Tag Archives: wontons

Mission Chinese

First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

This was easily one of the best Szechaun means I’ve ever had. I think my favorites were the thrice cooked bacon, lamb ribs, beef cheek, wings and the dry pot pastrami, but the mapo tofu was one for the ages. Wait… was that everything? I can’t wait to go back!

MISSION CHINESE
43 Mott St
New York, NY 10013

Press Club Grill

First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

I had been eyeballing Press Club Grill for a while because they have some nice looking large format items, so when @Jennerous_Eats suggested that we go as a foursome on her press invite, I was psyched to do so.

We tried a LOT of stuff, so let me get to it.

First, sourdough bread with fancy piped butter. The butter was a little on the cold side (not as spreadable as you would think for the shape), but I imagine they need to keep that cold so it doesn’t lose its structure or melt.

Next up, steak tartare. This was great! It reminded me of the new version they serve at The Lambs Club, but with a shrimp chip instead of toasted bread of potato chips.

The generous folks at Press Club Grill brought us out a trio of additional starters with the summer salad, the crab rangoon, and the buffalo carrots.

I was stunned by how much I enjoyed the buffalo carrots. They really ate like eat in texture. Also, the crab rangoon was light on that “cream cheese” flavor, so we all enjoyed that as well. Even the salad was bright, fresh and flavorful. Hits all around.

We also tried this mushroom ravioli pasta, which was very nicely executed. The broth was really flavorful and could have doubled as a consomme.

Alright, now on to the big stuff. First, the chicken schnitzel.

This was nice and juicy, but the breading didn’t cling very well to the meat. No matter though, I still enjoyed. It came with a little bowl of spaetzl and a beautifully smooth cream sauce on the side.

The beef Wellington was a sight to behold.

Once sliced, you could really see how perfectly executed it was.

Everything from the bright medium rare pink center to the crispy outer edge of the pastry dough was spot on… Enhance…

ENHANCE!

I would definitely recommend this. The only thing I will say is that it was a bit too heavily salted. I’m not sure if it was the duxelles or something in those outer layers, or maybe too much finishing salt, but I still give it 8/10. Stunning.

Next (oh yeah, we still had more…), was the duck three ways, but they call it Duck a L’Orange for two.

The first of the three ways was a perfectly seared pair of crispy crusty skinned duck breasts a l’orange style.

This was our favorite dish of the night. Big winner. The skin was so crisp and rendered out with textbook level skill, and there was a minimal amount of that nasty bittersweet boozy orange flavor you often get with that style. In fact it ate more Szechaun to me than French. Wonderful.

The second way for the duck was a bowl of wontons. I wished there were more!

The third way was this garlicky duck fried rice. It was lacking in crisp texture on the rice, but still tasty.

For dessert, we tried nearly everything except the baked Alaska (next time). The crowd favorite seemed to be the bananas Foster creme brulee.

My photos here don’t do the beauty justice, so make sure you watch the Ride & Review above.

I wasn’t a huge fan of either the cherries jubilee or the popsicle, though both really were nicely presented.

I think next time I want to try the porterhouse and the baked Alaska for sure. I’m also wondering if this joint needs to be placed into the “steakhouse” category. I’m just not sure. I didn’t do it for The Grill or Monterey, which are similar concepts, so I guess I’ll hold the line and say that this isn’t a steakhouse.

PRESS CLUB GRILL
1262 Broadway
New York, NY 10001

New Spicy Village

My wife and I finally got over here to try the noodles.

But first, we put down some pork dumplings.

Despite being a little bit soupy, the dry hand-pulled noodles were awesome. We tried the spicy chicken and spicy oxtail. I give the edge to the chicken, mainly because the oxtail wasnt stewed or slow cooked long enough. The bones were cut very thin so that they cook faster, but that unfortunately means the meat will be a bit less tender. Still great though.

Will definitely be back to try the lamb noodles.

NEW SPICY VILLAGE
118 Eldridge St
New York, NY 10002

Wo Hop

How have I never reviewed this place in all my years living here, and all my times eating here – especially from way back when I went to Law School and lived/worked nearby for years after?

Wo Hop is a NYC institution. They’ve been serving up excellent and affordable Chinese food in their iconic downstairs location since 1938! I have to say, the fried wontons are some of the best I’ve ever had.

On this visit, my wife and I had the sliced chicken with baby corn. I was expecting this to be much spicier, being printed in RED on the menu and under the spicy Szechaun section, but it was still delicious.

We also had the 4D chow fun, which has 4 different proteins (shrimp, beef, chicken and roast pork). This was the better dish.

They’re still keeping prices very low here, which is great. Even the t-shirt prices haven’t changed since I purchased one back in 2000 – $10!

If you’ve never been, you definitely should go at least once, even if it’s just to say that you’ve been there.

WO HOP
17 Mott St
New York, NY 10013

White Bear

My buddy and I stopped into White Bear after a Charcuterie event in Flushing to try some dumplings / wontons in hot chili oil. The funny part is that the woman working there just brought out the plate of dumplings before we even ordered.

But I guess it kind of makes sense: Every white person that was in before and after us within the 20 minute span of time we were there ordered the same thing. She knew.

For $6 you get an order of 12. They were very tasty and well made.

WHITE BEAR
135-02 Roosevelt Ave
Flushing, NY 11354