First Stop: China with Guide Jenny Ng

Welcome to the first monthly Taste  of Asia! In this month’s Taste of Asia, we will be exploring Chinese cuisine with our guide Jenny Ng, who claims to be an expert on Chinese food. Ng will be in charged of bringing us to an authentic Chinese restaurant and enlightening us about the Chinese culture. Afterwards I will disclose my experience and rating of the restaurant.

China:       

According to Ng, China is where most of the Eastern Asian countries derive their cultures and cuisines from. It is a country that emphasizes on sharing food and hospitality. Instead of everyone ordering food for himself or herself, the Chinese prefers ordering many dishes and places all the dishes in the middle of the table, which makes it easier to share the food.

Jenny Ng:     

Ng is Chinese American, yet her American identity does not deter her from forgetting  her culture. She is proud of her heritage’s food and practically eats Chinese cuisine everyday. As a way to learn more about her Chinese identity, last year, she decided to study abroad in China for one month. During her stay, she visited many Chinese provinces. The province that she liked the most was Shanghai because it had the best cuisines. Therefore Ng brought us to Shanghai Cafe Deluxe, located in Chinatown on 100 Mott St, New York, NY 10013.

Food:            

Upon Ng’s recommendation, we ordered 1 plate of scallion pancakes ($2.95), 1 bowl of Cha Chiang Mein ($5.95), 1 plate of jellyfish ($6.95) and 2 crates of soup dumplings ($13.90) – one with pork filling and one with pork and crab-meat filling.-  The food was enough to feed 3 people and the bill came out to be $37.25, which included tax and tips.

My experience:         

At first, I was disappointed by the restaurant’s outside appearance; it was very plain and did not contained any decorations. However, the moment I stepped into the restaurant, my expectation rose. The place was packed with people and was filled with many delicious aromas. The variety of  scents was enough to make one drool, especially those that came in with empty stomachs. The food that were served did not disappoint.

I was impressed by the soup dumplings. The filling was well seasoned and contained the perfect amount of meat. Furthermore, the skin had the right level of thickness, which prevented the juices from spilling. Normally the soup dumplings would pop and make a mess because they were not well prepared or cooked. However, that night none of the soup dumplings popped; we were able to drink every last drop of the soup.

Our exotic dish for the night, jellyfish.
Photo Credit by Lexie Gocool.

The “Interesting” dish:         

The exotic dish that we had was the plate of jellyfish. The jellyfish was chilled and cut into long and thin strips. Ng advised us that you needed to season the dish with hot sauce and vinegar or else the dish would taste really bland. Before the plate was served, I expected the jellyfish to be soft and flimsy. Notwithstandingly, the dish turned out to be chewy and cold.

Feedback:                   

Shanghai Cafe Deluxe is a worthwhile place to explore Shanghainese food. However,  do not expect to take good quality pictures of the food. The restaurant uses red, blue and purple lighting, which distorts the lighting of the picture. In addition, the waiters and chefs do not decorate the dishes, as a result the food does not look appealing. The overall rating that I will give the restaurant is an 8/10.