Joe's Shanghai: "Ir'll Be Aout 5-10 Minrutes"

Oh Joes Shanghai...I have eaten here many times, so much so that I almost got sick of soup dumplings (gasp!) But it had been about 5 months since I last came here and I was ready! I went with Buddy's sister Dana, her fiance Nick, Emily, and Meg to feast on some super cheap delicious Chinese foooooooood.

By the time all of got there, it was about 8:30-9:00pm. The wait? A hour. I don't know about everyone else out there, but I have never waited that long to eat here, ever. We took our number (39) and stood outside in the putrid summer street smell of chinatown. 20 minutes later, the girls comes around yelling numbers,

" 30?! 31?! 32?!" No one answers. "33?!....34?!....35?!?!" Still, no one speaks up.  

" 36?!...37?!...38?!?" I am literally about to pee my pants...."39!?" 

"US!!!" We all scream. We follow her to the entrance. She tells us to wait there. She then lets 3 other groups in front of us!!?? But we were there first! I felt like I was on an episode of Seinfeld when they all went to the Chinese restaurant. Finally, another 25 minutes later, we were seated....

Xiao Long bao (soup dumplings) 

We got 2 orders of the pork and 2 orders of the pork and crab.. The key to eating these (and not burning the shit out of you mouth) is to bit a tiny bity part of the top to let the steam out. Don't bite too much or the juice will go everywhere!

The pork dumpling (insert Homer Simpson drool here)

Fatty, succulent broth with mixed pork and ultra thin dumpling skin.... sigh, it's the ultimate comfort food.

The Crab and Pork Dumpling

Nice chunks of crab in this one, and a little more spice. Call me old fashioned, but the pork was the winner out of the two kinds.

Price: $6.65

Bok Choy

We also decided to get something somewhat healthy to make ourselves feel less guilty about being huge pigs to add a different textural crunch. The bok choy was fresh and after a nice dollop of hot oil, it was perfection. 

Price: $6.00

Scallion Pancakes

And of course, how can you leave a Chinese restaurant without an order of scallion pancakes? These were sinfully greasy, with a crunchy shell and a fluffy, chewy interior. The french fries of Chinese food (but way way better than french fries).

Price: $ 2.35

Me, Meg, Emily, Dana, and Nick

Full, and satisfied....

Verdict: If you don''t want to wait for food, come here early or during the weekday lunch. Also I noticed that all of the soup leaked out on the second set of crab dumplings... fluke or is this happening a lot more to other people now? hmm....

Joe's Shanghai

9 Pell Street

New York, NY 10013

joeshanghairestaurants.com‎

Shanghai Cafe: Disco Party and Dinner For Less Then 5 Bucks?! Your'e On!

It seems that I have been avoiding the rancid summer street smell neglecting Chinatown recently, so the other day Melissa and I took a trip down to have some cheap and tasty food.

When we arrived, there was a huge wait. It was PACKED. It don't know if I am loving the neon lights, or absolutely hating. I guess it depends on if I want to get my groove on or not. After about 10 minutes we got seated, it was ridiculously loud since there was a 30 person party of drunken Asian guys throwing back beers like water.

Shanghai Over Rice

Melissa got this, it was made with shrimp, beef, pork, and chicken stir fried in a thick sauce. The plate was huge. 

Price: $4.95

Squid with Pickled Cabbage Over Rice

YUM.... chewy squid, and a generous portion at that! The cabbage was tart and sour but mixed well with the rice especially adding a little hot oil on top! Filling, and with just enough room for dessert 

Price: $4.50

Hand Making their dumplings!

Verdict: Cheap, filling, and of great quality. What more could you ask for in a Chinese restaurant?

Shanghai Cafe

100 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013-4626

Sakura: The Owners Favorite Color Must be Green....

Over this past weekend my stepdad Bruce, was nice enough to take me to Philly to get some errands done. Since we were in the Chinatown area, we decided to grab lunch there. He had been wanting to try a new restaurant that had opened (and was really excited since he saw pink sushi wrappers there) it was Chinese/ Japanese fusion. Though there were a lot of great dim sum places around, I couldn't say no, especially since he was treating! ^_^

Green walls, green chopsticks, green sign, green menu.... geez louis this owner likes the color green!

Soup Dumplings (Xiaolongbao)

Well lookey here, they serve soup dumplings! I opted for the pork and crab mix. The skin was ultra thin ( just the way it's supposed to be) and the flavors in the soup were fantastic, but with an almost sour after taste. The pork and crab mixture had the consistency of ground beef, and not as filled as say Joe's Shanghai in New York. Still, it was satisfying none the less.

Price: $5.95

Angry Dragon

Bruce and I both wanted to get something light (since we both knew we were going to be stuffing our faces with other goodies while walking around) so we decided to get some sushi as our main course. This was a shrimp tempura roll with papaya, spicy tuna in soynori, topped with spicy crab and a honey miso sauce. This was very satisfying, sweet, crunchy, salty, and most of all... FILLING! I was surprised at how nice the presentation looked, I guess whenever I think of Chinatown I think " dirt cheap ugly delicious food"

Price: $ 11.95

Amazing Tuna

We ordered one more house special sushi roll afterwards. This one was made out of white tuna tempura, spicy tuna, cucumber topped with peppered tuna and spicy mayo. More salty, and definitely spicy, the fish was fresh and again, the presentation was lovely.

Price: $11.95

Verdict: I guess the only thing I didn't like about this place was the price; how can a person justify spending 12+ dollars for 1 sushi roll when they are in the heart of Chinatown and could get 4 meals for the same price? Especially since you can find sushi just as good at a suburban "fusion" restaurant located in a strip mall. Other then that, the food was satisfying and pretty tasty...oh, and by the way, it is a BYOB, so maybe this would entice some of you out there?

Sakura Mandarin

1038 Race Street

Philadelhpia PA 19107

Tingers Tips: How To Make Chinese Scallion Pancakes

Over the past weekend I had went to visit my dad in Ohio. One of my favorite things about him is not that he is kind, loving, or a good father... it's the fact that this man can COOK. And what better way to start my feast by one of my favorite Chinese snacks? Scallion Pancakes!

This recipe is super easy, super cheap and obviously DELICIOUS!

My dad ready to cook.... his apron is so freaking adorable!

Just a forewarning...my dad owns absolutely no measuring cups or baking utensils so the "measurements" are all eyeballed

The Dough (this is also to be used as the dough for the dumplings which I will give the recipe later for!)

Ingredients:        1  popcorn bowl full of all purpose flour

                              2-3 cute puppy mugs of water

Scallion Pancakes

Ingredients:

                              2-3 sprigs of chopped scallions

                              1 large pinch of salt

                              1/2 tea cup of vegetable oil 

Step1: slowly drizzle water into the flour and mix adding water when needed until pliable, but not too sticky

Step 2: Knead into a ball and cover to rest for 10-20 minutes

Step 3: Roll out until thin and drizzle with oil, spread the oil until the entire surface is covered

Step 4: Sprinkle the chopped scallions, and salt until you see nice coverage

Step 5: Roll lengthwise and cut into thirds

Step 6: Roll up horizontally and squash down with your hands

Step 7: Flatten even more with a roller until desired thin or thickness

Step 8: After heating oil in a skillet, fry until golden brown, delicious and bubbly!

Step 9: Cut with a pizza cutter ( or scissors if you want to be ghetto) and DIG IN!

Verdict: Why pay 3.50 for 1 order of scallion pancakes at a Chinese restaurant when you can make this at home!? Delicious and you can even add any other ingredients you wish ( pepper, chives, ham, etc)
OR even fry some eggs and make it a scallion pancake egg wrap for breakfast!   ^_^

Off Beat: Awkwardly Cute Things That Can Only Be Found in an Asian Grocery Store

Over the past weekend I went to visit my dad in the suburbs of Ohio. Before he spoiled me rotten with amazing home cooked food, he had to pick up the ingredients first, so off we went to the nearest Asian supermarket!

I am so used to New Yorks Chinatown that this looks like an abandoned building. Pretty creepy huh??

So clean... so organized.... and the prices are great!

I wanted to collect every single one of these

Is he giving a peace sign or trying to shoot a finger gun? I can't decide

How can you not resist his teal polka dot shirt?

Effing adorable. I don't care what these are, the little bunny is enough for me to want to buy it

This guy could kick tweety birds ass

This guy couldn't

This giraffe is obviously smoking something and totally peer pressuring  bunny. Bunny is still unsure whether or not to listen to those anti-drug commercials.

.....No

Awkward. Not cute. Somehow even a bit inappropriate.

Well.... WTF is that pink shit on the left? It looks like it desperately needs to see a dermatologist with that abnormal growth on its body.

Cute thing tripping on acid

Pretend ice cream cone eating another pretend ice cream cone?

Fucking cute.

This is just hard core