Restaurant Review: Trizest

Chinese Food of a High Caliber

There are a multitude of Chinese restaurants to pick from locally in our area. You can find dozens of choices to get a crab rangoon or an almond boneless chicken but what sets Trizest apart is both the quality and the extensive offerings above what we envision as traditional Chinese carry out.

Trizest has those same dishes, along with other conventional dishes, such as sweet and sour chicken, Mongolian beef, and pork fried rice. What is different is that there are two menus at Trizest and the second menu has some choices that are beyond those American traditional favorites.

Some of the items are featured on both menus and some are strictly reserved for "Menu II" which features the dishes in both English and Chinese. Some entrees are more adventurous than others, including "spicy pig stomach" and "pig's blood curd with vegetables in a wok". I have to admit, I have not tried those but I do enjoy some of the less adventurous fare on this side of the menu. The orange beef, actually on both Menu I and II, is a wonderfully double fried dish of beef, with a generous portion of red chili peppers and shredded orange peel that perfectly balances sweet and spicy as only a sichuan (szechuan) dish can.

We also routinely enjoy the sesame deep fried tofu, a combination of delicate cubes of firm tofu (they don't seem deep fried to me), with a spicy sweet sauce, with toasted sesame seeds that is very light, especially for Chinese fried food. For someone who is vegetraian it would be important to note that they ahve mulitiple tofu dishes, including one with General Tso's sauce, as well as several vegetable dishes, and ones featuring "vegetarian chicken".

There is also plenty of seafood dishes including a salt and pepper fried squid that is very peppery. It's a little bit of a heavier dish but very flavorful. I didn't order it this time so unforutnately I don't have a photo to showcase this dish.

With the Menu I, the more traditional Chinese carry out, there is a very good version of almond boneless chicken that is worth a try. The gravy is quite good, not oversalted, and the chicken is cooked on the crispy side,

Yes, we also get an order of the crab rangoons, even if they are really a very American dish. Their version is full of creamy cheese with real crab, delicately mixed in, and some red pepper and scallions.

Not sure if this place will live up the they hype? I think it's a testament to a place that is always busy and is full of those of Aisan descent. Most of the time we are among a handful of white people at this restaurant. It may be that Trizest is a secret except among the Chinese? Or maybe the Menu II scares folks off? I highly recommend this place. 

I will definitely be back again and have plans to try fried eggplant with pork, and crispy squid with fired salt and pepper!