Blanca - Snout to Tail Dinner

Date of Dining: 1/10/2011

Price: $95 for special tasting menu

Location: 437 S Highway 101 #301, Solana Beach, CA 92075

http://www.dineblanca.com

The Quick Bit:
+ Very good creativity in dishes
+ Chef showcased a wide variety of cooking skills
+ Many "WOW" dishes
+ Good use of Asian Fusion to enhance dishes
+ Chef wanted to "go the extra mile" for the customers
+ Great showcase of Farm to Table
Δ Could have been fewer deep fried dishes
Δ Wines for pairing could have been poured earlier to allow them to open

When the conversation of the best restaurants in San Diego comes up, Blanca is usually part of the discussion. According to Blanca's owner Seth Baas, his focus for the restaurant is to bring great food and great wine together at an affordable price. This is even more challenging because Blanca has been the victim of an annual chef's carousel; just as a chef arrives and builds up his reputation with the restaurant well enough, he decides to leave because the San Diego clientele doesn't appreciate the cooking.

Blanca's latest chef is Gavin Schmidt (pictured above right), whose previous credits include working at 2 Michelin starred Coi in San Francisco. Chef Schmidt's approach to cooking highly revolves around the "farm to table" approach where he likes to showcase fresh and local ingredients. Chef Schmidt is an avid forager and shared with our group that several of the items on the menu every day include some locally foraged product. When previously asked about what he thought of the San Diego culinary scene, Chef Schmidt responded saying he thought that the true identity was still emerging and more exciting than the already developed San Francisco scene. Shortly after Chef Schmidt arrived in San Diego, a fellow blogger visited the restaurant to find out how Chef Schmidt compared to the previous chef. What followed was nothing but a glowing review, which interested many members of the San Diego Chowhound community to contact the chef for a special event. As Chef Schmidt was a member of Chowhound himself, it didn't take much more than that to get him on board to suggesting a Snout to Tail dinner where he showcased all the things he could do with a pig that he would special order for our group. 

Before getting into the review, I'd like to apologize for the low quality photos. Somehow during the meal, I bumped the camera and it changed the settings to take the lowest quality photos. Because of this, I've refrained from too much cropping or editing of the pictures.

Chef Schmidt prepared a special 9 course menu for this event along with special hors d'ourves prior to the meal. Additionally, the restaurant offered a wine pairing with the meal, which I elected to sample as well.

Appetizers:

Chaucuterie Plate

I wasn't able to take good notes of everything mentioned on this plate, but I remember Chef Schmidt mentioning salami, blood sausage, and not all of it being pork (some of it was lamb instead). Overall this was very good. Others at the table commented that what really impressed them and brought the entire dish together was the pickled vegetables that accompanied the meats.

pork-fiteroles

Pork-fiteroles - This was a play on profiteroles with the pork serving instead of the cream. The pork was very flavorful and the pastry dough provided a nice buttery contrast. These were a hit as an appetizer
Lettuce Wraps with crispy pork (not pictured) - There were bits of deep fried pork belly organized in lettuce wraps. This was my favorite appetizer as the crunch of the pork and the crunch of the lettuce was a very nice complement.
Garlic Sausage on a spoon (not pictured my photo was fuzzy) - This was my least favorite of the appetizers, but it was still really good. There was just nothing particularly memorable about it for me compared to the other items.

Korean Pork "tacos"

This was Chef Schmidt's take on Kogi BBQ - pork belly bbq with kimchee in a chicharrone taco shell. This was an expertly crafted dish that had the sweetness in the pork belly contrasting with the sourness of the kimchee and the crunch of the chicharrone. This was the consensus favorite of the hors d'ouerves.

Amuse Bouche

smoked potato foam, pork kidney, house made proscuitto, caviar

When Chef Schmidt explained this dish, he said that it contained house-made caviar so we asked him if he had fish in the back that he was squeezing to get the eggs. This dish was a very good dish and the smoked potato foam drew comparisons to the mashed potatoes from L'Atelier. However, the dish didn't work for me as an amuse. After combining all the components into one large mouthful, I was left with the taste of the kidney on my palette, which was not appetizing. Additionally after all the amazing hors d'ourves, this dish was overshadowed by the other ones we had already eaten.

First Course:

Skin Salad - fried pork skin with baby vegetables in various forms

This course was Chef Schmidt's hope for us to eat some vegetables over the course of the evening. What I really liked in this course was the yogurt chamomile, which acted as a dressing to tie the entire dish together. Because it was altered from the "modernist cuisine" process, the dressing was effectively suspended in a small pouch. When I bit into that pouch with some vegetables,the pouch exploded in my mouth to coat the vegetables. While I can't really say that I was floored by the taste of a bunch of raw vegetables, this dish was very fun for me to eat so I enjoyed it.

Mirror Pond Pale Ale

The Mirror Pond Pale Ale is an IPA from Bend, Oregon. When the IPA was first mentioned, I was somewhat tentative because I don't particular care for IPAs, and I also couldn't imagine how one would go well with what was effectively a salad. However, this ale ended up not being too bitter and it was actually a little sweet. The sweetness in the beer complimented the yogurt chamomile to make the course more interesting. Additionally, the carbonation in the beer added a layer of "playfulness" to the molecular portion. If I had to describe this beer with something more commonly known, I'd say it was a sweeter version of Stone Levitation.

Second Course

Dichotomy of the Pig Head - plan vs impulse, conform vs deviate, tradition vs unknown...  ...and sassafrass

First, this dish had 5 parts of the pig head: terrine of the head meat, braised cheek (in red wine), smoked tongue, pickled then fried ear, and brain-aise. The star of the dish for me was the pickled then fried pork ear. However I did enjoy the other elements as well. I didn't really like the tongue, but because it was paired with the brain-aise, the the brain-aise really saved the tongue for me as it was a great sauce.

Lamadrid Torrontes 2009

The Lamadrid was a sweet and flowery white meant to contrast the richness of the pig head. This wine opened immediately and was very easy to drink. Of the white wines served, this was my favorite. I was also surprised that a white was chosen to go with the head course as usually those flavors are stronger. This was a nice surprise for me as it showed that a sweet white could cut into the richness of offal flavors if done correctly.

Third Course

Blood and Flowers - Pork trotter, blood, cocoa, nasturtium

I was very impressed by the plating of this dish. I felt like Chef Schmidt had invented some new art form named spherism and we were the first group to feast our eyes and then our stomach on the art. There were two sauces on the plate - the first was the blood sauce which was blood mixed with cocoa, and the second was the puree of nasturtium. The nasturtium sauce had a nice pepperiness that contrasted really well with the blood. When the sauces were mixed, they formed a very nice dipping sauce for the trotter. As for the trotter, it was cooked nicely and all the gelatinous bits were prevalent for our enjoyment.

Torre Gaia Sannio Falanghina 2009

This wine was described as having a "funk" quality to it. Diners had often complained about the funkiness, but complained even louder when the wine was removed off the wine list. I didn't really understand what was described as the "funk" but this white had a very tart dryness to it. It didn't really go well with the pork trotter, but that could just be because the dish worked very well on its own.


Fourth Course

Chowder - pancetta and potato broth, various clams, jown and razor clam 'ravioli'

This dish was the first course that came with a flavor explosion, mostly from the impressive pancetta and potato broth. The complaint that we all had was that the serving vessel for the dish needed to be re-thought. The bowls were probably 4 inches deep and it was really difficult to get the knife inside to cut the ravioli, and it was also difficult to get a large spoonful of the delicious broth. From a personal perspective, I was slightly disappointed because Kaito has taught me to appreciate the flavor of the raw razor clam. I would have liked the razor clam and the geoduck to be raw and the broth more like a "shabu shabu" type of slightly cooking the meat so that it still retained more of the natural sweetness in the meat from being raw. The "various clams" turned out to be a mix of  manilla, geoduck and littleneck clams.

Marc Jomain "Les Tillets" 2007 

This was a dry chardonnay that paired well with the chowder. The sweetness complimented the sweetness of the clams, and the dryness of the wine made you want to get more of  the broth. I felt like this wine probably had more going for it, but it didn't get a chance to open as the courses were coming relatively quickly.

Fifth Course

Surf and Turf - seared rock cod, pork cider jus, pork belly apple

As I was the slowest to take photos and notes, I was always the last one to start eating. As I was still taking the photos of this dish, I knew that this was going to be a good one. How did I know? All conversation stopped and the only sounds I could hear was the the sound of the utensils on the plate. The rock cod was cooked perfectly with crispy skin and not overcooked. The pork cider jus was an amazing sauce. After I finished the proteins, I was still sopping up the sauce with the bread.

A to Z Pinot Noir

The A to Z Pinot Noir is one that is on the Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2010. I had high expectations for this wine that never materialized. This was a combination of two factors. The first was just that the wine never had a chance to open, so the flavors didn't have the opportunity to develop. The second was that the pork cider jus flavor was so strong that it needed a darker red to stand up to the flavor.

Sixth Course

Grilled Pork Chop - brassicas, pamesan, picholine vinagrette

The naming of this dish needs to be reworked because the pork was not the star. The star was the cauliflower (I want to say gratin but Gavin definitely didn't call it that) cheese accompaniment with the parmesan cracker and broccoli on top. There were some comments that the veg may be too salty, but we determined that all the salt was the salt from the parmesan and wasn't the fault of the cauliflower. The pork was good also, but my piece was slightly overcooked. The good part of the pork was the fat caps around the edges that were really tasty. One diner remarked that the fat in this pork chop was almost like "kobe pork" because it made the pork so flavorful.

Edward Sellers "Le Thief" 2006

This wine is a GMP blend of 65% syrah, 21% grenache, and 14 mouvedre. I really didn't like the taste of this wine on its own as it was more of the moldy muted flavor in wine that I don't usually appreciate. However, when this wine paired with the cauliflower gratin, it really changed the complexion of the wine and made it more palatable.

Seventh Course

Dumpling - braised hock, foie gras, truffle dashi

This was my favorite dish of the night. First, Chef Schmidt brought the bowls out with lids and orchestrated it so everyone opened at the same time, allowing the mouth-watering truffle aroma to wash over the room at the  same time. I put all the components into my mouth at the same time, closed my eyes and had a private party for a minute. The foie was cooked perfectly and the decadent richness was perfectly complimented by the shaved black truffle.

One very pleasant surprise to this dish was the dumpling skin. The skin seemed to be handmade in house (which many fine dining places actually do). However, what was very surprising is that the thickness of the skin was made just right. Most other "western" restaurants that try to make dumpling skin invariably make it too thick or too thin. However, Chef Schmidt managed to get the thickness done correctly.

Domaine de la Renjarde Massif d'Uchaux 2007

This was my favorite red wine of the night. It drank like a nice fruity pinot and was very easy to drink. It was pretty much what I had been expecting out of the A to Z pinot and didn't get. The only downside to this wine was that it didn't pair well with the strong flavors of the dumpling. This would have been a much better pairing with the Eighth Course...

Eighth Course

Chef Schmidt brought the pork butt out and carved it tableside

Farm elements without the pork

A Day on the Farm - soil, seed, sprout, root, flower

Gavin brought out a large roasted Pork Butt that had been cooking all day and carved it tableside to top on the vegetables. The pork in this dish was once again very enjoyable, especially the fat-capped crispy skin. However, having such a large piece of pork as the eighth course was somewhat overwhelming by this point. My palette also hadn't recovered from the previous course to fully appreciate all the intricate flavors of the vegetables and nuts.

Palazzo 2006 Napa Valley Red

This pairing was actually supposed to be the Palazzo 2008 Cabernet Franc, but they made a mistake. The wine served ended up being a blend of 68% merlot, 22% cabernet franc, 10% cabernet sauvignon. I felt that this wine would have been had it been given a chance to open, but it didn't have the opportunity (Additionally you can see the glassware may have been incorrect). This was a stronger red that I felt would have gone better with the dumpling course.

Ninth Course

Pumpkin Pie 2011 - Tahitian squash frozen meringue, bacon brittle, spiced chichacones, maple ice cream

The maple ice cream with the bacon bits started off this dessert wonderfully. However, what I really remember is the bacon brittle. Gavin managed to capture the essence of the bacon flavors in the brittle and succeed in a bacon dessert where others have failed before.

Royal Oporto Tawny Port

This was a nice port wine to finish the meal with. However, it didn't really pair well with the pumpkin meringue. The pairing with the maple ice cream suggested that it would be an excellent pairing for chocolate.

At this point, one of the other diners decided to open an old Bordeaux to share with the entire table as well:

1995 Chateau Canuet

This wine was 1-2 years past its prime as it had a lot of moldy taste in it and the fruit flavors were muted. However, it was still the best wine of the night. It drank very smoothly and the complex fruit flavors would have paired well with many of the courses during the night. The wine was good enough that I remember the taste of the wine the following day.

Post-dinner:

Blood Orange Truffles

Following the main dinner, the meal concluded with what Chef Schmidt called Blood Orange Truffles. These were made with pork blood and chocolate. These pieces of chocolate also confirmed that the tawny port paired much better with chocolate than the pumpkin pie.

Overall I was extremely impressed by my experience at Blanca. The range of the dishes being playful to creative to tasty was a very enjoyable experience. I also was able to remember many of the flavors of the night the next day, which is always a good indicator of having a great meal. While Chef Schmidt didn't have to provide the various appetizers and extra dessert, adding those showed creativity and was a very welcome touch.

Additionally, the cauliflower gratin kicked off an interesting discussion... can one eat at Blanca without eating meat and still be satisfied? Stay tuned...

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[Updated] George's California Modern

Date of Dining: 4/23/2011
Price: $65 per person for 5 course tasting menu
Location: 1250 Prospect, La Jolla, CA 92037
Restaurant Website

The Quick Bit:
+ Great Ocean View from dining room
+ Attentive Wait Staff
+ Good price/selection of wines
Δ Caliber of service could be more consistent
Δ Kitchen and Front of House could communicate better
Δ Food could be more inspired
Δ Portion size perhaps could have been larger for the price
Δ Pacing of the courses could have been more relaxed

When I first moved to San Diego, I was still a closet foodie. Upon doing some research, the fine dining restaurant that seemed to be the consensus best restaurant was George's California Modern (better known just as George's). Being the closet foodie, I feared that by going there I was way ahead of myself in my ability to appreciate the food, and developed almost an Eleanor-like trepidation about the place. Fast forward to today and I had still never been to George's.

George's kitchen is run by Trey Foshee, a graduate of CIA Hyde Park. His style emphasizes the flavors of that which are fresh and local. As such, the produce at George's is sourced from Chino Farms, and the menu makes no secrets about hiding that fact. Chef Foshee was named one of America's Ten Best New Chefs in 1998 and a James Beard House Guest Chef.

One of the little-known things about George's is that there's actually a 7 course tasting menu for $95 (George's also offers a 5 course tasting menu for $65 which everyone knows about). Apparently the 7 course menu is so unknown that when I called to make reservations for the 7 course menu two weeks in advance, the special events director that I was direct to was unaware of it. However, she did go check with the kitchen and then confirmed that they do in fact have a 7 course menu. Furthermore, when I inquired more about the tasting menus, I was assured that I would be able to pick some dishes that I definitely wanted off the main menu and the chef would be sure to incorporate those into the tasting.

Excited that I would get to pick the highlights of the meal, I set about studying the menu of the restaurant prior to arriving so I could determine which wine to bring. I was even called to confirm my reservations and asked during the confirmation if I was still interested in the 7 course tasting menu. Because I figured I would have some command of the menu, I confidently selected a Spanish Red, which would otherwise be very dangerous to bring to a seafood establishment. Upon our arrival, the waiter asked what we would be having and I informed him that I would like the 7 course tasting and that I had 3 of the courses I wanted. He diligently wrote down my requests and went to check with the kitchen if my request could be accommodated. However upon his return, I was informed that I was not allowed to order the 7-course menu and that I had "not called early enough" to arrange the menu. To add insult to injury, I would not be allowed to select any courses from the menu because the tasting menu for the night was solidly prix fixe. Of course this caused even more problems because one of my companions had a dining restriction against pork, which was the main course of the evening. Luckily, the waiter confirmed that a substitution to a hangar steak was an option for this course. Despite feeling like I had arranged to go on a date with Bait and Switch to end up on a double date with Conflict Diamond instead (see 5:40 of video), we went ahead and ordered the 5-course tasting menu.

Update: I was contacted by the General Manager of George's to say that I should try the "Chuck Eats Tasting Menu" and to get that menu, should contact the restaurant at least 4 days in advance and not dine on a weekend. Furthermore the reservation should be made specifically with their Director of Sales, Kristine Fogarty.

Amuse Bouche:

Crab with picked ramps on top of shaved radish and bits of apple

This course failed as an amuse. Because of the way it was composed, it was very difficult to get all the elements into my mouth in a single bite at once. Once the elements were in my mouth, I felt like there were too many vegetables and the flavors formed a dissonant chord rather than the harmonious one. I also felt like the course lacked some salt (at least in the crab) to bring out some more flavors.

First Course:

"Inside Out" Fish Tacos 

After being featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the food network, this dish has received a lot of attention, and rightfully so. The fish for the day was yellowfin tuna, but the waiter informed me that the fish changes daily based on whatever would work the best. A tune tartare filling is wrapped in a sliced tuna shell with bits of fried corn on the outside and the dish is accompanied by a piece of fried avocado.

This dish was the best dish of the night - the flavors were outstanding and there was both hot and cold contrast and textural contrast in the dish. The oil of the fish was well-complemented by the oil in the avocado. The cilantro added a very good freshness to the dish as well.

My only complaint about this dish is that while it was a great dish, it was not a "wow" dish for me. I feel like I have eaten the elements of this dish before, but it is more evolutionary (to include texture contrast) than revolutionary.

Second Course:

Smoked foie gras - picked plum puree, beats, marinated konbu

This was another successful dish. One of my companions had a bad experience with foie gras (goose) in the past and was fearing that she wouldn't like this dish. However, the foie gras (duck) in this convinced her that she just had one bad experience. The marinated konbu was a nice compliment to the foie gras and the beats. I didn't really understand the picked plum puree as the sweetness of it was covered up by the sweetness of the beats, and there really wasn't enough of it to add much flavor. The slice of ginger added a nice small spice kick.

As for minor nitpicks, the flower didn't really make sense to me in this dish, and the large piece of ginger didn't make much sense either. I feel like mincing the ginger and integrating it more in the dish would have made more sense than just sticking a large slice there.

Third Course:

Porcini-Glazed Bone-in Halibut - peas, asparagus. braised radish, Meyer lemon yogurt

Although there are many incarnations of the dish, the halibut at George's seems to be considered the signature dish, and has both been much maligned and praised. I fall into the camp of hating it.

First the good stuff; what I noticed immediately when this dish arrived was that the aroma of the halibut was heavily prevalent and that the dish could be experienced with smell much before taste. The halibut was cooked well, as were all of the vegetables.

Despite good cooking technique, this dish fell flat. While the individual components were made well, I didn't understand the big picture of the dish. The peas were bathed in the Meyer lemon yogurt and I didn't feel like they taste worked at all. The long green leafed herb was overpowering in the dish. After eating the small spring with a bite of halibut, I only tasted the herb.

Fourth Course:

Cider Braised Pork Belly and Slow Roasted Loin - Chino Farms Greens, blue cheese,
caramelized onion arancini

I took one bite of the loin and another of the pork belly and sent this dish back. Whoever seasoned it was very heavy-handed with the salt, and the only thing I could taste was salt. I had to drink one and a half glasses of water after the two bites to recover my palette from the salt overload.

After the pork was removed, we were informed the chef decided to substitute with the hangar steak.

Fourth Course (take two):

Prime Hangar Steak

Before getting into the steak, let me point out that the companion with the pork dining restriction was served this at the same time as the pork. When the pork was removed, the companion's hangar steak was not removed. This made it so that one person at the table was eating while the rest were watching him eat. By the time the replacement entrées were brought, the first person had finished eating. At this point he was forced to watch the rest of the table eat.

While I understand that restaurants are a business with a bottom line, usually when you go to a restaurant that is "fine dining" it is a reasonable expectation that if multiple entrées at a table are sent back, then all the entrées will be returned so that there is not the "watching other people eat" issue. I guess the problem at George's is that there is somewhat of an identity crisis with whether the restaurant is fine dining or not. My definition of fine dining is that the food costs at least $50 per person. It is conceivable that a couple could go to George's and order an appetizer to share, 2 entrées, and a dessert to share and for that meal to come up less than $50 per person. However when someone orders the tasting menu, they've now crossed the "fine dining barrier" so the service could stand to potentially be improved.

The steak was cooked very well, and the hangar cut imparted a lot of natural flavor into the beef. The greens with shitake complimented the steak very well, but the mashed potatoes were a failure. They potatoes had a smoky flavor to them, but the smoke was more of an acrid and offensive smoke than a gentle infusion of smoke. Furthermore, it seemed like the temperature of the potatoes was not correct as I found clumps in the potato that made the texture unpleasant as well. The half baby carrot also didn't make sense to me as the flavor didn't really contribute much to the dish.

Fifth Course:

Red Wine Compressed Chino Farms Strawberries - goat cheese espuma, lemon balm, baby brioche, black pepper sorbet, strawberry dust

My first bite into this was one of immense satisfaction as I felt the dessert had captured the essence of strawberries. My second bite included some of the goat cheese, which I felt complimented the strawberry, but mellowed the flavor somewhat. My third bite included some of the sorbet, and I was almost forced to spit out the food. The black pepper flavor of the sorbet was so compressed that the pepper gave a huge offensive peppery kick to what otherwise should have been sweet and delightful. The sorbet was akin to inviting a heavy metal guitar soloist to launch into a solo during the climactic moments of a classical symphony.

By the time I had removed the sorbet from the dish, my palette had been contaminated by the pepper. Each bite no longer tasted as good as the previous ones and the dish was ruined.

Blogger's note: When I first returned from George's my inclination was to write this review immediately and completely vent my anger at not being able to have a 7 course menu and the somewhat sloppy policy of not removing the table's entrees. Instead, I decide to wait at least 48 hours to see if cooler heads would prevail. What has been written is perhaps not as bad as it would have been if I had written it immediately, but I think it still captures the essence of what I felt was a very disappointing experience.

While I've been told that I'm developing a reputation as a very harsh and unreasonable critic on this blog, my experience at George's failed to live up my expectations. My guess is that the 7 course tasting menu is simply unavailable on weekends, and had that been communicated to me from the start, I would be more forgiving in some of the comments. The food was average (for fine dining), but above average compared to some other places in San Diego. The only really good dish was the inside out fish taco, but I wouldn't really even call it memorable.

Usually after an experience at a restaurant like this, I would say that I'm never going back, but since George's is my Eleanor in San Diego, it is likely I will return someday. Hopefully they will do much better at that time.

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PotaTo Day

(Portal Two Day)


I decided to try and do this post as a juxtaposition of nerdiness and foodie. Let me know how it works.

If this doesn't make sense, watch this video first.

This was a triumph

I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS

It's hard to overstate my satisfaction

Aperture Science
We do what we must
because we can
For the good of all of us
except the ones who are dead

But there's no sense crying over every mistake

You just keep on trying til you run out of cake

And there's science to be done

And you make a neat gun
For the people who are
Still Alive

I'm not even angry
I'm being so sincere right now
Even though you broke my heart
and killed me

and tore me to pieces

And threw every piece into a fire

As they burned
it hurt because
I was so happy for you

Now these points of data make a beautiful line
And we're out of beta
We're releasing on time
...

Happy Potato Day!

 

Legal Stuff:

Aperture science logo by ~dj-corny

Portal gun by emilyskeith

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Da Dong (Tuanjiehu) Roast Duck Restaurant

Date of Dining: 3/24/2011

Location: 北京Beijing朝阳区团结湖路3号 邮政编码

Tuanjiehu Beikou, Dongsanhuan Lu, Bldg. 3

Price: Varies, Duck is approx $35 USD

The Quick Bit

+ Exceptional Roast Duck

+ Creative Modernized Menu

+ Good Plating

+ Use of Modernist Cuisine techniques

Δ The seating could have been more organized

Δ Could have been more flexible in meat temperatures

Δ Service could be improved

Photo of the Dining room

Since my plane arrived "early" to Beijing, I was able to have the first night be free for exploration. We met up one of my Mom's college friends who volunteered to show us some of Beijing. He said that Beijing cuisine is known for three things: spicy hot pot, xha jiang mein, and (of course) peking duck. I would be remiss to say that I'm not a big noodle fan, and I've had much more luck with Taiwanese hot pot sauces than the ones from China, so I decided that if there was only 1 great meal in Beijing, it would have to be peking duck. A quick search of the English chow forums showed that the "best" peking duck in Beijing would be had either at Made in China or Da Dong. Since Made in China seemed to be $$$$$, it was a simply decision to try and go to Da Dong.

One of my friends told me that you don't make reservations at places in China; this may still hold true for small places, but for larger establishments it definitely helps to call ahead. Of course sometimes it's hard to tell if a place is small or large from reading about them, but I'd say it's better to call ahead and see if they are available. The thing to realize about reservations in China is that there are basically two waiting lists; the one for walk-ins and the one for reservations. Traditionally the seating is handled by alternating one party from each list, so even if you do call ahead, don't expect to be seated immediately upon arrival. As previously stated, we didn't have a reservation and were informed we would have to wait 1 hour.

Like many successful Chinese restaurants, Da Dong started as a single restaurant but has since opened many locations. We happened to visit the original location (although I didn't know it at the time). Apparently other locations are larger and we may have had less of a wait. After waiting 90 minutes, we were finally seated.

Da Dong Menu

The menu for Da Dong was well-made and had plenty of food porn photos included. The menu we received included a lot of English to explain about how some of the dishes came to fruition.

Smoked and Braised Local Fish

I forgot the name of this dish, but it came out first. The fish appeared to be smoked as there was a nice smoky finish to the flavor of the meat. It was then braised in a rich soy sauce to give it a slightly sweet finish. Overall this dish was a great appetizer to the rest of the meal. Additionally, the fish was cooked in such a way that the bones could be eaten as well, so there was no need to pick away small tiny bones.

Sauteed Bean Sprot

A staple for any Chinese meal is to order the seasonal house vegetable in a stir fry. We decided to get the bean sprout. This bean sprout was cooked with exceptional wok skill so that there was a lot of that wok hei effect imparted into the vegetable.

Chef Dong's Braised Eggplant

As I stated previously, I'm not a big fan of eggplant, but my Mom adores it, so we went ahead and ordered this dish. This dish is a braised eggplant that is infused with soy and the fragrance of Chinese flowers. It is garnished with roasted garlic that is eaten along with the eggplant. I tried a piece of eggplant, which was okay alone, but when I tried it with the roasted garlic, I actually enjoyed the dish. The garlic provided a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the eggplant.

wonton dish initially

Action Shot of the broth being poured into the wonton

Shrimp and Pork Wonton Dish

These were a pork and shrimp wonton soup where the soup is poured tableside. The greens were mung bean sprouts, and I don't think the flowers were edible. These wontons were prepared exceptionally. The wrapper was prepared fresh and the pork and shrimp mixture had a good balance and texture. The wontons were steamed prior to plating. The broth was a hearty "bone" broth most likely braised for hours with pork bones and then strained to give a clean finish. I enjoyed that the broth was poured tableside as it prevented the wonton from getting soggy.

Boston Lobster Noodle

These noodles were made from the meat of a lobster, most likely by using pureeing the lobster meat and then adding xantham gum and piping them out. The noodles were completely lobster taste with a very nice chewy noodle texture. The noodle was accompanied by two dipping sauces; a grilled shallot based sauce and the xha jiang (black bean) sauce. I preferred the shallot-based dipping sauce, but the xha jiang sauce was very good as well. The reason the xha jiang sauce didn't work really well with the lobster was that the black bean flavor masks the sweetness of the lobster meat, so it would have been better with regular noodles.

Beef with Green Lemon and Sea Salt

For the beef course, a chef came tableside and cooked the beef for us. As you can see from the photo, the quality of the beef was very high as the meat had very nice marbling throughout. I was very excited about this dish until the chef asked what temperature we wanted the beef. For anyone not familiar with Chinese beef cooking temperates, there's basically a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is raw and 10 is well done. Seeing the marbling in the beef, I thought I'd go ahead and ask for medium rare (usually 3 to 4), but the chef was appalled at my suggestion of undercooking the beef and said that he could only do 7 or 8. Reluctantly I agreed to the 7, but suggested that cooking it less would be acceptable.

I'm guessing there's a little more pink in the photo that what is usually served, but I ended up enjoying the dish immensely. The beef is cooked in the pan without any seasoning other than it's own natural fat as the fat melts. the meat is then plated on a plate of salt mixed with green lemon zest. When taking a serving, one dips the meat in the salt on the plate to achieve the desired amount.

Cooking the beef in it's own fat allowed the beef to get the fatty finish in beef that I enjoy. I did try a piece of beef without any salt and it was very disappointing, but by dipping the beef in the salt, all the natural beef flavors were enhanced and enjoyable. The green lemon zest in the salt added a nice finish as well as it simultaneously added the hint of acidic freshness and a small hint of sour bitterness.

Peking Duck:

DaDong "SuperLean" Roast Duck

Despite the many successful dishes, my mouth was watering with anticipation as I saw the chef roll out the trolley with our Peking duck. At Da Dong, there are three ways to eat the duck: just the skin, the "traditional" rice paper wrap, and the sesame bun wrap. The waitress decided to show us the three methods.

Peking Duck Condiment Plate

Just Skin method for eating Peking duck

In the skin method, the peking duck skin is dipped in sugar and then eaten. While this sounds somewhat scandalous, this approach actually works very well because the duck skin at Da Dong is so lean and crispy. Eating the duck skin with the sugar is one of those things that is just so wrong that it becomes right. The sugar mixed with the crispy skin and fat of the duck seems like a ticket to an early grave, but the combination was immensely enjoyable.

Traditional Method for eating Peking duck

In the traditional method, the rice paper wrap is layed on a plate. One dips duck meat into the hoisin sauce and then spreads it inside the rice paper before setting down the meat. Then some sliced scallions are added and the rice paper is folded like a small burrito.

The peking duck was very enjoyable using the traditional approach as well. The hoisin sauce complements the duck very well, and the scallions add the hint of acidic freshness to contrast the sweetness of the sauce and the fattiness of the duck. 

When we asked the waitress why there were so many ways to eat the Peking duck, she said that Da Dong first came up with the just skin method. However, because it was so successful many other "unscrupulous" restaurants violated "chef law" and copied them. This was very easy to do because all you have to do is have some crispy duck skin and dip it in sugar. Because of this, Da Dong invented a third way to enjoy Peking duck, which should also be the best way.

Sesame Bun method for eating Peking duck

In the third method for enjoying Peking duck, some hallow sesame puffs are brought out. Inside the sesame puff, one still uses the duck meat to add some hoisin sauce, but the "rest" of the garnishes in the garnish plate are also added including the garlic, cucumber, radish, pickles, and preserved vegetables.

Although one has to add more duck meat for counterpoint, I did enjoy the third method the most. The mix of the different garnishes added the most contrast in flavors, and the sourness of the pickles and preserved vegetables was very pleasant to the palette.

Duck Bone Soup

As one purchases the entire duck, following the carving of the duck, the bones are taken into the kitchen where they are cooked to create a duck bone soup. The white color comes from a bit of milk that is added to the broth. The broth is indeed very rich and my guess is that instead of cooking your particular duck carcass, the kitchen probably uses bones from the previous night to prepare the next night's soup. 

Sugarcoated Fruits Dandelion

For dessert, we had the "dandelion" fruit. This dish is basically some fruit that is coated in sugar, allowed to cool and then spun in a cotton candy wrap to resemble a dandelion. The fruit in my dandelion was tamarind, which was a very nice surprise for me since I had never had it before as an actual fruit. Additionally, I was tempted by many small street vendors selling the tamarind on the stick that I could never actually buy in the future, so it was good that I was able to eat the tamarind here to get that temptation out of the way. This dish was very fun and creative and it was a nice way to end the meal even though it wasn't mindblowing in flavor.

Fruit Plate

As is customary with Chinese restaurants, they did bring out one more fruit plate with the bill. The fruit seemed a little early in the season and weren't particularly ripe.

With its creative menu, good plating, and use of modern techniques in Chinese cooking, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal at Da Dong. There were a few problems with waiting to get a table and the service was mediocre at best, but I'll let that go as a cultural difference. For anyone visiting Beijing looking for a slightly upscale, but still affordable place to eat Peking duck, I'd easily recommend Da Dong. There were many more menu items that we didn't even explore. If I ever return to Beijing, I'll be sure to pay another visit to Da Dong.

All in all, this experience is enough for me to award Da Dong with the Megabyte Award

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