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post #31 of 57
8/10/12 at 11:15pm
Tangents aside, it's an insightful review
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post #32 of 57
8/11/12 at 8:25am
I think LA Guy is right that the best Cantonese food in North America is probably in Vancouver and Toronto. I find the Dim Sum in SF and NYC somewhat mediocre. I've been out to Flushing and I thought it was mediocre too. A friend took me to a Dim Sum place out in NJ years ago. I don't remember where it was but it was ok. I think the Dim Sum in the DC suburbs are better than what I can find in NYC. There was a place in Wheaton I used to go to, but now I hear there is a good place in Rockville/Gaithersburg.
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post #33 of 57
8/11/12 at 8:39am
Everything looks pretty mediocre to be honest. I was hoping for much better from mafoo smile.gif
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post #34 of 57
8/11/12 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CYstyle View Post

Everything looks pretty mediocre to be honest. I was hoping for much better from mafoo smile.gif

Is he cooking at Shun Lee now?
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post #35 of 57
8/11/12 at 10:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fwiffo View Post


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.

 

Who wants "adventurous".

I want good.

 

Peking duck is something I enjoy and if I am going to a Chinese restaurant I will order it.

No point in getting that dish from a Spanish restaurant.

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post #36 of 57
8/11/12 at 10:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsstillmatt View Post

Is he cooking at Shun Lee now?

He over worked the pancakes. Like he says, they should be consistently soft and moist throughout, like a more robust version of the wraps used for Vietnamese spring rolls.

To the person that says that Asian deserts are not good, they probably don't have adequate exposure to either the French/Japanese style of pastries, or the newer Chinese style (Hong Kong style, really) pastries, which use cake and cream in ways that were not used in the traditional, lard based crusts, either the flaky sort used in things like the egg custard tarts (if they are crumbly rather than flaky, as in the simpler American style crusts, someone is taking you for a ride), or the cake like pastry crusts used for things like (the truly delicious) moon cakes. And a lotus seed paste mooncake with a salted egg is something I think that a lot of the sweet adverse American chefs could get behind.
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post #37 of 57
8/11/12 at 10:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by UnnamedPlayer View Post

Who wants "adventurous".
I want good.

Peking duck is something I enjoy and if I am going to a Chinese restaurant I will order it.
No point in getting that dish from a Spanish restaurant.

I want good as well, but when your lack of adventurous spirit in ordering prevents you from ordering something new that you might like, that is your loss. One good thing about Chinese food is that it is shared. Even if you go with the most risk adverse diners, ordering just one dish with which you are unfamiliar might pay dividends.

To not want to try new things is sort of sad, imo. It's like the guy who orders the hamburger everywhere he goes, or the ragu for his first plate. Or always gets the tiramisu for desert. Or orders steak frites (which I love, btw) every time you go to a Bistro. I think that there are definitely dishes that you should order if you are trying to gauge the general caliber of the place, but that beyond a first visit, that going beyond this is a great idea.
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post #38 of 57
8/11/12 at 11:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LA Guy View Post


I want good as well, but when your lack of adventurous spirit in ordering prevents you from ordering something new that you might like, that is your loss. One good thing about Chinese food is that it is shared. Even if you go with the most risk adverse diners, ordering just one dish with which you are unfamiliar might pay dividends.
To not want to try new things is sort of sad, imo. It's like the guy who orders the hamburger everywhere he goes, or the ragu for his first plate. Or always gets the tiramisu for desert. Or orders steak frites (which I love, btw) every time you go to a Bistro. I think that there are definitely dishes that you should order if you are trying to gauge the general caliber of the place, but that beyond a first visit, that going beyond this is a great idea.

 

Following your advice it would seem as though it is best to avoid places like Shun-Lee as they server a "chop suey", westernized version of Chinese food.

 

Diners should explore more authentic restaurants where they are guaranteed to find something they have never eaten before.

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post #39 of 57
8/11/12 at 11:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by UnnamedPlayer View Post

Following your advice it would seem as though it is best to avoid places like Shun-Lee as they server a "chop suey", westernized version of Chinese food.

Diners should explore more authentic restaurants where they are guaranteed to find something they have never eaten before.

I generally do. But in Manhattan, there is actually not very much good Chinese to be had, unfortunately, barring some passable congee, and Shun Lee is at least consistent.
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post #40 of 57
8/11/12 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LA Guy View Post

I generally do. But in Manhattan, there is actually not very much good Chinese to be had, unfortunately, barring some passable congee, and Shun Lee is at least consistent.

I don't think this is true. There are places that are good at certain dishes, just not a one stop shop.

Joes Ginger/shanghai is good for the soup dumplings, Big Wong for roast duck, Oriental Garden for seafood and etc.
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post #41 of 57
8/14/12 at 3:14am
Peking duck in NYC, so it's OK then and not westernised or whatever? TBH the only times I've ever real Peking duck was in Beijing.

I've had local "Peking duck" (Xilinhot duck) a few times...

Edited by MikeDT - 8/14/12 at 4:00am
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post #42 of 57
8/14/12 at 3:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mafoofan View Post

I have never put the spring onions in my Peking duck rolls. And very few places I've been to have provided cucumber (Shun Lee did).

Ah...is that because it's NYC, USA and not Beijing, China? I thought there was something missing. Even in Xilinhot we always get the cucumber.
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post #43 of 57
8/14/12 at 6:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LA Guy View Post

He over worked the pancakes. Like he says, they should be consistently soft and moist throughout, like a more robust version of the wraps used for Vietnamese spring rolls.
To the person that says that Asian deserts are not good, they probably don't have adequate exposure to either the French/Japanese style of pastries, or the newer Chinese style (Hong Kong style, really) pastries, which use cake and cream in ways that were not used in the traditional, lard based crusts, either the flaky sort used in things like the egg custard tarts (if they are crumbly rather than flaky, as in the simpler American style crusts, someone is taking you for a ride), or the cake like pastry crusts used for things like (the truly delicious) moon cakes. And a lotus seed paste mooncake with a salted egg is something I think that a lot of the sweet adverse American chefs could get behind.

+1. I didn't even think about moon cakes now that has become an art form, you could easily get 50 different flavored of moon cake in a big city during the season.

I like some of the traditional Asian dessert flavored like green tea, peanut and bean, but when you add the fusion with cream and western style pastry ye possibilities encrease dramatically. What they are doing with western style breads and cakes in Japan and china now can blow you away
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post #44 of 57
8/14/12 at 9:43am
The peking duck I usually get comes in 3 courses.

First they bring out the duck, carve the skin and big pieces, and serve them with some much fatter fluffier bun things (gua bao?).
Then they take the carcass back to the kitchen and pick out the remaining meat and use that to make a fried rice (or noodles).
Finally they use the bones to make a broth that comes out last.

And it is only $28 per duck.
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post #45 of 57
8/14/12 at 12:16pm
Thread Starter 
$28 for Peking duck is cheap.

I've never had it that way, but can't imagine the rolls tasting as good without both meat and skin inside.
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