Video
Read full review
2015-08-21
1337 views
Ever since Mrs. Vinegar opened up, I've wanted to try it. The signs in the windows picture vibrantly red (fiery hot?) food and dumplings, and that's basically what I'm all about. Reading around, I guess this place is supposed to be Shanghainese, but nobody thinks it's very authentic and a number of the dishes are Sichuan, but nobody thinks they're authentic either. Quite frankly, the thing this place reminded me the most of was an American Chinese restaurant. More on that in a moment.We got the
Reading around, I guess this place is supposed to be Shanghainese, but nobody thinks it's very authentic and a number of the dishes are Sichuan, but nobody thinks they're authentic either. Quite frankly, the thing this place reminded me the most of was an American Chinese restaurant. More on that in a moment.
We got the xiao long bao (my wife ate one before I could photograph them). I wish I had read the HK Magazine review of this place before I went, because it was spot on: "the skins were way too thick and, worst of all, there wasn’t any soup inside." Meatball bao. (Poor)
We also got fried wontons. I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff. Maybe the balance of meat to vegetables was a little off, but I'm not going to act like I wouldn't order this again. I would. In fact, I almost certainly will come back here and order this. (Fried deliciousness)
OK, now let me defend the claim that this place is like an American Chinese restaurant. Take the pork noodles. First, you get a huge portion. Second, it's greasy and salty and sugary. Finally, the meat is velveted, which I know is a Chinese cooking technique, but no one uses it more than American Chinese restaurants. Maybe that's how they roll in Shanghai too, but if you're an American who misses "Lo Mein", I kinda recommend this. (Good-- in a greasy, salty, sugary kind of way)
Beef with peppers and onions-- that's greasy and salty and sugary-- that's velveted-- and that's supposed to be spicy but isn't. What am I, in America? No, seriously, literally every Chinese buffet in America has *exactly this dish*, but y'know, it's been sitting under a weak heat lamp for hours. (Surprisingly pretty good)Look, I don't know authentic Shanghainese food from a hole in the ground. But I've been to many an American Chinese buffet, and this place gave me lots of nostalgia. I guess it's not really surprising, since American Chinese food is basically Shanghainese and Sichuan food as re-imagined by Cantonese immigrants. It's not fine cuisine and probably if there is some objective property of goodness in food, this doesn't have it. But go figure, I'll come back.
Post
