[Austin] Chinese restaurants for a Chinese palate

[Kent Wang]

I had my birthday lunch at Chinatown on Saturday, 5 January.

Bean curd roll, tea. This is the Szechuan bitter sweet green tea ($10). The tea comes in small sealed packages -- but are whole leaf, not bags of dust. The tea selection is interesting, but I feel is hugely marked up. I'm not a tea expert, but there is either an extreme markup here (higher than anyone would markup wine) or they should provide some cheaper selections. I would also prefer more non-floral teas in the $10 range. Nevertheless, they're the only restaurant that I've been to in the US with a tea menu and should be commended for it.

Ground shrimp ball in wonton-like skin. Interesting permutation, but nothing spectacular.

Salt and pepper shrimp, served in a cocktail glass.

Shao mai, chao shao bao.

Coffee spare ribs. Fried pork ribs served in a thick coffee syrup. Interesting "fusion" but the spare ribs were overcooked, and the coffee syrup should be lathered over the ribs instead of just serving as a dipping sauce. Frankly, I dislike nearly all Asian fusion -- anything below Uchi or Momofuku standards tends to irritate me. This one is not totally offensive but is so-so at best.

Xiao long bao (aka Shanghai soup dumpling). Yikes, along with Shanghai we suddenly have two restaurants in town that serve these. Unfortunately the skin is too thick, there is too much filling and not enough broth, and both the filling and skin were too soggy. Slightly better than Shanghai's -- as most of theirs have broken skin -- but still inferior to what can be had in Dallas, much less New York, Vancouver or Shanghai. Nevertheless, I'm delighted that there are now two restaurants in Austin attempting this dish. Maybe one day they will improve.

Ground shrimp on sugar cane skewers. The sugar cane is inedible (sugar cane is always inedible, not that they screwed it up) and adds nothing to the ground shrimp. I can get ground shrimp in fried ball form, why would I want them wrapped around this piece of sugar cane? Avoid.

Sea bass, yams. Not too fusiony; I could see this in a restaurant in China. The sweet glaze on the sea bass pairs well with the yams. Competently cooked.

Walnut shrimp on fried taro. An American-Chinese staple. Interesting presentation.

The service is attententive and the tea was always topped off with hot water.

Decor is nice, not too overwrought, perhaps the best of all the Chinese restaurants in town. Of the 30 or so customers I saw, I was the only Chinese.

The tab was $96 total for two people. This is the most I have ever paid for dim sum, in the US or China. Granted, $10 was for the tea but these prices are obscene. Shanghai is about 30% less. I imagine much of the bill was run up by the non-dim sum dishes like the sea bass and walnut shrimp, but they were all rather lackluster and not worth the money.

Overall, I recommend just going to Shanghai. The prices are better, execution is about the same, selection is wider with more traditional dishes.

If I were to return to Chinatown it would only be to get the tea and xiao long bao.

[yimay]

this chinatown dim sum looks crazy.

i like shanghai more and more each time i go. i went today with a friend and we ordered off the dim sum menu. i gotta say that's the way to go (weekday menu ordering). everything is freshly cooked and piping hot. only sad part is no dou hua on weekdays.

[Kent Wang]

Also see: Report: Chinese New Year dinner, Saturday 9 Feb 2008 at Pao's.

i like shanghai more and more each time i go. i went today with a friend and we ordered off the dim sum menu. i gotta say that's the way to go (weekday menu ordering). everything is freshly cooked and piping hot. only sad part is no dou hua on weekdays.

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Yes, truly, a la carte (as opposed to from the carts -- funny how those two terms are so similar) is the way to eat if you're serious. But sometimes with newbs, it's nice to see the carts.

Asia Cafe

7 Jan 2008

They now have the specials boards translated into English.

Twice-cooked pork with garlic sprout. Same as the twice-cooked pork in the menu, just with garlic sprouts.

Stir-fried Chinese eel with garlic. Delicious. Besides, who else has eel in town?

Spicy fish. Deep-fried tilapia, I think. A tasty dish for the not so adventurous.

There are a lot more dishes I want to try:

Stir fried pork kidney

Stir fried duck tongue

Stir fried cumin beef

Jelly fish with white squid

Sweet & sour lotus root

Salt & pepper egg plant

Pickled long bean with ground pork

Stir fried bitter melon

[yimay]

Zhong zi. When we made these back in China when I was a child, it was just a small piece of pork in the middle and the rest was rice. I don't know if that's the only traditional way to make it or if it was because my family grew up through the famine times. But traditional or not, this version is certainly more delicious. The best zhong zi I've ever tasted.

i don't think these are the same thing as zongzi. they are 糯米饭 (luo mi fan) or glutinous oil rice wrapped in lotus leaves. which i guess are essentially the same thing. but, not. i guess the difference is in the shape and some of the ingredients. glutinous oil rice is more tasty.

next time you go to asia cafe, i want in.

[Kent Wang]

Mick Vann of the Austin Chronicle reviews Chinatown's dim sum.