Reminder: please include [City, Neighborhood] in your post title above.
Tonight we try out Redwood Bistro after sck asked me offline to check out this new Asia eatery which had a soft opening in Redwood City, The chef owner was said to come from 5A’s which closed in Burlingame a few years ago.
They have open a new place in Redwood City at the old Panda Dumpling site (there were two short place which the names escape me now)…
The menu was reduced greatly and is more a more friendly to non-Chinese customers.
We order three dishes
Hot and Sour Soup which was mild but very good and great on a rainy night.
Changqing Style Chicken with Vegetables. which was well done with deep fried chicken pieces with stir fry cucumber, onions, bell peppers and french fries this work well. What was a surprise was how well the french fries worked. Wish there was nor potatoes.
Lastly we had the Water Boiled Fish Fillets, again a well done dish the fish was not over cooked and it looked more spicy then it was.
The staff was friendly and well versed in English so it would be easy for non-speaking Chinese speakers.
I did discuss with the owner’s son on how limited the menu was compared with the old 5 A’s and he informed me that this new place would have a more limited menu and would focus on the customer base in the area. He did say that if we had request from the old menu and the kitchen had a ingredients he would try to honor our request but the dumpling and knife cut noodles and Northern dim sum dishes would not be available since the chef did not have the time to make at this location but after they have more time they might expand it.
I think that this new eatery is something that adds to Redwood City taste buds.
I was told the after 6 PM there is more parking in the local parking lots.
I did see a nice menu and will have to check it out soon.
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Thank you for the report![quote=“yimster, post:2, topic:7921”]
I did discuss with the owner’s son on how limited the menu was compared with the old 5 A’s and he informed me that this new place would have a more limited menu and would focus on the customer base in the area. He did say that if we had request from the old menu and the kitchen had a ingredients he would try to honor our request but the dumpling and knife cut noodles and Northern dim sum dishes would not be available since the chef did not have the time to make at this location but after they have more time they might expand it.
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I certainly understand their rationale given the demography of the area. Though it may be to their benefit to experiment the menu to not automatically assume authentic dishes won’t sell. Cases in point are I Dumpling and Panda Dumpling. Mostly authentic dishes and they draw crowds that appreciate that. But, since they just opened, they certainly have their hands full just getting started instead of worrying about having 2 menus.
Oh I didn’t know the chef is the owner. I found it curious that the Facebook person behind their page asked me a couple of times where I got the Leshan info from. I am guessing I was probably conversing with the owner’s son. That would make sense.
Chester is the son and and he is there is the evening’s and very helpful I am sure he can help out in arranging some dishes off the menu. I will try a lunch specials which seems like a deal next.
I got the dan dan noodle, beef noodle and the Redwood chicken. The redwood chicken was better than the other two with a generous amount of numbing chilis and ginger. Both the beef chunks and the beef broth was unusually sweet. The dan dan noodle was not memorable.
I suspect, just like the menu, the flavor profile of the dishes were somewhat adjusted to the local clientele. I called in the order, but I wonder if one can ask them to tune the flavors if dining in.
Did the dan dan have any preserved vegetables and pork in it? From the look of the pics on yelp, their Szechuan cold noodles have minced pork and the Redwood Original spicy noodles have pork shreds in a soupier sauce.
Was the beef noodle soup spicy? I’ve been confused about the naming conventions used by local Sichuan restaurants. Several Sichuan restaurants list a variant of “Beef Stew Noodle Soup” 紅燒牛腩面 (red braised), others list a dish listed as “Sichuan style” or “Spicy” beef noodle soup, and some list both dishes. Are these different dishes or are both the one described on Lucky Peach as Hong shao niu rou mian: 红烧牛肉面?
Some pork, don’t recall preserved veggies. I asked about the difference between the original spicy noodle vs dan dan and they said that the original one was hotter.
Beef noodle soup was not spicy at all. Sweet and 5-spice-y was more like it.
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Last night my family had our year ending dinner here. We arrive at 7PM and found every table full had had to wait for 15 minutes for a table, While having our dinner which was about 45 minutes there were people wait the whole time.
Chester said they were flooded as never before.
We had the following
Hot and Sour Soup which was good as before
Dan Dan noodles which was served with a rich and semi spicy beef broth top with spinach and minced pork.
Mongolian Beef, the meat was tender and no the mild side.
General fish which was deep fried white fish in a spicy sauce which I think was the best dish of the bunch.
Lastly Green Bean and Chicken, the beans were done just right.
All in all we like this Bistro a lot and hope it can make and we will have another good Chinese place to eat and I will not have to travel as far for all food.
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