Dim Sum Garden

We've been frustrated by the lack of good Shanghainese Xiao Long Bao, (often called "Soup Dumplings") here in Philly. They're pretty rare in general, and the few versions we've found weren't very good. Until now! An unassuming little restaurant on 11th street caught our attention a few weeks ago when a friend noticed them on the menu. A few advance scouts checked it out and reported that those dumplings were indeed very good, and authentic, so we got a gang together to do a more thorough survey. (We're working on a cool name, "The Pork and Chive Dumpling Gang" is a little ungainly... )

[EDITED TO ADD: I was reminded that the menu does not refer to Xiao Long Bao as "Soup Dumplings" and the staff will tell you that these are not soup dumplings. They use the term "steamed buns." The first two items on the menu, the "Shanghai Steamed Buns" and the "Steamed Buns with Crab Meat" are Xiao Long Bao. Number 3, the "Vegetable Steamed Buns" are not Xiao Long Bao, they are large, non-soupy, buns with a more fluffy, doughy wrapper, like the more conventional Cantonese dim sum steamed "bun." The first two photos in this post are of item #2 on the menu "steamed Buns with Crab Meat."]

We're happy to report that the Xiao Long Bao are indeed excellent, with thin, delicate wrappers (careful getting them out of the steamer!) and delicious fillings of pork, or pork and crab, surrounded by an intense broth. They're a little tricky to eat - one needs to carefully lift a dumpling onto a soup spoon, then carefully bite the very top of that extending collar off, and, presuming the soup is not still too hot, slurp up some of the delicious broth. You may then want to drizzle some black vinegar onto the dumpling and pop the whole thing in your mouth. Is it worth the trouble, and the hot-broth burn risk? Yes it is.


On the specials board was Shaou Mei which we correctly assumed was an alternate spelling of "Shu Mai."
These were not filled with soup, rather with pork and mushrooms, and were quite good as well, if not quite as exciting!

The "Vegetable Steamed Buns" (number three on the menu) were pretty thrilling, because they were about the size of a baseball, filled with green vegetable, mushrooms and, according to our waiter, a "secret ingredient."


We're not sure what the secret ingredient in the filling is, but we do know another secret: that their homemade sauce for these buns makes a huge difference. A little drizzle of that soy-based sauce really perked them right up.

We decided that we needed some more soup dumplings, when suddenly, TRAGEDY!I think a few of us might have actually wept a bit when we accidentally lost control of a steamer full of XLB. Thankfully, nobody was injured by a flying hot soup grenade, and we continued on, shaken, but not deterred.

Tricolor Salad had pickled vegetables and pressed tofu, and give a light and tangy and crunchy contrast to all those dumplings.



Seaweed Salad offered a similar bright crunch.


Smoked Fish, on the other hand, brought a darker, muskier note. It was indeed smoky, funky, salty, and a little sweet too. It's intense stuff, but very good if you like strongly-flavored fish.


Meatballs were smaller than the classic "Lion's Head" style, but were otherwise very similar: tender meatballs in a thich, slightly sweet sauce. Delicious.

Pork Chop Rice doesn't look too thrilling, but it's amazingly tasty. The meat itself is surprisingly tender and moist, and the rice has soaked up some mysterious flavors.

Chili Pork and Cabbage, Noodles with Soup brought hand-drawn noodles in a good broth, studded with pork, cabbage and pickled vegetables.


Hand-Drawn Noodles with Roast Duck. I think Iliked the texture of these noodles even better than in the soup, and the duck gave them a great flavor.

There are many more soups and noodle platters, as well as things served on rice, so "Dim Sum Garden" is not an especially apt name for this place: they have much more than just Dim Sum items, and not an especially wide variety of dumplings and other small dim sum classics. Even so, it's worth coming here for the Xiao Long Bao alone, as well as the other dumplings and buns. But don't miss the noodles or rice platters, this is more of a casual Shanghainese restaurant than merely a dumpling shop.

It's pretty small, with austere decor, and in an unlikely location, but the food is excellent, the staff is super-friendly, and the tableware is surprisingly elegant. Prices are very affordable, we recently gorged ourselves on less than $15 per person. We're looking forward to checking out the rest of the menu as soon as possible. Then starting again at the beginning.

Dim Sum Garden
59 North 11th Street (between Filbert and Arch)
215-627-0218

read more in Lari Robling's article in the Daily News>>

Osteria Update

It's been entirely too long between Osteria visits. There have been so many new places to check out, it's easy to get distracted from (not so) old favorites.

Osteria's menu is in a constant state of flow, with dishes being added and subtracted from the repertoire according to the seasons and the chefs' inspirations. We revisited a few proven classics and tried some new ones too, all to delicious effect. We started with a constant menu item, one we'll never tire of, the Lombarda Pizza. (pictured above) Their own aromatic sausage and runny egg are our favorite toppings for the consistently excellent pizzas here, and this latest one did not disappoint (although I prefer the darker crust we usually get...)

The Lardo Pizza sounded intriguing. We'd draped pieces of lardo from the salumi platter over hot pizza crust before, and really enjoyed that melting texture, so a whole pizza like that sounded great. In practice, it was a little one-dimensional. The rosemary mentioned on the menu was barely detectable, and lardo is more about mouth-feel than vivid flavor, so the ultimate effect was too subtle. The could probably work, but needed a but more seasoning, maybe just some nice coarse salt.

We quickly forgot about troubleshooting the lardo pizza when the pancetta-wrapped snail spiedini showed up. Perfectly tender snails, pancetta and the creamiest polenta celery root purée known to man. Need I say more?

Duck and Foie Gras Terrine wasn't especially photogenic, but it was as creamy and decadently rich as you might guess.

Candele with Boar Bolognese might just be the perfect winter dish. The pasta itself has the perfect resilient tenderness, and the bolognese is reduced down so that it's barely a sauce, just ground pork adhering magically to the noodles.

Pork Ribs with Black Pepper Sausage is another dish that may not look like much, but any shortcomings in visual appeal were made up by the flavors of the falling-off-the-bone ribs and assertive sausage.

What?!? MORE pork?!? Yeah, for some reason the pork dishes were really appealing to us this evening, and I think it's safe to say: if they're offering the roast suckling pig special, get it. This was totally simple, but maybe the most gratifying dish of the night. The tender, juicy roast pig was herby, salty, doused in oil, and completely addictive. Even the potatoes were eliciting moans of delight.

Sorbettos were just about the only dessert we could contemplate after that extravaganza. This is blood orange, pineapple and meyer lemon. Those bright, vibrant flavors were an excellent ending to all this excess. Well, OK, we'll also admit to attempting to eat some zabaglione gelato, and some pistachio, but we're not proud of it.

Although it was completely unrealistic to even contemplate munching on these little petit fours over espresso, we couldn't resist ordering them for the sake of investigation. And this selection of snacks does indeed make a really lovely accompaniment to an espresso or after-dinner drink. The little white cookies were airy and lemony, the candied orange peel simultaneously sweet and bitter. The pistachio and pine-nut brittles were really good with coffee, as were the biscotti. We couldn't quite figure out what the flavors were in the pâté de fruits-ish jellied thing, but it was good... This is a really nice plate to share among 3 or 4 people at the end of a meal.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable meal all the way around, even considering the inevitable sticker-shock when the bill comes. It can climb up quickly if you're not paying attention (or asking the prices of specials!) and having some wine, but when the food's this good, I never regret it.

Osteria offical website at:osteriaphilly.com
Read a more complete review at philadining.com

Yakitori Boy update

We had a chance to try Yakitori Boy again, and are happy to report that they appear to be getting in the groove. The food was better overall (or maybe we just ordered more things they do well.) Service was very friendly, almost too enthusiastic, we had servers, bussers and runners practically falling over one another bringing dishes, clearing them, or checking up on us. Their liquor license still bogged down somewhere, they're hoping for it any day now.

There was a little confusion right when we came in, and it took a few minutes for our server to come over and take our order, so as an apology for the delay, they were nice enough to send over Ika (Squid) Salad and Seaweed Salad, both of which were quite good.





We ordered an Avocado Salad which was pretty straightforward, but fresh and tasty, with a good ginger dressing.



Pork Gyoza were also pretty standard, but very nicely fried to a good crunch.



Bacon and Eggs, well, Quail Eggs Wrapped in Bacon were very tasty. How could they not be? We were very amused when at the end of the meal, as plates were being cleared, one of our servers noticed a lone remaining egg, and jokingly scolded us: "don't waste bacon!" I'm thinking of getting a tattoo that says that...



Saba Yaki Saba Shioyaki (salt-grilled mackerel) was pretty basic, nothing really wrong with it, but it was not really spiced or sauced, just broiled fish. Fine for what it was. Keep in mind, it's pretty boney...



Kimchee Don (pork with Kimchee) brought spicy Korean pickled cabbage studded with fried pork, some bean sprouts adding crunch. This was very tasty, and also provided some spice and acid to our array of dishes.



Tonkatsu had a very light, greaseless coating on the tender pork. There was a bowl of katsu sauce served alongside, which a server described as "like a Japanese A-1 sauce." Unfortunately, that was fairly accurate, it seemed closer to A1 than most katsu sauces I've had. Still, the pork was very nice, the sauce not bad.



Shrimp and vegetable tempura was excellent: light, greaseless, good crunch, a nice mix of vegetables and two large shrimp, mild dipping sauce alongside.




Our Yakitori selections were all strong this time: Chicken and Scallions, Chicken Meatballs, Chicken Skin. They all seemed to have a bit more of a flavorful, slightly sweet glaze, and a better grill char to them than before, I'm quite sure we'll get all of these again.



On this cold, rainy night, we'd actually been moved to return to Yakitori Boy to try the ramen we'd seen on the menu on our first visit. All the soups are referred to as "mini" and while they're not quite as large a portion as you would get at a ramen joint, they're not exactly mini either. It's a very nice size, presuming you're going to eat something else too: not a tiny serving like you'd get with a lunch special or combo bento box, but not a huge bowl that will completely fill you up either.



The sad news is that we didn't much care for the Ramen (pictured above.) The broth was bland and a little bitter, and the noodles were undistinguished. The good news is that the Soba (below) and Udon were much better. (Sorry I only have a soba photo here, the udon pix didn't turn out too well - ahh... it happens, I'm shooting by candlelight here!) Those soups had a rich, clear dashi-style broth with a pleasing smoky edge. The soba noodles had a good nutty flavor and firm texture, the udon a pleasing chewiness.



Boiled Spinach was simple, but just right, nice to have some greens amidst the meats.




We also got an order of Tatsuta Age (Fried Chicken) that somehow didn't get photographed amid the 800 other dishes. It was almost as good as on our first visit, and might have been even better if we'd jumped right on it while it was straight from the kitchen. And that brings up an ordering-strategy issue: this type of menu is really designed for ordering a few dishes, eating them, ordering some more... Our server advised us of this, and we intellectually understood it, but we have so little self control that we went ahead and ordered everything at once. As a result, we had a pretty crowded table, and we weren't getting to everything right when it was kitchen-hot. It would make sense to spread it out a little, so we'd advise ordering in batches, which gives you a little more control over what comes in what combinations too.

The highlights this time were the Ika Salad, all the Yakitori, the Tempura, and the (non-ramen) noodle soups, and there's still loads more to explore. There's an extensive sushi menu, and the sushi looks fine, but there's other stuff that's more unique to this place, so we're going to concentrate on that. Stay tuned...

Yakitori Boy
211 N. 11th St
Philadelphia (Chinatown)

Matyson's Tasting Menus

Mondays through Thursdays, Matyson offers tasting menus that are some of the best dinner experiences in Philly: not only are they consistently interesting thematic constructions, they're also an amazing deal. $45 plus tax and tip gets you five generous courses, usually including pretty luxe ingredients. The menu changes every week, updated here>>.

This week's menu featured Duck:

Rilletes with a Trio of Garnishes
Apricot marmalade, crumbled blue cheese, & cornichons


Foie Gras Ravioli & Truffles
Black trumpet mushrooms, parmesan foam


Cassoulet
Crispy duck confit, andouille sausage


Duck L'Orange
Potato puree, haricot vert, almonds


Chocolate Toffee Cake
Vanilla ice cream


The rilletes left me a little cold, the texture was pasty, the flavor vague, you might have been able to convince me it was hummus if I wasn't paying too close attention... That said, it's wasn't bad just a bit blah, even with the good accompaniments. But that was the only part of the meal that wasn't excellent. The foie gras ravioli was delicious, a slightly crispy wrapper containing luxurious chunks of foie. The cassoulet was not the classic casserole dish, everything slow-cooked together, but somehow the flavors were so vivid and unified, it tasted as if it had been. The duck confit might just have been the best we've had in town: crispy yet moist, tender and not too salty. The duck breast was in danger of being overwhelmed by the preceding courses, but it held its own, offering perfectly tender meat under a light but vibrant citrusy sauce. Dessert looked conventional, but was mysteriously addictive, the toffee crumbles adding a compelling twist to the intensely chocolate cake.

We've been so charmed by the tasting menus here that we almost forget that there's a solid a la carte line-up here too. The restaurant allows a party to mix the ordering, the whole table doesn't have to choose the tasting menu as some places require, so if some of your group don't feel like five courses, they can just get a couple of items from the interesting standard menu.

Founders and chefs Matt and Sonjia Spector departed late last year, turning the restaurant over to folks who had been working side-by-side with them for a long time, so the transition has been seamless. There have even been some suggestions that the change has provided a spark of energy, perhaps the kitchen feels like they've got something to prove. Whatever the reasons, they are putting out some great food. The tasting menus are a strong draw, but the regular menu is compelling enough on its own.

Matyson
37 S. 19th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 564-2925
www.matyson.com

Michael Solomonov at snackbar

The continuing guest chef series at snackbar picked back up this month with Michael Solomonov, until recently chef at Marigold Kitchen, but now devoting himself to his upcoming restaurant Zahav.

We're thankful that he could make a little time in his chaotic schedule for this special dinner, which might have given a hint of some of the ideas to be explored at Zahav. If so, we're looking forward to his new place, as these dishes were delicious, and refreshingly different.

1. falafel. tehina soup. parsley versa.

Of course, this dish evoked the flavors of a classic falafel sandwich, expressed in different textures. The tehina soup was smooth and nutty, the falafel, crunchy, the parsley, airy. We had a little structural trouble with this dish, more than once, as one of us would try to chop a chunk of falafel with a spoon, we'd send a piece of it flying across the table, carrying some soup along with it. You'd think we would have learned after the first time... What we managed to get into our mouths tasted pretty good!

2. lamb tartare. truffled labneh. maluach.

This was one of the favorite courses around our table. We could eat that truffled yogurt all day, and the tender mince of lamb and chewy bread harmonized beautifully with it.

3. mackerel. preserved curry banana. chervil/carrot.

We're still a little baffled about why we liked this as much as we did: it's a pretty whacky combination of flavors, but it really worked.

4. lobster and ribeye roulade. fennel purée. chorizo consomme.

We were commenting that steak and lobster is often thrown together purely for the sake of luxurious excess, but in this case, the combination was really appropriate, the roulade combining the tastes and contrasts in mouthfeel in a delightful way. The licorice-y purée melding with the chorizo broth really tied it together, accenting each element in a different, yet complimentary way.

5. cashel blue marble. quince spheres. white chocolate.

We liked this cheese, loved the concept of the quince spheres, but in practice, didn't like them at all. We have to wonder if there could be some variation in the concentrations of the mysterious fluids employed in the spherification process, because snackbar chef Johnny Mac insisted that they loved these back in the kitchen. But the consensus around our table was that they didn't taste like anything. So, we'd have a mouthful of intense cheese, and then a sudden explosion of...water... We just weren't getting the slightest hint of membrillo, just disconcerting undifferentiated fluid. Cool idea, didn't quite work for us.


6. halvah semifreddo. salted toffee. pomegranate. kumquats.


(we also had a variation substituting marshmallow for the semifreddo)


Tangy fruity, creamy, nutty, salty. What could be bad about that? This was a tasty, and appropriate end to this enjoyable, unusual and interesting meal.

Each course was paired with beer, which worked really well.


Thanks to chef Solomonov for doing it, and to both Jonathans at snackbar for making it happen. We're totally looking forward to the next guest chef. And no, we're not telling you who that is. At least not until we're sure our table is reserved!

The Ugly American

Update: Chefs David and Carla Gilberg left the Ugly American and opened their own excellent restaurant called Koo Zee Doo, in Northern Liberties.  The Ugly American is still in business, but seems to have scaled-back the food side of their operation. 

We like the idea of riffing-on informal regional specialties in a restaurant, and of American takes on classic French dishes, so those attractions alone might have gotten us to check out The Ugly American. But when we heard they were serving versions of the Buffalo, NY classic "Beef on Wick" and a Rochester, NY "Garbage Plate," we had to get there ASAP! And our experience was mostly good: we have a few quibbles with some specifics of the preparations, but overall the food was fairly satisfying.

Their "Beef on Wick" is a very tasty roast beef sandwich, given an extra dimension by a very good roll studded with caraway seeds and coarse salt. We suspect these rolls are made in-house, they're certainly not from Wegmans, and house baker Carla Gilberg made some wonderful bread during the short stint she and her husband, Ugly American chef David Gilberg, spent at the Queen Village bistro Coquette. The roll is the secret to this sandwich, and this is a very good version, but there's one other crucial element that didn't quite survive the trip from Buffalo to Philly. A Beef on Wick is always served with horseradish alongside, to provide its unique kick to the rich meat. In this version, a cup of jus on the side was supposed to be spiked with horseradish, but bore no evidence of it. When we asked about it, they brought us a small dish of grated fresh horseradish, which illustrated the problem: it was dried out and flavorless. The concept could have worked, and we respect the impulse to use fresh horseradish root, just not if it doesn't taste like anything! Note to the Ugly Americans: no need to deconstruct this, just put some good jarred horseradish on the side, it'll be an awesome sandwich. This version is somewhat unconventionally topped with caramelized onions, but I can heartily endorse that variation!

(Incidentally, although "weck" might be more proper, "wick" is a commonly-seen spelling for these rolls, and sandwiches. Around Buffalo, they can be found called "kummelweck" "Kimmelwick" and variations of the two.)


Another Upstate New York specialty on offer is the notorious "Garbage Plate" made famous by Nick Tahou's in Rochester. It's basically a variety of diner foods all piled together on a plate, although a few particular ingredients have become emblematic. The base is fries, usually home fries, but sometimes french fries. There's either macaroni salad or baked beans at the core as well. Burgers or hot dogs are usually stacked on top, then slathered with a unique "hot sauce" then mustard and onions. Ugly American doesn't slavishly adhere to the conventional structure, but includes most of the elements in a slightly upscale version. There are good french fries, decent macaroni salad, juicy burgers, and a "mustard pan sauce" drizzled on top.

The hot sauce (not a spicy pepper concoction like Tabasco, more like an exotically spiced meat sauce, similar to a thin chili) is a crucial element in a Garbage Plate, but is sadly absent here. So it's hard to directly compare the Ugly American's offering to the classic version. Theirs is more of an interpretation, and as such, it's pretty tasty. But other than the burgers being served on top of mac salad, it's not especially Garbage-plate-ish. Stack everything on top of the potatoes, and glop-on a version of the hot sauce, and they'd really have something. I'd love to see white hots as an alternative to the burgers too. OK, I'll admit it, I just want to see some white hots...


A chickory salad echoes a French classic made with frisée. The dressing was a little shockingly lemony, but an earthy truffle flavor comes through as well, and the combination plays well off the bitter greens and rich poached egg.


The "American Cassoulet" was very close to excellent. The black-eyed peas and collard greens provided a hearty base for luxuriously fatty pork belly and nicely spicy sausages. Everything was baked together with a crispy breadcrumb crust, creating a pleasing textural range along with the comforting flavors. The one thing that kept this dish from greatness was that one of the sausages had dried out completely. The second one was quite delicious, but that first one was tragically dessicated. One would hope that was a fluke, and we'd recommend this dish as the ultimate winter comfort food.


Lighter and brighter is a dish featuring perfectly-seared scallops, along with clams, brussels sprouts, and "salt potatoes." The tiny new potatoes weren't roasted whole with rock salt, in the fashion of the classic central NY "salt potatoes" but sliced-up, they absorbed the vibrant butter sauce to pleasing effect. This was an excellent dish, similar to, but much better than, an entrée Gilberg had prepared at Coquette.

We were too stuffed to attempt most of the numerous desserts, all of which sounded quite appealing. We did manage to sample some sorbet, which had good flavors, but a curiously thick, creamy, almost gummy texture. It was not completely unpleasant, but odd, and made the sorbets a bit less refreshing than one expects. But we noticed some great-looking desserts being delivered to other tables, so we're eager to try some more.

We're being a little nit-picky in some of our complaints, although there's not much subjective about a dessicated sausage. The wine list is perfunctory at best. The beer list is better, but they need a cocktail menu.

But on the up-side, overall the food was pretty good, and we could certainly see going back. We feel like they're missing an opportunity by not featuring more regional American specialties (Binghamton Spiedies? Cincinatti Chili? A Kentucky Hot Brown? New Mexico Green Chile Enchiladas?) But even without any geographical expansion, there's good food to be had here. I could see going back on a regulaar basis just to get a Wick fix!

The Ugly American
1100 S. Front Street
215-336-1100

Yakitori Boy

Our first meal of 2008, moments after the New Year's Eve fireworks subsided, was at the not-quite-yet open Yakitori Boy at 211 N. 11th St (just south of Vine, near Lee How Fook.)

It's a nice looking space, with a couple of sushi bars and a drinking bar, as well as some comfortable booth seating on the first floor. There's karaoki on the second floor, but thankfully, no spillover on the main floor, which feels dark, cozy and sophisticated. Servers were very friendly, and we had a ton of them, because we were among the few patrons at the time.

We'd been eagerly looking forward to a Yakitori spot in Philly, so although there's sushi, okonomiyaki, ramen and more, we concentrated mostly on grilled stuff on sticks this time. We're trying to ignore the unfortunate term "Japas" they use to describe the small plates of a wide variety of Japanese specialties, so we'll keep calling it a Yakitori place even though there's much more on offer.

The dining room is VERY dark, so these photos were lit mainly by a single tiny candle on the table. Hopefully you can get a sense of what the food's like.

The chicken skin (pictured above)was a favorite, crispy and a little sweet. It is however, pretty rich and fatty, so there's only so much of that one can eat...


The little sausages were not universally adored, but I liked them. Chicken hearts and gizzards were further back on the plate, here's another look at them:


Sadly both were a little dried-out and didn't have much flavor. We've liked these at other Yakitori places, so we'll try them again, it is still very early days for this restaurant.


The shortrib (Kalbi) and Pork Belly were better, but again could probably used some sort of sauce or glaze or marinade or something, they seemed pretty plain. That said, simple grilled meat isn't so bad...


The (boneless) nuggets of fried chicken were very good. They're not quite as crispy as the wings up at Soho, but this version still has a nice crunch, and a little spice, and stayed very juicy. It's a great bar snack.

We also had ebi shumai that my dining partners indicated were very good, and a seaweed salad that disappeared pretty promptly, so I'll read that as a thumbs-up!

So, even though we were not completely blown-away by the quality of the yakitori on this visit, we're definitely going back to try more of the menu, and try some of the grilled things over again once they've gotten into the groove.

They're open late every night, and that alone makes them very attractive. Watch this space for notes on more visits.

--
Comments on a wider variety of food, albeit at an even earlier pre-opening party, at the Herbacidal Maniac blog

More info from Michael Klein at Food and Drinq.