Beijing: Big Hairy Crabs at Jing Ding Xuan

I had this sudden desire to eat hairy crabs (大閘蟹) while in Beijing. The concierge must have thought it to be a strange request. I suppose it's Shanghai not Beijing that's famous for these yummy crustacean delicacies. Anyway they recommended a restaurant called Jing Ding Xuan.

The restaurant itself was extremely large and busy but we were seated quickly:


Jing Ding Xuan serves a variety of food but since we were there on a weekend the dim sum option seemed to be very popular. We decided to get the dim sum as well as a crab for me. The dim sum was very cheap, approximately US$1 an item! Now where else can you get such a deal. The quality however was reflective of the price. I didn't enjoy it much.

We got chicken feet, shiu mai, har gau, spicy noodles, veggie buns (these were actually quite good):



Now for the HIGHLIGHT of my meal. The hairy crab! Ahh satisfaction:



The best part of the crab is the roe. Rich creamy and I love how it tastes with the vinegar it's served with. The crab itself doesn't have much meat but the sweet flesh dipped in vinegar (yes the vinegar is crucial) makes picking at it all worth while hehe

Chomp Meter:
I wouldn't recommend this restaurant. There are much better restaurants in Beijing. However, if you are hard pressed to find hairy crabs then this place will do :)

Jing Ding Xuan 金鼎轩酒楼
He Ping Li West Street No 77
On the south gate of Ditan.
Phone: 010 6429 6888
Open 24hrs

Directions for the cabbie:
南三环路
丰台区方庄蒲芳路16号 (家乐福对面)

Gitlo - Refreshing Dim Sum Place

My hair stylist told me about Gitlo, a dim sum restaurant in Allston, a couple weeks back. We finally headed there on Saturday. I haven't had Hong Kong dim sum in Boston in a while. The usual greasy China Town fare just doesn't appeal to me much anymore.



Gitlo's is not your typical Hong Kong style dim sum restaurant since they don't have carts. Probably because the place is rather small. I'm guessing it sits approximately 25 people. You order your food and they bring it to you.

We started with the Cantonese dumplings. These were really like pot stickers. Nicely pan fried and delicious. I also liked that the dumpling skins weren't too thick. (My pet peeve.)


My absolute favorite was the XO Sauce Daikon Cake. I am still dreaming of this dish. At first sight, it was strange that the pieces of daikon cake were chopped into cubes and not triangular blocks. But don't let the shape deceive you, it was delicious! The pieces were so nicely fried. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You can even taste pieces of freshly grated daikon! The topping of fried scallops (not sure what it is) was also delicious.

XO Sauce Daikon Cake(L) Crab Meat Puffs(R). The crab meat puffs were ok. The puff pastry was a little too thick and heavy and the crab meat was imitation crab.


The Scallop Shiu Mai was another favorite. Unique too since it was topped with flying fish roe.


We also got the char shiu pao, a dim sum staple. Yummy though not the highlight.


The chicken feet was a special (not on the menu). The texture of the feet was good, very crunchy, however the flavor was rather bland. Overall it ok.


Allston is really becoming quite a hub for Asian food! Jo Jo Taipei, John's Market, Shabu Zen, Tea Infusions, Yi Soon Bakery, and now Gitlo. I am pretty excited about this find and can't wait to go back for the fried daikon cake!


Chomp Meter:
Highly recommended especially if you're tired of the same ol' Chinatown dim sum restaurants. Gitlo's a refreshing, finer take on Hong Kong dim sum, though the selection is smaller. Definitely get the daikon cake, it makes the trip all worthwhile!

Gitlo
164 Brighton Ave
Allston 02134
Phone: 617-782-2253

Best Dim Sum Restaurants in Boston

Boston isn't really the place to go for exquisite, high quality dim sum so we have to make do. Go to NYC for your dim sum fix if you have the option. So here are my picks for Boston.

Hong Kong Style Dim Sum

Hei La Moon - This is the new favorite. The restaurant is huge with lots of seating so the wait may not be as long. You can also stop by C-Mart after for groceries. Validated parking is available in the garage next door.

China Pearl - This was the old staple till Hei La Moon came around.

Gitlo - I recently discovered this place. Finally, a restaurant with authentic, finer dim sum. There isn't much variety to the dishes but they make whatever they have really well.

Taiwanese Style Dim Sum

These 2 are complimentary. Shangri la has some dishes that Chung Shin Yuan does not.
Chung Shin Yuan - Don't fret even if you don't get seating the first round (see original post). They are very efficient and the food is all prepared before hand.

Shangri La - At this point I like Shangri La a little more ...

Let me know if there are new and good dim sum restaurants I've missed.

Shangri La - Another Dim Sum Gem

P and I headed here for brunch on Sunday after walking the dog. We usually go to Chung Shin Yuan which is closer but Shangri La has Kua Pao which I love. They don't serve kua pao at CSY. Both Shangri La and CSY are Taiwanese / Beijing style dim sum restaurants so not your typical cantonese dim sum.

The quality of dim sum at Shangri La is comparable to that at Chung Shin Yuen. I've tried all the items on the menu at CSY so going to Shangri La is more exciting for me :)

I love the salty soy bean milk at Shangri La. It's kinda curdy and has a little vinegar in it, not doing a great job describing it here but IMO it's better than what they have at CSY. Yum!


The pig ears here are really good. It's sliced really finely and nicely seasoned. I know it sounds scary but doesn't dim sum always sound strange but taste so good? =)


And the highlight of my meal, Kua Pao. It is like a sandwich with a piece of sliced pork belly topped generously with pickled vegetables and sweet crushed peanuts on a bun. The salty taste of the pickles balance the sweetness of the peanuts. Trust me, it is SO GOOD.


I prefer Taiwanese style dim sum to Cantonese style dim sum in Boston. The cantonese style dim sum here is not as refined and very greasy.

Shangri La
149 Belmont St
Belmont, MA 02478
(617) 489-1488




Chomp Meter:
One of the 2 best places in Boston for Taiwanese dim sum. The place is usually packed during the school year but it's easy to get seats in the summer. Definitely try the beef sandwich (nu rou jia bing), salty soy bean milk (xian dou jiang) and the kua pao!

See my review for Chung Shin Yuan.
See my review for Hei La Moon.

Hei La Moon - Boston's Latest Dim Sum Place?

I have a whole back log of entries to make. You see with all the season finales on tv I've been kind of busy catching up, yes even with tivo. ;) We also made a short trip out to Vermont last weekend to celebrate pacman's b'day. Since the rain didn't stop, we spent most of the time eating so I have tonnes to write about!

Rewind to two Sundays ago. We went to Hei La Moon for dim sum with a couple friends. Having read about this on the web, I felt that we'd discovered a gem, you know a little known place that no one's been before. Turns out we're really not very in touch with the dim sum scene. Except for us, all our friends had been to Hei La Moon. Bleh ...

I thought the dim sum there was comparable to China Pearl, each place has its own specialty. The pork buns (yellow bread, not the white ones) were the highlight of my trip there! Unfortunately I scarffed them down before getting a photo.

We also had the chicken feet. I promise it sounds more glamorous in mandarin. Its direct translation would be phoenix's claw. I'm not usually a big fan since the claws freak me out! I like that at Hei La Moon, they chop the feet up into little pieces so you forget that you're eating feet :p I had a piece and it tasted pretty good.

Chicken Feet:


Tripes:


Clams (I didn't like these at all):


We also got the shrimp dumplings (har gao), shrimp rolls (har cheong), glutinous rice and chicken in lotus leaf, and sweet tofu (tau foo fah). I don't remember the rest, guess they weren't particularly memorable.


Hei La Moon (喜门)
88 Beach Street
Boston
617 338 8813


Chomp Meter:
We'll definitely be back, especially for the yellow pork buns. A good alternative to China Pearl. Though dim sum in NYC is way better!

Dim Sum @ Chung Shin Yaun

Can I say how much I love this place? This is the second time we've been back in a span of two weeks. I can't believe we hadn't discovered Chung Shin Yuan earlier having lived in Newton for almost 2 years!

This place serves Taiwan style dim sum. That's different from places like China Pearl which serve Hong Kong style fare. In any case it's delicious. It's also a plus that parking is easy to find (it's in Nonantum), however, be prepared to wait at least a half hour for a seat.

We ordered the salty soy bean milk (photo below) and the mega fried dough sticks (I didn't get a photo of this unfortunately). These seem to be a favorite among the chinese customers :) We also heard the table next to us exclaim to the waitress that they weren't able to find soy milk of such high quality in all of San Francisco ... I doubt it's true but we were mildly amused.


The pig ears and tofu with century eggs. The pig ears could have been spiced better but overall they were tasty.


The carb dishes. Here's the very delicious vermicelli. We had the five spice beef noodles the last time and that was exceptionally good too.


The spiced pork ribs with surprise surprise, sweet potatoes beneath. We devoured this as well.


Chomp Meter:
Value for money and very authentic. Customers are 98% asian, it's gotta be good! Recommended dishes are the beef noodles, fried vermicelli, pigs ears and ... alright I give up, I liked it all and I can't wait to go back!

Chung Shin Yaun
183 California Street
Newton, Massachusetts 02158-1008