Hi! First time posting a new topic. Apologies if I’ve messed something up! I seem to recall there’s a regional chinese topic map somewhere but I don’t know how to get this place on there.
I have been to the Palo Alto location once and the Mountain View location once. The food seems essentially the same between the two but I would need to visit more to confirm. The PA location seems to be run by a pair of brothers while the MV location seems to be run by an older lady.
Mock Roasted Duck (MV/PA): On point. Served on a blah pile of broccoli and crinkle cut carrots with a red-flecked clear sauce. But the “duck” itself! It has a beautiful layer of mock crispy orange skin above a layer of mock fat (some kind of starch involved? The PA version was a bit sweet, but the MV one was quite balanced). The “meat” itself tasted nice and had a good texture. The menu says it’s seitan and shiitake mushrooms. Each slice also has a section of “bone” made from a mushroom stem. The entire effect is unreasonably close to actual duck in taste and texture. The MV lady suggests it’s made from scratch, not from a can in a food service order catalog.
Salt and Pepper Chicken (MV/PA): Completely different texture from the duck. The “chicken” here came in deep fried small “meatballs”. When bitten, they revealed longer shreds.
Some kind of tofu hotpot (MV): Generic brown gloopy american chinese takeout sauce. Firm tofu triangles. Small pieces of mock ham throughout. A bit more variety in vegetables; came with bok choy and some other things as well as the same broccoli and crinkle cut carrots. It was ok, but a far cry from the ones in Real Chinatowns (or Real Sprawling Cantonese-Heavy Suburbs).
Beef broccoli (PA): Not trying as hard to “be meat” as the “poultry”. Looks and tastes like soy curd sheets. Comes in generic brown gloopy american chinese takeout sauce. I think it captured the spirit of a beef broccoli takeout order but would not satisfy a specific craving for it. Still good on its own merit, though.
A lot of the stir fries use the same broccoli and carrots. They were fine but I’m not a fan of the repetition. The proteins on the other hand are remarkable and unique in the chinese vegetarian scene. I’d go back to try a few more.
