chengb02
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Posts posted by chengb02
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so are we talking about baijiu here? Is Kaoliang like the Taiwanese version of Wu Liang Ye?
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I am guessing you are talking about "Xiao Fei Yang." If so, they have them throughout BJ and are very good, though I'm surprised they are coming to the US (and it seems LA would be a strange place to open up a hotpot restaurant). Are you sure the sauce was satay paste? This seems very unusual and a typical Northern hotpot sauce would be a sesame paste base (zhima jiang), the bean curd, chives and cilantro, and a few other things to the eater's pleasure. As I've said before, I love eating hotpot with people from around China because its interesting to see regional differences, to me egg in hotpot (or dipping sauce) is sacreligious, but thats because I'm used to the Beijing/Mongolian style.
Well, actually they DO offer dipping sauces @ Little Lamb, at least 4 of them.Little Lamb is "Mongolian Hot Pot" (although there's a lot more restaurants in Shanghai)
It's just diffrenet from Ta Pian Lu. The dipping sauces they have is very Northen--fermented bean curd, chives, sesame paste, satay sauce (the last one is not northern though)
I grew up with the regular hot pot. I like putting an egg in my dipping sauce too.
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Okay, for me there is a big difference between dim sum and (jiaozi/shuijiao) dumplings, but thats a regional thing I think. There are a few things I will buy frozen just because I am too lazy to go through the process of making them from scratch (or even when I do make dumplings from scratch most of them will end up in the freezer) or because I don't know how to make them or because there is no place in the area to get these things from. My typical purchases are limited to dumplings, bbq pork buns, mantou, and spring onion pancakes (cong you bing). To me, these foods don't count as dim sum (well, with the exception of bbq pork buns)...While most of the options are the major brands, every now and then I can find small batch frozen versions of these foods, which I'm sure if the local restaurants serve them, thats where they're getting them from. Dumplings in the form of jiaozi are not something I would ever, EVER, consider ordering at a Chinese restaurant in the US unless I saw them making the dumplings or else I'm sure I'd be in for disappointment.
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We've had a lot of hot pot threads on here and what I always enjoy about hot potting together with friends is that it truly shows the diversity between regions in China. To me, hot pot is a broth with lamb, some cabbage, spinach, and noodles which are then dipped into a mixture of sesame paste/soy/chili oil and whatever else the person likes. Thats how we do it in the North, but then there is, of course, the Chongqing/Sichuan hot pot, or those from the South who would add egg, etc etc and it was interesting to see the different things a grocer would offer for hotpot in Liuzhou. I think hot pot is one of the few "nationwide" dishes in China and even beyond that, each family sort of does it their own way.
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One of the main reasons why services are so good in China because workers are dirt cheap. One of my mother's friend who work as an accountant in a large restaurant told me that the waitress only makes around RMB 600-1000 per month.
Hmm...I don't think its an issue of either communism or capitalism. I think the service, for the most part, is usually horrible in Shanghai (or anywhere else in China), with rare exceptions. While I'm not sure the kind of hours a waitress works in China at the larger restaurants, the average office worker in a Chinese company whose working a 6 day work week, probably somewhere around 50 hours or so, is making 1200-1800 per month, so if a waitress can bring home 600-1000 per month for a job that isn't full time, thats nothing to sneeze at. Service in China is usually extremely fast as there isn't the strict table assignments as in the US (probably because they don't get tips, they aren't territorial like here), so when you want something, you can flag anyone down and they'll get it. Outside of this, the service is usually ver bad, extremely impersonal, always looking for ways to cut corners or get customers to pay more, and often with a lot of attitude. To me, that is the service I'm used to receiving more than anything else in China...
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thank you for all the suggestions so far (and I'd be more than happy to receive any more that all of you may have)! The rate of exchange right now is utterly depressing, but the fact that I'll be in Paris again is exciting and I'm sure that despite the horrible exchange rate, we will still have a great time. Will reservations be required (or recommended) at most of the places listed? We don't have any real schedule and just want to enjoy the city and hopefully, whenever we get hungry, find which of these (and some other restaurants I've come up with) are close to our location and go. Two more questions, first, we plan on sampling, especially for breakfeast, the neighborhood places around our hotel, but if there are any suggestions for the general area, it would be great. We're staying in the 8th, sort of in between the Rome and Europe metro stops. My second question was on my first trip to Paris a few years ago, on the first night we were pretty tired and just wanted to take a walk down the Champs Elysees, eat something, and then sleep. We ended up having dinner, and what turned out to be a relatively decent meal at a good price (considering the area), at Leon de Bruxelles. I doubt many from this list have eaten there (maybe other tourist types), but just curious...
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Glad to hear you had a great time, sounds like it was very busy though, take some time to relax and then we're all looking forward to pictures! Haha, I have always wondered how long it takes waiting in line (if its at hightime, typically will just stand around a table upstairs and look longingly as other people eat) at the xiaolongbao place at Yu Yuan...
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So like many others, I'm coming here looking for help as I prepare for a trip to Paris, departing Christmas day. From what I've seen, some restaurants are closed around this time of year, but most are not, correct? Also, I have seen a number of people mention getting a good guidebook, so which one(s) do people recommend? The day after I booked my ticket I was greeted with headlines saying the dollar is at an all-time low against the euro, not good. For the most part, we'll be eating on the cheap, but one of the days will be my girlfriend's birthday and I'd be happy to accept recommendations for a finer dining experience where the bill would be less than $100 for two people (not including alcohol)...
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I love this city... though I'm scared what it might look like next year when I return. I think that even the chinese that occasionally pass through end up always losing their way. Everything that could be under construction or set to be torn down - is.
Well...If you think its bad now, wait! Things have actually just began to settle down around most major areas (after a boom in preparation for 1999), but there are still a lot of projects going on down side streets or in residential areas. There is a bit of a lull now, but in a year or two things will really pick up again in preparation for 2008.
In any case, I've felt like I couldn't recognize certain areas of the city or that favorite spots, especially restaurants (see, its food related!), have succombed to wrecking balls, but you get reaclimated quickly and start to find new favorite spots (until those close or meet doom). You actually see the character "chai" far less today, the changes won't be that major, though one day soon (if it hasn't happened already) the south part of Sanlitun will be no more...
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Hong Kong is the capital of the best Cantonese food. It certainly offers decent Sichuan food, Indian food, Italian food, and food from many other regions. But it just boggles my mind that why does one want to order steaks while in Boston, and order lobster while in Dallas?
I wholeheartedly disagree with this and feel it probably deserves a topic of its own...We aren't living in the 17 or 1800s, fresh food, from any corner of the globe, can be found at all corners of the globe. If you are only going to be in HK for a day or two, I could understand eating only Cantonese food (or other Chinese food), but any more than that and I'd say, try what the city has to offer. To take the Boston-Dallas example, just because somebody is in Boston, doesn't mean the lobster they'll eat will be better than the one they have in Dallas. That is decided by personal preference, cooking style, and the chef. Further, it is interesting to see the approach of a chef in another part of the world takes with a certain regions food and then you also have to look at minority populations. HK has a large South and SE Asian population and you can sample excellent foods from these places. I've only been to HK twice, so not really sure about making recs, but I can say with certainty, I can't imagine anyone going to Beijing or Shanghai for 4 or 5 days and only eating Chinese food, let alone "local" food.
As for tourist sites in HK, one huge recommendation, don't sign up for a tour. On my first trip there we made a huge mistake by signing up for a half day tour through Grey tours (?, not sure the exact name, grey something, most big cities in the US have this tour company) which was absolutely horrible. Its easy to do things on your own and the only major tourist site is Victoria Peak. I would second doing the star ferry and also a drink at the Felix. If you like to gamble and are in HK for more than 3 days, go over to Macau for a day and hit the casinos.
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I am typically in China twice a year, for a few months during the summer and a few weeks in the winter. This has been the general pattern since I returned for the first time in 1998 and has only been broken once. As I'm currently looking for employment, hopefully this will go up (or I'll be based in China) when I have a job...
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I had kung pao chicken in Shanghai where it came with Chinese broccoli in it, also it seemed the chef forgot the peanuts and so after having brought the dish out, they got another bowl and dumped the peanuts on top...Good kung pao experiences abound as in Beijing this dish can be found everywhere and I rather like the version that most restaurants serve. In China, I've only come across kung pao chicken (with the exception of my oft talked about kungpao bullfrog which was an exceptional change to the forumula). In a pinch (or at times when extremely lazy), I will use the kung pao packets made by McCormick which I always make sure to get in China.
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I, being a loyal Dish reader, was saddened to read the restaurant closings section and finding out that Glory is no more. It was always a place I was interested in visiting, but never had a chance...oh well, having never visited I guess I can't be too sad...
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Sure.
haum yee [Cantonese] = salted fish
fooyee [Cantonese] = fermented bean curd
haum ha [Cantonese] = salty shrimp paste
bitter melon = melons that taste bitter!
and
haum dan [Cantonese] = salted duck egg
pei dan [Cantonese] = century egg (400 year egg?)
nam yee [Cantonese] = fermented bean curd (red)
haha, how about chinese characters for those of us who are cantonese challenged? (although from these descriptions, I can kind of guess what's being referred to...)
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Ronnie, the same could be said about Vietnamese cuisine-lots of cheap places but Pasteur (high end) seems to thrive. Also Aruns for Thai and Fronterra for Mexican. Some people do not want to go to dives to sample ethnic cuisine (no comment) and feel more comfortable in westernized venues. Some of our friends fall in that category and are willing to try new foods but are not inclined to go native. All three of these places have really great food but admittedly not typical of local cuisine.
This is an interesting point and one that I didn't really think about, one could even expand on this and offer up Opera and Shanghai Terrace for Chinese food. Perhaps the difference is in the fact that these places, at least in the case of Aruns and Frontera, offer food that is very different from what you would get in the "dive" places, though I don't think this fully explains it...
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??? = Boletus Edulis
I saw them in stir fry and hot pot before.
This is interesting, I always thought that to be such a weird name for a mushroom and never knew what the english name was...hehe, now I know!
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The duck was served only as you see it there, there were no "extra" dishes (i think that 2 more dishes with some of the duck stir fried and then in/as a soup or broth is sometimes common?). I certainly had no complaints, and wasn't told that I would or wouldn't be served any more than I was. But it just made me question, does the phrase "Beijing Duck", when ordering, typically mean just the sliced duck w/pancakes ... or the duck served in a few different ways/courses?
At a restaurant that is mainly (or only) a peking duck restaurant, there maybe some extras like the soup, but typically it depends on what you order (as they may have different portions and accompianments) or how much you order (as they might throw in the soup). At other places, like Xiao Wang Fu (where they serve a pretty good duck), duck is one of the dishes they offer (as any self respecting Beijing style restaurant would), but have many other dishes, so it is a more a la carte approach to the duck, I am sure they had the duck soup on the menu, but just have to order it.
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Since no one addressed this I'll give it a shot:
I don't think "fusion" as a rule needs to be reconsidered.
I think, particularly in the case of Monsoon because that's where I've been, that they don't meet those higher standards. For the money, I can get better food and service, even better INDIAN food and service.
I guess I didn't clarify my post enough. My point was not that "fusion" needs to be reconsidered, just the concept of higher end Indian food and, particularly, different "modern" or "fusion" Indian restaurants. From experience in London, there are a number of high end Indian restaurants, some that are very popular, but Indian food has been more closely integrated into the British diet (at least I would make this argument). Indian food is still rather "new" to a lot of Americans and I think most would prefer their cheaper, neighborhood Indian place over more modern or adventurous options such as Monsoon and Vermillion.
As for my pick of Vermillion, I didn't offer any defense of it in my original post, but I have inquired into it on here and received some very negative comments about it. I have since eaten there on 2 occassions (going against what I heard on here) and both times have been disappointed AND sitting in a relatively empty restaurant.
I feel the problem is less ours and more that of Chicago Magazine, or any other that wants to use the discussions on here. Those that read eG are a very small percentage of the population and, typically, those discerning enough to not base their judgment on something posted here. I'm not sure if the situation is same for Chicago Mag's the Dish. In any case, what is the difference between one of us and a newspaper restaurant reviewer? Today in a local paper I read one of the worst restaurant reviews I think I've ever seen that was far more damning for the restaurant than anything said on here.
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I agree totally with what was said about the waitstaff, they are very good, curtious, and unpretentious. I went for a bit of a night cap, so we only tried two dishes, the foccacia (after hearing so much on here I had to try it) and a special that night, the raviolini. The focaccia was a good size and was equal to the praise it has received here. The raviolini were very good and served as a good snack. It was a great experience, but one thing that left me a little disappointed was that it doesn't offer "taster" glasses. With so many wines, most being ones we've never heard of before, it would be great to be able to sample a number of different wines when you come with a smaller party. Perhaps this is not possible, but just a thought. It was on this basis that my dining companion decided she preferred the decidedly less hip, Bin 36. Oh well, I tried...
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I seem to remember this discussion from before (was this on the Li Family Restaurant discussion?). The typical peking duck sauce is plum sauce, unfortunately there is a lot of confusion between the differences between plum sauce and hoisin sauce...
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is everybody enjoying their moon cakes? Happy mid-autumn festival to all! I was in Chicago over the weekend and regret not buying any, no moon cakes for me, so I'm living through all of your experiences, hehe!
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I can offer my "expertise" on these dishes, the pork dish is called "Jing Jiang Rou Si" (it could translate as "beijing sauced shredded pork"). The other dish is not shao bing, but appears to be a "dongbei rou bing" (Northeastern Meat Pancake).
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Pardon my French, but I find the Korean markets uniformly dirty, produce limp and the fish, mostly thawed and cretainly not suitable for sahsimi/sushi, if even suitable for eating. Japanese stores are always clean and the best looking produce, fish and meat.
The Korean market I mentioned serves as a great place for getting Korean and Asian food stuffs and cooking items. I don't normally buy fish there, but every now and then will buy shell fish and have found these to be very good. As for produce, they get the fresh stuff in at the middle of the week (it is sometimes out on the floor by Wednesday, but Thursday for sure) and so toward the end of that cycle (a Tuesday), what you will find may not be as fresh...But this is true of any grocery store you will go to. As for it being dirty, I have never found it to be dirty to the point I wouldn't shop there. I can't remember which (probably this discussion) it was discussed how interesting it can be to visit all of this city's different ethnic grocery stores and how it feels you are being transformed to another country. Because this is the case, a little bit of dirt doesn't hurt (as long as the food isn't dirty). I have never gotten sick from anything I've bought there and the line of cars entering into the parking lot on the weekend is a sign how highly this place is regarded.
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I'm curious about the fact that all 3 restaurants selected so far are "fusion" type places. In particular, Monsoon and Vermillion try to produce high end, "interesting" Indian cuisine. Is this a sign that this concept needs to be reconsidered? Perhaps people aren't ready to give up local, cheap Indian places for these higher end places...
Various Chinese cuisines
in China: Cooking & Baking
Posted
Both Jilin and Liaoning provinces have a large Korean population, due in large part to their sharing a border with North Korea. Chefzadi, was the "Manchurian" restaurant you saw located in the US or China? Any traditional Manchurian restaurant would never, ever feature sushi. I also have a question, are you asking about Dongbei (Northeastern=Jilin, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang) food or actual Manchurian food? There is a big difference between Dongbei cai (Northeastern Cuisine) and the traditional food of the Manchurian ethnic group.
I could talk about Northeastern food pretty easily as my family is from Harbin (the capital of Heilongjiang), or if you are interested in Manchurian food, it will be a bit harder, but I can probably provide some info on it...