Diary 12|8|2014: 200K. Trey Yuen.

[title type="h5"]Monday, December 8, 2014. 200-K. A Great Dinner At Trey Yuen.[/title] So much is been going on that I haven't mentioned a signal event in our family of beloved people, pets and machines. Yesterday, while I was out shopping for Mary Ann's birthday bash, my 2003 PT Cruiser crossed the 200,000 mile mark. It's the fourth car in our all-time fleet to accomplish that. Jude and the Marys head out to service various aspects of Jude's wedding this Saturday. He needs to get his suit cleaned, among other things. But the Marys are still working on their dresses. Also on Mary Leigh's plate are the two wedding cakes, as well as the design of the program for the wedding. She has become typographically adept, and the result is thoroughly professional. That sort of thing was what I did for a living when I was her age. [caption id="attachment_38952" align="alignnone" width="480"] Pot stickers.[/caption] Darkness comes early this time of year, and it's black by the time we arrive at Trey Yuen for a quarter-to-six supper. When Jude is in town, Trey Yuen is a given. Pot stickers to begin, of course. In the peak years of his love for that dish, Jude would eat three or four orders of these by himself. The kitchen still knows him for that, as Tommy Wong, the Wong on duty today, reminds us. [caption id="attachment_40703" align="alignnone" width="480"] Choo-choo chicken at Trey Yuen.[/caption] We have two unusually fine entrees, even by Trey Yuen's high standards. Jude remembers a dish called Choo-Choo Chicken from a previous visit, and orders it, noting that in all the years he's liked it, Choo Chicken has always been on the specials board, but never on the menu. Some marketing trick? We stop talking about it when the subject dish appears, with its distinctive day-glo red color and its sharply spicy flavors. I ask Tommy what goes into it to give that color, and he reveals that it's probably the ketchup in the recipe. I wasn't expecting that. But then, this is the restaurant celebrated for its pecan shrimp, which is loaded with mayonnaise. I have something straightforward: Szechuan beef. It's another unexpected pleasure, with such a great blend of flavors and pepper that the plate bearing it makes several circuits around the table. It leaves me just the right modest portion I prefer, but rarely can get from the generous Wongs. [title type="h5"]Trey Yuen. Mandeville: 600 Causeway Blvd. 985-626-4476.[/title]