Text 28971, 48 rader
Skriven 2009-09-21 23:14:42 av Michael Loo (1:18/200)
Ärende: tastes 195
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I'd been bugging Nicholas to try this place that went into
the space vacated by our friend Patricia when her Taiwanese
restaurant went under, but he hemmed and hawed until there
was this great review in one of the papers, so off we went.

We ordered, as usual, generously.

The steamed dumplings (available with various fillings -
we got garlic chives) were pretty good although coarse, as
these things tend to be at most restaurants. Of course we
got a double helping and could have had that serve as the
entire meal. A house-made hot oil was very helpful in getting
the last of them down.

Bean curd skin with black mushrooms and baby bamboo shoots
was delicious, though the baby shoots had considerably grown
up since the menu had been written. 

For some reason, we ordered half a smoked duck, which was
pretty good, though the smoke tasted more of burnt sugar
than of any aromatic. It was also not crisped up the way
most Chinese restaurant smoked poultry comes, so the fatty
bits and skin were unashamedly fatty and flabby, which
bothered me not very much, though I do prefer a crisp skin.

Pork kidney in Szechwan pepper sauce was a big winner, the
kidneys crunchy and tender at the same time, properly cleaned,
the sauce full of various kinds of pepper and black beans.
A bit salty, though, and the portion was enormous, so I ended
up picking out bits of kidney while leaving the lengths of
scallion and trying to avoid the black beans and the peppery
sauce (one could sort of shake it off).

Needed a couple of beers to deal with that, and afterward
there was still something missing, so off we went, as usual,
to Gus's, where I got a taste of the vegan vanilla, which
was no better than Tofutti, not particularly interesting.
Instead, I opted for a double dip of coconut sorbet and
chocolate sorbet; the former lacked the lumps of fat that
it used to have (I wonder whether the mix was deemed to be
too rich, or has the method of emulsification improved),
which I was sort of sad at, as I enjoyed the fatty bits;
the sorbet was rich and round, very chocolaty, and it kept
me up at night.

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 * Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)