Chicken Chow Mein from Desert Jade

Last year we marked the hundred day countdown to Best of Phoenix by sharing our 100 Favorite Dishes with you. Now we're back - with the 2011 edition. Have a suggestion for a dish you'd like us to try? Leave it in the comments section or email [email protected]. 88: Chicken...

By Amy Silverman

May 31, 2011

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Last year we marked the hundred day countdown to Best of Phoenix by sharing our 100 Favorite Dishes with you. Now we're back - with the 2011 edition. Have a suggestion for a dish you'd like us to try? Leave it in the comments section or email [email protected].

88: Chicken Chow Mein from Desert Jade

There's nothing fancy about this place -- unless you count the wilted, stuffed birds and plaid touches that make us wonder if this was at one time a hofbrau. That only adds to Desert Jade's dark, cool charm, as far as we're concerned. This is old school Chinese at its finest, with classics like chicken chow mein front and center on the menu. Ah, but we bet you've never had chicken chow mein like this before.

The chicken is succulent, the broccoli and mushrooms fresh and cooked to tender perfection, and the whole thing is tossed in a light sauce and served on a bed of thin, soft/crispy noodles. Never had a soft/crispy noodle before? Like we said, you're missing out.

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Stomach full? Get some eye candy for dessert over on Jackalope Ranch with our Imagine PHX series.

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Amy Silverman is the former managing editor of Phoenix New Times. She is a two-time winner of the Arizona Press Club’s Journalist of the Year award. Her work has appeared on the radio show This American Life and in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Lenny Letter, and Brain, Child.