Nee Nee, short for Delaney
Posted 08 January 2013 - 09:37 AM
Read about a new place on Chowhound. Can't find a website or even their operating hours online. Does anyone know if they do brunch or when they open on weekends?
Yelp reviews indicate they do brunch but don't open until 11:30. It kills me that all the places that do northern Chinese brunch other than A&J don't open until 11 or later.
leviathan
Posted 08 January 2013 - 10:02 AM
I haven't been yet, but I know the shopping center. Tiny, tiny place - it replaces a Chinese carryout.
ventworm
Posted 09 January 2013 - 12:22 AM
My parents went a few weeks ago and really liked their soup dumplings. I will venture out there soon and post about it.
line cook
59 Restaurant
Lakewood Country Club
ill-tempered sea bass
Posted 04 February 2013 - 04:10 PM
Met a friend at Shanghai Taste for lunch today. The menu offered a lot of standard American Chinese dishes, a few interesting things too, but no soup dumplings. My (Chinese ancestry) friend asked about the dumplings, was told "yes they're on the other menu, do you read Chinese?" Oh boy, here we go. Another place where you need the secret handshake and magic decoder ring in order to get the good stuff.
My friend speaks Taiwanese but doesn't read Chinese. She managed to get us an order of xiao long bao and some turnip pastry, somehow. We also ordered Szechuan beef noodle soup and pork chops with spicy salt (from the English menu). Everything was excellent, and I can't wait to go back and try more, except...
So to come to the point: I got a copy of the Chinese menu. Would someone out there be willing to do a wonderful public service and translate it for us? I can scan and email it to you. Send me a pm with contact info. I will buy you lunch. Or if you don't want to have lunch with me I will fund your lunch out of deep gratitude, but please, someone, help!
Nee Nee, short for Delaney
Posted 04 February 2013 - 04:39 PM
Can you post the menu (take a pic of it, make sure it's large enough to be legible)? I can probably translate most of it.
ill-tempered sea bass
Posted 04 February 2013 - 05:22 PM
Eric - attached. Hope the resolution is good enough.
ventworm
Posted 04 February 2013 - 11:30 PM
I was there for lunch last week. I haven't had a chance to post until now. As Porcupine said, the good stuff is on the Chinese menu. The dining room is not very big--maybe 30 seats. If you go on the weekend, be prepared to wait. There is often a line out the door. If possible, weekday lunch is your best bet.
We ate:
soup dumplings (8 to a basket)
scallion pancakes
Shanghai style duck with five-spice sauce glaze
spicy beef noodles--get it with the wide udon like noodles
The dishes were all very good. My favorites were definitely the soup dumplings and the duck.
line cook
59 Restaurant
Lakewood Country Club
Nee Nee, short for Delaney
Posted 05 February 2013 - 09:14 AM
Nee Nee, short for Delaney
Posted 05 February 2013 - 12:30 PM
Right side
Steamed/boiled vegetarian dumplings $4.95
Potstickers $4.95
Steamed/boiled dumplings (jiao-zi) $4.95
Meat filled soup balls $4.95 (I've never even heard of meat filled soup balls before)
Soup dumplings (shanghai xiao lon bao) $5.95
Eight treasure sticky rice $5.95
Wine rice balls $3.95
Eight treasure yam pudding $5.95
Shanghai meat wontons (probably in soup) $4.95
Fried tofu and thin rice noodle soup $4.95
Double something $6.95
Wontons with some sort of greens $5.95
Shanghai style stir fried noodles $8.95
Shredded pork with rice cakes $8.95
Shanghai soup with rice cakes $8.95
Zha jiang mian (noodles) $6.95
Da ru mian $6.95
Curry beef thin rice noodle soup $6.95
Shanghai Noodles
Beef noodle $7.95
Curry beef noodle $7.95
Pork chop noodle? $7.95
Spicy meat noodle $7.95
Small spicy pepper beef rice noodle? $7.95
Spicy sauce noodle $6.95
Snow cabbage shredded pork noodle in soup $5.95 #1105
Pickled cabbage shredded pork noodlein soup $5.95 #1104
Veggie imitation chicken noodle $5.95
Noodles mixed with scallions and oil $4.95
Sun spring noodles $2.95 #1112
add fried egg $1
add noodles $1.5
add pork chop $3.5
add spicy meat $3.5
add spicy sauce $2.95
add veggie imitation chicken $2
And that's all folks
ill-tempered sea bass
Posted 05 February 2013 - 01:39 PM
Eric, thank you so much for doing this!
Goodeats also provided a translation, which is very close to this. For anyone interested, the differences were mainly snow cabbage = mustard greens, and "meat" in many places = pork.
Also, near the bottom of the left column there's one item missing from Eric's translation; it's the second one priced at $3.50, and goodeats translated it as pastry with red beans, almonds, walnuts, dates, and sesame.
A stew called New Orleans
Posted 05 February 2013 - 11:32 PM
leviathan
Posted 06 February 2013 - 12:06 AM
Eric, thank you so much for doing this!
Goodeats also provided a translation, which is very close to this. For anyone interested, the differences were mainly snow cabbage = mustard greens, and "meat" in many places = pork.
Also, near the bottom of the left column there's one item missing from Eric's translation; it's the second one priced at $3.50, and goodeats translated it as pastry with red beans, almonds, walnuts, dates, and sesame.
Yes, Eric, thank you very much. Where is goodeats' publication? I can scan them in and put them side-by-side, and I suspect they'll be almost identical except for a few words that might have more than one translation. This could be quite useful, and thank you both.
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ill-tempered sea bass
Posted 07 February 2013 - 03:22 PM
Chinese menu with line by line translation below. If I can figure out how to shrink the file size I'll add the regular menu, too.
ill-tempered sea bass
Posted 07 February 2013 - 03:26 PM
Standard menu page 1
ill-tempered sea bass
Posted 07 February 2013 - 03:27 PM
standard menu page 2
grouper
Posted 07 February 2013 - 08:09 PM
Chinese menu with line by line translation below. If I can figure out how to shrink the file size I'll add the regular menu, too.
The way this whole thing transpired is one of the reasons why I love dr.com so much. Thanks so much to you all for this!
FWIW, I asked my parents about this place tonight (we are Chinese), they've only been once -- said the soup dumplings/XLB are very good, the other stuff okay... that for variety they'd still opt for trekking out to Tai Shan (which we're doing next weekend). As it turns out, they said, Shanghai Taste is run by the wife of the owner of Tai Shan...
Looking forward to hearing how the Wed night dinner goes!
leviathan
Posted 07 February 2013 - 09:25 PM
Tai Shan in Gaithersburg/Montgomery Village?
grouper
Posted 07 February 2013 - 09:25 PM
Okay. You guys are awesome. Thank you for translating!!!
leviathan
Posted 07 February 2013 - 10:49 PM
The way this whole thing transpired is one of the reasons why I love dr.com so much. Thanks so much to you all for this!
FWIW, I asked my parents about this place tonight (we are Chinese), they've only been once -- said the soup dumplings/XLB are very good, the other stuff okay... that for variety they'd still opt for trekking out to Tai Shan (which we're doing next weekend). As it turns out, they said, Shanghai Taste is run by the wife of the owner of Tai Shan...
Looking forward to hearing how the Wed night dinner goes!
Re: "The way this whole thing....": Big agree, Night Owl! 
Re: "FWIW, I asked......": Really interesting. Think it is the Montgomery Village one, Daniel. Night Owl, could you update the most recent thread (you made it here!) even if just to confirm what you wrote there in mid 2010 is still more or less correct. Sounds like a spot maybe not getting enough attention here? TY!
grouper
Posted 08 February 2013 - 08:04 AM
Tai Shan in Gaithersburg/Montgomery Village?
Re: "The way this whole thing....": Big agree, Night Owl!
Re: "FWIW, I asked......": Really interesting. Think it is the Montgomery Village one, Daniel. Night Owl, could you update the most recent thread (you made it here!) even if just to confirm what you wrote there in mid 2010 is still more or less correct. Sounds like a spot maybe not getting enough attention here? TY!
Yes, the Montgomery Village one. Going there next weekend (a week after Chinese New Year since parents want to avoid the general restaurant crush). Everything I posted back in 2010 still holds, but will post on that thread again after next weekend.
That said, I don't want to diss Shanghai Taste -- I'm so glad there's a great XLB place closer in and am looking forward to hearing what the group thinks after the meal there!
clam
Posted 13 February 2013 - 08:57 PM
I think I've been tasked with reviewing this place after our group meet up.
Overall it was nice and if I lived in the neighborhood (and I didn't have to wait for a table) I would come by more often. The soup dumplings (my first time trying them) were good: thin wrappers with scalding hot juice inside. Very meaty and satisfying. I also liked the cold spicy wonton wrappers a lot: delicate texture and a good balance of flavors.
Everything else was kind of average. The rest of the group kept wanting something spicier and we kept getting stuff that wasn't notable. The last dish, the chicken with peppers and black bean sauce, had a nice smokiness to it, but even the jalapenos they added were defanged and heatless. Seaweed salad was bland. Beef noodle soup was not bad, the broth and noodles were nice. We also had beef tendon, the aforementioned duck, pork tossed in some chili sauce, a tofu and peanut dish, some steamed pork buns, some noodles dressed in vinegary soy sauce, and a char siu flaky pastry. I didn't think any of these were remarkable. Either the flavor wasn't there or I didn't like the texture.
Hopefully the others will chime in with more opinions.
leviathan
Posted 13 February 2013 - 09:04 PM
All together now: Whoo-hoo for Albert!!! Like those at front left at Rocky Horror shows, an event virgin. Nicely done.
Chiming in with just 1 additional thought since I think I'm the only one that can compare the XLB here to the other version enjoyed by a different DR group last weekend. The soup dumplings here, while quite respectable and even worthy of travel if jonesing for the rarely found delicacy, are a shade below those of the Culinary Man of Mystery, Peter Chang. A tad thicker on the wrapper. As Albert reports tho, very good on the broth and pork filling.
Random query: what's the DR protocol on posting post-event reports? event thread or, here as Albert has done, the restaurant thread? I defer to others more versed in these things.
leviathan
Posted 13 February 2013 - 09:36 PM
Better to do the review here, and link to the event thread.
This thread will continue, hopefully with new reviews over time, and people will come here for info on Shanghai Taste. The other thread is essentially dead except for posterity.
leviathan
Posted 13 February 2013 - 09:38 PM
Oh, and I'll second what Albert said. Very good XLB, but pretty much everything we had you can get at Joe's Noodle, A&J, or China Bistro, and the versions here weren't as good. I'll come back now and then for XLB, but it won't beat out the others all that often.
ill-tempered sea bass
Posted 15 February 2013 - 10:44 AM
I must admit to being somewhat disappointed, though I will go back to get the spicy salt pork chop thing from the regular menu. And the red bean pine nut pastry is a good solid rendition.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Taste has gone ahead and done their own translation. Here's the official version:
leviathan
Posted 15 February 2013 - 11:48 AM
Sounds like we have strong agreement it was a little disappointing overall.
And, of course, for most of us, it was the only/first visit there. Will reiterate my own view though just in case helpful for others who might want to explore the northern hinterlands, especially at rush hour and while snow is falling, which adds to the fun.
For me, and based only this one visit, enabled by Porcupine (thank you! and all the usual caveats apply), the only reason I'd recommend this place to others who'd drive more than 15 or 20 minutes to get there is for the XLB. One more time: Shangai Taste is worth a good drive Only For the XLB.
For any who see this thread, who weren't at Shanghai Taste a couple of nights ago and may have no idea what XLB is, I'll just say that Xiao Long Bao is a truly magical and savory ambrosial food when done well. Amidst the pantheon of Asian dumplings (how many are there? Asian food experts? A few thousand variants maybe?), I'd nominate XLB as surely the most interesting and at least as delicious as whatever other dumplings exist for which people would make a strong case. All great asian dumplings require much more skill than westerners realize. But XLB is in a special class. It appeals to the kids in all of us but, more importantly, is just really delicious and amazing in a "how'd they do that?" sort of way. The steam. The impossibly delicate wrappers characteristic of only the best versions on the planet. The unctuous and comforting broth which squirts from the soft dumpling when pierced. And, of course, the savory and pleasing pork (sometimes with crab or crab roe but usually pork) filling which also differentiates the great from the merely very good.
There's a not-too-active thread here on dr.com about XLB here. It's not that active because options in our area are few which is why Shanghai Taste deserves real consideration if you're a fan or have never tried them but like dumplings generally. Shanghai Taste is fine for an XLB intro or for a local XLB fix. Then, if you get hooked, you can buy air tickets to Shanghai (or, at least, the west coast) as a next step. 
For more of an XLB 101 type primer, this recent piece (by the Wall Street Journal, of all sources!) does a decent job. Of course, the Journal takes the lazy and easy way out by calling a Taiwanese restauranteur, Din Tai Fung, the world's "most celebrated purveyor." That may be true in terms of mass appeal. But, imho, it's hogwash in terms of where to go should you find yourself in Shanghai, where this is the best benchmark known to man.
Socialist
Posted 15 February 2013 - 12:18 PM
Shangai Taste is worth a good drive Only For the XLB.
Forgive me for being a dummy, but nothing on any of the versions of the menu posted above is labeled XLB. How can you tell which menu items represent that delicacy?
I was thinking about what a friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie
leviathan
Posted 15 February 2013 - 12:26 PM
Forgive me for being a dummy, but nothing on any of the versions of the menu posted above is labeled XLB. How can you tell which menu items represent that delicacy?
I'll let Porcupine or Ericandblueboy or goodeats answer that since I cannot. You could try to match the characters to the menu. 小笼包
But I would encourage you to not let it distract you. It quite doesn't matter.
They have them. Just ask for them. Just like you shouldn't let yourself get distracted by five spice beef or not-so-spicy spicy pork, or beef noodle soups and all the rest.
XLB. It's all and only about the XLB really. You don't need a stinkin' menu in any language.
This has been a public service announcement.
ill-tempered sea bass
Posted 15 February 2013 - 03:34 PM
Forgive me for being a dummy, but nothing on any of the versions of the menu posted above is labeled XLB. How can you tell which menu items represent that delicacy?
Scroll up to post #13, click on the first attachment, look in the left column, fifth one down: soup dumplings (shanghai xiao lon bao).
Socialist
Posted 15 February 2013 - 03:54 PM
Scroll up to post #13, click on the first attachment, look in the left column, fifth one down: soup dumplings (shanghai xiao lon bao).
Thanks! (It's in the right column, but I managed to find it.)
I was thinking about what a friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie
hammerhead
Posted 15 February 2013 - 04:28 PM
fruit bat
Posted 15 February 2013 - 05:42 PM
Scroll up to post #13, click on the first attachment, look in the left column, fifth one down: soup dumplings (shanghai xiao lon bao).
FWIW I didn't post because Albert Yi's synopsis was dead-on as was eventual praise of wonton. Beef soup with noodles: didn't think much of noodles, but the large morsel of beef in my bowl was delicious. Tendon reminded me of the overcooked roast (very well done) at British stepfamily's, only three days later: cold, dry, characterless. Soup dumpling: first one was great with lots of soup shooting out. Dough not exactly thin, but not doughy or tough. Second one had only 1/4 t. of soup at most, so there's a little inconsistency. Since I was late, I didn't get to try everything, but Mr. P graciously shared the last two bites of a wonderful salad of tiny cucumbers.
hammerhead
Posted 15 February 2013 - 06:09 PM
ventworm
Posted 02 April 2013 - 11:02 PM
New development--Shanghai Taste apparently did not have the proper type of license for dine in service. They were previously a carry out. They were told by the county to remove all but 10 seats until the problem is resolved. For now, either get carry out or go at odd hours.
line cook
59 Restaurant
Lakewood Country Club
leviathan
Posted 03 April 2013 - 01:39 AM
I haven't been yet, but I know the shopping center. Tiny, tiny place - it replaces a Chinese carryout.
New development--Shanghai Taste apparently did not have the proper type of license for dine in service. They were previously a carry out. They were told by the county to remove all but 10 seats until the problem is resolved. For now, either get carry out or go at odd hours.
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