Branch 99 Edison

Thanks for the tip Rob. It’s definitely not set up for English speakers - I have a tough time with the menus.

“Not set up for English speakers - I have a tough time with the menus.”

Don’t be shocked. There are some English speakers that can also read Chinese!! :wink:

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Well I’m not one. I’m not shocked - it’s just hard to read the menu. Thank god for pictures.

Just pulling your leg.

Pictures and/or plastic food models are very helpful when the menu is not in English, when in doubt, go with the picture.

picture from the web:

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Just posting a couple of pictures regarding what JoeBabbitt was talking about…

Yeah. It is called “煎餅果子”. However, I don’t think there is an English name (at least widely accepted one) because it isn’t really popular yet in English speaking country. Yes, it is usually made on the a similar grill as the crepes grill, maybe a little larger Here is a video:

This store at Ranch 99 (King’s Village) mostly serves Northern China snacks, like this pancake we mentioned, skew meat and buns. The menu is actually a little disorganized, much likes most mom and pop restaurants.

What I really like is actually the bakery and hot pot restaurant next store to the supermarket (not inside).

(Should we consider changing the title to the name of the restaurant?)

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Yup - that’s it. The lamb & cumin one is outstanding.

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There’s a popular truck in Portland that sells something called “Bing mi” and it looks similar to this. Any idea if it’s the same thing?

This? Based the website, Bing Mi makes “Jian Bing”(煎饼). Based on their video, they are making the same thing.

https://www.bingmiportland.com/jian-bing-.html

The only small difference is just the names.

Derp! Got the name of the place and the food mixed up. One of my big regrets from my last trip to Portland was not getting to try this cart. I’m glad we have options at the Ranch. :slight_smile: Thanks for the info!

You live near Ranch 99 (or 99 Ranch) in Edison? Anyway, there are several locations up in New York too, particularly Manhattan and Flushing if you are interested.

Mr. Bing is one example: https://www.mr-bing.com/brand-history/

Awesome, I don’t get out to Flushing much any more but I will definitely put it on my list for my next trip. I’m about 40 minutes from Edison and it’s one of my favorite food destinations in NJ. I used to live in Highland Park, I often contemplate moving back to the area but one drive during rush hour and I remember how much I hated the traffic there.

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Mr Bing has a stall at the Bryant Park Winter VIllage - really good, but you’ll have to wait a few months for that.

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So I’m here now and the busiest thing in the place is the, rather averagish, lunch buffet:

The places serving the malaysian curries and the cumin lamb wrap are not busy at all:

As far as the rest of it goes, nobody at the meat or fish counters:

Or pretty much anywhere else.

Check out lanes are empty too:

It is clean and doesn’t smell but nobody seems to be shopping here.

Could be because it’s maybe 30% more expensive than most Asian markets in the area for the same stuff.

Based on the lack of business I passed on the lamb wrap. If the lunch counter is busy but no one is eating at that stand it’s not a good sign.

I guess they’re just unable to compete with Hmart. What a shame. I frankly haven’t been to any of the Chinese markets in the area since HMart came to town - I wonder how they’re doing.

But more importantly, did you eat anything there? :smiley:

It can be not busy from time to time, but I think you may have stopped by a less-than-popular time. It is not usually that quiet. Yes, the cheap buffet is usually the busiest of all – mostly because it is cheap.

I’ve been back twice, the Edison location has been pretty empty both times.

It’s in an old Pathmark on Plainfield Ave close to Highland Park.

No, no. I have been there. I know the location.

I have seen it not very busy like you have, but I have seen it in reasonably ok population. It has never been super busy, but I think you are just unlucky that you have seen it as dead quiet.

I guess they can’t compete with H Mart. To be fair HMart is pretty amazing.

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I go there on average about once a month. I kind of alternate between Ranch 99 and HMart. HMart is definitely better. Hmart’s meat, vegetable, and seafood are way better. The only thing with Ranch 99 is that it is focused on more Chinese stuff and has more variety of packaged and frozen products. I am done with Ranch 99’s cheap buffet; it’s utter garbage with no signs of improvement. Although the King’s village stall is quite good and my son is obsessed with the Rolled Ice Cream at Penang.

Anyway, I would go to Ranch 99 when i just want to pick up a few items and avoid the crowd at Hmart. The parking spaces are getting more and more limited at Hmart with all the restaurants and businesses opening up and doing pretty well it seems - Saturday night can get quite crowded over there (Mango Mango definitely worth a try though; it’s an Asian dessert place).

Another thing worth mentioning is that there is a bakery call SunMerry (it’s a taiwanese franchise) in the same strip mall as Ranch 99; I found that to be a good alternative to Paris Baguette.

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