Sing Kee Seafood Restaurant

12/11/2011

Sing Kee Seafood Restaurant located at 42 Bowery in Manhattan's Chinatown has been open for nearly a month by now (December 2011) and I finally had a chance to try it. Sing Kee is located in an area that had been home to a similarly named restaurant "Shing Kee" during the 1990's. That Shing Kee was known as a good option for traditional Cantonese family-style dining and this new iteration carries on the tradition. Sing Kee serves traditional Cantonese food. Ordering is by done "family-style", that is, order an entree that is placed at the center of the table that is meant to be shared.

I was able to sample nearly 10 dishes during my visit. Many of the dishes we ordered were banquet style so here are the highlights and my thoughts:

1) The jelly fish cold plate, a traditional dish at banquets was exceptional for a few reasons. The jelly fish strands were rather thick, udon-noodle-like. One of the meats that were served with the dish was surprisingly a tasty pastrami! What a cross-cultural surprise!

2) The crab meat fish maw soup was exceptional. Real crab meat was used and the chicken broth used to make the soup base was fragrant and it's aroma could be noticed even before drinking. There was a nice consistency to the soup.

3) Seafood Bird's Nest (a.k.a. Taro basket) was really the highlight of the meal. This is because you would be hard pressed to find a taro nest in a Chinese restaurant these days that makes it out of real taro root. Most restaurant nowadays used fried noodles as the basket even if it is advertised as a taro basket on the menu. Kudos to Sing Kee for doing the right thing. It was also a big plus that the basket was crammed with scallops, shrimp and squid.

4) Ginger and Scallion twin lobsters were okay. Great care was made not to make it too salty. As I could tell, each lobster was about 1 1/2 pounds.

5) The Salt and pepper seafood dish included deep fried scallops, shrimp, squid made salt and pepper style. A-ok in my book, but a little more breaded than other restaurants. Once again, great care was evident in limiting salt.

6) We ordered a relatively expensive $30 dish that is called "Nor Mai Gai". Nor Mai Gai in Chinese is usually known as a Cantonese dim sum where sticky rice is steamed inside a large leaf. In Sing Kee's version, it consists of a "chicken" splayed out on a large dish. On the outside is fried crispy chicken skin. On the inside, is sticky rice (a.k.a. "nor mai fan"). The "chicken" is cut into square chunks. So what you actually eat is sticky rice encased in crispy chicken skin. I've been told that this dish is a throwback dish from 1970's Chinatown. No Chinese restaurant to my knowledge makes this dish today, and now we have this dish revived, a treat for sticky rice fans!

7) Stewed beef in squash is an entree of stewed beef inside a squash bowl. The beef was really tasty with a hint of curry and stewed to an exceptionally soft texture. The squash itself tasted almost like sweet potato and blended well with the beef juices.

Overall, this first experience has proven to be first rate and immediately ranks in my top three for family-style Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. The service level was excellent and attentive. Let's hope that the Sing Kee tradition of quality continues!

New York Sushi Restaurants: Traditional Japanese vs. Chinese Style

From my earliest days of sushi comsumption, which goes back to the late 1980's, New York City sushi restaurants have always been polarized between traditional Japanese sushi purists and the value sushi contingent.  Although I love everything about having a traditional sushi meal, my cheap roots have me standing firmly in the corner of the value sushi corner.

In New York City, as with many places I've been to, value sushi usually means Chinese-made sushi and Chinese-owned sushi restaurants.  Why has there been such a huge influx of Chinese sushi restaurants?  The reason behind this influx is the general business environment of the the Chinese restaurant business.  Chinese restaurants can be found in all corners of the United States and their number makes it a highly competitive business.  Even Asian food markets have made inroads in formerly sleepy suburbs, which have indirectly cut into the profits of Chinese restaurant operators.  Thus, Chinese-American owners and new Chinese immigrants have decided to diversify and have opened, Japanese, Thai, and even Mexican restaurants right here in Manhattan. 

It is quite easy to see why the operation of Chinese restaurants is an expensive proposition.  Customers have been conditioned through the years to expect huge portions of greasy food from these operators. More food equals fewer profits.  As for Japanese food, small portions equals big profits. 

Qualitatively, the entrance of Chinese operators into the Japanese restaurant market have created a dual, polarized choice among sushi consumers.  For the Cheap Guy (that is me), I have found that cheapness dictates that I go more often to Chinese-run sushi establishments.

Let's see what I get for my money for going to a Chinese-run sushi restaurant:

1. A soup and/or salad with an entree.
2. Potentially a free appetizer, edamame or seaweed salad.
3. Large maki rolls. (i.e. cut-up and hand rolls)
4. Large sushi and sashimi pieces
5. Large tempura
6. American style rolls, such as California Rolls and Spicy Tuna, etc.
7. Value prices, usually $2 to $3 less per roll, $5 to $10 less per entree.

Now, let's see what we get for going to a Traditional Japanese sushi eatery:

1. Impeccable quality in rice, preparation and presentation.
2. A greater variety in fish, including imported Japanese varieties not on the menu.
3. Greater interaction between the customer and sushi chef. Generally good service.

Now for the downsides of dining in a Chinese-run Japanese restaurant:

1. Potentially hurried and rushed service because of a need to turn over tables quickly due to their lower margins than their Japanese-run counterparts.
2. Less than fresh fish.  Sourcing and storage practices may be questionable depending on a restaurant's experience and staff.

Here are the downsides of dining in a Japanese-run sushi restaurant:

1. Confusion in ordering. Diners may need to know terms like "omakase", "isakaya", etc. 
2. American diners may need to know that Japanese restaurants don't offer American-style maki rolls.
3. Higher prices across the board. (But keep in mind that quality-mindedness reigns supreme at most Japanese-run restaurants.

So there you have it, a generalized summary of the two largest segments of New York sushi restaurants.  I firmly believe that sushi eaters in New York fall into one of the two camps.  To me, there is nothing wrong with either, but wouldn't it be a sushi lover's paradise if we could mix the upsides of both? and have value Japanese style sushi? I would love to live in that world!

Impressions of Boston

I have been here over a month in Boston on a work assignment. It seems like eons ago since my last blog entry. So without any hesitation, I want to share my thoughts about my stay in Boston, some related to food and some not. Please read and keep in mind that the writer sees most things from a New York perspective!

After having tried several Boston-area restaurants, I've come to the conclusion that places with decent ethnic food tend to reflect heavy immigration, which is truly the case in New York City. There are pockets of immigrant populations around the country where one group is well-represented, but there is nowhere in the United States where immigration is so diverse and from all corners of the globe as it is in New York City. This translates into "authentic" food. In my view, authenticity can mean anything. Food is not static and trends in ethnic food tends to reflect the size and age of a population and tradition, including local tradition. This fact weighs heavily on the Boston food scene.

From my observations, Boston's population is diverse. Picking out restaurants to reflect this tends to be difficult due to the fact that this diversity is spread out and immigrant populations do not dominate whole neighborhoods as they do in New York. Therefore, you really would need to be a real Bostonian to know where to go to find these gems. I can say for sure that you can find almost every type of cuisine in Boston, but you need a good guide or find restaurants online on your own. Here are a few generalizations and observations I can make about Boston:

1. Boston is a walking city, but you need to walk farther between restaurants.
2. Some Boston restaurants do not have obvious storefronts, since many are located in older buildings. You may have to step down into a building or go up a flight of stairs to get to a restaurant.
3. Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts do not all have restrooms and when they do, you can count on finding the homeless inside freshening up.
4. Boston's downtown and the waterfront are very quiet on the weekends: nary a soul to be found, nor an open restaurant.
5. Boston's cuisine reflects immigration their contribution to the evolution of their cuisine. For example, Boston's Italian neighborhoods, reflect the fact that immigration has really slowed down from Italy and their restaurants follow the traditional Italian-American style of cuisine handed down for four generations. Not much has changed, whereas in Chinatown, the moderate Chinese immigration has yet to change the 1980's to 1990's style of Chinese cuisine in Boston's Chinatown. New York, in comparison, has made great leaps forward in terms of Chinese regional cuisine and the evolution of Cantonese cuisine, helped in large measure by heavy Chinese immigration into New York. In a side note, I've read that the total Chinese-American population in Massachusetts is about 100,000, whereas in New York City alone, the population is about 350,000. This explains the difference in cuisine.
6. Bostonians resent tourist trap restaurants.
7. There are many transients in Boston, most notably students. I've never been in a city with so many colleges and universities concentrated in one area.
8. Having so many students hasn't translated into tons of student-budgeted restaurants. I admit that I haven't visited Cambridge yet, so I may be wrong.
9. Boston food is not cheap due to lack of competition.
10. Boston's mass transit is a-ok.
11. There are tons of aggressive panhandlers in Boston. In New York, the homeless are just mingling amongst themselves or splayed on the sidewalk.
12. Something about New England make people there very quiet and reserved. The only animation and joie de vivre were in the college kids.
13. Hostility towards the Yankees is real! I can attest to that!
14. You must accept that while in Boston, your lunch will cost $9 and above.
15. You can get twin lobsters for $15.75! Yay!
16. In New York's Chinatown, the waiters are bi-lingual. In Boston's Chinatown, most aren't.
17. To live here, you must get used to not being in a crowd.
18. In Boston, they do the eye-contact avoiding thing, just as well as we do here in New York.
19. Bostonians who use the T are not as nimble as New Yorkers in making room for others. They also have the same bad habit as New Yorkers in not moving to the center of the car and blocking exits.
20. Bostonians do not want Johnny Damon back on their team.

So there you have it, my short but sweet stay in Boston. I will be returning to the Big Apple tomorrow. I want to thank Boston for welcoming me with open arms and providing me with many memories. So long for now!