chinese--in and around the twin cities

[mongo_jones]

please post recommendations and warnings.

 

also: rainbow. discuss. should i support or subvert a developing plan for me to eat there on the college's dime?

[SLBunge]

I've never been to Rainbow but I've heard of lots people who like it. It might say something that all of the people who I hear positive things about it seem to mention that it is "reliable" or other such descriptors that make it sound a bit safe.

 

There is Shuang Cheng essentially on the UofM campus. Everyone raves about their fish in black bean sauce. I was there once about 5 years before I moved here but I don't remember much about it.

 

Little Szechuan on University in Saint Paul is decent. I need to go back because there as I don't think I ordered appropriately and the menu needs some more exploration. I think Orik posted about a different Szechuanese place in the suburban hinterlands.

 

 

[Orik]

please post recommendations and warnings.

 

also: rainbow. discuss. should i support or subvert a developing plan for me to eat there on the college's dime?

 

I think I mentioned Tea House before, a bit out of your way, but has some acceptable Sichuanese food:

 

http://citypages.com/databank/25/1234/article12336.asp

 

There was one good sea food place on Nicollet, if I remember the address correctly, it's this now, still sounds good:

 

http://www.citypages.com/databank/24/1200/article11717.asp

 

Never tried rainbow.

[mongo_jones]

tea house sounds good. as does little szechwan, which i've been meaning to eat at since we got here. neither are that much further away from us than the best san gabriel valley places were when we lived in l.a. perhaps the next cities shopping run will be combined with some sichuan food.

[kuan]

Personally I don't like Rainbow nor do I like Teahouse.

 

 

Hong Kong Noodle is good. It's on campus. So is Village Wok.

[mongo_jones]

very good lunch today at little szechwan in st. paul. we got the dan dan noodles (good), the spicy beef tendon (v. good), the chung king chilli chicken (acceptable), and the ma-po tofu (pretty good). two of us ate well, and brought enough home for dinner at a total cost of $45 (including beer and tip). not as good as the best of the san gabriel valley (outside l.a), but much better than anything in denver, and certainly much better than we were hoping to be able to find in the twin cities. this will become a regular haunt.

 

the default heat level is higher than at most places that cater to non-native clientele, but we might have to ask for a little more heat in the ma-po tofu next time. the dan dan noodles are good, but need to be served in a larger bowl, or brought tossed to the table. kinda hard to mix them up properly in the bowl it came in. the chung king chilli chicken tasted like there was a little too much soy sauce in it, the chicken was overcooked. didn't resemble or taste anything like the chilli chicken dishes we're used to at chung king in the sgv.

 

they were doing pretty good business for lunch on a saturday. i hope they prosper.

[kuan]

You didn't like King's land in Denver? The roast duck there is very good. Buy it whole for $13.

[mongo_jones]

we thought king's land in denver was terrible. don't live in colorado anymore, so their duck would probably cost more than $13.

[kuan]

That's odd. I thought it was really good. Ah well, palates differ. The dimsum there is very good too.

[mongo_jones]

i guess palates do differ. we ate dimsum at king's land a couple of times and thought it was quite dire. are your experiences of it from a long time ago or very recent? super star asian is by far the best dim sum place in denver. empress seafood is probably next. king's land may be third among the larger places but it is quite a distant third.

 

but this is the twin cities forum: where does one go here for dim sum?

[kuan]

but this is the twin cities forum: where does one go here for dim sum?

 

Mandarin kitchen. Get there early, but don't expect greatness.

 

Last time I had dimsum in Denver was Y2k. I thought it was pretty good, the Lopako was good because they sizzled it up fresh at your table.

[mongo_jones]

whither mandarin kitchen?

 

re king's land: the timing may tell the story. we got to denver in 2003. we ate there in 2003-04. perhaps it had gone downhill since you were there. it may have improved since--super star asian is in the same mega-strip mall and doubtless drew a lot of their business--but we never went back to check.

[SLBunge]

Good lunch today at Little Szechuan with doctors jones.

 

Dan dan noodles, bamboo shoots, spicy beef tendon, fish in brown bean sauce, kung pao chicken, ma po tofu. The bamboo shoots and the tendon were the standouts for me. The tendon is quite spicy and has an appealing chewy texture. Worked well with the sprigs of cilantro.

 

Kung pao chicken seemed a little bit flat but perhaps that was because all of the other dishes were fairly aggressively spiced. I'll have to try the leftovers of this dish before I tuck into the spicy stuff.

[mongo_jones]

a very good lunch, and great to finally meet slbunge.

 

i agree: the tendon and bamboo tips were excellent. i also liked the ma po tofu a lot. the fish was good too, but perhaps a little too sweet, a problem more exacerbated in the chicken. the dan dan noodles are actually better than they seem. by which i mean, once you get to the sauce at the bottom. they serve it in this tiny bowl which makes tossing it properly all but impossible.

[mongo_jones]

lunch again at little szechwan today, with slbunge and a colleague from the college. we ordered an unholy amount of food, and i don't think there was anything we didn't like--though some liked some things more or less than others.

 

from memory:

 

fish and pickled vegetable soup

 

dan dan noodles; spicy beef tendon; bamboo shoots in spicy oil

 

fish-flavoured chicken; duck with taro in broth; tofu with pork intestines hotpot; homestyle fried tofu

 

i think the duck was my least favourite. the chicken may have been the highlight of the mains for me. the cold dishes were uniformly excellent, and the soup was very nice too.

 

we survived a tense moment when slbunge threatened to go all jack nicholson on a waiter who refused to bring us a larger bowl in which to mix/toss the dan dan noodles.