I've been putting off blogging for too long! :( It's been really busy and kinda stressful since I started my new role at work, it's difficult being new again, especially since its a new field I need to learn everything and get a handle at the scope of the subject..I have to say, though I enjoy learning a broad range of subjects, I look forward to the day that I become a expert at something.
I kind of feel bad reviewing a meal so many days after the occurance, hopefully I can still remember everything well. I find the pictures really help me recall the qualities of the dishes.
This time I'm reviewing one of my favorite authentic Chinese restaurant around Hartford area, and hey, if I say it's authentic, it's pretty authentic. haha As you can see, Szechuan Tokyo has a pretty spacious dining area with some Asian decors, nothing too fancy:
I went with some co-workers for lunch, there was 8 of us so we had a family style meal as I order a couple of my favorite dishes for everyone.. I would recommend eating family style when you go to Szechuan Tokyo since their entrees are well sized for that purpose and you can get more varieties that way. Note that they have 2 different menus, one which is a menu book that is purely Chinese and another which is a single sheet with Chinese characters on it. I would only order from the Chinese menu if you're looking for something authentic, the english menu has the normal stuffs most American influenced Chinese places have.
So for our menu I ordered 7 dishes for 8 people (one of which was an appetitzer), and it was definately enough, we even had leftovers. :)
First up is the Braised Pork Riblets w. Black Beans. This is actually a appetitizer on the menu, but I'd say it's definately entree size, and for 7.95 it's a pretty good deal.
It's really good, the meat is really flavorful with plenty of black beans sauce, there is nice chunks of onion and hot green peppers in the dish that gives it a little kick. The rib is really tender around the bones, it tasted like the meat itself was marinated in the roast pork seasoning then stir fried in the black bean sauce, it's got that tad of roast pork sweetness to it that just keeps you wanting more. The only complain I have is that some end pieces of the ribs are used so it has some odd shape bone that is difficult to eat, and some people might even entertain the idea of having a piece of bone in their food. It doesn't bother me tho, it's pretty common in Asia.
I apologize for the blurry photo, we were kind of excited to eat so I had to take the pics rather quickly. This is the
Dry Sauteed Chicken with Peppers.
This is one of the favorites around the table, I personally didn't get to eat too much of it (that's how fast it went away..haha). From what I had I thought it was pretty good, the chicken had a light crispy exterior, almost like it was fried before stir frying. The flavors were good, kinda spicy with the chili peppers and some nice crunch with the celery and to break the spice. The particular pieces of chicken I had were a little dry, perhaps it's different for some of the bigger pieces.
Chengdu Duck
Man, this duck kind of surprises you with the smoky flavor. You don't usually expect a lot of marinated flavor with duck since it's naturally flavorful, especially for roasted duck, the meat generally don't taste too much like anything other than duck (which is reallly tasty in itself IMO). This duck however is definately very well marinated with
five spice before cooking, I suspect this duck was fried not roasted, or it was fried before serving, because the texture of the skin is definately a harder crispiness than how it would've turned out if it was roated. Overall I think the duck was really tasty, the flavors blends together really well to make a lip smucking savory taste that kind of lingers on your tongue. The meat itself was quite juicy, the skin a little too crispy, and the tip/leg end are a little dry, which is generally a common mistake for roasted meats.
Beef with Hot Chili Oil
Mmm.. this was my favorite. It's really spicy, with a lot of different kinds of hot chili peppers, including the
szechuan peppers. Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavour that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers, but has slight lemony overtones and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth. Given the heat level of this dish I realy love the fact that the beef still tastes really good, that's a really important thing I'd say. Sometimes you get a spicy dish that all you taste is, spicy. Not this dish, you get the spicy flavors out of the oil and peppers, but the beef and veggies itself seems to have been stir fried before adding the hot sauce so it isn't completely obsorbed in the meat. That's how you get that tasty beef flavor along with the heat. Another note is that I noticed how tender the beef slices were, they were prepared in a coating of cornstarch and egg white (a common practice in szechuanese cruising, according to Lu), this serves to tenderize the meat and gives it that kind of sticky texture that adhere the sauce well. I really appreciate the cabbage, celery and cilantro in this dish as well, it just adds the freshness and that sparks of flavor.
Twice-Cooked House Smoked Pork Belly
Many people might not know, but the original "double cooked pork" was usually made with pork belly meat, which is the equivant of bacon meat in america. This dish was good as well, the pork were smoked in an traditional chinese flavor called "la lo", it's a pretty deep flavor that penetrates even the pork fat. It's kind of hard to describe.. but I guess it's kind of a roast salty smoky peppery flavor. Haha..The pork are cooked al dente so it's got a savory texture of the chewy skin/fat, and tender meat. There's big pieces of leeks and scallions in the dish as well, those flavors adds another dimension to this dish.
Bean Curd Home Style
This dish was good, not the favorites, but I think partially might be because we were used to the bold flavors of the other spicy dishes so this milder dish didn't stand out as well. The sauce is always important in a bean curd dish, since bean curd basically acts like a sponge and would easily absorb the sauce. This sauce was very garlicy and semi sweet, with a hint of vineger and heat. It goes quite well with rice.
Dry Sauteed Beef Tendon
I swear that I've gotten this same dish when I ordered their other beef tendon dish last time, might've been some kind of mistake. The beef tendon was stew tender and it's stir fried in a nice black bean garlic sauce, not really spicy. Pretty good.
All in all I would recommend trying out Szechuan Tokyo if you love spicy food, and remember to order from the Chinese menu! On a side note, they also offer live jazz on Thursdays and Friday which are usually quite good, so try it out for a nice after work hang out, though be sure to sit farther away from the speakers, it could get kinda loud. ^_^;;
Szechuan Tokyo
1245 New Britain Ave, West Hartford, CT 06110-2404
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Plan B is supposes to always use never frozen organic ingredients so everything is really fresh and healthy. This beef wellington bites was really good, the beef was perfectly cooked. It's beef, mushrooms baked in a puff pastry with a blue cheese sauce. The beef is nice and pink center with a good char, well seasoned and it has the texture of a very tender fillet. I didn't really notice the pieces of mushroom though the flavor was there, the puff pastry was really well seasoned and buttery.. so tasty and goes great with the beef and garlicy blue cheese sauce, just melts in your mouth.. :D
What a sight. :) The burgers at Plan B are always pretty glorious, giant beef patties piled high with toppings. I actually have never tried this particular burger before, but it did not disappoint. This monstrous burger sits on a specially made pretzel bun with spicy mustard, lettuce, pickles, and cheddar. My burger came with some pink, just as I ordered. :) I really have to talk a little bit about this pretzel bun, it was really good, it's actually not HARD like a pretzel, it has a good chewy texture of a really good asian bread but with a thin skin of pretzels, the same kind of salty taste. The pretzel mixed really well with all the toppings, the spicy mustard and pickled played off that saltiness of the pretzel and keep you interested with the acidity. All the different flavors complements the beef and actually draws more attention to the nature flavor of the beef and the cheddar cheese just ties everything together. Mmm... plus since the beef patty was so thick it really preserved a lot of the nature juices in the beef.
