Chang’s Mongolian Grill-Portland
Chang’s Mongolian Grill
10900 SW 68th Pkwy
Tigard, OR 97223
(503) 246-2191
www.changsmongoliangrill.com
This is one of many located throughout the Portland area. Like many similar grills, it is an all-you-can-eat style restaurant with a pit in the middle where they cook your food right in front of you.
I’ve never been to one of these types of restaurants before, and was mildly impressed. I did not notice any Mongolian descent workers (except perhaps the server who was Korean), the cooks and food preps were all Hispanic. There were also few Asians at the restaurant (not a good indicator). The spread was quite interesting, lots of variety in meats, minimal veggies. Some of what I recall is listed below, but the menu changes on a regular basis depending on market prices.
The meat was cut into small slices and flash frozen to make it easy for cooking. The meat is unseasoned and kept at a cool temperature so that it remains frozen while waiting to be selected. I was concerned with some potential cross contamination, though I’m certain they take precautions with their food. (the food line “watcher” was constantly cleaning up). The only issue with non-frozen, raw foods was in their shrimp, which was cool and sitting in water, but not frozen. The cooks prepared all foods for a certain length of time, and larger portions were cooked longer and more spread out.
Many people mixed their veggies and meats while waiting for them to be prepared. C’est la Vive.
Overall, I think it’s a cool idea. I believe that it’s a bit pricey for what you get (especially if you’re like my pregnant wife who is always famished but can hardly complete a full meal in one sitting). Many of the patrons enjoyed large portions of food (mounds of pasta, rice and meat with a few trace veggies), which makes the price worth the bite. For a full 3-course meal, it’s a good fare.
The bathroom was not bad (at least the men’s room, and I didn’t hear complaints from my wife about the women’s). The toilet paper roll was installed incorrectly in the stall and thus impossible to get more than a sheet…so hope you don’t have an emergency. When I went in the second time, there was some paper towel on the floor, but no big issue. They have a trash next to the door so you can open it without worry of icky germs…and hand sanitizer next to the buffet bowls.
After paying you have your option of a fortune cookie (“Now is the time to call loved ones at a distance. Share your news”), or a big bowl of hard candies (mints, chocomints, butterscotch to name a few).
Healthy all-you-can-eat: Good idea
For those of us who look forward to sharing a meal or taking home the left overs…keep driving.
Another note: the parking lot is on a relatively busy corner with a not-so-clear left turn. Be careful when leaving, as many people like to turn quickly from the 40mph street to the quiet residential street.
Price:$7.95 lunch/$11.95 dinner with significant price reductions for children (somewhere around $3-5 and less)
Hours: check their website, I believe they are open from 11-2:30 for lunch and 5-9 for dinner.
Menu:
price includes soup or salad (they offered hot and sour or egg drop (which tasted like egg whites floating in water)), all-you-can eat steamed rice (very good) or rice-wraps (uncooked egg-roll wrappings that don’t wrap very well), dinner fare (listed below) and ice cream with chocolate or caramel topping.
Dinner
Meats (all but the shrimp were thin sliced and flash frozen)
- Chicken
- Beef
- Lamb
- Shrimp
- Salmon
- Snow Cod
- Imitation Crab
- (maybe some others)
Pasta
- Lo Mein noodles
- Spinach Lo Mein Noodles
Veggies
- Bean Sprouts
- Onions
- Bell Peppers
- Baby Corn
- Water Chestnuts
- Tomatoes
- (Pineapple)
- Spinach
- Carrots
- Broccoli
- (and some others)
Sauces (all mixed with water except the oils)
- Ginger
- Soy
- Salt
- Sugar
- Garlic
- Sesame oil
- Hot oil (?? hot is all I can say)
- Teriyaki, salt, pepper, peanuts and sesame seeds were also available at the end of the cooking line and on the table
