Mei Li Wah (羙麗華)

Roast pork buns are truly beautiful things, and my favorite baked ones (焗叉燒包 - jú chā shāo bāo) in the city are available all day until 10:30 p.m. at Mei Li Wah (羙麗華茶餐廳).

The filling is rich with chunks of pork and pork fat, and - most importantly - not too sweet. The yeasty dough always makes me happy. Their product is utterly consistent, making it one of the few things in life I can really count on. And they're under a buck apiece.

Another great thing here is the large steamed bun containing chicken, pork and salted egg (三星大包 - sān xīng dà bāo). A small meal for $1.60. Although I haven't tried any of the others, I'm told that all of the dim-sum-like offerings here - and there are quite a few - are very good. The "crispy egg shatters" (鬆化蛋散 - sōng huà dàn sǎn) - essentially a twist of fried wonton-wrapper-like dough drizzled with honey - makes a nice post-prandial treat after a Chinatown feast.

And because I'm fascinated by these things, the normal character for the měi of their name (beautiful) is 美 (and all of the on-line listings for this place have it as 美麗華). But the sign and menu definitely have the more archaic "羙".

Mei Li Wah (羙麗華茶餐廳)
64 Bayard St., New York 10013
212-966-7866
(between Mott & Elizabeth)

Shanghai Café (上海喬家柵)

I had been curious to try Shanghai Café (上海喬家柵 - shàng hǎi qiáo jiā shān), in Manhattan's Chinatown, for quite some time now because of one dish I had read about on Lau's excellent blog.

I'm delighted to able to say the dish did not disappoint. "Stewed Pork and Tofu Skin in Brown Sauce" (百葉結烤肉 - bǎi yè jiē kǎo ròu) is, essentially knots of tofu skin added to braised pork belly. It's braised hóng shāo (紅燒) style - that is, in soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, ginger, and star anise. The result is rich and complex, and the tofu skin knots are the perfect foil for the tender chunks of delightfully fatty pork. I've had similar dishes in a couple of other Shanghai-style joints, and Shanghai Café's is by far the best. It's worth the trip here just for this dish, I think. (Photos courtesy of Jose - his turned out WAY better than mine did. Terrible lighting.)

The xiǎo lóng bāo (小龍包 - soup dumplings) here, as Lau rightly observes, are not particularly distinguished. If you must have them, do yourself a favor and just go out to Flushing and get some at Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao.

The "Braised Whole Fish with Ginger and Scallion" (蔥烤鰂魚 - cōng kǎo zéi yú), however, is distinguished. A whole tilapia is braised in a relatively rich - for fish - brown sauce (in fact, it's a lighter first cousin to the hóng shāo sauce of the previously mentioned pork dish) with a dozen or so whole scallions. One of the best new (to me) fish dishes I've had in quite a while.

Those "stripes" in the picture are whole scallions. I find the use of kǎo (烤) a bit puzzling here. Normally, it has the sense of "baked" or "barbecued". But as used in the names of both this and the pork dish, it seems to pretty clearly mean "braised". I have no idea - perhaps it's just Shanghai usage.

"Pork with Mustard Green and Salted Egg Soup" (鹹蛋芥菜肉片湯 - xián dàn jiè cài ròu piàn tāng) is a soup of pretty much what it says: sliced pork, mustard greens and egg, although we were expecting the egg to be salted preserved egg (it's just egg drop - perhaps the 鹹 in the name of the dish is merited simply because they salt the egg before pouring it into the soup). No matter - the flavors are clear and delicious.  (This photo was taken by Seth, who spotted this soup on the menu.)

"Seafood Pan Fried Noodles" (海鮮兩面黄 - hǎi xiān liǎng miàn huáng) is a solid take on this dish: a sauce of shrimp, scallop, fake crab, snow peas - and quite a bit of broccoli - poured over crispy thin egg noodles. Quite tasty.

The takeout menu calls the restaurant "Shanghai Café Déluxé" (sic), having little to do with its Chinese name 喬家柵 (qiáo jiā shān), which seems to be a well-known restaurant name in Shanghai. This is the best Shanghainese restaurant in Manhattan, and, since their menu is much larger and more varied than that of Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao, if you order carefully, perhaps the best in the city. Now if they would only add a pig intestine dish like the fabulous one up at Ala Shanghai near Albany.

Shanghai Café (上海喬家柵)
100 Mott St., New York 10013
212-966-3988
(just north of Canal St.)

Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao (功夫小龍包)

Until the other night, easily the best xiǎo lóng bāo (小龍包 - "soup dumplings", although foodies tend to refer to them as XLB) I had tried in New York were those served by Diverse Dim Sum in the Flushing Mall. They're excellent, but those at Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao (功夫小龍包) are even better. Thin, translucent wrappers, meat and crab fillings of the proper texture, and tasty broth - all are as they should be. Perhaps enjoying them in a comfortable, tranquil restaurant environment - as opposed to a food court - gives them the edge, but I think they actually are slightly better.

On offer here is a decent-sized menu with a lot of standard Shanghai dishes, and a large selection of breakfast, Shanghai dim sum, and noodle soups. In addition to xiǎo lóng bāo, most of the Chinese patrons had noodle soups on the table, and they looked excellent. We were not, however, in the mood for soup, so we got other stuff. The cold appetizer called "Shanghai Special Chicken" turned out the be the house version of wine-marinated (or "drunken") chicken (sān huáng jī - 三黃鷄), the nicest take on this dish I've ever tried.

(The literal translation of the name of this dish is "three yellow chicken", and it appears that "three yellow" can refer to, among other things, a particular breed of chicken.)

Shredded Beef with Chili Pepper (xiǎo jiāo niú ròu sī - 小椒牛肉絲) is another very good dish: beef shreds stir-fried with shredded spicy green peppers and onion. Clean, fresh flavors, nicely balanced. I have friends that liked to order this dish at New Green Bo (now called Nice Green Bo, an especially ironic name considering the disposition of most of the staff) in Manhattan's Chinatown, way back when that was an acceptable place to go for people who like food (this was a long time ago)... Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao's is on another, higher plane entirely.

For me, the real revelation here is the Braised DongPo Pork (rě wèi dōng pō ròu - 惹味東坡肉). The expression rě wèi means "rich" (with thanks to Audrey Lo - I would never have figured that one out on my own) - a seemingly unnecessary modifier, since DongPo Pork (pork belly slow-braised in wine, soy sauce, and sugar) is itself a pretty rich dish to begin with. It comes in what looks like a large coffee cup or tiny soup tureen, fragrant with star anise and cassia (and looking almost like chocolate pudding, or raw liver):

As it turns out the 惹味 is not, in fact, descriptive overkill - this really is the richest, most flavorful version of this dish I have ever tried. It's pretty extraordinary. (The picture of a slice of it on rice did not turn out well at all, but perhaps it gives you an idea.)

Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao (功夫小龍包)
59-16 Main St., Flushing 11355
718-661-2882
website

Hong Kong Royal

I felt like dim sum yesterday and ended up at Hong Kong Royal in Carrollton, a northern suburb of Dallas. I had no idea there was such good dim sum out in the provinces!

I ordered three of my favorites, and each one was excellent. The taro puffs were perfectly fried - the lightest I've ever tried. The ground pork filling was enlivened with a bit of preserved vegetable.

My all-time favorite dim sum item, sticky rice steamed in lotus leaf, was top-notch. It can be a bit tricky to get right, but this was steamed the right amount of time, with lots goodies like black mushroom, roast pork, and Chinese sausage inside.

The fried glutinous rice shrimp and pork dumpling was also exemplary. Slightly crispy, chewy - almost light.

I would be thrilled to be served dim sum this good anywhere in NYC.

Dim sum is served all day, from carts until 3 p.m., to order after that. Not cheap, but the quality makes it a great value.

Hong Kong Royal
3030 N. Josey Lane, Carrollton, TX 75007
972-492-9999
website

New Broadway Seafood Restaurant

During a post- Chao Thai stroll in Elmhurst one evening, we happened to pass New Broadway Seafood Restaurant. My friend Elizabeth--who, at one time, lived halfway around the world--immediately recognized it as a Hong Kong style restaurant, which aren't so very common in NYC). We popped in to make a few inquiries, and, sure enough, she was right. Unfortunately, one of the queries elicited incorrect information as to how late they serve dim sum, resulting in an aborted dim sum mission the next day. It was quite a while before I got over my irritation sufficiently to try again, but I'm glad I did: New Broadway, while not quite on the level of the best places in Flushing, serves better dim sum than any place I've found in Manhattan. And the trip from Manhattan is a good 20 minutes shorter than the trip to Flushing.

The restaurant is spacious, but not huge, and there's a nice, bustling bunch of Chinese locals during lunchtime. (Curiously, on both occasions, I was one of two non-Asian diners in the place.) It seems to me that their steady stream of patrons--without the carnival-like atmosphere of some of the larger dim sum houses--makes it possible to regulate more effectively how the items come out of the kitchen. Nothing tasted like it had been sitting around too long, and the all of the fried and baked items were still warm.

They have most all of the standard offerings, and I got to try all of my favorites. And all of them were just a little bit different than what I was used to, presumably because this is a Hong Kong and not a straight-up Cantonese restaurant. It seems that meat is emphasized a bit more than seafood here--which is just fine by me! My number one favorite dim sum item, lo mai gai (sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf and steamed), had no egg yolk, dried scallop, or, as far as I could tell, chicken... just meat!

While I like those missing ingredients, I can't say I really missed them. The filling was a delicious combination of ground and shredded meat, mushroom, and each one had a cube of roast pork and a piece of Chinese sausage. (This recipe seems to have changed recently. They're still pretty good.)

Haam sui gau, delightful deep-fried sweet rice flour dumplings filled with pork and vegetables (well, mostly pork), were still warm from the fryer.

The taro dumplings (wu gok) were likewise still warm--heavy on the ground pork filling and light on the shrimp and mushrooms (not complaining here, just different than what I'm used to). Char siu sou, those triangular, baked flaky pastry roast pork pies, were everything they should be. Pork shiu mai, which so often taste like they've been sitting in the steamer for six hours--and perhaps they have--were served with all flavors fresh and intact. There are a couple in the background, with beef chee cheong fun (steamed rice roll) in the foreground:

So often, chee cheong fun are somewhat leaden and taste-free. Not these. Flavorful, and almost light.

Turnip cake (lo bak go), another special favorite of mine, was the only offering I was less than enthusiastic about. The texture was rather heavier--and, therefore, gummier-- than I'm accustomed to. Still, because of the larger-than-average dose of ground pork it contained, the flavor was great.

The printed menu contains some intriguing items... one of these days, perhaps I'll make it there for dinner.

New Broadway Seafood Restaurant
83-17 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373
718-699-0688
(G, R, or V train to Elmhurst Ave., south on Broadway)