Koi pond at Mr. Yen's Restaurant
Hey, Readers. Leanne thought it would be a nice idea for me to blog about my BFF Michael's restaurant, Mr. Yen's in South Springfield. If you live in Springfield, you may have eaten there or even hosted a family banquet or event or attended one at some point.
Michael's family opened the restaurant back when we were in high school and I even worked there one summer bussing tables. I remember everyone's excited anticipation of the grand opening, because the Yen family was building the restaurant from the ground up and implementing beautiful imported Chinese decor. It was going to be their Taj Mahal, and my friends and I could hardly wait to sit at the fancy tables and dine on exquisite Springfield-style cashew chicken (what else?). Following their grand opening, my friends and I patronized the restaurant as much as teenagers could afford to, and I dined there until I moved away in 2001 shortly after my 21st birthday.
Fast forward to 2012, and Leanne and I have returned to our old stomping grounds. One of the last places I thought to visit was Mr. Yen's restaurant, because in my mind, I thought it would be nice for us to try out several of the new places that had opened since we moved away. Springfield certainly has grown a lot over the last decade and one noticeable area of its growth is restaurants.
Fortunately for me, Leanne, her sister Sara, and I ended up having dinner and drinks there not long after we moved back and were delighted to discover that Mr. Yen's apparently has quite the spectacular drink menu. We fixed our gazes on the page that lists their exotic tropical drinks and eagerly read the names and their descriptions to each other - not that it made our decision any easier since everything sounded delicious. Ok, so all the drinks sound good. Surely they're not all as good as they sound. Right?
I started out with a sweet coconut drink called a Chi-chi and Leanne ordered a Mai Tai. When our drinks arrived in their decorative tiki glasses, I took my first sip and my taste buds rejoiced. I immediately decided that this would not be my last Chi-chi of the evening. Leanne expressed similar satisfaction with her drink as well. I then tried her Mai Tai, and being that I consider myself somewhat of an amateur Mai Tai connoisseur, I can honestly say that her drink was top notch. It was love at first taste.
If you live in the Ozarks and haven't had a chance to dine at Mr. Yen's Restaurant, you should plan on doing so soon and DO order something from their drink menu to complement their decadent spring rolls and crab rangoons. The restaurant is located at 4117 S. National Avenue in Springfield near Cox South, and if you'd like to make reservations, you can reach them at (417) 881-1061.
Our very first photograph together.
No comments:
Post a Comment