Sun Wah Kitchen in West Orange - need your opinion

[Beth E.]

Got this from a friend who knows I frequent Egullet. She wanted to get my opinion of what she should do. Now I'm sharing it here to get more opinions.

I stopped at Sun Wah Kitchen today to get a little lunch. When I arrived there was 1 other person waiting for an order. There were 3 people in the kitchen area -- one woman and two men. One of the men was all the way in the back chopping something on a big wooden chopping block.

I place my order -- some Kung Po Chicken and some spicy wontons. The woman in the kitchen was working on the other customers order. The other man was working on an order that had been placed by phone. He spoke chinese to the man cutting something in the back and he came forward to cook. I wasn't really paying attention or I would have said something sooner, but as I watched he began to prepare what I realized was my Kung Po as the other male got done with what he was cooking and started on my wontons. The guy who was chopping the meat and working on my kung po grabbed a couple of the foldy chinese takeout boxes and is trying to pull them apart. Then he goes to the wok and is cooking the kung po.

The problem, I realize, is that he was previously chopping something raw and now he is cooking my food! I say to the woman behind the counter -- "Can I ask what he was chopping?" She looks and tells me that it is chicken. Raw chicken mind you! Ick!

I start to tell her that it is unsanitary for him to be doing that. The other man comes over -- I guess he was the owner or manager. I tell him that I do not want the kung po chicken since I saw the other guy make it without washing his hands. I explain that it is very unsanitary for him to do that -- along with the fact that he was handling the inside of the take out container just after touching raw chicken and then he put the cooked food in the container.

The guy tells me that it is okay since he cooked the chicken. "not that chicken" I say pointing to the big pile he was working on in back of the restaurant. "It's fine." he tells me.

Somehow I don't think the health department would think it is that fine. I bought the wontons and left. The man kept insisting everything was fine and he yelled at me for not wanting the kung po -- that he can't operate a business that way. I ate some of the wontons -- but I had lost a lot of my appetite. I'm thinking of letting the board or health know what I witnessed. What do you think?

I would call the health department just to give them the heads up. What do you think?

[Laksa]

If yer gonna look in the kitchen, yer better off not eatin' Chinese food.

[Jason Perlow]

Exactly... to paraphrase Jack Nicholson from "A Few Good Men"

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

[tommy]

If yer gonna look in the kitchen, yer better off not eatin' Chinese food.

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i think that goes for just about any type of kitchen, not the least of which your own.

[rooftop1000]

Thank you

My responce last night would have been to order delivery but I wimped out on posting it.

Ya know, if its the chicken hands or the hairy kid behind the counter someone will eventually leave a restaurant going Oh my g-d how could people eat there.

Tracey

[Jason Perlow]

If yer gonna look in the kitchen, yer better off not eatin' Chinese food.

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i think that goes for just about any type of kitchen, not the least of which your own.

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If you only knew how much of a contamination-averse freak Rachel is. Boy do I get yelled at a lot.

Edited July 24, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[MJP]

Not to be a stickler, but health inspections and things like that are there for a reason. I don't think that just because a restaurant is a cheap Chinese take-out exempts it from its inspections and responsibilities. If it was happening at the Union Square Cafe, Blu, etc., would it be exempt simply because it's a well-known establishment?

If I saw something like that, I would report it. I normally do take-out, and I haven't had any problems yet, but seeing it basically puts you in the loop. If people get sick, it's a problem. If not, it isn't, but the fact of the matter is that they're supposed to be sanitary as part of the certification process, right?

I think I might be coming down a little hard, but if nobody ever gets caught, the system doesn't work. Speeding tickets and restaurant certifications work by fear of punishment, etc.

[tommy]

Not to be a stickler, but health inspections and things like that are there for a reason.  I don't think that just because a restaurant is a cheap Chinese take-out exempts it from its inspections and responsibilities.  If it was happening at the Union Square Cafe, Blu, etc., would it be exempt simply because it's a well-known establishment? 

i found the passage in Bill Buford's book Heat, where he talks about Mario Batali digging through the garbage for food, quite interesting. Not shocking, though.

[Beth E.]

Its been reported. I'm sure there's stuff going on that we never see at a host of chinese restaurants, but what we don't know we can't gag over.

[Shmily]

If yer gonna look in the kitchen, yer better off not eatin' Chinese food.

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or probably most restaurant food, sadly...

[Shmily]

I have lived near Sun Wah for many years..when it opened, it was wonderful...sadly, it has changed hands many time and is no longer a place I would frequesnt...and I have no other suggestions...

[Lreda]

That's a shame. Cross-contamiation is nothing to laugh at.

I'm putting my foot down!

[menton1]

I'm sure many resto kitchens would prefer not to be seen by their patrons... the old adage What you don't know about won't hurt you may have a bit of credence here.

I remember on a vacation to Greece a few years back, the general rule there is that all the Tavernas cook the food in the morning, and then the food sits in the display cases at room temperature all day. These are mostly mezes, or small plates, but they were quite good most of the time, and we never got sick in 2 weeks. So much for science and bacteria growth...

[nanyun]

I'm sorry that your friend witnessed that and got such a rude response.

I love the idea of an open kitchen, but that set-up bothers me if people aren't even going to pretend that there are controls in place.

We're still looking for a great take-out place close to our house but the one we order pick-up and delivery from is also an open kitchen. I really don't look back there- I don't want to know.