Chinese

Another foray into Dim Sum!

by Stephanie on February 10, 2012

in Asian, Chinese, Lunch

Goooooood morning! Another Friday, another food review. Don’t you just love Fridays? I know I do! Smile

Remember last time I had Dim Sum? It was a while ago – I went to Mandarin House with friends! It was an interesting experience for sure. I tried chicken feet for the first time! They were very…interesting, to say the least. Winking smile

Well, I’m back at it. Dim Sum is so intriguing to me. I love the concept: an endless number of carts flying by your table, brimming with lots of dishes to choose from! Foodie heaven.

This time, I met some friends at Wei Hong.

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This restaurant is located in the heart of University City in St. Louis, Missouri.

I wish I would have thought to take some pictures of the interior; it’s actually an old theater! The stage was still intact and everything. It was pretty awesome. I suppose that means I’ll have to go back soon, right?

Let’s hop right in! If you remember my review of Mandarin House, you’ll know that I didn’t know the official names of any of the dishes.

Well, let’s just say that I haven’t gotten any better with that. But I’ll describe them as best as I can! Pictures are the only thing that matter anyway, right?

I didn’t take pictures of everything I tried. The food was coming so fast that I was more focused on shoveling it into my mouth! Whoops! But I took pictures of some of the highlights.

First up? An egg tart.

 

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This was one of my favorite things. It was creamy and somewhat sweet. I loved this!

I also tried a few different pork and shrimp filled dumplings.

 

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Amazing! Put anything into a dumpling and I’ll eat it, I promise. Smile

Now it’s time for the really interesting dishes. First up? Duck Tongue!

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First of all, can I just take a minute to mention how cool the presentation is? Yes, that’s actually the duck tongue, still attached to the duck bill! You call it creepy. I call it awesome. To eat it, we snapped it out of the bill and gnawed on it like a chicken wing. So primal. So delicious.

If you think that’s crazy, I saved the best for last: Chitlins! Also known as Chitterlings (but no one – NO ONE – calls them that!).

What are chitlins, you ask? Well, to put it simply: they’re pig intestines. Want more detail? This piece by the Riverfront Times does a pretty good job of explaining what they are!

But you want pictures, right? Ask and you shall receive.

 

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Now, I’m not chitlin amateur. My family makes chitlins just about every Thanksgiving. And honestly, they’re not my favorite. They smell really bad, and the taste (even when smothered in hot sauce!) is not my favorite. They’re traditionally boiled for 3 to 4 hours, and then served piping hot. But I’m not crazy about them. It’s a texture thing. And a smell thing.

But these? Instead of boiled, they were breaded and deep fried. And while the smell still lingered (you know what goes through the intestines, right?), it was way more subdued. And the crunchiness of the breading, paired with the softness of the intestines…well…it worked! I liked them! Oh, and they were served with a side of pickled cabbage, which was tasty.

So there you have it. My second foray into Dim Sum. It certainly won’t be my last. What can I say? I like “weird” food. Andrew Zimmern, call me!

See you next week. Smile

{ 7 comments }

I’m just so…American.

by Stephanie on July 22, 2011

in Asian, Chinese, Dinner, Lunch

When I started this blog in March of 2010, I named it ‘Off the Eaten Path’, because my intentions were to only write about hole in the wall establishments.

Well, I certainly didn’t stick with that for very long! I decided that that was too limiting, and expanded my range to include all restaurants in St. Louis (but I still stick with my no chains rule).

Anyway, recently I visited a place that is definitely ‘Off the Eaten Path’:

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The Famous Szechuan Pavilion! I wish I would have gotten a better picture of how small this place really was! It used to be a drive through coffee shop, and it is TINY! I giggled when I pulled into the parking lot and saw this tiny little shack. It’s so cute, I just want to put it in my pocket and take it home with me!

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Instead of going through the drive through, I decided to walk inside. The door was in the back, so it felt a little funny to just walk in.

I walked in and immediately felt like I was entering someone’s personal kitchen. There were already four people in the place eating and chatting up the cute old woman, and when I walked in, they all stopped what they were doing and stared. AWKWARD.

I grabbed a menu. They had a pretty nice variety of things to try!

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After a few minutes of studying the menu, I was ready to order. But first, I had a question.

“What’s the difference between the Korea Dan Dan noodles and the Szechuan Dan Dan noodles?” Innocent enough, right? There were no descriptions on the menu.

The guy smiled and repeated my question aloud, in what I’m assuming was Chinese. I’m also assuming he repeated my question aloud, now that I think about it.

Whatever he said, it was enough to make everyone in the place laugh heartily. I felt even more uncomfortable and awkward. Awesome.

He explained that one had wider noodles than the other. Uhhh…okay. I went with the Szcheuan Dan Dan noodles and the Spicy Wonton soup. Since there was literally no where in the tiny shack for me to sit (or stand) to wait for my order, I went out to my car and waited.

About 10 minutes later, my food was ready. I paid for it, smiled, and left. When I got home, the food was still piping hot!

My Dan Dan noodles looked amazing.

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The spicy wonton soup came in two parts. The wontons were in one cup, and the soup was in the other.

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I poured the soup into the wonton cup.

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Time to eat! I used these chopsticks that my friend Chung brought back from her visit to Hong Kong.

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Just kidding! I’m terrible with chopsticks, and these were much too pretty to use, anyway! I used a fork. I’m so…American. Smile

So how did everything taste? Well…it was just okay. Don’t get me wrong, it was decent, it just didn’t blow me out of the water like I expected it to. The Dan Dan noodles weren’t spicy enough for my tastes (isn’t Szechuan food supposed to be spicy?) and the noodles had a mushy texture that I wasn’t a fan of.

The wonton soup was also missing something. The flavors just didn’t pop. This also could have used a lot more spice. I wonder if the Spicy Challenge at Pearl Café desensitized my taste buds? Winking smile

I’m definitely going to give the Szechuan Pavilion another chance. Next time, I’ll ask her to use a heavier hand with the spices, though!

Before I go, I’d like to invite you (yes, you!) to an informal Food Bloggers Dinner, hosted by yours truly and Melissa from A Small Town Girl’s Guide!  Here are the deets:

What: A Blogger’s Dinner Meetup
Who: St. Louis Food Bloggers (and Social Media Friends)
Where: Bridge Tap House and Wine Bar (1004 Locust Street, St. Louis)
When: Friday, August 12th
What Time: 6 p.m.

So far, there’s a pretty decent sized group of us going. It’s going to be a lot of fun — trust me ;)

RSVP by posting a comment here or on Melissa’s blog!

See you next week with a fun post :)

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I have no words!

by Stephanie on May 14, 2011

in Asian, Chinese, Dinner, Lunch

Okay, so I’ve been procrastinating a bit (I know, I know…what else is new?). I had such a good time at Mandarin House recently…

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I went with a few friends from college. We go to a different restaurant together every few weeks or so. This time? Dim sum!

Everything about the experience was great: the service, the food, the company (I love my friends!). But I procrastinated on writing this post because I don’t remember the names of everything that I ate! Whoops!

Now before you run off and make fun of me, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Dim Sum, for those who aren’t familiar, is a style of Chinese cuisine where you pick what you want to eat off of a moving cart. It’s like a buffet, except it’s delivered to you! It was very cool, because we could choose exactly which small plates we wanted to feast on. Some of the goods:

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Okay, I know what the above was – chicken feet! Listen, I’ll try just about anything, so when the chicken feet came by, I knew I had to try them! They were…interesting, to say the least. The sauce covering the feet was delicious! And honestly, they didn’t taste bad at all!

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The above was a shrimp concoction of some sort. It was great!

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The buns on the left were my favorite: they were a BBQ pork bun. Soft and sweet bread with BBQ pork inside? Yes, please! The sesame balls on the right were pretty interesting, as well.

Wow, so that was really pathetic on my part, right? Next time I’ll take notes on what I’m eating! I really just wanted to share the pictures from my Dim Sum adventure, because it was pretty awesome. Smile

A real review is coming soon, I promise…

{ 5 comments }

Tempura overload!

by Stephanie on June 20, 2010

in Asian, Chinese, Dinner, Japanese, Lunch, Sushi

So I’m going to start this post off by saying that I’m obsessed with sushi. OBSESSED! I love it. However, at the same time, I’m a huge sushi snob. All-you-can-eat sushi spots? No thanks. Grocery store sushi? No ma’am. Sushi at a BUFFET? (Yes, it happens!) Hecky no!

But I’ll definitely snack on sushi from a reputable restaurant, as evidenced here and here. Mmm. I love it!

So when my mom and sister wanted to hit up Asia @ Lumiere Place in STL for some eats, I was down! Sushi heaven!

This trip was sort of interesting, because my mom and sister already had an idea of what they wanted me to try. I’ll try just about ANYTHING, so I’m a guinea pig of sorts, I suppose! Oh well…I love it. :)

We started out with grilled shrimp. The menu described it as ‘honey glazed shrimp skewered and glazed to perfection’. It was served with a sweet and tangy sauce.

Yes, it was just a delicious as it looked! So yummy and flavorful. Too bad I had to share and couldn’t eat it all myself. :)

Next, we (or should I say ‘I’?) had the tempura vegetables and the tempura soft shell crab. Tempura overload, anyone?

tempura veggies

tempura softshell crab

The veggies came with a thin soy sauce, and the crab came with a thicker, sweeter teriyaki sauce.  I was in love with the teriyaki sauce, but honestly, I don’t think tempura covered foods are my thing. I would rather just eat grilled or steamed vegetables. Tempura batter just adds unnecessary crunch (and calories!) that aren’t needed, in my opinion. What’s this? Stephanie likes the HEALTHIER option? Check this girl’s temperature!

The tempura soft shell crab suffered from the same tempura overload. It was just unnecessary. The crab wasn’t too tasty, either. I’m usually a big crab fan, but this tasted super fishy. Weird.

Time for the main courses! My sister was dying to try the Kumo sushi roll. It included soft shell crab, tempura shrimp, cream cheese, avocado, fried asparagus, and was topped with spicy mayo, eel sauce, and tobiko (flying fish roe). Sounds intense! And it looked intense:

Kumo Roll

Look at all of that yummy roe! I love the stuff.  The presentation was kind of cool, but we had to stare at it for a bit and decide exactly how we were going to conquer the thing. Finally my sister knocked the tower over, and we went to town.

So how did it taste? It was just ooookay. The entire thing was coated in tempura, so it was hard to distinguish the different components of the sushi, which was a little frustrating. It was also really hard to eat. The individual pieces of the roll were HUGE, and it was hard to fit the entire piece in my mouth (TWSS!). I tried biting it in half (which I NEVER do with sushi), and it ended up making a mess (which is why I never try to do that!). It was bad. I could only eat two pieces before I had had enough.

The others in the party had better luck with their food. My mom had plain fried rice, which was pretty good.

There was also beef and broccoli:

And general Tso’s shrimp:

I didn’t try either dish, but they looked tasty!

I did have a few complaints about Asia. First of all, they had a lot of popular Chinese and Japanese appetizers and such, but NO MISO SOUP. Oooh. That’s a huge strike. You have an entire sushi menu, and no miso soup? Bad.

Secondly, they don’t have a dessert menu. Nothing would have made me happier at the end of the meal than some mochi ice cream, and they didn’t have any! Double strike.

Enough complaining. Time for some scores!

Food: 2 stars (out of five)

Ambiance: 3 stars

Service: 3 stars

Value: 3 stars

This time around the food wasn’t so great, but I would definitely give it another shot in the future! And no tempura this time. :)

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