Chester County Chinese New Year

[SaxChik]

Due to grad school classes, I won't be able to make the DCC's Feb Chinese New Year celebration on the 22nd.

There's a good one at Margaret Kuo's Mandrin in Frazer/Malvern. It's throughout the month of February. I'd like to do it on a weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun night) and gather a group of 4 or more people.

The cost is $45 p/person (sans tax & tip). It's BYOB. The food is consistantly good or above average.

Here's the menu ...

Starters:

Peppercorn Shrimp & Drunken Chicken

Essence of Chicken Soup w/ Black Mushrooms and Herbal Dates

Main Course:

Royal Peking Duck

Mandrin Lobster Tail w/ Ginger & Scallions

Szechuan Beef Tenrloin Au Poivre

Seafood Jasmine Fried Rice

Propitious Whole Fish w/ Pinenuts

Dessert:

Traditional Osmanthus Dumpling in Soup

or Ice Cream

If you're interested, please email me at my user name @aol.com.

Thanks!

Lauren (37, Exton)

[SaxChik]

ok, my spelling sucks. it's MANDARIN in frazer.

looks like the date is Feb 26th (sat), time TBD.

please email me at saxchik @ aol . com.

thanks!

lauren

[SaxChik]

ok, my spelling sucks.  it's MANDARIN in frazer.

looks like the date is Feb 26th (sat), time TBD.

please email me at saxchik @ aol . com.

thanks!

lauren

←

updated: the time is 6:30pm. we have a reservation for 6, but can expand if there is more interest. please let me know by thursday, feb 24th. thanks!

[percyn]

Our evening began around 6:30pm, when a group of 7 met for dinner at Mandarin to partake in a special dinner based on the menu posted up-thread, to celebrate the Chinese New Year. SaxChik, the organizer/hostess for this event, added to the theme by handing the diners with an informative pamphlet she had made up on Gung Hay Fat Choy or the Green Wooden Chicken Year (did I get that right SaxChik?). You can also view the very timely review from SaxChik, who did a great job of organizing the event and has started a new club called Chester County Foodies (chesccofoodies) whoo-yhooo, it's about time !!!

Now on to the food...

First Course : Peppercorn Shrimp & Drunken Chicken

While the texture of the shrimp was juicy and succulent, it seemed very lightly seasoned to be called peppercorn shrimp and one might easily confuse it with cocktail shrimp. As for the drunken chicken, it left a bit to be desired. The chunks of chicken were limp and reminded me of what might have come from a can or a deli serving bad chicken salad. The asparagus was quite good though.

Second Course : Essence of Chicken Soup with Black Mushrooms & Herbal Dates

Things started to look up when this dish was presented. The soup was served in a covered bowl, which allowed the diner to enjoy the aroma prior to indulging in it. The flavors were what one hopes for from an essence of chicken soup - a delicate, yet unforgettable flavor of chicken, enhanced by the earthy depth courtesy of the shitake mushrooms. The addition of dates to a soup was a first for me. One of our diners identified them as jujubes (Chinese dates). I can't say that it did much for the flavor, but it added a dimension of mystique for the uninitiated.

Third Course : Royal Peking Duck

Boooong !!! That is the sound of the large gong that was rung right behind our table that almost made half our table spit out their wine and interrupted the conversations in the restaurant (OK, so I am exaggerating a bit). It was a sound we would get accustomed to through the course of the evening, for as we discovered, the gong was rung each time Peking duck, which is a specialty at this restaurant, was carved table-side and served. The duck was exquisite....nice crispy skin, succulent meat and an incredible Housin sauce wrapped with scallions in a paper thin pancake / crepe.

Fourth Course : Mandarin Lobster Tail with Ginger and Scallions

Each person was served two well cooked lobster tails which were very lightly battered and sautéed in a sauce which was almost bursting with the flavor of ginger. There was a subtle background heat (not from ginger) who's source we were unable to clearly identify, though I suspect it was from Sichuan peppercorns.

Fifth Course : Szechuan Beef Tenderloin Au Poivre w/Jasmine Fried Rice

The beef was almost fork tender and while that is what one expects from a tenderloin, I think this dish would have been enhanced even further if they would have stewed some chuck or sirloin or better yet, used short ribs. The sauce had scallions, which seemed to be a consistent theme through the dinner and a bit of a kick, not was not that spicy. The sugar snap peas were tender and took some of the edge off the sauce.

The jasimine rice was a light, fluffy version with shrimp, scallops, peas, carrots, etc. Good, but not the star of this entree.

Sixth Course : Propitious Whole Fish with Pinenuts

This dish took a while to arrive from the kitchen, but we did not seem to mind the somewhat welcomed break and when it arrived, it seemed to be well worth the wait. This was probably my favorite dish of the night. The bass was fresh and cooked to perfection. It was lightly battered and fried until the skin was very crispy, but the flesh was still tender and juicy. The accompanying sauce reminded me of a cross between the sauce which would be served with sweet and sour pork and orange chicken/beef. (Un)fortunately, the eyeballs were replaced with cherries, which did not allow us to play a mini-round from fear factor . While the pinenuts were visible, their taste was completely overpowered by the other ingredients of this dish.

Seventh Course : Traditional Osmanthus Dumpling in Soup

The soup resembled and tasted like a sweet version of Chinese sweet corn soup, complete with egg white. The small dumplings contained sugar and Osmanthus (a flower used in Chinese teas), which tasted a bit like sesame seed.

Eights Course : Red Bean / Ginger Ice Cream

Just in case you were not stuffed with all of the dishes above, some of us ordered Ice Cream as well. Your choice of red bean or ginger. I opted for the red bean and it was delicious; not too sweet and it had an a mouth-feel like rubbing velvet in a reverse direction of the fibers.

To accompany our dinner, we had 7-8 bottles (some of which were 1.5L) of Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Shiraz/Cab and Shiraz. We opened all the bottles and finished almost all of them.

Dinner lasted for a good 3.5 to 4 hrs and was made even more interesting by the company we had. We all had a great time and I for one look forward to the next meal with this gang.... Viva Le Chesco Foodies !!

Edited February 27, 2005 by percyn (log)

[herbacidal]

Are you sure the fish was a bass? It doesn't look like a bass.

If you didn't describe it as such, I'd think of it as tilapia.

Of course, if tilapia are in the bass family, that'd be moot.

[percyn]

It was presented as bass to us and it looks like to me.

[SG-]

Are you sure the fish was a bass?  It doesn't look like a bass.

If you didn't describe it as such, I'd think of it as tilapia.

Of course, if tilapia are in the bass family, that'd be moot.

←

Thought it looks more like a grouper.

[mrbigjas]

It was presented as bass to us and it looks like to me.

←

ha!

that dinner looks great. now i'm craving peking duck...

[Ben Hong]

The fish is a small grouper, bass do not have those smacking huge lips. I'm not an ichthyologist, just a chowhound.