Recent Dinner at Shun-Lee (UWS) and How to Eat Peking Duck - Page 2

Agree with leaving out the raw scallions but did it not come with cucumber slices as well?

have to disagree. sweet and sour pork, done right in a good cantonese restaurant or following Fu Pei Mei's recipe, is a celebration of extreme flavors inside your mouth coated with just the right amount of pork fat and grease on your taste buds. I'm not a fan of s&s pork but I can certainly appreciate it if done right. orange beef and general tso's chicken, though, seems like a bigger abomination. I've never heard of these dishes outside of the united states.

silghtly off topic: iirc you're of taiwanese descent, matthew... I'd love to know how taiwanese cuisine fares in north america.

really enjoyed the pics and writeup, thanks M. Nice read there.

You mentioned a large Jewish clientele, is this place Kosher? (also, you don't have to answer but I'm curious if you're wife keeps Kosher/semi)

I am also accustomed to eating pretty much only the crispy skin, and yes, I use both cucumber and scallion with. I actually have had broth served later, though I don't think that is standard.

I can get all of these dishes done very well at a ton of places locally. However, Japanese-Chinese food isn't varied enough, and doesn't pack a strong punch when you want it to. It's refined and serves a need, though.
I would like to try the duck n Beijing, but it appears that eating duck in one of the storied places means eating the various preparations of duck that I am not keen on eating, like the face/brain/tongue, kidneys....

.. the webs on their feet..

Those dishes look awful.

 

Sometimes I forget how badly everyone else has it in the breadth and quality of food available to them.

 

And I don't see how you could possibly do the duck justice without the inclusion of spring onion and cucumber in the pancake.

Maybe it's the graininess of your photos but it just doesn't look appetising.

You have to put cucumber and onion in the pancake otherwise you're just eating duck with sauce.

 

On the record, I personally don't see the appeal in Chinese food, most Asian food for that matter.

What I do like in Asian cuisine is each nationalities specialty dishes.

 

Vietname - Pho

Japanese - Tempura, Katsudon, Nigirisushi

Chinese - Peking Duck, Dumplings

 

I just don't find the idea of siting down to each a multi-course meal at a Chinese restaurant al that appealing where as doing the same thing at

a French restaurant I would have no problem.

UnnamedPlayer just went off on a tangent, but I do agree that Shun Lee looks passable at best. I have a place a block away that does better looking versions of all, but doesn't serve duck. They focus on the dumplings, and the place is cheap. There is another place about 3 blocks away, they do all that you pictured and duck, and it's pretty good, it has two Michelins, and they serve the duck in an assorted course for about $50 a head. They have standard xiao long bao and then a gyoza-type xiao long bao fried on one side with a thicker skin, and then the burst of superior stock, those are something like $2.50 a piece, which I found ridiculous, but they are also the best dumplings I've ever had in my life, so maybe they're worth it.

When Andy Hayler's site goes back up, it's this place:

http://www.andyhayler.com/show_restaurant.asp?restaurantid=1087&country=Japan

Frankly, eating peking duck at a Chinese restaurant is about as daring and adventurous as eating steak & frites or something equally pedestrian at a bistro. There are other things to eat than dumplings and duck.

mafoofan, it seems to me that you only have about 40-50% of the pancake sauced.

I am not a fan of duck and the only time I ate expensive chinese in the city I found myself longing for my local chinese kitchen place.

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the quality of the graininess is quite nice.

When I go to San Francisco to work, if I am not eating out (so, usually, every night except for the night I go out with Matt, and then, another night when I meet another group of friends,) I either grab some Fish and Chips and go back to the hotel to work, get room service, or lately, I order from Mission Chinese. Now, it's not traditional Chinese, and it's definitely overhyped, but some of the dishes, and generally not the ones that get all the press, are great.

The Westlake Rice Porridge is spectacular, or at least it was the last 2 times I got it. They used to have a great beefcheeks with chinese broccoli dish which was great as well, but it seems like it is off the menu now. Guess the chef decided to experiment with something else. The thrice cooked bacon, which every white person I've met raves about, is decent, but hardly spectacular. It tastes like regular Chinese noodles with slightly different shapes. The salt cod fried rice is decent, but again, over rated. The rice is a little too soft and the flavors are a bit muddled.

Matt, if you are ever going to Vancouver or Toronto, which have the best Chinese, and specifically Cantonese, food (including Dim Sum) outside of Hong Kong, you have a standing invitation to eat with me if I can find a reason to visit my brothers, and I will take you to places in suburban strip malls that will absolutely blow your mind.