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“Chinatown Brasserie”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	East Village	Moderate	Great

g else, send your note of appreciation to Tyson Wong Ophanso, formerly of La Cote Basque and most recently at Lotus. The menu is an all around love-fest from gently crisped pork potstickers ($6) filled with gingery pork to shrimp with broccoli—juicy shrimp with unbelievably crunchy but creamy waterchestnuts, shreds of egg white, and firm little heads of super green broccoli in a fresh clean white sauce ($19).

Like most Chinese restaurants, the menu can be a bit overwhelming, with just over 60 items, so I would try to attack Chinatown the way I did. First, head in with a massive group of friends (or strangers for that matter) and power order. Get it all. Then go back with your prior knowledge, and refine your ordering to suit your tastes and to reflect the most wonderful dishes on the menu. (Since my first visit I have been in at least once a week for dim sum and noodles at the bar).

The first time I went to Chinatown Brasserie was a few weeks ago to celebrate my birthday with my closest friends, the people in my life who have become like my family but without the need to discuss them in therapy; Susie joined us from Rome in spirit. We were overwhelmed by the size and breadth of the menu, and asked our waiter to order our appetizers for us. (The service was excellent.) He sent out a festival of dim sum that we attacked not unlike a flock of overexcited seagulls to an unattended cooler of food. I think I might have started to CAW CAW. It was scary, my friends. The pan-fried shrimp and Chinese chive dumplings ($6) were a hands down favorite—plump and juicy with a nice oniony edge from the chives. Snow pea leaf and shrimp dumplings ($7) are little green triangles that are decorated with two little eyes on each one that make them quite adorable to look at. (They are just as good to eat.) The beef triangles ($7) were a Chinese riff on a samosa, filled with shredded beef, onions, and mushrooms, which were just a touch too greasy, but darn delicious anyway. An order of Shanghai Soup Dumplings ($9) that Adrienne and I had another night at the bar were quite miraculous. The broth that spills out of the dumpling’s glossy skin and into your mouth (or into your spoon if you do it the right way) is amazingly rich, and the minced pork filling just as luscious.

I wasn’t crazy about the scallop and pancetta-topped shrimp crackers ($11), but I loved the gold coin stuffed lotus root with hand-chopped pork ($7). And e ... [more, click below]

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Posted: June 25, 2006

Other restaurants in East Village :
+ Yujin-- Closed   + Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar   + Mermaid Inn   + Five Points   + Lavagna   + Five Points   + Bond Street   + Jewel Bako   + Alphabet Kitchen   + In Vino   + Bao 111   + Chikalicious   + Il Buco   + Hearth   + Lima's Taste   + Mercadito   + Hedeh   + Momofuku   + Una Pizza Napoletana   + Winebar   + Uovo-- CLOSED   + Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction   + Gotham Bar & Grill   + Colors   + Chinatown Brasserie   + Knife and Fork   + European Union-- NEW CHEF; SEE APRIL 2007 Review   + Aroma Kitchen and Winebar   + Stand   + European Union   + Mercat   + Gemma   + Back Forty   + The Smith   + Seymour Burton   + Belcourt   + Graffiti   + The Redhead   + Double Crown    + Apiary   + Joe Doe   + Apiary by guest reviewer Kiri Tannenbaum   + DBGB   + Northern Spy   + Goat Town   + Saxon + Parole   + Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria   + Acme   + Calliope   + Nicoletta   + JEPPNEY by Claire Jaffe   + Feast   

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