Chinatown Brasserie

While sitting at the Sri Lankan airport (long story), I thought I'd get a post out for a restaurant I tried before I left for my honeymoon. Sorry it's a bit late but it is frequently on NYC Restaurant Week.

From the outside, I had judged Chinatown Brasserie harshly, believing it was a touristy, kitschy Chinese restaurant. About two months ago, I was walking by Chinatown Brasserie with a fellow foodie. I wondered out loud if the restaurant was all overly fried and overly breaded food but he scoffed, informing me that Chinatown Brasserie had the best dim sum north of Chinatown. I noticed Chinatown Brasserie was on NY Restaurant Week and boasted an impressive menu. Armed with a few close friends in from Los Angeles, I thought it was time to see if there was substance behind the shiny lanterns.

The NY Restaurant Week menu offered an assortment of seafood, poultry/meat or vegetarian dim sum as an appetizer. Each assortment included several different dumplings, egg rolls or potstickers. Each piece was interesting and tasty. I was happily surprised to find the dim sum light and not greasy.

For the entree, the menu offered six different options, featuring various poultry, seafood and beef dishes. This was much more exciting than most NYC Restaurant Week menus that are typically limited to a few entree options.

The food came out very fast so if you are not part of the business rush lunch crowd, you may want to ask the waiters to slow the pace (good call Michelle!). Also, when we asked our server about how the food was prepared and what certain items were (e.g. Pao Pao-turns out it's a Chinese vegetable), she was hesitant to provide us with helpful answers. It took several follow up questions to understand how each entree was prepared.

Each dish used various vegetables (Chinese brocoli, red pepers, etc) to create a colorful food palate. The Chinese inspired martinis were equally colorful (and delicious). We enjoyed the Bellini Martini, which was the perfect balance of peach puree and a vodka kick.

What to eat:

Each dumpling in the dim sum was delicious. I ordered the seafood dim sum but enjoyed a few bites of my fellow diners vegetarian dim sum as well. The dim sum came out very hot so be careful taking your first few bites.

For your entree, go for the Pao Pao Beef. The beef is cut into thin shreds and tossed in a scallion sauce. The portion was generous.

For dessert, we savored the Chocolate Mouse. For my fellow chocolate lovers, this creamy chocolate mouse will do the trick, it is layered with different types of chocolate and finished with a cookie crust.

If you are one of those rare birds that do not like chocolate, try the Custard Bao for dessert. I'm not much of a custard person but I suppose if you make anything taste similar to a cinnamon roll with icing, I will find a way to enjoy it. These warm cinnamon buns are filled with just enough custard for flavoring but not enough to overwhelm the cinnamon flavor.

Missed my restaurant reviews? NYC, I'm coming home,

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