Alright so the mods seemed to have stabilized things so maybe I’ll hang around.
I talked to Tao, the chef, through his wife Chloe/Szu. It turns out Tao made Sichuan for a brief time 10 years ago at Thailand Cafe, 302 Mass Av near MIT. I went a couple times and back then it was the most bracingly authentic Sichuan I had, it was neck and neck with the also short lived Top Garden in Tewksbury at the time. That rabbit in chili, whew, that was amazing. And then poof, they were gone, and 302 Mass Av got demo’ed. Tao is a trained in Chengdu master with 30 years under his belt. He lives to cook. He’s been all over NYC and Boston in places you’ve been to but you never knew he was there. Including Noah’s Kitchen. (Tao and Noah’s chef have the same master chef they trained under.)
Some changes are afoot, so if you want that Mongolian Shui Mai, I suggest you head over there now, and call ahead to make sure they are open. I’m not saying it will be off menu or not soon. TBD. Daily Lunch called it “fantastic” and I agree, it’s the dish I’ve eaten most often this year.
I am doing my part to keep them open - more takeout from there tonight! If my spouse isn’t making his own nu ro mian, he wants theirs, and who am I to argue?
Nice! Glad to have you stick around @anon6418899. Thailand Cafe - that’s a blast from (my) past. So Tao will have some serious chops. Awesome. And thank you.
@digga as long as people behave and put up with my occasional sass! @Thimes I’m sorry! Totes forgot the dumpling chef is in NYC for something personal, should be back by weekend or so! For now I super highly recommend calling ahead for any type of order! I wanted yesterday too, but that’s what Szu told me.
Okay wait a second. You never said they were going to close. You just said get the shumai before things change. And then the du ok’ing guy went out of town. Nothing about it closing
And I tried but sounds like maybe I missed out. The other food was good.
It was closed today probably snow the dumpling may be back in town.
I’m trying Shanghai Cuisine instead I think it’s fine but not NYC Flushing good. As the Japanese Prime Minister said about California rice during a domestic rice shortage, “Please do not panic, the taste is familiar.” Which is a very Japanese way of putting it. It’s around the level of Shanghai Gate/Fresh. I like that chef and he has pedigree but honestly I think Cantabrigians went a little gaga over it. Look up Cheli NYC and you’ll see what I mean. Boston punches way over its weight in regional Chinese but no one has dared to open a place that’s fine dining like the old Tse Yang or the new O Mandarin or Shorty Tang’s place. Boston is good but not that good. Frankly I thing Tao Li is one of the few who could pull something like that off. His contemporary at Noah’s alludes to that, it’s the nicest Chinese dining room in Boston so far with an emphasis on presentation and a serious tea program.
Anyway
I sure have a Kao Fu craving once in a while so I’ll come back. I can make it with pantry ingredients but I’m lazy I guess
Yes and they have shui mai I believe. They generally take Tuesday off. There’s like 180 people in the WeChat group, which is best way to ask them. You can ask english it’s okay
I had the Lunch Szechuan Spicy Chicken today, and it was delicious. Not only did they use dark meat, but the chilis were crisped up so you could actually eat them! This is a very rare occurrence for me that I was floored. Most places serve you chilis that have the consistency of plastic. And even worse, they are not even broken up. I got H&S soup today that was delicious.
That chicken looks properly fried too. And I love a H&S soup that isn’t gloppy and weird. I might have to talk the spouse into getting some next time we order.
Tao really is a master chef! It’s a team of 4 actually, 2 are trained-in-China ringers that Tao has worked with before in NYC and 1 more who is more of a prepper. Menus between Sichuan places don’t vary greatly to be honest, so for me, it’s mostly about sourcing and execution. I’m eating leftover Pork Belly and Chestnuts from a couple days ago, and the chestnuts are perfect for me. Just that little bit of an edge over other places I’ve tried it at. Yet that little bit makes you deeply appreciate what’s going on here.
I haven’t tried the Chongqing style chicken but yea it looks great. The side of cabbage is a nice touch. I love how they have Zojirushi thermoses for tea. The first time I saw Michael, the manager from Mongolia, I suspected it was his idea, it’s a cold weather move, right? I asked later on and yes, it was his idea. I like the thermos so much I bought the same identical model at the Burlington H-Mart. I only used it once for Hot Chocolate during the first blizzard haha
I think business has picked up for them since CNY and I’m happy to see that we are patronizing them!
