Grand Sichuan International is Good!!

Hockey makes you hungry, and after a rare Thursday evening game, I, the lovely wife and boys were famished. So were our Chelsea friends and their kids. So the eight of us made the walk to 24th Street and 9th Avenue to Grand Sichuan International (229 9th Ave, NYC, 10001: 212-620-5200).  The place, which looks like a throwback to a 1950's style Chinatown Restaurant, was crowded, and we waited about 45 minutes for a table.  Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but we did have 4 kids with us.  However, while we were waiting, Paul Giamatti left the restaurant to have a cigarette and then returned, giving us adults a little "isn't it cool to live in NY where you can see a famous celebrity at the same mildly dingy restaurant we're going to killing himself slowly with cigarettes moment."  But, as soon as that moment passed, and the lovely wife used her Vulcan mind meld with the staff, we were seated.

Male Martha is no stranger to Sichuan Food.  This is actually the third Sichuan restaurant that has been reviewed, the other two being in Toronto and in Flushing.  I will say off the bat that both of these restaurants had superior Sichuan food to Grand Sichuan International.  Of course, they're not off the 1 train and within walking distance of Chelsea Piers, either.  And, to be honest, the food at Sichuan Gardens was quite good, as long as you stuck to the Sichuan menu. We all liked the Dan Dan noodles and the Sichuan cold noodles.  Although not a Sichuan specialty, the soup dumplings were good as well.  The bean curd and pork was good.  Particularly tasty was the Eggplant with Garlic sauce and Pork (#156).   The shrimp with salted pepper was good, and different than I have had in other places.  It was deep fried.  

Less tasty were traditional American Chinese dishes, including beef with broccoli, sesame chicken, and all the other stuff your kids (and mine) eat.  They ate em, but if you go to Grand Sichuan, you shouldn't. 

So, if you're in Chelsea and have a dan dan noodle jones, consider Grand Sichuan.  Heading out to Queens is better, but its easier to go clubbing after this meal!!!

Mabo Tofu Sauce

Happy Thanksgiving! My car is still in the shop (there is no heat, only full blast air conditioning) but this gave me yet another opportunity to go to downtown Flushing yesterday. I went to the Y and N Chinese Supemarket this time: two blocks north of the Library on the East side of the street.

Although a lot of fun, all in all I have done better on a shop. The buns pictured above, filled with little briquettes of ground pork, were Y and N Brand. Although attractive, they were rather tasteless. There were a variety of other brands to try. I also bought dumplings, which were no where near as good as those bought by the lovely wife at the unnamed dumpling store on Essex Street. In honor of Thanksgiving, I bought sweet potato noodles: I will let you know.



If you are looking for a quick and tasty way to make some Mapo (Mabo) style Tofu, I recommend House Brand Chinese Mabo Tofu Sauce (medium hot). Add a brick of tofu and a little bit of ground beef or pork and cook: in a few minutes its ready. Ironically, the sauce is made in Japan, but is widely available in Chinese markets. I used to get it at the Korean groceries near me, back before they were Best Buys and shoe stores. The lovely wife likes it, and its clearly a guilty pleasure on ChowHound as well.

Regardless of the overall success of this shopping trip it was fun. I have dreams of what a great bun will taste like, and its my goal to find that bun! I am excited about this hunt, but I have a feeling I will be wading through a lot of tasteless, white, starchy fluff in the process. I can live with that, too!

Main Street Flushing South of The Subway

I'm still not sure what the fan in the suspension system of my car does, but according to the little light on the dashboard, it needed to be replaced and I was car less. The good news: Tuesday was beautiful, I had a little time after working in Flushing, and I strolled North on Main Street towards the 7 train, looking to shop.

Although people associate Flushing with its Chinatown (and to a lesser extent the Koreatown centered on Union Street), as you go further South there is a small but vibrant Afghani, Pakistani and Indian area featuring clothing, videos and groceries. I stopped in Patel Brother's, about 6 blocks South of Roosevelt Avenue, where I bought some spices, papadum and rather tasty figs (Aahy Barah Brand). They also had a good selection of vegetables, rice (including SUV sized bags). One day, I will do an extensive examination of the different types of papadum: he number they sell is mind numbing. Most of the other stores on the strip appeared to be Afghani in origin.


Having enjoyed my little Southeast excursion, I soon realized how far Chinatown had extended since my last walk a few years ago. Within a block of Patels' Chinatown clearly began, mostly as a series of non food businesses with Chinese signs. But food loomed. In the interest of trying something new, I went to Pho Thanh Hu'o'ng, on the corner of Maple Avenue and Main Street (718-359-1120). The place was bustling at 1:30 PM: I got the last table. On the menu: Vietnamese dishes made by an all Chinese staff. I think I sat down because it sort of reminded me of Pho 32, the Vietnamese Restaurant near Madison Square Garden run by a Korean staff. In a similar vein, Thanh Huong signs are all in Chinese and somewhat mangled English. The only Vietnamese is on the condiments. Unfortunately, while perfectly acceptable, the Pho was not the best I have had (although it was quite edible) and I would certainly not recommend going there with all of the other excellent eating options in the neighborhood.

My final stop was a photo shop, for $7 passport photos. I look lovely.

Although I will be happy to get my car, as the 7 train is no way to get home on a regular basis, it was great to walk through Main Street. And I didn't even get a chance to get to the large Chinese Supermarkets. To get that many groceries home, I'll need to drive.

Excellent Essex Street Mystery Dumplings

When I grew up, Chinese on the Lower East Side meant Bernstein's, the Kosher-Chinese marvel. The neighborhood has changed a lot over the years, and while the Chinese remains, Bernstein's is long gone. Not that I miss it: their Chinese food was inedible. (I do miss Ratner's, whose borscht I still crave) But good Chinese food is found in abundance on the Lower East Side now, and one of the tastier establishments is the Lovely Wife's lunch place of choice.

There is no name to this place, except perhaps "Vegetable Steamed Dumplings." It consists of a lady, a serving area, a kitchen and three tables. The place is located at 27 A Essex Street, 10002 in the "UAS" (sic) (212-579-2700). Although the Lovely Wife and her colleagues love the place for their excellent lunches, I like the take out dumplings, which the lovely wife has honored us with several times recently. They come in a variety of flavors besides their vegetable namesake, although the vegetable dumplings are excellent, with well but but clearly identifiable pieces of vegetables in a decidedly non-vegetable broth which taste excellent steamed. The boys and I preferred the meat, but this may just be our inner carnivore coming through. They are sold by the 25 count for a price so low I still can not believe it. They freeze well, and tasted good several weeks after buying them.

If you are not fortunate enough to have a loved one work on the Lower East Side, it is still worth it to take a trip down there to buy these dumplings. Steam them up, serve them with a 50% soy/50% white vinegar sauce, and impress your friends.

Sichuan Garden Restaurant: Toronto

Toronto is known for its Chinese food. Spadina Street is the heart of Chinatown there. The boys, the lovely wife and I were all eager to partake, and we took a cab from the CN Tower (very tall) to Spadina on Saturday night. Originally, we planned on heading to Lee's Garden, favored by Zagat and the many tourbooks. Clearly, everyone else had this in mind, and there was a long line. Spurred on by cranky and hungry children, we walked down the block, and saw Sichuan Garden Restaurant (359 Spadina Street, Toronto: (416) 593-6265. After our last experience at a Sichuan Restaurant, I was ready to try another one. Sichuan Garden is a mildly pleasing looking restaurant, and it was mostly filled on a Saturday Night (besides Lee Garden, only one other restaurant that we saw had any line at all). I believe we were the only non-Chinese speakers in the place.

Sichuan cooking is based on the Chili pepper. Interestingly enough, the pepper is not native to China: it was introduced in the 16th Century by Portuguese traders. While first used as a decorative plant, by the late 1600's they became a part of dinner. This love of the pepper translates into the food at Sichuan garden: food that is full of it is quite tasty and food that is not is not quite OK. So although the boys had a great time, none of the dishes they ordered (beef with broccoli and chicken with cashews) were even passably good.

Having said that, the Sichuan food was great. The dan dan noodles were spicy yet quite flavorful. Tofu with a red chili sauce was some of the best bean curd I have eaten. And their shrimp special (on the house specials page) was also extremely well spiced. I did find it humorous that our waiter was worried about the fact that the head was still on the shrimp. The lovely wife and I had to tell him several times not to worry about this fact. Prices are reasonable (given that even the Canadian dollar is kicking the US dollars butt), and service quick and friendly. As opposed to Little Pepper in Flushing, there is no shortage of silverware here.

If you are in Toronto and want something a little different in the Chinese Food Department, and like spicy, then consider Sichuan Garden Restaurant. Its good.

LINKS

Flickr Photos from Gretzky's, Sichuan Garden
Chowhound on Chinese Food in Toronto

Adventures in Flushing: Xiao La Jiao Sichuan Restaurant (AKA Little Pepper)

As most everyone knows, Flushing has the second largest Chinatown in New York, growing every day. As opposed to Manhattan's Chinatown, the area is relatively unencumbered with tourists or even, with the exception of Joe's Shanghai, with too many curious Caucasians. And other than a few dedicated critics, including the Village Voice, few people are willing to venture from Manhattan to the last stop on the 7 train, and then walk several long blocks down Roosevelt Avenue to Little Pepper.

When you get there, look at the menu, and realize that even the word restaurant is spelled "restautaurant" you start to wonder if anyone will understand your order. This is further compounded by the fact that only one person in the place spoke even the most rudimentary English. A child of one of our very Upper West Side Friends discovered that the Chinese he is learning is school was not helpful at Little Pepper. If you don't use chopsticks, bring your own fork and spoon (I am not kidding about this). And I won't even begin to talk about the condition of the bathroom.

Once you clear all of this out of your mind, point at things you think you want on the menu, and realize you can always get more, life is great. For one thing, Sichuan cooking is really good. And even though its quite spicy, the lovely staff were willing to make it "not spicy" for the kids. And even though not spicy meant not hot, not without actual spices, they all ate it. And no wonder. Even the yucky stuff was good.

The lovely wife likes Frogs Legs. It must be all the French she learned as a child. Having said that, the Frogs Legs here (pictured) were excellent, in a spicy, garlicky sauce. As opposed to eating Frogs Legs in France, I got the feeling I was eating a lot more frog than the leg. And it didn't taste like chicken, it tasted like fish. Very interesting.

Excellent dishes included the smoked duck and the dan dan noodles, which may have been the best single noodle dish I have eaten in a long time. Lamb, which has a lot of coriander and cumin, tastes more Indian than what I think of as "Chinese." The lamb is also grilled, giving it the texture of a Gyro. A surprise hit was Tofu with pork in pepper sauce, which was spiced so well that even white bean curd tasted good. Other good dishes included crabs in garlic sauce and spinach (this should not be missed). "Soup" dumplings were just pork dumplings in a spicy broth; as I mentioned before, there are no spoons in the place, so just slurp out of the bowl. The kids had peanuts and chicken and a fried, breaded sweet and sour kind of chicken dish, which they liked just fine. Beer and soda are available.

One of the most amazing thing about the place was the price. Although its cash only, 16 of us ate and drank beer for about $13 a person, including tip. Although I'm sure there is similar food somewhere in Manhattan, for the cultural experience, excellent value and great food, I will be heading back to Little Pepper soon.

NEW Male Martha Photos on Flickr:: Photos from Xiao La Jiao

Other Reviews I Found:

Chowhound
Get In My Belly

5 Minute Bok Choy : Quick and Easy

The lovely wife works in Chinatown, which has its advantages, the main one being access to all kinds of great stuff to eat and cook. Last week, she went to the market and bought bok choy, but, because you often have to seperate the leaves and stems so it cooks evenly, its a bit of a pain to prepare. However, if you can find smaller bok choy, with smaller stems, you can get around this problem. In that case, just slice of the base, and cook the leaf stem combinations. What follows is a very simple recipe to do this. The proportions may be a bit off: I would wing adding the sesame oil and soy sauce at the end.

INGREDIENTS

10 to 15 small bok choy, with base cut off and well washed
5 chopped cloves garlic
canola or peanut oil

Soy Sauce and Sesame oil (about 1 part sesame to two parts soy but very subjective)

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

Wok

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the wok and add oil. Add the garlic and toss around in oil. When it just starts to turn brown, about one minute, add the bok choy. Saute furiously, until leaves wilt and stalks are mostly soft. Stirring will help remove moisture. Turn off heat and add sesame oil (about 1 1/2 tablespoons or so) and then soy sauce to taste (2 teaspoon or so). Remove with slotted spoon and add some liquid from bottom of wok back to serving bowl. Serve immediately.

Oriental Garden Restaurant

I will not be the first or the last blogger to write about Oriental Garden Restaurant at 14 Elizabeth Street in NYC (212-619-0085). Its a CitySearch favorite and is always given a great review by Zagat. None the less, I feel compelled to add my name to the chorus of admiration for the place. I add my name specifically because they were able to accommodate about 16 of us, including a full table of finicky adults and a full table of "chicken and broccoli" loving children with minimal fuss. The plain decor and giant tanks full of potential dinner items adds to the charm of the place. Most importantly, the food is good and liked by everyone there, including 7 year olds, adolescents, vegetarians and male martha himself.

The menu contains "Chinatown classics as well as Southern Chinese specialties. Do not knock the traditional dishes: let he who does not like sesame chicken cast the first stone. In addition to the regular menu, there is a chef's special menu, which includes photographs. Two dishes that I liked from that menu are the sea snails, pictured, and a combination of minced pork and duck served on lettuce leaves. Whole fish is good, but be firm as to what you want and how you want it cooked. The Peking duck is surprisingly good, with just the right combination of fat and crisp. We ordered a combination dish of shrimp and scallops off of the special menu, and received two separate dishes. Both were good, but we're still not sure if we got what we ordered. The fried tofu, which we had in a vegetarian dish of vegetables and tofu, is crisp on the outside and silky soft on the inside. This dish needs to be eaten as soon as you get it; before the tofu reverts to its god given form of a congealed vegetarian soilent green.

Not as good were the dumplings: leave these for another place. Two noodle dishes were forgettable, and the fried rice was fine, but "fine" is not a reason to order fried rice when there are so many other dishes abound.

The lovely wife used to go to Oriental Garden all of the time when we were dating. I am happy to report that it, too, has survived and thrived all of these years.

Great and Cheap Steam and Eat Dumplings

The lovely wife gets full credit for this find. Since she works near Chinatown, she has ample opportunity to find some of the coolest food items in New York... and she delivers. The dumplings you see are frozen. This is done partly because we ate all of the cooked ones before I could get a picture in and also to demonstrate visually how a dumpling can go from frozen solid to lucisious lump in several minutes of steaming. The dumplings are from Yi Ding Hao Dumpling, which is located at 143 Division Street, New York, NY 10002 (telephone 212-608-3881 or 917-755-8699). The place is tiny, yet clean. There are two women there working furiously making dumplings. They are sold frozen by the 50 count. This may seem like a lot until you learn that the lovely wife bought 50 pork and 50 vegetable dumplings for $16.00! They steam easily, and both were extremely tasty. They come frozen, and seem to last a while if they stay that way. Encourage my lovely wife to bring more treats home from the exotic Lower East Side!

Chinese Stuffed Sesame Bread

Some things just can't be made. That's why they have stores. My friend Robin came over tonight for dinner and brought Sesame Buns stuffed with various foodstuffs from Roll and Dough, which is on 3rd Street just east of 6th Avenue. They make these hockey puck like greasy, sesame coated filled pockets of dough which are actually quite good. We tried the following flavors:

• Pork and Chives. Not my favorite, but everyone else liked them (they are wrong)
• Pork and Cabbage. I liked this one, and so did everyone else. We're all married so we don't care about the cabbage.
  
• Red Bean. Like every other red bean thing I have tried, tastes like sweet marzipan paste.
• Banana. If you are looking for a sweeter greasy, sesame coated bun than this one is for you.
• Spicy Pork. This was good.