Chinese Restaurants – Page 13

Eastern Dynasty Revisited

February 6, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

We continued our roast duck quest with a visit to a place we had only done takeout from; Eastern Dynasty. We hadn't enjoyed the dishes much from Eastern Dynasty, and the last time we did takeout, other than the Kwai Fei Ji, which the Missus specifically said we weren't going to order, well this was going to be interesting.

Eastern Dynasty Rev 01

Parking at the Convoy Pointe Plaza can get pretty tight during prime time; but we arrived during the middle of the week at 5pm for dinner and had no issues finding parking. Eastern Dynasty had just opened and we were the first customers.

Eastern Dynasty Rev 01b

We placed our orders and soon enough the dishes started arriving.

First up, the Roast Duck.

Eastern Dynasty Rev 02

This was totally different from what I'd had from here previously. It as still on the mild side in terms of flavor, definitely in need of more assertive anise flavor. But the skin, while a bit too soft was passable, and the meat was very moist and tender. Not great, but not bad at all.

Previously, when I had tried to order the Salted Fish and Chicken with Eggplant, I was told "not to order it", and when I went ahead anyway, my goodness, it was waaaay too fishy! But here we were a year later.

Eastern Dynasty Rev 03

Whoa, like the duck, this was surprising, though unlike said fowl, it was not in a good way. This hardly had any salted fish in it and was very bland. Did they have a shortage of salted fish? Or perhaps they've changed chefs?

We also ordered the Salt and Pepper Pork Chops.

Eastern Dynasty Rev 04

I liked the seasoning on this, good amount of pepper, perhaps a bit too much MSG. But the pork was tough and the coating lacked crispness.

For the last dish; the Missus wanted the Mei Cai Kou Rou. I reminded Her how greasy and bitter it was the last time we tried it. She was undeterred. And it turned out to be the best dish of the meal.

Eastern Dynasty Rev 05 Eastern Dynasty Rev 06 Man, this was a nice surprise. The pork was tender, not overly fatty, and braised well. Mei Cai Kou Rou can be overly sweet, but this was nicely balanced, good salty-savory-ginger-anise-sweet balance. It was also not overly greasy and we could taste the preserved vegetable, which added pleasant sour notes, and a slightly crunchy texture to the dish. This also had julienned napa cabbage, which one could complain is filler, but it added a hint of sweetness and a nice contrast in texture. This dish got the Missus to exclaim, "when we're done with the roast duck exploration, let's do Mei Cai Kou Rou!" Be still my arteries!

This was an interesting visit. I'm wondering if there's such a large gap between takeout and dine in here? Or perhaps the kitchen staff has changed since our last visit? I'm hoping that it's not a matter of consistency in the prep of the food.

Eastern Dynasty Rev 07

Have you been to Eastern Dynasty recently? If so, how did it compare to earlier visits? Do tell!

Eastern Dynasty
4690 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 230pm, 5pm – 830pm

Paris – The View from Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and Lunch at Maison de Chengdu (Yet Again)

January 27, 2024 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, France, Paris, France, Travel

I really didn't want it to end; but here it was, our last day in Paris. We decided to spend our last morning doing what we've done so many times in the City of Light. I went to the corner Boulangerie, of which there were three and had a croissant at the apartment. And then we headed on over to Rue Montorgueil and had our Cafe Allonge at Café du Centre like we've done so many times.

No, it's not about the coffee really. Even the caffeine snob…the Missus loves this. It's about watching life walk past you and breathing in the city.

It's not unusual for us to spend an hour or more here.

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

And of course, once we were done, we headed off….well, with no goal in mind, just to do that Flâneur thing. Which brought us to the Passage des Panoramas.

Where we could do that "other" thing we'd really embraced called lèche-vitrine ("licking windows" i.e. window shopping).

As we exited the passage I had an idea. Since we were close to Galeries Lafayette, why don't we head on over. Now we had already seen the holiday displays earlier during our stay, which were admittedly a bit strange this time around. But there was one other thing I'd always meant to do at Galeries Lafayette and I thought since it was a pretty nice day, this would a good time.

So we headed on over and entered the store.

And headed on up to the rooftop terrace, where you get great views of Montmartre.

And the Eiffel Tower.

We enjoyed the view!

Soon it was time to get some lunch. We decided to stay around the apartment and just go back to Maison de Chengdu. We had enjoyed this simple Sichuan restaurant a block from the apartment so much that we had already eaten there twice.

We were seated upstairs this time.

This time around it was a three-out-of-three. We got our two favorite dishes from our previous visits, the Intestine Dry Pot and Green Beans with pork. Both were just as good as on previous visits.

You can read about those dishes in my previous posts on Maison de Chengdu.

The "new" dish was the Sautéed Mountain Yam, what I call yamaimo.

Whoa, in spite of the underwhelming look of the dish, this was quite good. The slippery mountain yam had achieved a bit of sweetness when stirfried. Yes, it was slippery, slimy, but quite nice with the earthy-sweet wood ear. It was so simple, yet quite satisfying.

Looking back, I think we were quite lucky to have selected where we stayed. Heck, our favorite simple, straight-forward Sichuan restaurant was a block away. And yes, the dishes we had here were better than the Sichuan in San Diego. Isn't that sad?

Maison De Chengdu (古味成都)
16 Rue Volta
75003 Paris, France

A Revisit to Taste of Hong Kong

January 23, 2024 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

After our revisits to the Noble Chef and Golden City, the Missus wanted us to try out the roast duck at some other places. I'd been wanting to have the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings from Taste of Hong Kong and it been almost a year since our last visit. So, we headed on over. We had noticed that the place does get a bit crowded for dinner, so we arrived just after the opening time of 430pm.

The Missus looked over the menu; we had three items that we wanted to order and the Missus got a fourth, kind of surprising item.

Of course we got the half Roast Duck.

Taste HK Rev 01

This was a bit of a surprise as it was much better than what we'd had here before. The fat was nicely rendered, great duckiness, good anise tones, the meat was moist and tender. The one thing I didn't like was the skin which I found to be too hard and chewy. Still, in terms of fatty goodnes, this was the best we'd had so far! But the texture of the skin needs improvement.

Of course the Missus got Her Salted Fish and Chicken with Tofu.

Taste HK Rev 02

The usual sauce/gravy was more like a thin soup. Loved the smooth and velvety tofu, but there was hardly any salted fish flavor in this; the dish was lacking in the funky-savory tones. It was on the blander side of the spectrum.

I'd been looking forward to having the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings. During our first visit it was "love at first bite". On our second visit, there seemed to be some "QC" issues and the wings weren't as good. So, what would be the result on this visit?

Taste HK Rev 04

Man, there was a good amount of savory-eggy yolk used. The entire bottom of the plate was yellow! The skin was crisp, the flesh moist and tender. This was an umami flavor bomb. Of course, I don't think this travels well and so we finished it all during this meal.

For the last dish; like what we had done at Golden City, the Missus wanted something different. I'm not sure why; but She ordered the ChengDu Style Roast Duck and Spam in Spicy Broth. It was a huge dish.

Taste HK Rev 03

Man, that broth was spicy, though it was lacking in the numbing "ma" that we expected. There was supposed to be tripe in this dish as well; but we found nary 4 little strands of tripe. The spiciness of the broth totally wiped out any flavor the duck would have, though it seemed to highlight the saltiness of the Spam. I don't think we'll be ordering this again.

Taste HK Rev 05

Though I'm sure we'll be back for those wings.

Taste HK Rev 06

And perhaps even the roast duck….though I think we've got at least 3-4 more places to try.

Taste of Hong Kong
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

COMC, The Road Trip Edition – Revisits to Bistro Na’s and Canton Restaurant – Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ

January 18, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

During the late fall and early winter, we made several road trips to revisit Mountain House. We decided to stay the evening and make a stop for lunch on the way home. We revisited places I've already posted on, so I thought I'd just post mostly photos of those meals. So, here I go C(learing) O(out the) M(emory) C(ard) again

Bistro Na's:

Good lord, how many posts have I done on the place since our first visit in 2019? There have been some changes over time. Bistro Na's lost their Michelin Star in 2022 and many of the dishes we'd enjoyed in the past are no longer on the menu. We've also noticed some inconsistencies in execution and quality as well.

But, on this visit, the Tofu Skin and the Smoked Duck Breast were as good as ever.

What we consider to be their signature dish, the Crisp Shrimp was not however.

The shrimp lacked the plump tenderness of what we'd had before and the shells seemed to have been fried differently as they were hard instead of being light and crisp.

And did we really spend $22 for a tiny portion of under seasoned Ong Choi? It was listed as having fermented bean curd, but there was not much of the cheesy-salty-savory-sweet flavor present.

After this visit, we decided to give Bistro Na's a rest for a while. There's no much more to explore in the SGV.

Bistro Na's
9055 Las Tunas Drive
Temple City, CA 91780

Canton Restaurant – Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ:

Well, this is now our default stop for Cha Ca. Ever since that initial visit, the Missus has been wanting to return. We've been back three times….I basically have stopped taking photos here. The food has been consistent on all our visits.

Tons of fresh herbs and veggies.

Funky mam nem, a generous portion of bun……extra onions which we put on the sizzling plate.

And we usually get the Cha Gio as well.

Plus, they open at 930am, which is great for our return trip home.

Canton Restaurant – Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ (Cash only)
8550 Westminster Blvd.
Westminster, CA 92683

Golden City Revisited

January 15, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

**** Golden City has closed

After our last visit to Noble Chef, the Missus and I decided that we needed to get out there and do the “roast duck rotation”. It had been a year-and-a-half since I’d last dined in at Golden City and it had been been even longer for the Missus.

We arrived right at 5pm and the restaurant was empty.

GC Rev 01

Though the place soon started filling up. Of course we got the half roast duck ($17.95)….but, just for a change of pace, we decided to order items we hadn’t tried before.

As for the Roast Duck. Well, it was not very good.

GC Rev 02

As you can tell by the color this was quite bland. The skin was rubbery, this was a very meaty duck, but the flesh was dry and too chewy. One of the worst versions we’ve had in recent memory.

We also ordered the Dry Bean Curd with Fish Fillet Clay Pot ($19.95). We fully expected this to have a good amount of Yuba – Tofu skin and was quite surprised to see that the dish had more Fried Tofu than anything else.

GC Rev 03

We also would have preferred nicely velveted fish, instead of battered and fried, then sauce fillets. This made the texture somewhat gluey. The flavor of the sauce was fine, not overly salty.

Our good friend Candice had recommended we try the Dry Scallop, Shrimp, and Chinese Broccoli Fried Rice ($18.95). At first glance, the rice didn’t seem evenly coated.

GC Rev 04

But this was surprisingly good. Very savory tones; the shrimp perfectly cooked, tender and sweet. We were kind of interested to see what was going on with gailan in fried rice; but it was just the stems sliced thinly cross-wise. A nice, fragrant dish.

I was kind of surprised that the Missus ordered the Fried Capelin with Spicy Salt ($18.95).

GC Rev 05

I think that perhaps I misguided Her when I mentioned that Capelin was in the smelt family. She expected small, crisp, savory fish. These were quite large and assertive in flavor. The Missus wasn’t able to deal with the oily-fishiness of the capelin. I was ok with eating this fried “bait”. The dried chilies and garlic did help a bit.

Well, perhaps our exploration of dishes we’d never tried at Golden City didn’t go quite as planned. And that duck was not very good at all.

GC Rev 07

In terms of price; our meal was quite a bit cheaper than Noble Chef. But, I think if and when we return to Golden City we’ll be sticking to old favorites, like the Kwai Fei Ji.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Sun – Tues, Thurs 11am – 830pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 9pm
Closed on Wednesdays

Hi! Dumplings

January 9, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian

I know; you were probably expecting Bafang, right? I'm kinda waiting until all the grand opening craziness subsides a bit before visiting. So, I thought I'd go ahead and do a post on Hi Dumplings which took the place of the Mr. Spicy which Cathy posted on at the end of September last year.

Anyway, I had to take my car in for servicing in the area and getting out at just before eleven gave me the perfect chance to check the place out.

Hi Dumplings 01

The interior is rather spartan, I was greeted by the really friendly young lady working. She was there on all three of my visits and was so nice.

Hi Dumplings 02

I was handed a menu, which seemed to have everything from Xiao Long Bao to Niu Rou Mian, to La Zhi Ji and Orange Chicken, Chow Mien and Spring Rolls.

Hi Dumplings 03

I guess they're casting a wide net for customers since this isn't Convoy or Mira Mesa?

Anyway, I was in the mood for something with some spice, so I ordered the Kou Shui Ji (Mouthwatering Chicken – $8.99) a favorite dish of mine. What arrived took me by surprise.

Hi Dumplings 04

Can you figure out what's missing? There was a base concoction of kou shui ji; sesame paste, vinegar, peanuts, garlic…..but where the heck was the chili oil? I asked the young lady and she apologized and brought me out a little dish of the chili oil.

Hi Dumplings 05

Which wasn't enough and I asked for another. The chicken was really tough and the dish didn't make my "mouth water" in the least bit. This wasn't a very good version of the dish.

Of course, the sign says "Dumplings", right? And as I will usually do when trying out a jiaozi place I ordered the basic Pork and Cabbage Dumplings ($11.99). You can order this steamed or boiled, or even pan fried ($1 upcharge). The young lady suggested getting them steamed and I complied.

Hi Dumplings 06 Hi Dumplings 06b These dumplings were fairly hefty in size. The wrapper of these steamed jiaozi was on the thicker side, chewy, and too brittle.

The filling was flavored well; though it was on the tougher end of things. Good light sesame oil-porkiness-salt and a bit of "juice" to boot. The black vinegar helped things along.

While this obviously seemed quite fresh I actually made wished that I'd ordered the basic boiled dumplings.

Hi Dumplings 07

There was only one other table with customers during my entire meal; though they were doing some good takeout business. The table was having the XLB and it really didn't look very good.

Before I left, the friendly young lady and I had a short chat. I suddenly realized that I didn't know where the Chef as from. I was told Dongbei….. I should have asked before I placed my order.

I was in the area a couple of weeks later and returned.

I was interested to see what the Signature Chicken Wings ($7.99) would be like. The ever friendly young lady told me that even though there was a chili pepper next to the dish on the menu; it wasn't very spicy. They had put it there after some young kids had the chicken and thought it too spicy for them.

Hi Dumplings 08

This was a bit strange for me; the skin was on the chewy side. It seems like these wings were skewered and grilled. The chicken was dry and tough. The seasoning was salty, but lacking in much else.

I was set on ordering some jiaozi boiled and decided on the Pork and Shrimp Dumplings ($12.99).

Hi Dumplings 09

I don't know if it's just me; but I've noticed that Dongbei style jiaozi tends to have thicker and chewier wrappers. So this pretty much fits the bill. The boiled versions were a bit more tender. Another thing I noticed were how large these dumplings were.

Just for a comparison to the chicken wings.

Hi Dumplings 10

Overall, I prefer the pork and cabbage filling to this. The filling was tough and chewy, the shrimp seemed undercooked and crunchy. The seasoning milder than the pork and cabbage version. So, I'd probably go with the pork and cabbage boiled.

And so, I figured that I'd had enough for a post. But then I found my self in the Grantville area again. It's been pretty cold by SoCal standards recently and a bowl of Niu Rou Mian sounded good. Plus, that young lady who works at Hi! Dumpling is always so nice and friendly, I thought I'd drop by and give the NRM a try.

Funny thing, the young lady remembered me. I got the Braised Beef Noodle Soup ($12.99).

Hi Dumplings 11 Hi Dumplings 12 My first thought when the bowl hit the table? What the heck is broccoli doing in this soup? The beef looked tough, but was adequately tender. The broth had a good amount of anise flavor and apparently even a more hefty amount of msg as I kept on chugging water after my meal. The soup was on the thinner side, needed more richness and beef flavor. The noodles were on the mushy side for my taste as well.

I don't think I'd have this again.

It's kind of sad overall since the gal working here is so nice; but the food just doesn't give me a reason to return. On the good side, it seems like dumplings of all kinds are really coming into their own in San Diego!

Hi Dumplings 13

Hi! Dumplings
6618 Mission Gorge Rd.
San Diego, CA 92120
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 11am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesdays

Sunday Stuffs – Eat Crispy Burger Coming to Convoy, Bann Korean Cuisine Closes, and News on China Max

January 7, 2024 mmm-yoso Burgers, Chinese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants

A couple of things I've seen during my shopping trips to the Kearny Mesa Area.

Eat Crispy Burger Coming to Convoy:

While passing the building housing Starbucks and Yakyudori, I noticed some window signage in one of the units.

SS Eat Crispy 01

So, I took a quick turn into the parking lot.

SS Eat Crispy SS Eat Crispy

So, it seems that a location of Encinitas Eat Crispy Burger is coming to this location. I guess they want to give The Friendly some smashburger competition in the area?

4898 Convoy St. #104
San Diego, CA 92111

Bann Korean Cuisine Closes:

Recently, the Missus needed some cosmetics from the shop in H Mart. I really don't get over there too often, basically because of the parking situation, but we headed on over and scorede a parking spot. While the Missus was paying for Her "stuffs", I walked on over to the food court and noticed that Bann Korean Cuisine had closed.

SS Bann Closed

Bummer. Though I really didn't visit the place as much when they moved to the H Mart food court, I used to visit quite often when they were located on Miramar Road. Perhaps moving to this location was not a great move? It's seems that turnover here might be pretty high as Katzya closed up shop here recently as well.

7725 Balboa Ave. (In the H Mart Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

And finally, News on China Max:

In one of my posts last month, I mentioned dropping by the location of China Max's reconstruction. In the comments "FOY" Julie asked if I knew what was going on. Well, this past week Eater San Diego had an answer.

SS China Max

In case you hadn't read or heard; the original owners of China Max had decided to sell the restaurant. The new owners also own Taste of Hong Kong. Per the reporting from Helen I Hwang in the Eater post:

"Its food focus is still developing, but options include Szechuan cuisine, a noodle house, or dim sum and a Cantonese menu similar to China Max."

Not sure how I feel about that.

Can you believe that it's been almost four years since the fire at the restaurant?

4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Revisits to Noble Chef

January 3, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

It seems that even though we'll eat Chinese food on our trips, one of the first thing the Missus wants when we return is…..drum roll please, Chinese. Upon returning from our last two trips, the Missus had been wanting to eat at the Noble Chef. It had been over a year since we'd last dined in, so we headed on over.

It was a Saturday just past 530pm on a when we arrived….and holy smokes, the place was humming.

Noble Chef Rev 01

We were lucky to get one of the two tables still available.

Having had the food from Noble Chef so many times, it was a regular stop for us during the pandemic and the Missus has some dishes that She enjoys. So, the basic ordering was easy and we decided to try one dish that we hadn't ordered before.

Of course we started with the Roast Duck, which was a take out favorite of ours, but we hadn't enjoyed as much during our last dine in visit.

Noble Chef Rev 02

Well, this was much more meaty than we recalled and the skin a bit more chewy. In terms of seasoning it was good. The leftovers did much better as we got more sauce and I heated it in the air fryer.

The Salt and Pepper Pork Chops here are a favorite of mine.

Noble Chef Rev 03

These were crisp, though a bit thicker than we prefer. Nicely seasoned, good salt, mild spice.

A favorite of the Missus is the Salted Fish and Chicken with Eggplant.

Noble Chef Rev 04

Nice funkiness, good sodium control, but the eggplant was on the stringy side and undercooked for our taste.

For some reason, the Missus ordered the Hunan Seafood. As I figured, this really wasn't "Hunan".

Noble Chef Rev 05

The seafood was nicely stir fried; the shrimp was especially tender and buttery. The dish was quite bland and had barely any spice and the vermicelli noodles were mushy.

Another favorite of mine is the Soy Sauce Chow Mien. Man, this was a huge portion.

Noble Chef Rev 06

This was unevenly stir fried and not all the noodles were coated well. Some of the noodles were undercooked and hard.

The Missus enjoyed the dessert as always.

Noble Chef Rev 07

Well, not a particularly stellar meal. Still, we decided to give Noble Chef another shot when returning from our last trip.

This time the Missus went with the Salted Fish and Chicken with Tofu.

Noble Chef Rev 08

This was quite good, the funky flavors of salted fish came thru clearly; the tofu was soft and velvety, the dish was quite savory, though not overly salty. I think this is what the Missus will be ordering from now on.

Of course we got the roast duck again.

Noble Chef Rev 09

This was on the bland side and the duck didn't have enough sauce. That was quickly remedied by request. The skin was on the tougher side as well. Looks like we'll have to look for other options for roast duck!

We also got the Seafood XO Sauce Fried Rice. When the dish arrived, we quickly took a look, and the question was raised; "where was the XO sauce"?

Noble Chef Rev 10

There was a good quantity of shrimp in this; though the rice wasn't evenly coated, nor was there a detectable hint of the pungent, fragrant, umami-forward XO Sauce in this dish. Pass on this….

I decided to get the Black Pepper Pork Intestine.

Noble Chef Rev 11

I really enjoyed the pungent-offaly-salty flavor and the toothsome texture of the intestine. The Missus thought this to be too sweet, but I enjoyed it.

The Salt and Pepper Pork Chops were even better this time around.

Noble Chef Rev 12

Thinner, crisper, more evenly seasoned. This is how I remembered the pork chops being in the good 'ole days.

So, what's the takeaway? Well, I guess YMMV here; though the prices were decent for this day and age; the pork chops and duck does well in our air fryer as leftovers. The service was very nice on both visits. So, I guess we will be back; unless we can find something better in the area? Let me know if you have any recommendations!

Noble Chef Rev 99

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

Taipei – Din Tai Fung, the Original Location (Xinyi Road)

December 27, 2023 mmm-yoso Chains, Chinese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel, Xiao Long Bao

We were a bit sad to be leaving Chiayi. We'd had such a fun time, wonderful people….and that turkey rice! But it was time to move on. We made good time on our return to Taipei. I picked interesting accommodation in Taipei. Since we had upcoming travel and staying in the vicinity of Taipei Main Station would be beneficial; I elected to stay at Sky 19 Hotel as it was right along an exit of Taipei Main Station….we really never figured the Main Station out, but the locale was great. The "hotel" was actually located on a single floor (the 19th of course) of a high rise. It was actually a great location for us. We were staying in Taipei for 1 night before heading to our next destination, then returning two nights later.

So, here we were back in Taipei when the question arose, "what's for dinner"? Actually, we had kinda planned things out. We had always wanted to dine at the original location of Din Tai Fung and this was our opportunity. So, we walked to Xinyi, and got to the original DTF on Xinyi Road.

And of course, this being Taiwan, there was a line. Which in this case is a good thing!

We checked in and provided our cell phone number; we'd be called when there was a table available and went for a walk.

After a bit we returned and even though we hadn't been called, when the Missus asked, we were told that there was a table available.

Img DTF xinyi

As with all the locations of DTF I've been to; you can watch dumplings being made.

This shop has multiple floors and we were seated on the third floor.

The service was very efficient and professional, without being "stuffy". You are provided with a order sheet which you fill out and hand to the Server.

There is actually an "instruction card" on each table with directions, in 3 languages no less, on how to devour your XLB.

In the blink of an eye, a little dish of soy sauce-vinegar and ginger is provided. The Missus also requested some black vinegar which was provided as well.

Soon enough our dishes started arriving. We had really been enjoying the veggies in Taiwan; it's usually perfectly blanched and simply flavored. I've always loved Warabi/Pohole back home in Hawaii, so when I saw stir fried Bird's Nest Fern on the menu, I just had to have some.

For me, when it comes to fern shoots and such, it's mostly about the texture and these did not disappoint. So tender; a mild sweetness, lightly seasoned with soy and a bit of garlic. Man, this was so good. From this point on, I'd make sure to order this if I saw it on a menu.

Speaking of having to order something……well, like the Missus said regarding my fondness of a certain cut of swine in Taiwan, "you didn't meet a pork chop you didn't like." And the version here was no different.

Nicely seasoned; just enough soy-five spice-white pepper, with a mild sweetness. A slight crispness, nice pork flavors. Yes, the streak continued.

And then our first XLB arrived, the version with Green Squash and Shrimp.

First thing I noticed was how delicate the wrappers were; quite light. The filling had a mild "crunch" to it courtesy of the shrimp, along with a slight briney-sweetness from said crustacean. Just on its own, it tasted a bit lacking in the sodium department; but that's what the soy-vinegar-ginger condiment was for.

The wrappers for the Spicy Pork and Vegetable won tons were equally as delicate and light.

They've really got a handle on creating a pork filling here; it's very tender, just perfect amount of flavoring to add a touch of savory and sweetness, which highlights the oinkiness of the filling. That spicy sauce was a bit too mild for us…probably because we're used to Sichuan ma-la. Still, this was quite good.

Then the pièce de résistance arrived; the Pork Xiao Long Bao and I've got to say, in my opinion, the "DTF reputation" is totally earned.

I thought the wrapper looked a bit thick; but it was soft and delicate. The filling had a wonderful pork flavor and was quite tender. The dumplings were very "juicy", the soup wonderfully flavored. These were easily the equal of the amazing Guan Tang Baozi in terms of wrapper and seasoning, but possibly a step above in refinement. It's certainly the best XLB I've had to date.

Last up was the Crab Roe and Pork XLB.

Same wonderful wrapper, tender filling, perhaps a bit on the sweeter side, and less "juicy".

In the end, the food was wonderful, though we'd definitely go with the "OG" pork XLB all the way. The Service was efficient, and we had a memorable meal. I'm sure we'll be hitting up DTF whenever we're in Taipei in the future.

Din Tai Fung Xinyi Restaurant
No. 194號 Xinyi Rd.
Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

After dinner we wandered around the area a bit; then took a nice leisurely walk back to the hotel. We'd be heading to Hualien the next day; but not before exploring a bit more.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris – L’Éclair de Génie and Fondue 9

December 22, 2023 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Desserts, France, Paris, France, Travel

Man, the first ten days of our two week stay in Paris just seemed to fly by. At least for me. On this bright, but chilly Saturday morning, we decided just to do the flâneur thing as we headed down Rue Vieille du Temple. We found a couple of shops that caught our attention.

And had fun browsing…….

Man, I want to find an English edition of this book…..

Right across the street was a lovely park and garden.

This is the Jardin de l'Hôtel Salé.

Further down the street is a large community center; the Halle des Blancs Manteaux. Since it was Christmas season, there was a large craft fair going on.

We had a fun time exploring.

We made our way down to Rue Rivoli and saw this Eclair shop on Rue Pavée.

The Missus had been wanting to try some elcairs so we headed on in.

There was quite a collection of beautiful looking eclairs.

After some hemming and hawing, the Missus made Her selection.

And we headed on back to the apartment.

L’Éclair de Génie
14 Rue Pavée
75004 Paris, France

After storing our purchases, we gave some thought to lunch. For some reason, we felt pretty cold on this day. I mentioned a hot pot place we'd seen on Rue Saint-Denis a few days before. Hot pot sounded like just what we needed, so we headed off to Fondue 9.

The restaurant seemed a bit tiny, until we realized that there was dining upstairs as well. Can you imagine carrying hot pot up and down stairs….one false move! We also noticed that the customers during our visit were all Chinese, a bit of change since we'd seen pretty much a 50-50 mix during our visits to various Asian restaurants in the city.

After checking out the menu; we decided on the "lunch special".

After which we headed straight on over to the condiment bar to get our "stuffs".

Not much in terms of spicy sauces and no fermented bean curd. And we started to worry that the hot pot was going to be a bust.

But as our Yin Yang hot pot made it's way to the table we knew this was going to be ok. You could smell the herbs and spice.

Lots of white pepper.

All the usual suspects arrived.

Even frozen tofu! The noodles were quite stretchy.

The tripe was a bit too tough; though the seiche; the cuttlefish was surprisingly tender.

What was most surprising of all was the fish, which had been nicely velveted and rubbed with chili oil.

It was wonderfully buttery and tender after a brief swim in the broth.

The meat were of good quality; especially the lamb, which was so gamey and tender.

This was quite a satisfying meal for us. We had found a solution to the cold; at least for a while.

Fondue 9
168 Rue Saint-Denis
75002 Paris, France

We headed on back to the apartment and took a short nap.

When we woke; it was "tea time" for the Missus. Time to break out the eclairs.

These were a bit too sweet for me.

The Missus, it turns out, is not a fan of crème pâtissière, the custard fillings used for eclairs.

But of course, we had to eventually try elcairs….because, when in France, right?