A Disappointing Lunch at Chinatown Brasserie
Sunday afternoon I was having a serious craving for some Chinese food. I wanted to go somewhere a little nicer than our usual Chinatown joints since I was still in a celebratory mood. Luckily Chinatown Brasserie fits that bill exactly. We've eaten there 3 or 4 times before and always had a good meal even if it was a lot more expensive than Chinatown. Sometimes you pay for the atmosphere.
Another good reason to head here is for their drinks! We got seated at a nice table outside and I ordered a Bellini Martini.
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Now I had just had a fantastic regular Bellini the day before at Onda so maybe I was expecting something just as good but this cocktail kind of fell flat. It was strong, that's for sure. I could really taste the vodka and peach but it had no balance. It was like drinking sugar flavored alcohol water, not a cocktail. For $10 I want a cocktail.
Chinatown brasserie was doing its' restaurant week menu but we decided to go a la carte. Mr. T ordered a Won Ton soup to start.
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The soup had an absolutely lovely smell and there were nice big Won Ton balls throughout the broth. Quite a tasty start.
For appetizers we ordered the Chicken and Shrimp Lollipops and the Scallop and Shrimp Dumplings.
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The Chicken and Shrimp lollipops tuned out to have a ton of cilantro both inside the breading and in the dipping sauce. Neither of us like cilantro so it was pretty off putting. Plus the shrimp inside was super tiny and all I really tasted was the breading.
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The Scallop and Shrimp dumplings looked absolutely beautiful. It was very evident that a lot of hard work went into the presentation of this dish. However more time should have been spent on the execution. The shrimp dumplings middle was tasty but the scallop on top was chewy and overcooked. I also didn't enjoy the piece of cucumber on the bottom. There were too many textures going on at once in usually simple dish.
For our main we ordered the Crispy Orange Beef with chilies, orange zest and grand marnier.
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We've had this dish here before and absolutely loved it. Today however it wasn't as good. Many times I had a bite I wasn't ever sure if there was beef inside. It simply tasted like breading. When there was beef inside it was so hard and stringy it was very difficult and unappetizing to eat.
I was really unhappy with our overall meal at Chinatown Brasserie. The food seems to have taken a nose dive. Our service wasn't that great either. The waiters and busers seemed like they were brand new to the job and there was a lot of fumbling between dishes. Plus it took our waitress an extremely long time to get our check and didn't even remember till I flagged her down 15 minutes later.
And look at my fortune from the fortune cookie.
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WTF!!??
Our bill for the meal ended up being almost $100 as well. That's a lot of money for inadequate Chinese food. We weren't even full at the end. I'm not sure what's going on at CB but the meal wasn't very good or celebratory. Hopefully we can get a good meal this weekend sometime and celebrate instead.
Another good reason to head here is for their drinks! We got seated at a nice table outside and I ordered a Bellini Martini.
.jpg)
Now I had just had a fantastic regular Bellini the day before at Onda so maybe I was expecting something just as good but this cocktail kind of fell flat. It was strong, that's for sure. I could really taste the vodka and peach but it had no balance. It was like drinking sugar flavored alcohol water, not a cocktail. For $10 I want a cocktail.
Chinatown brasserie was doing its' restaurant week menu but we decided to go a la carte. Mr. T ordered a Won Ton soup to start.
.jpg)
The soup had an absolutely lovely smell and there were nice big Won Ton balls throughout the broth. Quite a tasty start.
For appetizers we ordered the Chicken and Shrimp Lollipops and the Scallop and Shrimp Dumplings.
.jpg)
The Chicken and Shrimp lollipops tuned out to have a ton of cilantro both inside the breading and in the dipping sauce. Neither of us like cilantro so it was pretty off putting. Plus the shrimp inside was super tiny and all I really tasted was the breading.
.jpg)
The Scallop and Shrimp dumplings looked absolutely beautiful. It was very evident that a lot of hard work went into the presentation of this dish. However more time should have been spent on the execution. The shrimp dumplings middle was tasty but the scallop on top was chewy and overcooked. I also didn't enjoy the piece of cucumber on the bottom. There were too many textures going on at once in usually simple dish.
For our main we ordered the Crispy Orange Beef with chilies, orange zest and grand marnier.
.jpg)
We've had this dish here before and absolutely loved it. Today however it wasn't as good. Many times I had a bite I wasn't ever sure if there was beef inside. It simply tasted like breading. When there was beef inside it was so hard and stringy it was very difficult and unappetizing to eat.
I was really unhappy with our overall meal at Chinatown Brasserie. The food seems to have taken a nose dive. Our service wasn't that great either. The waiters and busers seemed like they were brand new to the job and there was a lot of fumbling between dishes. Plus it took our waitress an extremely long time to get our check and didn't even remember till I flagged her down 15 minutes later.
And look at my fortune from the fortune cookie.
.jpg)
WTF!!??
Our bill for the meal ended up being almost $100 as well. That's a lot of money for inadequate Chinese food. We weren't even full at the end. I'm not sure what's going on at CB but the meal wasn't very good or celebratory. Hopefully we can get a good meal this weekend sometime and celebrate instead.
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