Restaurant Review Summer Slow Down

Posted on June 28, 2016 by rundlea

IMG_4460I am spending the summer in an area with relatively few dumpling eating options – few Chinese, Japanese or Korean restaurants, low quality Italian spots and no Eastern European restaurants.  I will hit every spot I can find but I am afraid the frequency of reviews will be lower for the next two months.  Back in full effect in late August/early September.

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NY Times: A Slovakian Secret

Posted on June 22, 2016 by rundlea

The Eat section of the New York Times Sunday Magazine this week was an article entitled A Slovakian Secret, which described the history of a Slovakian family and its pierogi recipe.  The recipe is for a potato and cheese pierogi served with crispy bacon, it looks really good.

Potato and cheese pierogi with crispy bacon from the NY Times Magazine

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Vegan Palate, Northampton, MA

Posted on June 20, 2016 by rundlea

One of the surprises about the college towns in Western Massachusetts is that, with a few notable exceptions (Bela, Oriental Flavor, Pizza Amore) the vegetarian and vegan dining options are often so weak: bad hippy food, bad Asian food or bad food.  Thankfully the relatively new Vegan Palate in Northampton is providing some excellent new options.  The hot and sour soup, spring roll and Singapore Chow Mai Fun were all great and Vegan Palate is getting a lot of love in Yelp! reviews, so I am excited to go back and try some more dishes.

The menu at Vegan Palate appears to be largely inspired, or is perhaps a direct copy, of LuAnne’s Wild Ginger in New York City (reviewed here and here).   Did a chef from LuAnne’s move to Western MA and set up shop using the same menu?  Or was there some other third party restaurant that originated this menu and both LuAnne’s and Vegan Palate copied it?  I guess I don’t care how the menu and recipes got to Northampton, I am happy they are here because I really like the food.

Pan fried vegetable dumplings

Pan fried vegetable dumplings

The Dumplings:  Vegan Palate carries the same dumplings as LuAnne’s, which supports my suspicion that LuAnne’s uses frozen dumplings, and is also disappointing because the dumplings are the weakest part of this otherwise superior menu.  Vegan Palate offers, steamed or pan fried vegetable dumplings, spinach Shumai, and watercress and soy cheese fried wontons.  I tried the pan fried vegetable dumplings and the watercress and soy cheese wontons.

Pan Fried Vegetable Dumplings – to paraphrase my review of LuAnne’s – The bright green vegetable dumpling seem to be the same frozen vegetable gyoza I’ve eaten at several Japanese restaurants (see Moshi Moshi) and are fairly bland but serviceable, definitely better pan-fried than steamed.  The pan fried version at Vegan Palate were limp, I think they had been micro-waved and then insufficiently pan fried.  Moshi Moshi’s pan fried preparation of this frozen dumpling is better.

Watercress and soy cheese wontons

Watercress and soy cheese wontons

Watercress and soy cheese fried wontons – I had some reservations about ordering these at LuAnne’s but ended up really liking them, to quote myself – “While I admit that these dumplings sounded gross to me and I had to be convinced to order them by my dining companion, they turned out to be really good; better than their vegetable dumplings or the shumai. The filling was mainly comprised of spinach and I didn’t notice any peppery watercress flavor, but the spinach mixed with the creamy, American cheese style, soy cheese was really tasty.  The wontons were perfectly deep fried and crispy and crunchy without any oiliness.”   

Flavor-wise the wontons at Vegan Palate are really similar to the  ones at LuAnne’s, but are folded differently from those at LuAnne’s.  So maybe my original supposition that these are a frozen brand of dumpling is incorrect and they are in fact house made at each restaurant.   A thought that struck me while eating them this time was that “wonton’s filled with vegan saag paneer” would be a better description for this dumpling.

The Dipping Sauces:  In my review of LuAnne’s I was quite critical of the mango dipping sauce served with the Watercress and soy cheese wontons and of the soy dipping sauce served with the vegetable dumplings.  For both dishes I though the dipping sauce was too sweet.   The versions of these sauces served at Vegan Palate cut back on the sweetness and the sauces were more enjoyable for the change in the recipe – maybe someone read my earlier review?  Rather than serving the mango sauce in a dipping bowl, the wontons at Vegan Palate are served on top of a smear of mango sauce.

The Location:  Vegan Palate is at 261 King Street in Northampton, MA and is behind the Sakura Asian Buffet restaurant.

Posted in Northampton, Pan Fried, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wontons | Leave a comment

Konbu StreetFood, Groningen, NL

Posted on June 14, 2016 by rundlea

Takoyaki in Groningen

Dumpling hunting in Amsterdam turned out to be a bust, the Dutch do not have indigenous dumpling form and overall the Asian restaurants I saw didn’t look that good.  But I do want to give a shout out to Onigiri YA! in the De Pijp neighborhood, they make some of the best rice balls I have tried.  The owner is from Japan and has been in Amsterdam for six months and opened Onigiri YA! about two months ago.  The rice balls are handmade fresh each morning and the Pork with Wasabi Rice Ball is excellent.

For the second part of my trip to the Netherlands I was in the north of the country, in the city of Groningen.  During a walkabout I stumbled upon Konbu StreetFood, a casual spot that sells dishes from Japan, Korea and Vietnam, including dumplings, kimchi, Korean style fried chicken, Pho, Ramen and Bun.  I think it is a bit of a stretch to call most of their menu “street food” – it is tough to eat Ramen or Bun while standing on the street.

The Dumplings:   Konbu sells steamed shrimp and pork dumplings, grilled gyoza and octopoes (Takoyaki).

Grilled Pork Gyoza

Pork Gyoza – The pork gyoza were pretty standard Japanese restaurant or sushi restaurant appetizer menu gyoza that you can get at many places in the U.S., most likely packaged, frozen dumplings.  The gyoza appeared to have been steamed and then cooked on a griddle which left some crispy grill marks.  They were fine and will hit the spot if you are craving gyoza, but were nothing special.

Octopoes (Takoyaki) – The national bar food in the Netherlands is Bitterballen, which are small croquettes with a fried bread crumb outer layer and an interior made of a roux or dough of butter, flour, stock and flecks of meat, that has a texture of whipped mashed potato.  The Octopoes at Konbu are a Bitterballen-esque interpretation of Takoyaki.  Typically Takoyaki have a hollow interior housing pieces of octopus, but the ones at Konbu were completely filled with creamy dough with pieces of octopus embedded in the dough filling.  They were good, but they were closer to a croquette than a dumping.  They came dressed with Worcestershire sauce, mayo and flakes of dried seaweed but no Bonito slivers.

Konbu takes pride in its presentation, the pork gyoza were served on a small wooden cutting board and the Octopoes were served in a small wire fryer basket lined with wax paper.

The Dipping Sauce:  The pork goyza came with a soy and vinegar sauce flavored with slivered scallions and ground red pepper flakes.  Each table was also home to squeeze bottles of Hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce, and bottles of chili oil and S&B brand seasoning powder.

The Location:  Konbu Streetfood is on Oosterstraat about 1 block off the main City square.  The square is full of drinking opportunities so Konbu is conveniently located for a post-drinking snack.

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La Salle Dumpling Room, New York, NY

Posted on June 6, 2016 by rundlea

La Salle Dumpling Room opened several months ago in Manhattanville and so far has garnered pretty weak Yelp! and blog reviews.  Some of issues may have related to getting the kinks out of the system as the restaurant opened, although when I looked in on a crowded evening recently a lot of diners appeared to have had been waiting a while for their food to come out of the kitchen.  I finally went to eat their on a quieter night and had some really good dumplings.

The Dumplings:  Only about a quarter of the items on the menu are actually dumplings, they have Gluten Free Dumplings, three styles of Xiao Long Bao – Pork, Pork With Crabmeat, and Pork With Kimchi Dumplings -, Steamed Vegetable Dumplings,  Steamed Berkshire Pork Dumplings, Antibiotic And Hormone Free Chicken Dumplings with cabbage and mushroom, White Fish with scallion, ginger and celery. and steamed seasonal Vegetable Dumplings.

Pork and Kimchi Soup Dumplings

Pork and Kimchi Soup Dumplings

The Pork and Kimchi Soup Dumplings – This is a great idea for a dumpling, and I am surprised that I have not seen it before.  The meat filling is a lot like the filling in my Kimchi and Pulled Pork dumplings recipe, a mix of pork and Nappa cabbage Kimchi, although my recipe uses BBQ pork which adds a smoky flavor.  The pork aspic and kimchi creates about a tablespoon per dumpling of spicy soup that is essentially Kimchi Jjigae, which is an amazing concept for a soup dumpling.  The wrappers for the soup dumplings are quite good, strong enough to contain the soup and maintain the integrity of the dumpling as you pick it up, but not so thick as to be doughy or leathery.  The dumpling in the center of the steamer comes with a little dollp of Gochujang on top.  This could be my new favorite style of soup dumpling.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings – I thought these mouse shaped dumplings were a little less successful than the Pork and Kimchi Soup Dumplings.  The wrappers tended to tear as I picked them up with the chopsticks leaving finely minced greens in the steamer and on the table.  The wrappers were either too thin or the dumplings were over steamed, I think perhaps the later as the veggies tasted a little over cooked.  The dumplings were definitely generously packed with green veggies and might be worth a second try.  The waiter told me these dumplings were vegan.

The Dipping Sauce:  The sauce that comes with the vegetable dumplings was really flavorful.  According to the waiter the sauce is the chef’s secret and he has not shared the recipe with any of the wait staff.  It is certainly soy based and probably flavored with vinegar and oil, but there is some secret ingredient or proportion of ingredients in there that takes it to the next level.  The soup dumplings came with a black rice vinegar dipping sauce which was sort superfluous when the dumplings came pre-loaded with Kimchi Jjigae soup.

The Location: La Salle Dumpling Room is on the border between the Morningside Heights and Manhattanville neighborhoods, on Broadway a block and a half south of 125th street, on the corner of La Salle Street.  This area is fast becoming a destination for Asian food, with La Salle Dumpling Room, Jin Ramen (DH Review here) , Kissaten Jin and Chapati House all within a block of each other.

 

 

 

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China Chilcano, Washington, DC

Posted on May 30, 2016 by rundlea

Notice the chipped plate

Pegao Norteno Potstickers embedded in fried lace batter. Notice the chipped plate

China Chilcano is part of celebrity chef Jose Andres’ ever expanding empire of restaurants.  Andres is credited with popularizing small plate tapas-style eating in the U.S. and, with the opening of the original and excellent Jaleo in 1993, transforming the Penn Quarter into a dining and entertainment district.  China Chilcano serves contemporary Peruvian food which reflects Peru’s immigrant history, including Criollo cuisine, which has Spanish and West African influences, Nikkei style Japanese-Peruvian fusion dishes, and Chifa style Chinese-Peruvian fusion dishes.  The inside of China Chilcano is kaleidoscopic, with bold wall  murals, red walls fashioned from shipping containers, green stencils, Edison light bulbs hanging from thick ropes, bamboo cages, a sunken tatami table and a lively bar scene.

Jose Andres’ empire is huge, he owns Jaleo (Washington, DC, Bethesda, Arlington & Las Vegas), minibar by José Andrés (Washington, DC, & Bethesda), barmini by José Andrés (Washington, DC), America Eats Tavern (Virginia), Zaytinya (Washington, DC), Oyamel (Washington, DC), é by José Andrés (Las Vegas), The Bazaar (Beverly Hills, & Miami Beach), China Poblano (Las Vegas), Mi Casa, (Dorado, Puerto Rico), Pepe (Washington, D.C.), Beefsteak (Washington, D.C.), Tres by José Andrés (Los Angeles) and Bazaar Meat by José Andrés (Las Vegas, Nevada).  After a weak meal at Jaleo in Arlington and a recent meh meal at Jaleo in Penn Quarter I have been feeling that Andres is overextended and the dumplings at China Chilcano solidified my view.  Overall I think China Chilcano is dangerously close to being an ‘apostrophe  S’ chain restaurant food experience.

Wantans

Kam Lu Wantans

The Dumplings:  The dim sum corner of the menu includes shumai and dumplings that fuse Chinese and Peruvian ingredients.  Of the eight available offerings I tried three plates, the Dorado Shumai, the Kam Lu  Wantan and the Pegao Norteño.  Judging from what i sampled nobody would accuse China Chilcano of over stuffing their dumplings –  all the dumplings were pretty small and the prices are up there.

Kam Lu  Wantan –  these shrimp and pork filled fried wantons were over cooked and tasted like they were cooked in old burnt fry oil.  The modest amount of shrimp and pork stuffed into these wontons couldn’t muster enough flavor to overcome the greasy old fry oil flavor.  The dipping sauce sounded like it was going to be good, but it wasn’t (see below). Continue reading →

Posted in Celebrity Chef, Chinese, D.C., Dim Sum, Gyoza, Japanese, Lamb, Pork, Potsticker, Shrimp, Shumai, Washington, Wontons | Leave a comment

Yasha Ramen, New York, NY

Posted on May 23, 2016 by rundlea
The Yasha Ramen signage

The Yasha Ramen signage

My recent attempt to hunt for dumplings on the Upper West Side of Manhattan turned out to be kind of a fail until I hit Yasha Ramen.  My first stop, La Salle Dumpling Room, was packed with families in town for the Columbia University graduation and there was an hour wait. My next attempt to score dumplings was at Sun Chan, which turned out to be closed because of a gas main problem which had shut down the entire block.  Then I tried Uncle Luoyang, which I have been meaning to try for a while, but I guess I delayed to long because it has gone out of business.  After walking about a mile and a half I found Yasha Ramen, a small ramen joint just south of Columbia University.

Takoyaki

Takoyaki

Steamed pork shumai

Steamed pork shumai

The Dumplings:  Yasha servers takoyaki, shrimp shumai and pork shumai and a dumpling bowl which consists of either fried shrimp or pork shumai in a bowl of rice with cabbage, kale and spicy mayo.  The takoyaki were small but had a good octopus to fried batter ratio. Unfortunately the takoyaki were relatively unadorned and light on mayo and bonito flakes.  They could have used a bit more dressing, but they were tasty and did come on a really cool plate.  The steamed pork shumai filling had pieces of water chestnut mixed in, which gave them a nice crunch texture. I use a similar recipe for my shrimp dumplings.  I have been trying to reduce my salt intake lately so maybe my palette is a little off, but I found the pork filling to be very salty.

The Dipping Sauce:  The plate the shumai were served on had a built in sauce bowl filled with a mix of soy sauce and vinegar. It came with a little dab of mustard to mix in the dipping sauce, which was a really good addition to the shumai.

The Location: Yasha Ramen is in the Manhattan Valley neighborhood between 106th and 107th Streets.  There are a couple of good bars on the block, which is handy because they do not have a liquor license.

Posted in Japanese, New York City, Shumai, Takoyaki | Leave a comment

NY Times: Savory Doughnuts

Posted on May 18, 2016 by rundlea

Expanding the argument about the boundaries of the definition of dumplings, the NY Times just published a short piece about the savory filled doughnuts, or doughpods, which just had their debut at Doughnut Plant.  They make an avocado filled pod, which is like an encapsulated avocado toast, and a samosa pod, which is filled with potato and fresh fenugreek.

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Izakaya Restaurant, New York, NY

Posted on May 16, 2016 by rundlea
Dumpling of the Day at Izakaya Restaurant

Dumpling of the Day at Izakaya Restaurant

Izakaya Restaurant, which basically translates into Restaurant Restaurant, is part of the expanding ecosystem of Japanese restaurants and bars in New York City’s East Village neighborhood. The Izakaya Restaurant is run by a young Japanese guy who came to our table and explained his philosophy for restaurateur-ing and the background on all of the dishes we ordered.  His “Addictive Cabbage” starter dish has garnered a lot of press and internet-love and was really quite amazing.  He told us that the challenge he set himself and his cooks was to create a cabbage dish where the cabbage is not cooked or marinated.  The solution was to extensively and repeatedly wash and massage the cabbage and serve it dressed in sesame oil with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.  He told us that if we didn’t like the Addictive Cabbage we should just get up and walk out of his restaurant and he would understand that the cabbage was not good enough.  I really enjoyed everything we had at Izakaya Restaurant and the menu is pretty deep, so there is more to go back for.

The Dumplings:  The menu only lists one dumpling option, the “dumplings of the day”. The night that we went the waiter told us the dumplings were filled with tuna.  In reality the dumplings were filled with lots of blue cheese and a small amount flaky tuna.  These deep fried dumplings were really enjoyable, they had a strong melted blue cheese flavor with a mild undertone of tuna.  Eating these dumplings was like eating a inverse fondue, the fondue cheese came inside the crispy dipping cracker.  Like everything we tried, the dumplings were  artfully plated and came in a wicker basket.

The Dipping Sauce:  I liked the blue cheese flavor and fondue experience so much that I don’t even recall if they came with a dipping sauce.

The Location:  Saint Marks Place and East Ninth Street have been home to a bunch of Japanese bars and restaurants for a long time, but for the past couple of years this hip Japan-town area has been spreading North, South and East.  Izakaya Restaurant is on East Sixth Street between First and Second Avenue. The restaurant doesn’t have much in the way of signage so look for street number 326 on the south side of the street.

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Return to The Real Le Anh Chinese Food Cart, Philadelphia, PA

Posted on May 9, 2016 by rundlea

Since my last trip to Philly the diverse ecosystem of food carts and trucks around the University of Pennsylvania seems to have contracted some.  The number of carts has gone down and the diversity has diminished, and worse of all there is a proliferation of “New York City Halal Carts”.  Come on Philly get it together – why are there no carts selling hoagies laden with pork, broccoli rabe and provolone cheese?

Lots of greens

Lots of greens

Dumplings doused in ginger brown sauce

Dumplings doused in ginger brown sauce

Luckily The Real Le Anh Chinese Food Cart is still there selling great Chinese lunch plates (original review here).  Last time I tried the daily special Crab and Cheese Dumplings, but this time I went vegan and got the home made vegetable dumplings.  There is the choice of boiled or fried for the pork, chicken or vegetable dumplings that Le Anh sells. I went with fried which meant the dumplings were first par-boiled and then deep fried.  I was pretty much blown away by these dumplings, better even than the Crab and Cheese Dumplings.  They were filled with Chinese cabbage and greens, no flavored tofu or minced mushroom filler, just nutritious greens.  The dumplings were served doused in a ladle full of thick brown, ginger flavored sauce/gravy.  This is how the Crab and Cheese Dumplings were served too, so this appears to be the Le Anh standard serving style.  The vegetable filling was able to stand up to the ginger sauce and provide a slightly bitter retort to the sweet sauce.  Avoid the NYC wanna-be Halal rice and meat plate carts and go to The Real Le Anh Chinese Food Cart. 

Philly, whay are you importing NYC Halal Food Carts?

Philly, why are you importing NYC Halal Food Carts?

Posted in Chinese, Philadelphia, Vegan, Vegetarian | Leave a comment