My family and I went on a flying visit to Paris again to rendez-vous with my dad (since he managed not to get his UK visa in time–visa people suck). Last year I gave him a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s memoir of 1920s Paris, A Moveable Feast, which he raved on about until I decided to read it on our trip.

Hemingway at the start of his career is a poor and struggling writer who frequently gambled on horses to fund his holidays with his first wife Hadley. Good thing he was able to borrow books for free from Sylvia Beach at the original Shakespeare & Company on rue de L’Odéon where she published James Joyce’s Ulysses. Hemingway walked everywhere, from the Luxembourg Gardens down the rue de Vaugirard (where we stayed this time) to Montparnasse where he rented a small flat near his favourite café, La Closerie des Lilas.

We didn’t manage to go there (although my parents did a few days after I left Paris and said it had become all posh), but we did go to Les Deux Magots, where he and other writerly types such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir congregated, although Hemingway preferred Les Closerie (probably because it was closer to home and most of the expats hung out there including his friends F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ezra Pound). One piece of advice about Paris’ famous cafés: just have coffee there and people watch. Don’t bother with the food as they’re overpriced and disappointing. You can always pop into a side street and find a local brasserie which should be far tastier and better value for money.

As usual, we started our day with this:

Seriously, baguettes in France just taste so much better than anywhere else. And the butter was extra creamy too.

We found a small bistrot on rue de Buci in St. Germain des Prés where we prefer to hang out. This was my two little nephews’ first time to Paris so we did some touristy things like visit the Notre Dame and climb the Eiffel Tower. It turns out my sister and I had never climbed it either. The secret is to get there first thing in the morning before it opens so that you don’t have to queue for too long.

So for lunch, we had some pretty normal fare. Bavette steak with shallot sauce:

Salad Niçoise:

Again, why do salads taste so good in France? Must be the fresh veg. I also noticed they love their boiled green beans in salad.

And escargots!

Everyone tried this including both my nephews. I’m so proud of them.

When we looked out of the window of the bistrot, we noticed this restaurant:

We didn’t go in, but us Nagoya girls were delighted.

For dinner, my mother chose Le Bistrot de Paris where Serge Gainsbourg used to hang out with Jane Birkin. It’s a cozy, old school restaurant serving very French fare and is just down the road from the Musée d’Orsay. They even had pied de cochon (pig’s trotters) and andouillete (tripe sausage) which our Frenchican waiter (who’s French but grew up on the mean streets of Detroit) said was stinky and didn’t recommend. We were a little worried that this would be a tourist trap as we were the first to arrive at 7pm quickly followed by others who spoke English. But my brother-in-law pointed out that French people dined late so all the early diners were either British, American or Japanese. He was spot on!

Watercress salad with radishes. So French:

Wonderfully soft and pink lamb with whole roasted garlic:

I did order this well done but the French love their meat rare.

Skate with capers in a butter sauce:

But the duck was a little tough. However the creamy, buttery mashed potatoes made up for it.

The desserts were heavenly. I, of course, had the baba au rum. Yeah, anything with alcohol and I’ll eat it. They left the whole bottle on the table but I didn’t need extra because our waiter stabbed the cake and drowned it in rum. Very generous.

The lemon and green apple sorbets were refreshing and we also had the best caramel ice cream I’ve ever tasted. It was like home-made caramel with just the right amount of burnt suger-ness. We lapped it up like a cat would cream.

This was a very busy bistrot and we spotted many elderly French couples dressed immaculately and consuming three full courses (and these were pretty large plates) accompanied by lots of wine. Respect.

After two days of eating French food, we finally cracked and headed to Mirama on rue St Jaques near the Sorbonne for some of this:

And this:

We’re so Asian. We can’t live without noodles or rice. Although much pricier than London (food in Paris is pretty expensive, almost double that of London, would you believe?), I have to say that was the best mapo tofu I’ve had in a long time. Spicy and very moreish. We used to be able to eat French food non-stop for a week, but these days, two days is the max. It’s all that butter and cream. We just can’t handle it.

This time we didn’t really have enough time to indulge in cakes much, but we did go to one of our favourite tea shops, Mariage Frères.

They didn’t allow pictures inside (the Parisians don’t like their shops being photographed), but the decor was lovely chinoisseries and they had a huge selection of teas from around the world which are specially blended in-house. My sister preferred their green and Chinese teas and my mother their French Earl Grey.

My favourite two were the Fall in Love (which is a limited edition black tea with hints of vanilla) and Marco Polo (a fruity black tea). Both are best drunk without milk.

And I’ll leave you with an upskirt shot of the Iron Lady in all her glory.

LE BISTROT DU PARIS
33 Rue de Lille
75007 Paris, France
T: 01 42 61 16 83

MIRAMA
17 Rue Saint-Jacques
75005 Paris, France
T: 01 43 5471 77

About a year ago, Dickson’s Farm opened up a shop in Chelsea Market and I often go there to get my meat. It’s fresh, and sometimes you can see the guys butchering huge chunks of cow. It’s nice to buy meat where you can see it being cut up. Also, their prices are pretty decent for New York.

Aside from very good cured meats (such as beef tongue) or terrine, they also carry excellent duck. It is often sold out, and the other day I asked when is the best time to secure duck. The guy told me that they kill the ducks on Friday morning, and ship them to the shop in the afternoon. Since the ducks are still warm on Friday afternoon, they have to be chilled until Saturday morning, and then they cut them up to pieces. So Saturday afternoon is the best time to get ducks.

Freshly slaughtered duck! Not the Chinatown kind, or the ones that are vacuum-packed. Last week, I bought a whole duck. This bird was huge, about eight pounds. When you get a whole duck, what would you do? Obviously, you have to make Peking Duck, right? My first post ever on Umamimart was a Peking Duck in 2007, and I decided to recreate it.

As you may remember, my oven has a very interesting feature that is perfect for Peking Duck: a rotating roasting pit. Hang bird like so with a wire hanger.

My method is pretty primitive, and it may be offensive to call this Peking Duck, since I did not blow air through the bird to separate the skin from flesh. It’s more like crispy-skinned roasted duck with crispy skin.

Once you hang the bird, mix these ingredients together: 3 cups of water, 2 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp corn syrup, 1 tbsp rice vinegar. Boil this mixture, and add 5 tsp cornstarch to make a slurry concoction. Pour it over the duck, and make sure it coats the entire surface of the bird.

This is not the duck’s asshole. It is the breast.

See how shiny it is? Once the whole bird is coated with semen-like liquid, blow air on it for about six hours (I used a fan).

Then the skin gets darker, and very dry. It looks like someone just got a Botox injection, and can’t move their face at all.

Securely attach the bird on to the roasting pit.

Roast the duck for about one hour at 350˚F. When the skin is golden, it’s time to eat.

Peking Duck is usually just to eat the skin and a little bit of meat, but this is an entire bird with a lot of breast meat. It’s too wasteful to just eat the skin, so I basically cut thin slices of duck breast.

You can make pancakes with flour and hot water, but I was too lazy to do it so I just bought flour tortillas. I cut up cucumbers and scallions, and mixed Hoison sauce with sesame oil for the sauce. It was very nice, more Asian duck tacos than Peking duck, but everyone was happy.

Sometimes, I pick a place for an Umamiventure just to regroup with friends, their friends, and loyal Umamimart readers. That’s what these trips are for, afterall: to meet + eat. Choosing a place, however, it is never an easy task– the restaurant must be delicious, relatively cheap (ideally $20 per person) and can handle a large group. There are a plethora of restaurants out there that satisfy two out of three of these traits, but finding a spot that can check off all three? Near impossible.

Which is why it is actually quite rare for me to organize Umamiventures at actual restaurants.

But as I suspected, San Tung proved to be perfect for such an occasion. Twelve of us showed up in the Sunset district of San Francisco on a cold foggy Saturday in August. (Oh, why must Bay Area summers be so cruel? And they tried reassuring me that “September is the warmest month, don’t worry.” LIES!)

As you can see from the photo up top, the place is crazy packed. Our reservation was at 7:30pm and the line already went out the door. Actually, it’s basically like this all the time, no matter what time or day. San Tung is quite a well-known institution in San Francisco. As I mentioned, I stumbled upon it with my friend one day and thought I had made the best “secret discovery” ever– only to come home and find it has 1800 Yelp reviews. HA!

They made us wait at the door for a while until our table was ready. With this crowd, you can’t blame them. I am just thankful that they even let me make a reservation!

San Tung is a Mandarin-style Chinese restaurant. Here’s a complimentary cold plate of kimchi-like cabbage, delivered to every table as you sit down. This is so spicy and tastes so fresh and just-made. I could just eat this with a bowl of rice all day.

Yoko was in charge of the ordering. At big dinners like this, you’ve gotta just let one person take the reins, or else it just gets too complicated. And sometimes, don’t you just want to let someone else decide what you’re gonna eat? Life should always be full of surprises.

Mu Shu Pork. A sauteed combination of cabbage, willow tree mushrooms, bamboo shoots, onions and fluffed eggs. Served with four homemade mu shu wraps, julienned scallions, and hoison sauce.

YOKO
Perhaps because I was so hungry the best dish arrived first: Mu Shu Pork. I really loved the wrappers that came with the dish. They wrappers were not your usual mass-manufactured ones that are curiously monotone. These were flawed in shape and color. The texture was firm without being crusty and they tasted fresh. I am always really excited when the carbs (i.e. pasta, tortillas) “wow” me at a restaurant.

DANIELA
My love for mushu is easy to justify since its hard to not to love hot sweet pork cooked just right. I could do with a serving now, at 7am.

Steamed Potstickers. Filled with ground pork, napa cabbage, ginger and garlic.

Potstickers. Same as above, but wok-fried.

Shrimp and Leek Dumplings. 12 dumplings filled with a mixture of ginger, garlic-infused ground shrimp and Chinese chives.

HEATHER
The dumplings  eclipsed all else as the best thing, and I wasn’t even going to have any because it wasn’t what I was in mood for. I mean the one with the chives in it. Muah!

Cold Noodles. House-pulled cold noodles in a peanut sauce topped with shrimp, five-spice beef, dried bean curd, and cucumbers.

DANIELA
I’m not usually a fan of noodles, especially noodles without sauce. But adding bit of sweetness and the right chewy consistency was a game changer.

Black Bean Sauce Noodles. Sliced beef, shrimp, squid in a dark soybean sauce served over fresh hand-pulled noodles.

They look so innocent, but…

IDO
…CAUTION!!! These noodles are near impossible to portion out with chop sticks. Many a great man and woman have tried this feat and failed, dropping noddles somewhere along the way between the serving bowl and their own. Of course, all things impossible have their exceptions, as Washi proved, making a clean transfer with a focused, patient, and intense calm.

HERE COMES THE HOT STEPPER! (Murderer)

Original Fried Chicken (Dry). Chicken wings deep fried in batter and sauteed with garlic, ginger, scallions and roasted red chilis.

Original Fried Chicken (Wet). Chicken deep fried in batter then sauteed with a spicy garlic sauce enhanced with roasted red chilis, mushrooms, carrots and bamboo shoots.

LIZ
Best wings you will ever eat. No seriously, I know my wings! They are the perfect balance of crispy, a little sweet and a little spicy. The crispyness is probably the best part, it’s so satisfying yet not overdone. I could go on and on but I suggest you just haul yourself down to San Tung and try them for yourself. The hype is true, they are THAT good!

Garlic Eggplant. Fresh eggplant cut in strips then braised in a spicy garlic sauce.

KAYOKO
I am a bit of a Chinese-style garlic eggplant connoisseur, so I order it wherever I can. San Tung’s is too saucy however. Plus, they peel all the skin off and cut them in strips, and the end result is a flabby saucy mess. I prefer the eggplant to be cut in diagonal chunks, skin-on, for the contrast of textures.

Dry Sauteed String Beans. Flash fried, then tossed in garlic sauce with Chinese pickles.

KAYOKO
These were a winner.

We ordered second and even third plates of dry chicken wings, dumpling and noodles. That, and many bottles of Tsing Tao later, we were all satisfied.

YOKO
I have no complaints as far as price goes. After gorging on dumplings, noodles and chicken wings to the point of feeling like my uterus was cursing my stomach for taking up so much space, the bill for one person came out to $18! I am a bit suspicious now that I think about it (was all that safe to eat?) but really, who cares because it was hands-down satisfying.

HEATHER
I agree with Yoko. Couldn’t believe how cheap it was! Service was efficient and nice.

YOKO
I was really impressed with the service too. I didn’t have to ask for anything twice. The tea was refilled instantaneously and the beers kept coming. In the states, Chinese restaurants usually stick out like a sore thumb in the service sector– clanging dishes, dirty dishes, rushed servers, servers who don’t explain anything and servers who just don’t give a sh*t. San Tung’s service is extremely efficient considering the fact that they are always operating at maximum capacity. The waiters smiled, everything was served fast and the menus were really well-written and easy to understand.

DANIELA
All I can say is cold noodles and mushu- delish! Their combination of cold noodle salad and delicious hot pork wraps made the meal.

IDO
We rocked it with a big group. It’s really the way to go, taking full advantage of the family style portions and getting to dip your fingers in many plates.

The place “closes” at 9:30pm, but was still packed with people waiting when we left around 10pm. Yoko’s right– San Tung really has the recipe for a successful business/restaurant:  Good Food + Affordable Prices + Spectacular Service = Happy, Repeat Customers.

Thank you everyone for coming out to Umamiventure #28!  I love these special dinners and meeting + eating all of you. Let’s do it again soon.

Next Umamiventure will be in NYC next Sunday 9/26! I’m behind on this, but details coming shortly so stay tuned– save the date for now, please!

*Umamiventures are organized monthly, traveling far and wide to find awesome, cheap grub off the beaten path.

Past Umamiventures include:
1.) Ocean Jewel Restaurant – Flushing, NYC; June 2007
2.) Red Hook Ball Fields - NYC; June 2007
3.) Taste of Jackson Heights – NYC; October, 2007
4.) Sripraphai Restaurant – Woodside, NYC; November 2007
5.) WINTERMARKET – South St. Seaport; December 2007
6.) Jackson Diner- Jackson Heights, NYC; January 2008
7.) Pacificana – Sunset Park, NYC; February 2008
8.) Puerto Alegre – The Mission, SF; March 2008
9.) Dinosaur BBQ – Harlem, NYC; April 2008
10.) Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden – Astoria, NYC; May 2008
11.) Brooklyn Banh Mi Crawl – Sunset Park, NYC; August 2008
12.) Sheapshead Bay Lobster Crawl – NYC; September 2008
13.) Flushing Food Circuit – NYC; October 2008
14.) Strong Beer Month – SF; March 2009
15.) Loisaida Throwback Crawl – NYC; April 2009
16.) Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Pescadero, CA; June 2009
17.) Tomales Bay Oyster Farm – Marshall, CA; August 2009
18.) Din Tai Fung – LA; September 2009
19.) Din Tai Fung – Tokyo; September 2009
20.) Schroeder’s Oktoberfest – SF; October 2009
21.) Fish Taco Crawl – San Diego; November 2009
22.) St. George Spirits & Hangar One Vodka -  Alameda; January 2010
22.5) Everett & Jones – OAK; January 2010
23.) Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse – NYC; February 2010
24.) Guerilla Ramen Night – SF; April 2010
25.) Knife Sharpening Workshop at Hida Tool & Hardware – Berkeley, May 2010
26.) San Pedro Fish Market - LA, June 2010
26.5.) Candytown – LA, June 2010
27.) The Trappist – Oakland, July 2010

With all this garbage talk from NYC to LA about city officials revoking food truck permits, I decided to go out and support SF food trucks yesterday. Supporting them, meaning, EATING LUNCH. It’s the best kind of support, right? Viva La Food Truck!

Since my friends Travis and Claire had told me about Chairman Bao, a truck dedicated to the ever-holy HOT ASIAN BUN, I’ve been wanting to track them down.

I showed up at 1:15pm, parked on the corner of Irwin and 7th Street. The truck only had 15 more minutes til closing time, but the hungry masses were still coming up to the truck. They opened just a month ago, and business is doing well!

El Menu.

I wanted to order everything on the menu, but I refrained. There are only six kinds of the buns, which is perfect. I hate too many choices! $3 per bao sounded a bit pricey to me for a HOT ASIAN BUN, but when I got my order, I understood. These are some hefty buns!

Remember those HOT ASIAN BUNS from Chicago? Well, these were more the pancake sandwich variety (gua bao), over the char siu baos, the dim sum favorite. I started with the pork belly with pickled daikon.

The pork was crispy around the edges, and the pickles cut the grease. AWESOME.

One of my two pieces of daikon fell to the ground. Sad, sad, sad.

Chinese sausage and green onion omelet with hoison.

This was my favorite of the two. It’s perfect for people who appreciate the breakfast sandwich. I had already had a scramble in the morning, which tells you something about my unhealthy obsession for eggs.

After my lunch, I started talking to the girl who was taking orders in the truck. Caroline was so friendly and we spoke for a while about Chairman Bao, how it started, and food trucks in general. She said that their prep kitchen was right there on Irwin, in the big building where the truck was parked.

Then Eric Rudd, the guys who operates the truck (and a chef in his own right), came out and I got to talk to him for more insight into the SF food truck scene. He said that there was still little competition in SF thus far for food trucks, and the community support for Chairman Bao and trucks in general has always been great. How was the support from the city council?, I asked. He said, “The officials have all been really cool.”

In this volatile climate for food trucks in LA and NYC, that’s a huge relief! From talking to Eric, it sounds like there should not be any foreseeable governmental food truck issues for the time being. (Don’t jinx it, Kayoko!)

But ironically, Chairman Bao is mangled in some coast-to-coast drama of its own. I guess the owner/chef of NYC’s Baohaus is battling The Chairman over its name, Chairman Bao– which is the name of one of Baohaus’ bestselling buns. Bleh. Whatever. Unless you have a trademark, buddy, you’re just being lame. (Although I guess I’d be super pissed if someone else started Umamimart dot net). Anyway, they are supposed to have some sort of battle soon (or not?), where their HOT ASIAN BUNS go head-to-head. BAO-OFF!

The truck was designed and painted by LA artist James Jean. Totally thought it was Obey. My bad!

The truck was started and run by a company called Mobi Munch, which funds food truck ideas. Chairman Bao is their second venture; their first being LudoBites in LA. Pretty neat!

Let me conclude with a little story: The moment I started eating (ok, scarfing down) my HOT ASIAN BUN, a handsome guy walked up to the truck. I recognized him. I flipped through the very skimpy, yet pretty reliable Rolodex in my mind. OMG TOMMY GUERRERO. Skateboarder/guitarist extraordinaire.  オーエムジー。

Dear Tommy, The girl in the red and white striped shirt yesterday with the camera and gross hair? NOT ME. Kanitra, Matt and I tried to see you once years ago at Union Pool in Williamsburg, but we got there too late and you were closing shop. I’m sorry about that. I live here now so hope to catch you soon! Your fan, Kayoko. PS- Thank you for recycling.

Follow The Chairman on Twitter. Duh. Aside from lunch, they park in front of the bar John Collins in the SOMA district, often for happy hour. Looks like they’ll be on California and Sabin today, so go get your HOT ASIAN BUN on, SF! Need to try the duck confit one next and compare to DChang’s. That’ll be my own Bao-Off.

Special thanks to Caroline and Eric for taking the time to talk to me yesterday. In The Chairman’s words: VIVA LA FOOD TRUCK REVOLUCIÓN!

We stumbled across this place, Wow Bao, on the ground floor of a huge, blingy, 80′s-style mall on Michigan Avenue. My friend Ido had mentioned it to me, so I was ecstatic that we randomly came across it. A fast food joint of exclusively Chinese steamed buns! Their tagline is Hot Asian Buns, which is hilarious. The name Wow Bao is genius though, don’t you think?

There are a few Wow Baos around Chicago. This one is literally right when you walk through the revolving doors of the Water Tower mall. Check out the marble– SO DONALD TRUMP! On a side note, we noticed that Chicago is really big on revolving doors.

This entire experience “Wow-ed” me. (Come on, laugh). First of all, you can order on these touch screen computers! Just like at the movie theater. Minimal human interaction– sign me up! Check this out.

Choose.

Pay.

Checkout.

Et voila!

This is the true definition of fast food. These computers should be mandatory everywhere. I felt like I was in Hong Kong or in a warped William Gibsonian universe or something.

Now, we just wait with everyone else. The prep space of the front was so tiny, but used so well. Check out this range hood.

They also make their own ginger ale, which was pretty good. Matt overheard a lady in line ask her friend, “Do you want some Asian soda?”, about the ginger ale. OMG DYING!

Alright, on to the actual HOT ASIAN BUNS.

We brought them back to the hotel room for a late afternoon snack.

We got a 6-pack of Spicy Kung Pao Chicken, Spicy Mongolian Beef, and BBQ Pork. We opened the box and thought, “Hey, how are we supposed to know which is which?”

But Wow Bao is smarter than you.

The actual HOT ASIAN BUNS weren’t as good as we would have liked. Pretty salty, as you may imagine.

But you know what, the entire concept of this place, from start to finish is pretty awesome that it didn’t really bother me that the actual product wasn’t stellar. I mean, if I were walking around the center of town and had a hankering for a HOT ASIAN BUN in an area where Asian food is extremely scarce, and I could actually score one of these for $1.50… well, I’ll take what I can get.

God Bless America. And the HOT ASIAN BUN.

WOW BAO
Inside main entrance of Water Tower Place
835 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago
T: 312.642.5888

One of my loyal Monday night regulars brought me these on the other week. A bag full of Chinese sausages! YAY! He grew up in  San Francisco and swears that this one butcher in Chinatown, Mow Lee Co., makes them the best (774 Commercial at Grant, 982-5767).

He brought me the regular pork kind, and liver, which is a bit darker in color. I had never had the liver version before, and it’s surprisingly not too gamey and liverish, and is quite easy to eat.

This is quite a staple in Hong Kong cooking, and prevalent in many dim sum dishes. Wiki says that countries all over Asia have their very own versions of the “Chinese sausage”. Oh, the irony.

They came in twos, fastened by a piece of twine and carefully knotted together. I love this.

What I love most about this is that it adds just the right amount of flavor to a dish, without having to use too many. I’ve been slicing them up really thinly and sauteeing them with vegetables. I’ll do a Lazyass Cookin’ post with them soon.

Let’s not get into the nutritional value of these sausages.

Had a chance to go see my acupuncturist in Chinatown while I was in NYC. My body is falling apart on me these days from being on my feet all day, everyday. Dr. Wu on Baxter– he’s the best!

So as is my Chinatown/Dr. Wu ritual, I went out for my XLB fix. There’s nothing like soup dumplings to keep your calm after having a dozen pins pricked into your body. Usually, I go to Shanghai Cafe, but I wanted to try Nice Green Bo, as I had heard a lot about it but never tried when I lived there.

Until recently, the place was called NEW Green Bo. Now it’s NICE Green Bo. See how they covered the sign? Hilarious.

Lots of accolades.

The place was PACKED! I was alone so was seated right away– I love sitting next to random strangers at the big round tables, it’s so New York. I shared a pot of tea with the couple next to me, it was nice. I have to say that I love going out and eating solo in NYC– at the risk of sounding cliche, it’s “liberating”.

I didn’t even give the server a chance to give me the menu and ordered the pork and crab XLB right away. It’s the only way to go!

The skin was thick and held everything together without breaking apart. It’s heartbreaking when the soup just collapses on you– which is the result of dumpling skin that is not thick enough, and bad chopstick skills.

Surprisingly, the soup was dark and more soy based, so it was more salty than what I was used to. But the crab was still moist (it has the tendency to dry out). No pork stinkiness, which is always appreciated at Chinatown joints.

Overall, they were delicious, as far as XLB goes. I hear the scallion pancakes are awesome too, but I wanted to go get Great NY Noodletown after this so I didn’t order anything else. Exercising restraint!

Also, Dr. Wu always tells me, “Stay hungry.” Yessir.

Happy Year of the TIGRRRRR!

NICE GREEN BO
66 Bayard Street
NYC
T: 212.625.2359

So I’m back in the metropolitan New York area from my travels in the Midwest, where I had a little too much time to nosh. Along the street I lived on were several Chinese food joints which tempted me in the times I’m not already eating banh mi. I decided to visit, er, frequent some of these establishments and quickly found a favorite.

The beauty of the Chinese joint is the LUNCH SPECIAL. You know, the kind where you get a generic main course, rice, and an egg roll/soup/etc. (choose one or some places get all the add-ons) all for one low price.

I particularly like it when the term “lunch” is taken loosely from the time from 11am to 4pm or so. BUT, one of the joints I found, Hong Kong Noodle (HKN), had not only a lunch special, but a “DINNER SPECIAL” which ran from 3pm on weekdays til closing, and ALL DAY on Saturday and Sundays! Granted, it’s the same menu from lunch sans the free soup, and it’s a buck or two more, but STILL! Chinese food = bargain bonanza! (Did I really just use the term bonanza? Wow.)

Anyway, so, already HKN has more going in its favor than Village Wok, which was recommended to me by a Minneapolis native who also used to live nearby.

HONG KONG NOODLE
So, like I said, HKN has awesome dealz, but it’s generic Chinese food. I secretly love generic Chinese food, much to my mother’s dismay. It’s also a good thing I’m not MSG-sensitive, either.

Mongolian Shrimp + Fried Rice. I don’t really eat a lot of meat, but I do enjoy my seafood. I got this with fried rice instead of white. I’m not sure it was worth the extra dollar. It was basically oily rice with egg. That’s okay. There were more shrimp than expected, and they use the larger kind, not those tiny ones that you often see.

Skinny view. I love takeout when it’s still piping hot. Notice the condensation in the sweet and sour sauce container.

This was spicy with a nice kick from a great deal of chili peppers, onions, and green and red bell peppers. I liked that I didn’t see those white styrofoam-type noodles they often place under Mongolian Beef at restaurants. Or maybe that’s what makes it Mongolian?

Standard egg roll that comes with the meal. Since it was dinner, I didn’t get any soup, but the egg roll was nice, perfectly fried in what I assume is days-old oil (which gives it that Chinese restaurant flavor, no less) and wrapped in a wax paper bag.

Nice view of innards. Standard cabbage and carrot. Some sort of meat. I’m assuming it was pork. I don’t know, it usually all tastes the same to me. Dip it in the standard way-too-sweet-hot-orange sauce and your postprandial slump will carry you well into the next day.

I’ve had some of the other “specials” including the Kung Pao Shrimp and General Tso’s chicken. I would stick with non-fried dishes. The Kung Pao had a generous portion of peanuts (which I really enjoy), I would say even TOO MANY peanuts, and they used the larger shrimp as well. The sauce was very well done. Like I said, stay away from fried. The General’s chicken was a big soggy and wayyyyy too drenched in a tasteless, NOT HOT sauce. I thought the General was all about the hot sauce, and it was way disappointing because usually I am a big fan of fried anything.

Reading up on HKN, they’re quite good at other dishes, but I never ventured into them, maybe because I like the idea of all-in-one meals and not having to serve myself family style solo.

VILLAGE WOK
VW was a lot closer to my place but it was a lot shadier looking. AND the staff was basically rude, and didn’t know anything about their food. I think it’s because the staff was all young Caucasian individuals who I gather were on some sort of combination of recreational drugs.

Apparently they are really good at seafood dishes, and since I’m a stickler for the combo-dish-for-one-low-price, I sought out the “dinner specials” which were competitive in price to HKN, but without the option to choose fried rice or noodles on the side, and the selections were kind of awkward. Like, chicken in black bean sauce. Or shrimp and bamboo shoots.

When I inquired about the latter, the dude helping me was like, um I can’t really describe it. Sorry. UH YOU WORK HERE I ASSUME YOU’VE BASICALLY EATEN EVERYTHING IN THE RESTAURANT HOW CAN YOU NOT TELL ME AT LEAST WHAT KIND OF SAUCE IT IS SMOTHERED IN!? Frustrating. Needless to say, it was my last visit.

Salmon in black bean sauce with white rice.

Notice it’s a fillet of salmon (actually there was another smaller fillet underneath, if I can recall) and too much of that short-grain fluffy rice which I only like on certain occasions. My takeout order took half an hour, which I thought was pretty unacceptable (let me reiterate, TAKEOUT).

The sauce was decent, pretty bland, not spicy although there were copious red chili peppers. The salmon was steamed or something first, I think it’s the kind you get from a bag at a wholesale club. I guess at least this was healthy. Also, no egg roll or soup came with this. Apparently when you takeout a dinner special from the joint, you don’t get the soup that comes with it. LAME.

Closeup. See the fish congealing in the left lowerhand corner? I hate that.

If you have no idea where “WHO IS IT VERSUS?” is from, you need more exposure to a little phenomenon called It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Just a little tip from me to you.

Image pulled from The Phoenix.

Anyway, you can probably guess who won. No, not the Nightman. Hong Kong Noodle. At least when I walk into HKN, I get my order taken by a Chinese female who yells at me and not some punk kid who doesn’t know what sauce goes where.

HONG KONG NOODLE
901 Washington Avenue, SE
Minneapolis, MN
T: 612.379.9472

VILLAGE WOK
610 Washington Avenue, SE
Minneapolis, MN
T: 612.331.9041

*Thomas Parke D’Invilliers resides in Brooklyn and covets the Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton luggage set featured in ‘The Darjeeling Limited.’

Trailing on the coattails of Yoko’s earlier Umamiventure post to the SAME EXACT RESTAURANT in Tokyo, I am finally ready to unveil the greatness that was Din Tai Fung (DTF) in LA. The only outpost in the U.S. of this legendary Taiwanese restaurant!! As you’ll see, the dumplings look suspiciously similar to the ones they had in Tokyo… there must be some sort of International DTF Dumpling University. Sign me up!

It was on a stickysweaty hot September morning in LA that 15 of us came together from all over the city to share the magic of soup dumplings (aka xiao long bao aka XLB) at the famed DTF in The Valley. Most of us had been stuck on the Highway 10, the 110, the 405, or a combination thereof, for up to an hour as the infamous bumper-to-bumper traffic erupted–before noon, WTF?!–simultaneously with our hunger. Grrrr.

But we all made it, albeit starving, for the love of the XLB. What does this tell you? Soup dumplings bring strangers and lovers together, as do Umamiventures. Hell Yes! Thanks to everyone for making it out- per usual, this post is interspersed with comments by those who attended. Mucho love!

SARA S.
DTF was well worth the drive to Arcadia and the stop and go traffic on the 10. I was pretty amazed at how quickly they were able to seat a party of 15 considering how packed the entire restaurant was.

KAYOKO
The crab+pork XLB were tiny jewels of perfection. Look at how there is no soup on the spoon- instead, it oozes out into your mouth, all in one bite. Like oysters, they were velveteen morsels of luxury. They were like fluffy cotton pillows of goodness!

Crab+pork juicy pork dumplings.

SARAH F.
I had so much fun. It was nice to spend time with other people who have a penchant for XLB like I do. This Shanghai specialty is hard to come by and DTF has some of the best. The pork stuffing is soft and juicy. No gristle or hard bits.

SARA S.
Eater beware: if you bite into the soup dumplings too soon, you may suffer first degree burns in your mouth and throat.

GABE
Dumplings were quite delicious – the crab+pork were quite tasty, but the juicy pork dumplings were simply the best. Veggie dumplings the only bland ones.

Steamed pork and green vegetable dumpling.

Vegetable dumplings.

KAYOKO
A UM reader who couldn’t make it suggested to me to get the fish dumplings. They were also moist and had a bit of crunch from some sort of green. Note the colors- so pristine how clear the fish is, it’s as though it’s a bit raw still, although they were perfectly cooked.

Fish dumplings.

KAYOKO
Like the ones in Tokyo, the shrimp+pork shiaomai were these darling little frou-frou creations. So original and cute!!!

Shrimp+pork shiaomai.

TOMO
The bell of the XLB ball was the shrimp and pork dumplings, moist meat, perfect dough overall a yummy dumpling! Perfect hangover food.

Shrimp+pork shiaomai.

SARA S.
It was a little hard to differentiate the taste of the ginger/vinegar combo from the actual broth of the dumplings, but it was still fun to use all the sauce amenities.

Juicy steamed pork bun with vinegar and ginger sauce.

GABE
The hot sauce/mix should not be overlooked – it was instrumental in the process.

TOMO
I thought allllll the noodles were fantastic, especially the sesame noodle and beef noodle bowls, but then again, I am a noodle monster.

Sesame noodles.

House beef noodle soup.

SARA S.
The noodles were great too, but a bit challenging to share.

GABE
The noodles were good, but not great.

KAYOKO
I loved the noodles, Gabe!!! The beef noodles and the soup actually came out separately, and they poured the broth over the silky noodles at the table. Nice touch! The noodles with minced meat were totally bomb- look at the edamame! Simply gorgeous. I know my brother would agree with me on this last point- we still talk about it when we talk to this day.

Noodles with minced meat and tofu.

SARA S.
My fave dishes were the pork soup dumplings and the sautéed green beans.

GABE
The green beans are not to be missed. The rice cakes (mochi?) were also fantastic.

Shanghai rice cake with chicken.

KAYOKO
Yah, the rice cakes were a delight- very different from say, lo mein or chow fun since they were more dense. As Gabe said, like mochi.

SARA S.
At the end of the meal, I accidentally ordered the steamed pork buns, when I meant to get more soup dumplings, but they were also delicious.

KAYOKO
Here’s our well-oiled check– we were all seriously foodcomaing by meal’s end. Man, we ate like kings. But it came out to only $20/head!!! AMAZING!!!

SARA
I also loved that they had directions written on the chopsticks on how to eat a dumpling. Great touch.

SARAH F.
Everything is so easy to order, even when the line is out the door you don’t have to wait too long, and they are on top of it there. It’s not a traditional dim sum restaurant so don’t expect that environment (but it’s close). I mean to try different places out in the San Gabriel Valley but always end up back at DTF. One day when I go to Tokyo I will for sure go to that one.

GABE
Service was impeccable. Felt a bit like a factory, but the price is tough to beat. If you want a more homey feel, go to Mei Long Village.

KAYOKO
I have to agree- the service was unlike I have ever had at a dimsum/Chinese joint. Plus the quality of all the food was exceptionally note-worthy. Here are the folks making dumplings in the open kitchen. Pretty neat slash creepy with the protected window.

KAYOKO
LA Umamiventure #18 LOVERS!!! Thank you so much to everyone for coming out!!

PS- There are two locations of DTF now, one around the corner from the other. I have a hunch the kitchens may be connected. We went to the snazzy, newer one.

DIN TAI FUNG
1108 or 1088 South Baldwin Avenue
Arcadia, CA
T: 626.574.7068

*Umamiventues are organized monthly, traveling far and wide to find good, cheap grub off the beaten path.

**Become a Facebook Fan of UM to stay updated on all future trips!!!

Past Umamiventures include:
1.) Ocean Jewel Restaurant – Flushing, NYC; June 2007
2.) Red Hook Ball Fields - NYC; June 2007
3.) Taste of Jackson Heights – NYC; October, 2007
4.) Sripraphai Restaurant – Woodside, NYC; November 2007
5.) WINTERMARKET – South St. Seaport; December 2007
6.) Jackson Diner- Jackson Heights, NYC; January 2008
7.) Pacificana – Sunset Park, NYC; February 2008
8.) Puerto Alegre – The Mission, SF; March 2008
9.) Dinosaur BBQ – Harlem, NYC; April 2008
10.) Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden – Astoria, NYC; May 2008
11.) Brooklyn Banh Mi Crawl – Sunset Park, NYC; August 2008
12.) Sheapshead Bay Lobster Crawl – NYC; September 2008
13.) Flushing Food Circuit – NYC; October 2008
14.) Strong Beer Month – SF; March 2009
15.) Loisaida Throwback Crawl – NYC; April 2009
16.) Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Pescadero, CA; June 2009
17.) Tomales Bay Oyster Farm – Marshall, CA; August 2009

I have a new obsession- they come in these little bite-size sacks, filled with pork, crab and a touch of soup. Xiao long bao, aka XLB, soup dumplings!!! In NYC, I loved the dumplings at Shanghai Cafe, and have finally found a place that are just as good. Actually, they are BETTER.

I haven’t been to Taiwan or Shanghai to try these in their homebase, but I just know that these little guys at Shanghai Dumpling in Saratoga are the real deal. I am drooling right now just thinking about them- I crave them all the time!!!

Each order comes with six dumplings- get an entire order to yourself, trust me, you don’t want to share these. I’ve mastered the art of eating the soup dumpling, let me tell you about it.

1) Pick up one dumpling with your chopsticks, and lay it on your spoon. Drizzle a bit of the soy/vinegar/ginger medley over the dumpling.

2) When you poke the dumpling, hot steam spurts out and the sweet scent of meat and onions fill the air. Mmmm… But don’t poke it too much, or the soup will spill all over the place, which is so not cool. The soup is too delicious to waste.

Put your lips up to the spoon and begin to sip the soup slowly. Watch out, it’s HOT!

Look at all the real crab in here!!!

I tried all these places in NYC for soup dumplings, and found that more often than not, the crab got all dried up which really fucked everything up!!! Here, the crab is so moist, which makes the entire dumpling eating experience sensational. I hate to say this but… *swoon*.

This cute girl with braids makes the dumplings in plain view in the corner of the restaurant.

I’ve been to Shanghai Dumpling a few times now, and every time, the food has always been excellent. Here are some other stellar dishes that I always make sure to order.

Shanghai style stir-fried noodles:

Shanghai sauteed shrimp. These are simply incredible- I think they par-boil the shrimp, then stir fry them for a bit with some corn starch or something. Whatever they do it’s just amazing. They are just these transluscent, light pink jewels dotted with scallions. Oh, the colors, oh the flavor!

Glutinous rice with pork in bamboo:

What could this be?? Long strips of bamboo shoots! GENIUS! The crunch is awesome!!!

The braised pork belly- umami porn shot! Look at all the nasty dots of grease! Love it.

Pea shoots with garlic.

Interior shot:

SHANGHAI DUMPLING
12172 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road
Saratoga, CA
T: 408.253.2232