First bites back part 2
After a bad dim sum scene in LA, noneifbysea was adamantly convinced that he was done with Chinese food. Ridiculous, right? So in a calculated way to get an Asian food fix, get a for-sure tally on the good list, and hopefully change NIBS’ view of all Chinese cuisine, we headed over to Sungari Pearl.
This is the only place we’ve ever been in Portland where one of us wondered out loud if we were underdressed. Somehow, our usual jeans and t-shirts seemed a little too casual in this glass-enclosed enclave. It just feels elegant in there. “It’s Portland,” I said. ‘We’re fine.” So we sat down, strategically placing the linen napkins on our laps to cover any bike grease marks.
Drinks! Always a fun cocktail list, and of course, I can’t remember for the life of me what I got. Something vodka based, with lemon. It was great. A perfect blend of tart and sweet (but not too sweet). The kind of cocktail that just screams ‘danger.’ I limited myself to one. Noneifbysea chose a margarita-like tequila cocktail. Of course it didn’t fit in a Chinese restaurant. Honestly, its like he wants it to fail.
To start, we each got a small bowl of the wintermelon soup. A delicately-flavored thick broth with bits of pink ham and ethereal chunks of melon. That’s right. Ethereal chunks. Large pieces of melon would appear on the spoon and melt away in your mouth. A little salt brought out the flavors even more. It’s like nothing else.
For the main, Moo-shoo pork and ginger chicken. The Moo-shoo is assembled by a waiter tableside, the plum sauce arriving alongside the meat and pancakes on fire! Food on fire? Bonus points! Our server doused the pancakes with the engulfed sauce, added the meat and veggies, and deftly rolled them up (with chopsticks, no less) for our hand-held convenience. It tasted great. A nice mix of sweet and savory, veggies with bite and a floury pancake.
The ginger chicken was fine. Ok. A little lukewarm and lacking in ginger flavor. It felt much more like any other Chinese restaurant, with somewhat fresher ingredients. Again, needed some salt. The moo-shoo was the clear winner of the duo.
All in all, a good dinner. Good enough to turn the rising tide of disdain for all of Chinese cooking stemming from Noneifbysea. We might even go back one day. Or maybe finally make it out to Wong King’s for Dim Sum. Then again, maybe it's too early to press our dum sum luck again.
food: probably the freshest, most interesting Chinese food around. We just wanted it a little warmer.
drink: great cocktail list. Questionable wine storage (glass case right where the sun hits? We’re worried!)
atmosphere: a little modern, a little cold. But for us, these are pluses.
Strikes: lukewarm food, pretty damn expensive
Tally: a plus point awarded
This is the only place we’ve ever been in Portland where one of us wondered out loud if we were underdressed. Somehow, our usual jeans and t-shirts seemed a little too casual in this glass-enclosed enclave. It just feels elegant in there. “It’s Portland,” I said. ‘We’re fine.” So we sat down, strategically placing the linen napkins on our laps to cover any bike grease marks.
Drinks! Always a fun cocktail list, and of course, I can’t remember for the life of me what I got. Something vodka based, with lemon. It was great. A perfect blend of tart and sweet (but not too sweet). The kind of cocktail that just screams ‘danger.’ I limited myself to one. Noneifbysea chose a margarita-like tequila cocktail. Of course it didn’t fit in a Chinese restaurant. Honestly, its like he wants it to fail.
To start, we each got a small bowl of the wintermelon soup. A delicately-flavored thick broth with bits of pink ham and ethereal chunks of melon. That’s right. Ethereal chunks. Large pieces of melon would appear on the spoon and melt away in your mouth. A little salt brought out the flavors even more. It’s like nothing else.
For the main, Moo-shoo pork and ginger chicken. The Moo-shoo is assembled by a waiter tableside, the plum sauce arriving alongside the meat and pancakes on fire! Food on fire? Bonus points! Our server doused the pancakes with the engulfed sauce, added the meat and veggies, and deftly rolled them up (with chopsticks, no less) for our hand-held convenience. It tasted great. A nice mix of sweet and savory, veggies with bite and a floury pancake.
The ginger chicken was fine. Ok. A little lukewarm and lacking in ginger flavor. It felt much more like any other Chinese restaurant, with somewhat fresher ingredients. Again, needed some salt. The moo-shoo was the clear winner of the duo.
All in all, a good dinner. Good enough to turn the rising tide of disdain for all of Chinese cooking stemming from Noneifbysea. We might even go back one day. Or maybe finally make it out to Wong King’s for Dim Sum. Then again, maybe it's too early to press our dum sum luck again.
food: probably the freshest, most interesting Chinese food around. We just wanted it a little warmer.
drink: great cocktail list. Questionable wine storage (glass case right where the sun hits? We’re worried!)
atmosphere: a little modern, a little cold. But for us, these are pluses.
Strikes: lukewarm food, pretty damn expensive
Tally: a plus point awarded
posted by canolive at 9:36 AM
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