and doesn’t quite a character-driven story, but I lean more to the There Will Be Blood style so we might disagree on that one.”

Another important element of the critic’s role is to be prolific-they can’t confine themselves to one genre of one medium. They have to be able to serve the readers’ interests completely, so the reader won’t need to go anywhere else to be informed. So they have to go see movies all the time, and in different theaters while writing constantly.

The Role of the Critic according to Casey

In the age of blogs, public comments on media websites, citizen journalism, and facebook pages, everyone has a chance to voice their critical views about current events, arts, and the latest Hollywood scandal. So, what role does the professional critic have in this arena?

The critic still has a place in this age of interactive journalism. The audience expects and requires media outlets to hear them. But with all the yelling on the comment boards, who cares what one person has to say about culture, literature, food, music, and art?

The answer to this question requires an examination of what a professional critic is. A critic must understand what their tastes and prejudices are, to be completely transparent about them with no apologies. A critic must speak to their audience, knowing who their audience is and what art and culture the audience is curious about in the world. A critic needs to talk to their audience, not talk at them, while still owning their opinions in the critic’s voice.

A critic must be knowledgeable in what they are reviewing, but not overly reporting details and examples to the point that art loses its soul. A critic must listen to their intuition about the art and culture being reviewed while evoking an empathetic sense of what the artist was trying to achieve.

In today’s world, anyone can be a critic on their own website/blog/comment section. The critic must have an appreciation for the art reviewed. What makes a critic stand out is the ability to be both objective and subjective, to own an opinion with solid examples, emotions, and details, with precise adjectives, revealing quotes, and concrete background information.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but not everyone is a true critic.

The Role of the Critic according to Meredith

Over the semester we have evaluated and tried our hand at a number of critical writings. I found that while I’m not the best or most esteemed critic at all of the subjects we reviewed, each person has their own original taste and biases to account for in their experience of a certain event. Whether it is a play, concert, restaurant, book reading or another medium of artistic release – the arts require a conversation, a dialogue, about the meaning behind human expression. This conversation is the responsibility of the critic: begin it, enhance it, encourage it - in your own community.

I reject the claims that a critic must be well established or controversial to have an opinion. The worst review we read, in my opinion, was by the big boss of criticism, the New York Time’s own rMichiko Kakutani. Without bashing her or name calling, I’ll say I think its important that a critic’s words hold value and meaning, and that they communicate with the audience that avidly seeks the review.

The critic’s influence has an interesting place in today’s wavering economy. As newspapers go online (and out of business), it is still important for people to know what to spend their money on. What is worthy of the little bit of extra cash we have in our wallets, our pockets, or sitting on the floorboard of our cars? The critic should tell us that.

The most important thing I learned about the role of the critic is the importance of the writer’s willingness to expose their biases. If the critic does this, no opinion is supreme, no artistic work is complete crap or unworthy of any audience at all. Subjectivity and honesty are at the center of the critic’s role. This honesty and the dialogue between art, critic and community are essential – though I wish it could be done without the presence of message boards, which seem to take the focus away from the criticism or the artistic piece and bring the dialogue to a level that is worthy of some criticism itself.

Tuesday, April 28

Doc Chey's

2 comments:

Blog list

Which Athenian Pizza is the Best?

Blog Archive

Judy

Role of the critic according to Judy

Nathan

The Role of the Critic according to Nathan

The Role of the Critic according to Casey

The Role of the Critic according to Meredith

Favorite food blog links

We are...

Followers